Medium Specificity — Audio Dramas

Soundcloud link: https://soundcloud.com/jared-richardson-3/audio-dramas

Even though I’ve worked with audio before, I really wanted explore what can be done with the medium more—particularly as applied to audio dramas, which I consider to be a dying art form. While audio is a pivotal element of film, video games, and other media arts, people seem to dismiss it when it’s presented alone. I set out to demonstrate and provide commentary on how audio dramas are versatile and have creative potential.

The best sources of inspiration for me were the original Star Wars radio dramas that Mark Hamill starred in. Each one of these productions follow a similar plot line to the original movies, and yet they include some scenes (and simplify some others) in order to play to the strengths of the medium. Sound effects and foley are abundant, allowing listeners to create the world in their minds as they listen to the events unfold. Other, more modern examples I referred to were a fan-project called “Batman: Breakdown” and a series of comedy sketches called “Guy Noir.” While the latter is more focused on the humor of the dialogue, both were excellent examples of how audio can be used in creative ways.

Obviously my project is very meta: the characters in the drama discuss the different parts of an audio drama as those parts are occurring. While “Jared and Jamie” don’t acknowledge that they’re in an audio drama (as opposed to Daffy in Duck Amuck, who engages with the audience), they frequently bring up concepts that they’re unknowingly demonstrating. For example, Jared talks about how lines in an audio drama are often recorded separately, as Jamie’s lines get cut out of the recording entirely for a few moments. Later, Jared calls the foley to attention, right before doing an ridiculously impossible basketball stunt, causing the audience to pay attention to the sound effects of the recording. At the end, Jared demonstrates how audio dramas can take advantage of stereo sound, even though Jamie points out that he’s just talking to her. The reason I decided to have “Jared and Jamie” almost, but not quite, break the fourth wall is because it is rare for an audio drama to address listeners directly. By allowing my characters to discuss the elements of audio dramas and yet stay within the confines of their fictional world, the piece still technically remains a work of fiction, instead of a documentary. My own commentary on the medium, therefore, can be heard through the voices of my characters—and through the little audio tricks and jokes I threw in as I edited it.

Reflecting on my assignment, I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish in so short a time span. However, I feel the greatest weakness of my project is how there is very little in terms of plot. The recording is great at exploring the artistic medium of audio dramas, yet its overarching linear skit, while effective as a framing device, doesn't measure up to the likes of Doctor Who or War of the Worlds. Despite this, though, I was able to successfully explore my chosen medium and convey my thoughts on it. Overall, I'm satisfied with what I set out to do.

Sources:

“Batman: Breakdown” (a fan-made project): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPkEVJbYfSo

The first Star Wars Radio Drama: https://archive.org/details/StarWarsRadio/01+Star+Wars+01.mp3

“Guy Noir”: https://archive.org/details/GuyNoirPrivateEyemp3AudioCollection/GuyNoirPrivateEye1.mp3

Historical Story

"Tithes and Slaves": 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxwLu9RpeNyyTm5KN1RWSXFjVFk/view?usp=sharing

Artist's Statement (by Marely Lee & Jared Richardson):

A story pitch that caught the attention of many students in our class because of its surprising story and connection to the students through the church was that of the story of Green Flake, an African American slave given to the LDS church as tithing while already haven been baptized into the same church.  Working on our script “Tithes and Slaves” was eye-opening. We got to explore and research some events behind the premise of our story and how the process of Green Flake and his church conversion came to be, how, even though given to the church as tithing, Flake remained steadfast in his faith and testimony.

Interestingly enough, legitimate sources for the recounting of Flake’s life were few and far between—even the ones we did find contradicted on a few points such as whether Green was actually freed towards the end of his life. Because of this, we picked and chose elements from the sources that we felt would fit best with the story we wanted to tell: one of the firm faith in a belief system despite the constant opposition and confliction within such a structure. One account we referenced in our script was from an article published by the church entitled “In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions” which gives an overview of Green’s life. Another source we used was a family history book Jared owned called “James Madison Flake” (pictured below) which provided some interesting details not given in other sources. Through studying and researching these sources, we were able to draw a life for our character Flake. We read about the trials and need for firm faith in the life of this man and how this led to his being a strong exemplary member of the community known for his character and faith in God.

Implementing what we had learned about Flake into our script proved a rather difficult task. Trying to bring to life of a laudable, inspiring man through the making of a screenplay was limiting: how were we to represent the life of such a man in only six pages? We decided to narrate the story with the application of voiceover narrative. We recounted what we considered to be beats, or pivotal points in Flake’s life that would lead the audience to understand the process of Flake’s conversion followed by his being conferred to the church as tithing, and ultimately, his presumed liberation. The story that we were so captivated by, was brought to creation through the writing of a script. A script with the overlaying narration of a man whose life energized the narrative of faith through tribulation.

Also Cited:  https://history.lds.org/article/green-flake-pioneer?lang=eng

Process Piece

AUDIO DOC:
https://soundcloud.com/jared-richardson-3/audio-process-doc

Artist Statement (written by Will Morrison and Jared Richardson):

The Process of Compromise

          It is very difficult to change someone’s mind. When someone has a strong opinion about something, usually no amount of persuasion can turn them to the other side. Nevertheless, we can’t help but try to change the people around us, who, in turn, try to change us. This creates conflict. Though religion, politics, and sports are usually cited as the most inarguable of issues, there are few things that people feel as passionately about as the music they listen to. We know when we like a song and we know when we don’t. Explaining exactly why is a little more difficult. To try and understand this difficulty, we recorded the process of two strangers simply trying to decide what song to listen to on the radio.

          We recorded the documentary in an observational style. Though we asked the subjects a few questions about their tastes in music, our voices do not appear in the recording, nor do we interfere with their process of deciding what radio station they should stop on.

          The two subjects were selected based on their differences. We wanted to have two people with contrary opinions in order to create more conflict and therefore a more interesting process. The documentary begins establishing these differences. Jamie is very passionate about music, whereas Joseph doesn’t care much for pop (or listening to music in general). These small interviews also show their differences in personality: Jamie is outgoing and Joseph introverted. As they flip through different stations, Jamie very quickly establishes herself as the dominant personality, while Joseph acts too shy to fully speak his mind in most cases. Though this was different from the dramatic arguments we had originally expected, it was perhaps a bit truer to life. Many compromises are made simply because someone decides they don’t care all that much.

          A big inspiration for the concept for our documentary was the short documentary “Scriptures”, which also details the awkwardness and differing perspectives of a relatively routine event. Many times it can be easy to forget about the sheer beauty and complexity of everyday events; at times it is necessary to see them through new eyes or in a new context, which is one of the major roles of documentary filmmaking. Another great example of this is What Makes You Click! This 2016 documentary details how every little, insignificant click in our internet history can show what kind of people we are, even though browsing the internet is a common process we undergo. Though searching for the right radio station is a likewise common process, it can tell you a lot about a person. By simply listening to Joseph and Jamie’s interactions, you can get a better idea of who they are even more than by going over the generic get-to-know-you questions we ask people we meet. No one is fully defined by the habits they have and the processes they engage in, but who we really are—our soul, our personality, our passions—seeps into everything we do.