I AM A WRITER, A PRODUCER AND A DIRECTOR- OH YES!

 

I must say even though putting together this radio drama is challenging but it is not as challenging as putting together a documentary. My observations are that the success of the radio drama lies in the actors and the ability of the director to cast great actors. This I say because radio drama is all about drama, it is about action, and it is about the flawless interaction between the actors. At the core of a radio drama lies the actors, they drive the story, they deliver the story they allow for the listeners imagination, they allow for the story to move from one scene to the next, they drive the story to reach the climax. As I am busy editing now, I find it easy to edit it because I’ve worked with people who understood what they were doing. Yes, there are parts that could still be improved, for instance parts where the voice could be raised even higher but I could not have asked for a better end product especially after the time constraints we have had.

One of the things I find challenging is editing one of the scenes where there is a telephone conversation. I find this difficult because there are times where they are both talking at the same time. The talking over each other however works well but it also becomes a problem because I only have to change one voice to sound like the other person is on the other side of the phone. I have tried to make this work by separating the conversation. This is one of the things that I could not think of at the time of the recording, I failed to realize that something like that was going to happen. There’s nothing I can do now, the actors are done and not intending to come back so as an editor I have to see how I work with that. This is one of those things that teaches you as an editor, those mistakes that become lessons because if I were to do this again I would avoid that, I would make sure that something like this does not happen again.

What I have noticed is that, there are things that you only pick up when you are editing, just like the one I have mentioned. The other thing is people moving on and off mic, sometimes this works but when you listen to it you realize that there was actually no need for that person to move off mic. When you are writing a script you imagine how you want it to happen or to sound like and then it becomes different when you listen to the actual recording.

This leads to my next point which is about the sound effects. I have recorded all the sound effects myself. I sat down at home with my recorder on and switched the TV on to record LIVE (music show) which is one of the shows that the actors talk about. I had to switch my radio on and stand in front of it with the recorder. I was a nerve to my housemates because I asked them to wash dishes even when they did not want to because I needed sound effects. I was happy to record these sounds myself and not look for them on the internet because I want this drama to sound believable. I went to the township to capture the sound environment; I went to one of the Grahamstown schools to record the school environment. With that said, I must also mention that I am aware that the ambient sound of the pots, the school environment, the cutlery, the television and radio that I am going to use do not tell the story, the actors do. The actors are what I can call ‘the cake’ and the ambient sounds are a ‘cherry on top’, they do not tell the story but they enhance this radio drama. They give it life and also help the listener understand what is going on.

I must also mention that I had a hard time finding the right music. The beginning jingle was the biggest challenge; I wanted something fresh and vibe(y) so as to adhere to the topic of my drama “Amaxesha ngamanye” Times have changed. I finally came up with the idea that I will start it with a slow song and then change to a fresher and youthful song. I tried it and it worked.

That’s all from me and this project, it has been fun. It has been a good learning experience. I’m out.

Ciao!  

THE FINAL STAGES- POST PRODUCTION

I am now at a stage where I am busy with post-production. After having clashes and problems with our time tables, the actors and I have finally recorded the final take. This could only mean one thing, that is, the radio drama that I have been writing about has been recorded. This was done on Saturday, it went well. What happened is that I promised to bring food (pizza) so that we can do it all in one go without people excusing themselves because they want to go out and have lunch.

Like any normal recording I put on my head phones, stood still as a director with the script on my hand. I made sure everybody has the script, the right script. I also had to make sure that we are all in the same page. Once that was sorted, they also put headphones and the game begun. This recording was different because it was no longer about reading the words but following the pointers in the script. If it is off mic, it has to be recorded off mic; if a person has made a mistake we all have to stop, discuss it, help that person if she needs help and do it again. Honestly it is an exhausting process but we all wanted something special, believable and listenable.

I must confess the professionalism of the actors has come in very handy in this process. One amongst the things I liked about them is the fact that they are not scared or afraid to say “let’s do it again, I did not feel good about this scene”. This is what made me happy and this is the same thing that I noticed when I was at uMhlobo Wenene, the actors respect what they do and they give it their best. They also said when they did not feel good about a particular scene. What I enjoyed watching was the fact that they corrected each other; they were not scared to say “no I think you have to do it again”. As a person who is not an actor I find this very interesting and it shows how personal people take their job or acting. They internalize it, it becomes part of them; it becomes a group effort. They are aware that a mistake made by one person will not do justice to the piece. As I had previously pointed out, I am learning a lot in this process, it teaches me different things.

This is what Toffee Zitshu, the uMhlobo Wenene producer said to me. She said as a producer you do not only show people how to do it but you also learn from how they do it. I have learnt the importance of communication; I have learnt the importance of team work, I have seen the support that actors give each other. I have learnt that as a director and producer I have to give actors their freedom, I have to give them a room for improvisation. I saw this happening when I was at uMhlobo Wenene where an actor would ask “can’t I change this sentence to this? I think it sounds better like this”. It happened to me as well; I remember one of the actors, Anelisa said “I am glad you said we can alter some of the words or lines because when I read through the script I also realized that there are things that need to be rephrased in order for this to be better understood by the listener”. I found this very helpful because as a writer I sometimes think that something makes sense when it does to me without thinking about how everyone is going to understand it. IsiXhosa language is broad and different isiXhosa speakers use different words but there is also standard isiXhosa which is the accepted one. Working with people like Anelisa who have studied isiXhosa at University level as I have done myself made a difference because she also became part of the script, she contributed both as an actor and as an editor.
Moving on, having recorded the final show, I told Toffee that the drama has been recorded and she was excited and told me she cannot wait to hear it.
On the other hand, all along I thought this drama has to be 15 minutes; I had no doubt in my mind that Toffee had said this drama has to be that long but after recording it I realized that there is absolutely no ways that this drama is going to be 15 minutes. It is going to be more than that. I called and told her about my biggest worry and to my surprise she said the drama must be 30 minutes long. I was so happy, in fact I was relieved.  Therefore now I am producing a 30 minute documentary. At the moment I am sitting on 23 minutes excluding sounds effects and music. I hope to fill the remaining time with sound effects, music and the credits at the end.
Ciao!

PERFECTION IS A PROCESS

This is a commentary on the rehearsal process as a whole. Producing a radio drama requires patience and understanding. What I have observed so far is that as a producer you have to have a plan B. It is advisable that you cast more than the expected number of actors so that when one of the actors cannot make it one of them can because the thought of losing a character is scary. I have previously pointed out that I am working with a group of great actresses. This has been the advantage of this whole process because as much as there are delays, they are able to make up for the time lost. Yes, I cannot deny the fact that the time lost never returns but what is important is to use the available time wisely. We started last week with the rehearsal. The first day as expected did not go smoothly but this was due to the fact that the actresses were still familiarizing themselves with working together.

We all gathered in the studio and all the actors had their scripts as I had emailed it to them two weeks in advanced. When we met for the first time in the studio we decided on the positions, for instance who must stand where and who comes after who and so forth. This is very important because there are scenes where the other characters must move off mic and give others a chance. We also had to decide on the positions because the mics in the studio are not enough for three people, there is only two of them. Those are the kinds of things that we were still trying to figure out. I must say these this was not difficult to do. Two of my actors have done radio and are aware of the rules of radio, for instance mic distance, popping and so forth which makes things easier.

Moving on, the second day showed lot of improvement, the actresses came prepared because I noticed that they did not stumble over words as they did the last time we rehearsed. This was a sign of improvement. So far we have met three times which I still think is not enough but there’s nothing we can do because they are also busy. I want the actors to sound as fluent as possible because at the end I want the story to be believable and most importantly to be listenable. I want to produce something that I will be proud of and this is only possible when we make time to meet and rehearse.

I chose to work with them knowing that they are busy people but I trusted that they will give me what I want and they are. That is, a good interpretation of the script and a great portrayal of the characters in the story. For instance I want Pumelela Nqelenga who plays maDlamini to represent the following character: a 65-year old woman. Her husband passed away 15 years back. She lives in Joza with her grandchild. She has a daughter, Nobantu who is Namhla’s mother. She is a pensioner. She cannot speak English properly but she is not that bad because at least she reached standard 6. I want Avuyile Maselwa who plays Namhla to represent a 16 year-old, who is doing grade 10 at Nyaluza High School. She lives in Joza Township, Grahamstown. She stays with her grandmother because her mother spends most of her time at work.  Lastly I want Anelisa Mente who plays Nobantu to represent a 35-year old woman. Nobantu is Namhla’s mother, Madlamini’s daughter. She is also from Joza but she does not live here. Nobantu passed grade 12 but could not further her studies due to financial reasons. She works very hard to provide for her family. She stays in a flat and she has a car.

At the end this radio drama tries to show the generation gap that exists between the old and the new generation. It seeks to show the challenges and the clashes that exist and these clashes are shown through the above mentioned characters, maDlamini and Namhla. The tradition vs. modernity idea becomes visible through interaction and conversation between these two characters. They are different and therefore have different ways of doing things.

We are slowly but surely getting there. The story is coming together pretty well because they are really getting to understand their roles and what is expected of each character. It is now the matter of getting used to pronouncing some of the words because one of the characters did not do isiXhosa at school. She is the one who needs practice and the one that I’m working closely with. I always ask her to read to me before we start just to get used to the words and so far it is working pretty well. We also need to work on improving things like projection and tone. Once they get this right then we will be ready to record the final take. The final recording is this week and the post-production as well. This is going to be one hell of a week but I’m looking forward to it anyways. I am training myself for days like these that are yet to come in the not so far future where I will be working under pressure. We are now trying to perfect this and as you might know, perfection is a process.

On that note, what I have noticed about the actresses is that they enjoy what they are doing, they are having fun. We all are, we laugh together and we help each other out. We are working together as a team which I find great. I am crossing fingers that things come together perfectly.  I must confess that even though there are challenges and problems that arise during this process, I’m still excited to hear the final product. I still have the drive, nothing has changed and the struggle continues. It shall be well. Catch my next update on post-production.

Ciao!

JUST A FEW GLITCHES

Things are not going as smoothly as I had imagined they would. The rehearsal process has been very slow. I do not blame anyone for this, not even myself because when you are working with people a lot of things happen. And in most cases the things that happen tend to hinder the process. On Friday last week we were supposed to meet and have our rehearsal session as usual but we couldn’t because one of the main actors fell sick, she had to be admitted to the hospital. So we couldn’t meet. This is exactly what I am trying to say, you cannot really blame anyone for this because things JUST happen.

Having returned from uMhlobo Wenene FM last week, I came back refreshed and ready to produce my drama; little did I know that this would happen. Being at uMhlobo Wenene made things seem so easy because the actors were always there, they came in time and they were always available. I somehow thought it was going to be like that with me as well.  This is when I realized that I lied to myself when I thought things were going to be the same. Things are not the same; I am working with students who are also very busy.  

I started losing hope, there was a lot going on in my mind. On one hand I was thinking of looking for somebody else to play her part but at the same time I was worried because she is a brilliant actress and the thought of losing her scared me. I have seen her during the rehearsals, she is good and her voice fits her character in the story. Her voice sounds like that of an old woman, one of the reasons I asked her to play the part. I thought losing her now would make things even worse because the new person will first have to familiarize herself with the script. Oh wait, let me say the thought of looking for another person at this stage was my main worry. I had no idea who I was going to cast. I had to keep calling and checking on her. Fortunately by the end of the week she told me that she was feeling much better and she’s ready to rehearse on Sunday. I was happy.

I knew there were going to be challenges because all my actors are senior students who also have their own responsibilities to their studies. Well, the good news is that we finally managed to meet on Sunday for the rehearsal and it went perfectly well. I started regaining hope.  Not that I had ever completely lost hope, because I knew I had to stay strong and keep on keeping on but there were times when I felt as if it is not going to be possible. What I decided to do was to keep myself occupied by looking for sound effects and music to enhance this drama. At least I did not just sit with nothing to do; I felt as if I was doing something which is also part of this production. At the end I’m a happy person and at the moment things are looking great.  Now let’s talk about the rehearsal process ---------------->on my next update.

Ciao!

A WEEK WELL SPENT (at uMhlobo Wenene FM)

As promised on my previous blog, I will give you all the details about my visit at uMhlobo Wenene FM in Port Elizabeth. Let me start off by saying; the idea of going to uMhlobo Wenene was a brilliant one. I have never produced a radio drama before, thus spending time with uMhlobo Wenene’s drama department has taught me a lot. It has been an eye-opening experience.  Let me take you through what went down on each day…

Day one: this was the most exciting part as I was being introduced to everyone. I felt special and more than that I felt very welcomed. I went there in a week when they will be celebrating their 200th episode, and they planned to record this episode live. That is, they were going to do it live, raw and unedited; there were no “cut, take two”. I was then introduced to all the actors, who seemed very passionate about what they do. My special interest was to see the studio arrangement, that is, how the props are arranged and mostly how everything works. I was interested in this because as a person who will be doing this for the first time, I needed to see it.  I needed ideas for my own project and this was the essence of my visit; to see how I’m going to go through the same process   with my actors as well.

The day was filled with rehearsals because they wanted to make sure that they do not make any mistakes when they record live. I was lucky enough to be given a script and be part of the rehearsal. Strangely enough this was not difficult for me to do; the only thing I had to do was to read the script over and over again in order to sound as natural as possible. Being the ‘natural’ that I am, that was pretty easy for me to do. By this I mean that as a person who’s able to read isiXhosa fluently getting used to reading the script did not take me that long. So I can say that being familiar with the language worked at my advantage.

More than that I felt included; by taking part I gained understanding of how the actors read and interpret their scripts. For instance, I learnt things like improvisation, that as an actor you do not always have to stick word for word to the script but at the same time do not improvise entirely because the gist will be lost I found this very helpful because even though I will be the director for my own project but at least I have gained understanding of how the acting must be done.  However I am aware that different broadcasters have different approaches to how they want things to be done, in some environments, directors are pretty strict about sticking to the script- while in others, a little bit of interpretation is expected.

What I am trying to say is that being involved in this process has given me a sense of how, as a director of the play, I need to manage my actors. All of this means that with the knowledge that I have gained, I will be able to help my actors where needed. I am willing to give them a bit of space to rephrase the script where necessary. I have no doubt that this approach might very well strengthen my script because they will add things that will enhance it. Moreover, they are also isiXhosa speakers which means they are familiar with the language and the phrasing.

Day two: this was the second day of the rehearsal, and probably the busiest day of them all. We were pushed hard because the live recording was going to be the next day. I loved the experience. I felt like this is what I’m also going to go through because I cannot deny the fact that the time I have to produce this drama is limited. So this for me was great because I at least saw and experienced working under pressure. We rehearsed the whole day until we all felt ready for the following day.

Day three: this was the day of the recording, all the actors came and they rehearsed. Strangely enough, none of them were very nervous; in fact, they were relaxed. It made me realize that they are professionals. This was the best day, watching people do their thing live, the stings coming in, sound effects and spot effects all in that moment. It was something truly beautiful to watch and be part of. It was great, it was fun, it came with a lot of pressure but it came out quite well. I was amazed. The actors left me wowed.

Day four: on this day there were no rehearsals, Toffee the producer and Phumelela the technical producer were editing and packaging episodes for the next two weeks because they record in advance. So I watched as they do this.  This was something that I am used to because they also use Adobe Audition, which I’m familiar with. On this day I also had an opportunity to meet with Phumzile Mnci the station manager, and  he asked me about my experience and what I have learnt in that week.

On that note, let me say that I enjoyed this week; it was very refreshing. Now I can confidently say that I will be able to produce my own drama with the knowledge that I have gained. I appreciate and acknowledge the opportunity that I have been given by both my lecturer, Jeanne du Toit and Toffee Zitshu of uMhlobo Wenene FM. I came back from this visit inspired and ready to roll.

Look out for my next update on the rehearsal process because we have started with the rehearsals already.

Ciao!

ALLOW ME TO TELL MY STORY

It doesn’t get more exciting than this. For this term I am producing a radio drama. The tittle of the drama is ‘Amaxesha ngamanye’ translated the times have changed. This drama is inspired by what is going on in and around the world in contemporary society. It is undeniable true that the times have changed, this means that new ways of doing things have emerged and the way South Africa operates is sort of different from how things were back in the days. Let me spare you the lecture and tell you more about the process thus far.

I’m now at a stage where I have finished writing the script and I have sent it to my mentor, Toffee Zitshu, uMhloboWenene drama producer. She looked at the script, made a few corrections and she liked it a lot: “I’m looking forward to listening to the final product,” she said. Last week Friday I met for the first time with the actors (Pumelela Nqelenga, Avuyile Maselwa and Anelisa Mente). They are the three main characters in the story and the drama consists of five characters in total. I was very pleased to see the excitement in their faces; this in return brought a smile to my face. Any writer will tell you that there is nothing as humbling as seeing people appreciate the work that you have done. It was like that with me as well, in fact I still feel good.

In our meeting we discussed how things are going to work, with regards to the rehearsals and we also set down and looked at each other’s time tables. Speaking about time, I think this will be one of the challenges because all my characters are senior students with very busy schedules. However this is not much of a problem because I would like to believe that they are professional actresses because they have done drama. This means that it will not take them a lot of time to read the script as they are used to reading and writing scripts. This drama is written in isiXhosa; one of the things on the agenda was to get a sense of how they feel about the use of language and using the language to record. Fortunately they were happy and very excited to do it in their mother tongue as they believe that it will not be difficult for them to improvise where needed. This makes things a bit easier for me.

I explained each character to them, I spoke to them about the inspiration behind this drama and they also agreed that the way contemporary society works and the way households operate has indeed changed. One of them, Pumelela asked me a very interesting question – she wanted to know whether this story falls under comedy or not, because she finds some parts a bit funny. Mmm well, I never thought of it as comedy. I cannot say it is a comedy; it is a fictional story that has a deep message embedded but there are comical scenes. On that note, that is where I am for now and I will be spending the next week working closely with Umhlobo Wenene’s drama department in Port Elizabeth. I shall tell you about that as well; look out for my next update!

Ciao!

FROM ONE PROJECT TO THE NEXT

From one project to the next; the uMthathi chapter has been closed. Allow me to introduce a new chapter to you. I am now in a process of producing a radio drama. The project involves the production of a radio drama, in isiXhosa, for the public broadcaster, uMhlobo Wenene FM. The drama will be based on a script that I have written as part of the coursework requirements for the JMS (journalism and media studies) 4 advanced audio production course. It is a story about three women of different generations who live in the same house, in a South African township. It highlights the difference in their world views and behaviour.  It is based around tradition vs. modernity; this drama shows the generation gap that exists between the old and the new generation; the challenges and the clashes that exist.