Hello everyone, Camilla here!
Happy New Year to you all, I hope you all had a cosy Christmas and are now making plans for 2022. Even if you are not planning on venturing out much this year, why not plan in some time to enjoy January’s creative pack! Put the kettle on, put your feet up, grab a pen and then relax with Shey Hargreaves CD which accompanies the pack.
Shey is a scriptwriter and performer, working across Norfolk and Suffolk who writes for theatre, audio and graphic novels. This month, she is releasing a new podcast drama, Badger Watching, about a brother and sister going for walks in the East Anglian countryside during lockdown.
The creative pack for January includes several activities to encourage us to listen creatively to the sounds that surround us in our everyday environment. The pack will give you the opportunity to see how you can use everyday sounds to evoke a place or tell a story.
Writing for radio and podcasts, needs to be highly descriptive and atmospheric, sounds and different voices have to be used with dramatic effect in order for the audience to imagine what the story is about and how it looks and feels for them. Sometimes sounds are recorded live and sometimes, they are added in later.
Shey introduced us to the work of Foley artists, in the two Zoom workshops recently, this is a concept used in film. Foley artistry is used in post-production to create sounds of people moving. Examples of these could be footsteps, rustling of clothes or even using coconut shells clicking together to sound like horses’ hooves! All of these sounds are intimate sounds that need to synchronise exactly to the image. You can go to Track 3 on the CD, to hear a few example sound effects.
Within the pack, there are activities and boxes provided for you to write down what sounds you can hear inside and outside your home. This is a mindful and calming exercise, encouraging you to halt all your other “essential” activities and become more centred with your surroundings. Once these describing words/adjectives have been found, you can then start to slot these words into a little story about what your home is like or what outside of your home is like.
Shey’s creative pack also explores what a podcast is and where to find them. A podcast is an audio recording that have been put online for anyone to listen to. They are often interviews with interesting people, but many are also stories and plays.
Below are some places where you can find some fantastic podcasts!
– Desert Island Discs’ castaway guests share the soundtracks of their lives! – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr
– BBC Sounds Podcasts – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/podcasts
– Apple Podcasts – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apple-podcasts/id525463029
– 53 of the Best Podcasts for Curious Minds – https://www.wired.co.uk/article/best-podcasts
– Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/
– Tune In Podcasts – https://tunein.com/podcasts/
– Spotify Podcasts – https://open.spotify.com/genre/podcasts-web
– You’re Dead To Me. A comedy history podcast for people who don’t like history and for those that do. Bringing together the best names in comedy and history to learn and laugh about the past –https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07mdbhg
– The Archers – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rbj
– Woman’s Hour – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013rrb
– The Sista Collective find tales of joy and success during the pandemic – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08wsdgf
– For anyone who wants to learn something new or brush up on their knowledge for a quiz! – In Our Time – Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player
If you would like any help to access podcasts, Creative Arts East can help you via the phone or on video call.
I hope you enjoy your creative pack this month and enjoy all the sounds you tune into!
Stay safe and well,
All the best,
Camilla 🙂 x
