Directing Single Camera Drama

 

CHAPTER

4 Sound

 

 

Any director who doubts the creative potential of the sound track should always remember what the little girl said when asked if she preferred plays on children’s television or children’s radio: ‘Oh, radio,’ she replied ‘because the scenery is so much better.’ The trouble is that it is all too easy to belittle the recordist’s role on location. The actors are rehearsed, make-up and costume are happy (at last!). The shot is lit, everything is perfect and then we can just hear a plane approaching, so what should we do? Well the only answer is to wait until the damn thing has gone. Most good recordists will be very honest with the director about what they can ‘get away with’, so when the recordist says ‘honestly, we can’t go ...