Producing an Audio Drama Series During Lockdown
Sam is an actor and director and has worked across all mediums of acting and has directed films, theatre, commercials, branded content and audio dramas. Over the past few months of the lockdown, Sam has been adapting his directions skills to the requirements and needs of the current pandemic and continue directing the audio drama series.
Who is Sam Clemens?
I am a regular director for Big Finish Productions, who are most famous for producing new Doctor Who audio adventures for the past twenty years. They have had stories and continue to do so with all past Doctor's, from Tom Baker all the way up to David Tenant and Peter Capaldi. They include spin-offs 'Gallifrey', 'Diary Of River Song', 'Torchwood' and other properties such as 'Dark Shadows', 'The Avengers', 'Callan', 'Blake's 7' and many, many more. https://www.bigfinish.com/
What projects have you worked on recently that incorporate some element of working remotely?
Over lockdown, Big Finish managed to continue to operate by working with actors and sound engineers remotely from all over the world. Personally, I have recorded two entire four-episode boxsets of 'Callan' starring Ben Miles & Frank Skinner and 'The Avengers - Steed & King' starring Julian Wadham, Emily Woodward & Linda Thorson and a main range of The Seventh Doctor 'Doctor Who - The Grey Man Of The Mountain' starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred & Jon Culsahw. All of these projects were recorded entirely remotely with actors setting up their microphones, laptops and sound booths in wardrobes, cupboards, attics, cupboards under the stairs from the comfort of their homes! In short anywhere quiet. The process changed over the lockdown as we learned to adapt. So, for example on 'Callan' which was the first recording I did remotely, we used Zoom to connect with everyone and each actor would have to record their parts their end, label them up by scene and send them on to the sound engineers at the end of the day. Thankfully it worked and the quality is fantastic, and you wouldn't know. We had lots to contend with, power cuts, internet dropouts, roadworks, tree surgeons to name but a few. However, for the next project, which was 'Doctor Who', firstly we had Sylvester come into a studio on his own as he spent lockdown in France. He had a sound engineer recording for him and had another actor reading in all the other roles. This was because we had a small window to record him and not enough time to cast the rest of the story, so we recorded his bits first. The interesting bit was we used a new system to record this time. We used clean feed, which a Google Chrome programme whereby an engineer can record directly from each actor's microphone and give them direction on their recording quality and how to make it the best it can be. The actor also records their end as a backup too. The only caveat with this method is that it is entirely aural, there is no video which forces you to really focus your ear onto what you are hearing. In a way, it makes you more meticulous. After Sylvester, we had time to cast and record over a few days to pick up all the other parts in the piece. That was a total of six actors at once over clean feed, which can get very crowded very quickly, not including my voice, the sound engineer and the producer as well.
How has that been any difference from producing content traditionally vs. pre-COVID?
The difference with this method is that obviously none of us meet in the flesh! In the past, we would hire a studio for a few days and all record together, jumping in and out of the studio depending on the scenes we are recording. What you lose is the banter and the comradery and relationship building that is done in the green room. We still have a lot of fun and have found ways to keep the chatter alive between takes. It also gives you a chance to hear everyone's personal experiences of lockdown and this strange time we are living in. I have never worked with professionals, myself included so grateful to be working. We have had people recording from the deepest corners of Scotland, to Wales, to the Yorkshire Dales, to London, to Dorset to abroad!
Do you think there is something to learn about the way we produce content now, that we can take with us in a future without COVID?
The take away is that no matter what the human spirit will prevail and find a way of getting stories told. It also makes you realise that our impact of all actors travelling from all over can be reduced, helping the environment, the crowding and helping stop the s[read of COVID 19. I personally have more stories coming up and for the foreseeable future, Big Finish will be recording remotely until it is safe to come together again. I hope that is sooner rather than later as our industry of telling stories is built around relationships and sharing a certain amount of intimacy with each other and not being face to face does make it harder. I do think it will make productions look at the amounts they are spending and if there are ways of reducing costs and also being greener too.
