Video transcript
The Arts Unit @home Art Bites – Radio play – 2. Planning your performance

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GENEVIEVE DE SOUZA: Welcome to Radio Play Part 2 - planning a performance. If you haven't already, I recommend watching Part 1 to learn about vocal warm-ups to prepare your body for performance. Now, we're going to look at how to plan your own radio play.

So, back in the day, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were no TVs. And so, people actually relied on radio as their main source of information, and also their main source of entertainment. And, one of the things that developed was the humble radio play. And, they would use sounds, and sound effects, to create a play, to create a story. And, really, that's all the focus is today. How do we use our voice to create characters to make a story out of it?

So, I'm going to show you a few different ways that I think you should focus your voice to make different characters. The first thing I think you should think about is the pace of your speech. Now, I'm someone who talks, actually, quite fast. I have to remind myself to slow it down. But, this is something you can do, and play with, to create different characters. Maybe your character talks really, really, really, really, really fast and they have to get everything out all at once.

Maybe your character talks really, really, really slowly. Some kind of chill vibe that comes out with that, you know? So, think about the pace that you are talking at. How quickly or slowly can you deliver the line to create different effects, and create different kinds of emotions in characters? This really, really, really, really, really fast talk might be someone who's quite anxious, quite nervous, maybe a little bit scared. Whereas, someone who's kind of really slow is probably a little bit more chilled out. So, first is pace.

The second thing is volume. Now, you do need to be careful with this. Try not to yell as loud as you can, because you might actually damage your voice. So, you need to play around with how is the shape of your volume going to look? How are you going to make those loud parts sound louder just by using, even, the proximity to the microphone, if you are recording your radio play, or even thinking about making everything else a little bit softer, and playing with, even, your editing, to make your sound sound louder, rather than screaming at the top of your lungs.

Try and, again - think about using that breath to support sending it out a little bit louder, so that it sounds louder to the audience. One of the easiest ways to make something seem louder or softer than it actually is, is to use our pitch of our voice - and that's how high or low we are speaking. So, if we go low and really, really low, and make it a bit slower, it might come across as a little bit more quiet, even though I haven't actually really changed the volume of my talking.

It's just that it's lower pitched, and it's going to sound a little bit more soft, a little bit more chilled. Whereas, if I go up really, really high, up here, and it sounds a little bit louder already, even though I haven't really changed the pitch, but because I'm talking much higher. Higher pitches automatically sound louder. So, you might like to think about changing the pitch, changing how high or low a character talks. And, that will also allow you to make different characters sound different.

The fourth thing that I'm going to recommend is going to be the faces that you use. Now, this might sound a bit strange because you're going to say, 'Hey Gen, we're making radio plays, so it's not really actually going to matter, because our faces aren't in it.' You make a great point, but facial structure is really important in delivering a vocal quality. So, actually, if we, kind of, scrunch up our face and talk kind of like this, into kind of up here, and kind of send the voice out this way, it's going to sound very different to if we open everything up and talk with everything here, and making this kind of face.

I feel very stupid doing this, but I would really, really, really encourage you - play around with the faces that you make, and where you can send your voice in your face, which sounds really weird. But, if you've ever tried to do a witch voice - have you ever tried to do a witch voice? It's actually very fun.

I would warn you to maybe let your family know that you're about to do this, but if you send your voice up really high up, and kind of send your voice up through your eyes even, you're kind of getting the witchy voice that comes out like this. And, it sounds very different to something like down here. Yeah?

So, actually, thinking about where you're sending that voice, and there's all sorts of technical terms we could use for this, but I'd just like to think - think about where you're putting your voice in your face. It sounds really strange, but it actually helps. So, thinking about a witch that's kind of up here and all, you know, that crunchy nose, and sending your voice through that part of your face makes it all come through like a little witchy voice. Yeah?

So, play around. Play around with your faces. It may feel really stupid, but, actually, what you want is the sound. And, that's the biggest thing with radio plays. You want to experiment with the sound. And, it doesn't actually matter what you look like, because no one's going to see you, especially if you're recording it.

So, I'm going to suggest that you play around with these 4 things. So, what were the 4 things? We had pace - so, how quickly or slowly are you talking? We had the volume - how loud or soft? We had the pitch, very, very important - how high or low is your character speaking? And, we had that really important one - the face. Where in your face are you sending the sound from? So, play around with those 4 things and see how many different voices you can come up with. Really, the more voices you can come up with, the more options you're going to have for your radio play.

Now, there are a couple of options for your radio play. You might like to record, or you might like to deliver it live and just sit behind, maybe, a curtain, or you might like to sit behind a couch. Find creative ways. And, you might like to deliver it live. But, it's up to you, and it's up to the script that you are using. I have actually attached a script that you might like to use. It's the same script that I'm going to use for my radio play, as my example.

But, you can also write your own. Now, a few little tiny baby tips for when you are writing your own. I would say, keep it really short - so 2-3 minutes maximum. I would say, focus on action. So, make sure that something happens in your story, and make it happen quite early, so that your audience is really engaged. And, make sure that you're focusing on those characters, and those relationships between characters.

Another suggestion I'm going to make is that, if you like the script that I have started, you could potentially write the next chapter of that script. Because something else about radio plays was that they weren't delivered all at once. Often, they were in little chapters. And, every week, a new part of the play would be released and would be broadcast over the radio. So, people would gather around the radio every week. A bit like you're waiting for a television episode to come out, if you're waiting week by week.

So, have a think about what kind of play you would like, go and have a play around with your voices, see what voices suit you best, or what you like - have some fun with it, be silly. There is nothing more hilarious than finding a voice that completely shocks you, and is so unexpected, and then you burst out laughing. It's a lot of fun.

So, go and have a little bit of a play around with your voices, have a think about your radio play, plan out something to deliver, or look at the scripts that I have delivered. And, then you can get down to rehearsing your play, and then either recording it or performing it live.

Once you've got a script that you're happy with, rehearse all the character voices and how you'll make them. Here's me trying a few different things too. I'm repeating experiments at home. I did the beetroot test one, but I used a strawberry donut instead, because we don't have any beetroot.

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Are you my mum? One other small note - you might like to consider using different accents. I find accents are really hard to keep consistent. But, if you're recording it, you can record it till you're happy with it. So, absolutely feel free to try out accents. But this video is not about accents, so I'm not going to attempt it. I'm also not super good at accents, so I don't want to embarrass myself. Oh, wait.

Please don't judge yourself when you are trying out these ideas. There's very, very few things as performers that you can learn without actually going out on a limb, and just giving it a try. So, please, try out some of the things that I have shown today, give it a go - doesn't matter if it doesn't sound good. You might find a little piece of gold that then you can develop into something else.

If you have a friend, or a sibling, or a parent at home, you could even record something with them which automatically gives you more voices to use. And, maybe, you could have 2 characters each, so that you use your normal voice and something different. So, you're practising those skills with manipulating your voice. This is my partner Doug who very kindly played one of the characters.

We recorded directly into the movie editing software for this video. But, you can use anything available to you. It might be something as simple as the voice memo button on your phone, or a free recording app, like voice recorder. Just check with a parent or guardian to see if it's OK to download this. It could be the voice recording function on your computer, QuickTime on a Mac, or Sound Recorder on Windows.

Or, you could do what we did, and use a title picture, and record your sound in a movie editor. You might also like to add sound effects to create mood and give your audience more of an idea of locations. A great way to do this would be to go out into the world and record these yourself. You can also search for sounds on the internet and play these in your live performance.

If you are recording, make sure you use copyright free materials. Places like Freesound or the YouTube Music Library, under sound effects, are great places to find sounds you can legally use. If you're in any doubt, ask an older family member to help you.

And, now, sit back and enjoy 'The Secret Donut', a radio play starring Doug as Alex, and Gen as every other character.

ALEX: You walking home today, Darcy?

DARCY: Yeah, same as every day.

ALEX: Joining us, Jamie?

JAMIE: Sure am. Hey, how'd you guys go in science?

ALEX: I got 65.

DARCY: 83!

ALEX: Nice, Darce!

JAMIE: Oh, man. I got 47. I can't believe I failed it.

ALEX: Yeah, heaps of people did. Mr. Wyatt marked them pretty hard, I reckon.

JAMIE: I worked so hard, too. I've been repeating experiments at home. I did that beetroot test one, but used a strawberry donut instead, because, well, we didn't have any beetroot.

DARCY: You used a donut?

JAMIE: Yep.

DARCY: Interesting.

JAMIE: Anyway, I'm just not looking forward to telling my mum. She was so sure I'd do well on this one. Guess I'll have to tell her now. See you guys tomorrow.

DARCY: Hold up. Stop. Jamie. What's that in your front yard?

JAMIE: What do you mean?

ALEX: There's something in your yard.

JAMIE: What the heck?

ALEX: It looks like - looks like a giant donut.

JAMIE: Wait. What if -

ALEX: It's the donut you're experimenting on! It's turned into a giant killer donut!

DARCY: And, it's coming straight for us!

JAMIE: What do we do?

ALEX: I'm calling triple 0.

JAMIE: No, don't! I'll get arrested for illegal experimentation on confectionery!

DARCY: It's going to eat us!

ALEX: It's coming closer!

DARCY: I'm too young to die!

JAMIE: Ssh! I think it's trying to say something.

MR DONUT: [vocalisations]

JAMIE: Huh?

MR DONUT: [vocalisations]

Are you my mum?

DARCY: Oh, my goodness! He's actually so cute! Can I pat it?

DARCY: Wow, Darcy, do a major flip why don't you?

JAMIE: It - it can talk?

ALEX: Your powers of deduction continue to astound.

DARCY: Aw, Hello Mr. Donut.

MR DONUT: Hehe. Hello.

JAMIE: This is incredible.

ALEX: It is pretty impressive, if a little strange.

JAMIE: What if - what if we could do this again?

ALEX: Wait, like, make more?

JAMIE: Yes! Like an army of donut people!

DARCY: Maybe we should just try and hide this one from your mum?

JAMIE'S MUM: Jamie! Jamie, is that you?

DARCY: Oh, dear!

ALEX AND JAMIE: Uh-oh.

NARRATOR: Will Jamie's mum find out? Tune in next week to see what comes next on 'The Secret Donut'.

GENEVIEVE DE SOUZA: Good luck. Have a great time. Have a great time being as silly as you can. I hope that you come out with some really creative ideas, and can put them into your own radio play. Bye.

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