EarRelevant

"Part of the mandate of my show is to enable new work and to provide a structure...for producers to turn an idea into a great radio piece"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s part two of our conversation with Bob Carlson about his uncompromising approach to KCRW’s UnFictional.

Have you ever asked a producer to tone down a piece before it could air?

Not “tone down” in the sense that I think a story is too “weird.” But there may be a point during the editing process, that we have to work to make sure that anything we do is in the service of telling a compelling story. That often means making sure that a story has heart, stakes and a universal truth. I don’t like stories that are mean or condescending, where the humor of the story comes from simply laughing at someone. 

Also, anytime you’re trying to be unusual and inventive, there’s always a danger that you can veer into self indulgence and being “unusual” for it’s own sake. But that’s all part of the editing process, working with the structure and the elements of a story to make it great, sometimes experimenting, sometimes pulling back. 

Do you give priority to work that you can debut, that's never aired?

Yes, because part of the mandate of my show is to enable new work and to provide a structure and resources for producers to turn an idea into a great radio piece. That said, there’s a lot of material out there that has been produced for podcasts or local shows that deserves another outlet, so I welcome those stories. I also broadcast a fair amount of exceptional international work that American listeners may not know about. However, If a story has already aired on a big national show, I figure that a major chunk of the audience has already heard it. In the early days of my program I did air some nationally broadcast stories, but I do that a lot less now unless it’s a collaboration with that show.

Rather than one big tough decision, I make a lot of little tough decisions all the time. Even though I shoot for high quality production values on UnFictional, I’m operating with a microscopic staff (me and a part time editor.) So I often need to make tough decisions in order to keep things efficient and make deadlines. 

 What’s the toughest decision about the show that you ever had to make?

Bob Carlson is looking for radio with momentum that pulls the listener forward [and that's just for starters]

If you produce radio, Unfictional is one show you want to hear your work on. But getting a piece greenlighted by Bob Carlson is no slam dunk. The guy has high standards and a discerning ear. He views his weekly KCRW program as a showcase for indie producers. And like a jeweler gazing through a loupe, he picks the best of what sparkles with originality.

Here's part one of what Bob told us about his show, now in its third year, and the kind of work he's looking for.

Was UnFictional a hard sell to station management?

B.C.: No, it was not a hard sell at all because station management came to ME with the idea. Our station manager, Jennifer Ferro and I have been longtime fans of modern radio storytellers and documentarians. Even back in the 90s, KCRW was one of the first stations to air This American Life at it’s inception. Several years ago we spearheaded an artist-in-residence program here at KCRW that sponsored three different producers.

Then in early 2010, after Jennifer took over as the station head, she asked me to create a show to spotlight independent producers. She gave me no rules or directives, other than to follow my own taste.

Are they happy with how the show has developed over its two-year run?

B.C.: They are happy with the show. The point of the show is to be a showcase for great stories and radio talent and we’ve been able to work with some amazing producers. The show is so different from week to week, so the listenership will take awhile to build. Our audience continues to grow and the listeners I meet and hear from REALLY appreciate the show.

Has it gained a national presence due to the podcast and on-line listening?

B.C.: Yes, national and international. I get lots of feedback from areas far beyond Los Angeles where I live. I see a lot of Facebook “likes” of the show and people are podcasting the show from all over the world. Plus KCRW has an excellent mobile streaming app and I think a fair number of people listen that way. UnFictional is also on the Sirius XM public radio channel along with a few other KCRW programs.

What’s your background and how did you become producer for the show?

B.C.: I've been at KCRW for a very long time, and have done a little bit of everything.

KCRW is an incredible creative melting pot of artists and writers, and musicians and brilliant minds. I was originally hired as a production engineer, and ever since I’ve been completely transformed by soaking in all the ideas and inspiration. (On my very first day of work I met John Cleese and Michael Palin of Monty Python when they came in to be interviewed. They were two of my idols.) A few years later I became the head production guy. Since then I've recorded and edited thousands of interviews for the shows here at KCRW, mixed music from almost every genre for our music programs (like Morning Becomes Eclectic), hosted my own late night alternative music show, and produced talk shows and radio dramas. (We did a lot of radio drama at one time at KCRW.)

My first documentaries were about the construction of several arts centers that were built in Los Angeles in the last 15 years. The highlight of those experiences was the night I got to record the big concert organ at Walt Disney Concert hall. The only time we could get access to it was in the middle of the night, so I got to enjoy my own private organ concert at 1:30 in the morning.

One of the last duties I had before going full time on UnFictional was a podcast called The Guest DJ Project, where celebrities and luminaries tell stories about 5 of their favorite songs.  I really enjoyed finding the essence of a story and editing it down to be really tight and compelling.

Most importantly, I’m a major fan of radio documentary.

What kind of work are you looking for?

Awesome Aussie: Kyla Brettle

Annnnnd, we're back after a bit of a hiatus to feature one of our favorite producers.

Radio -- the sound-rich story telling variety that we showcase here -- needs Kyla Brettle. But for now, it must share the multi-tasking Ms. Brettle with her young son and her students in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, where she teaches radio and convergent media production "with a little bit of TV thrown in on the side."

Let's hope this new mom can "have it all," so we can hear more outstanding work like 000-Ambulance (part of a series titled Emergency). To our mind Kyla's magnum opus, it's a spellbinding piece that puts you in the middle of an Australian version of a 9-1-1 call center. Keep reading and discover the massive effort of recording so many sources and an editing slog through miles of tape.

The first time our ears perked up at Kyla's work was in 2002, when she won Best New Artist at the Third Coast Festival for Affairs of the Mind. Here she follows a private investigator shadowing a two-timing husband. It includes a real chase scene worthy of a TV crime thriller.

Kyla's sound design skills come to the fore in The Trouble With Rick. Proving radio can be impressionistic, it's like an embed in the skull of a man whose life is turned upside down.

We recently had the chance to catch up with Kyla on her work and her life.

You started out producing documentary films, then veered off into radio. What caused you to make the switch?

Kyla:  I started producing radio because I found a story that had to be made in sound… at the time I was in my 20s - a struggling documentary filmmaker making ends meet by writing articles for the weekend papers. I was interviewing for a particularly shonky advice piece called, ‘I think my partner is having an affair, how can I tell?’ when I came across Steve Murray; a private detective who specializes in marital surveillance. I was spellbound – Steve’s eloquence, humor, perception and self-delusion was utterly compelling – he was everything a dramaturge would want in a character. I knew I would make something with him at the center…

A documentary film? Access would be difficult in vision, Steve wouldn’t want his face on national TV and neither would his clients - getting good shots of him under cover would be impossible. Also, Steve was a great talker and storyteller - film is hungry for action and isn’t the best medium for words.

A newspaper or magazine feature? This would be possible but a bit of a waste of someone so vibrant in the flesh – Steve would shine in time-based media, in print, he would come across as a caricature….

And then I thought – radio? In sound I wouldn’t have privacy issues and I’d be able to let Steve’s stories run free – but more than that sound would privilege how Steve sees the world (rather than how the world sees Steve) and it is the perfect medium for a tale of secrets and lies and standing on shifting sands … And so that’s how I fell into working with sound.

In 2002, you won the Best New Artist award at the Third Coast Festival with “Affairs of the Mind.” Later work like “The Trouble with Rick” suggest your approach and technique have evolved over the decade. True?

Despite the name, this Hindenburg has taken off in a big way

Ever found yourself debating the merits of different audio editing and multi-track programs? Maybe even passionately defending your favorite? Now Radio producers have something new to argue about.

More than a few have given Hindenburg a test flight, and some have made the switch, dumping more costly programs, and even disconnecting hardware.

Not bad for a DAW developed as a cottage industry in a place thousands of miles from Silicon Valley.

It's a great little story, told here by a man dedicated to story telling via audio. He's known simply as Nick (never mind the last name) at Hindenburg. And though he's the proud father of this compact but powerful program, Nick is one of the most soft-spoken, unassuming entrepreneurs ever to put up a shingle. Add to that "accessible." Send Nick an email suggesting a new wrinkle for Hindenburg and he'll not only answer it, he'll consider your idea.

Trained as a sound engineer in his home country Denmark, he then went to school to be a journalist. So who better to understand what radio folks need to produce a story quickly and with high production values.

We recently dialed him up via Skype to find out the who, what, when, where and why of Hindenburg Journalist. First Nick talks about how the inspiration came to him in one of the last places you'd expect.

How did Nick tailor Hindenburg to be a killer app for radio people?

Nick tells the secret behind the voice profiler feature that helps producers sound sharp on a few hours sleep while nursing a gravelly throat.

An EarRelevant Eulogy: Tony Barrell

Tony Barrell elevated the craft of feature and documentary making to an art. That’s not just one man’s opinion, but that of many, including those in other media, such as this homage from Sydney's newspaper. An Englishman by birth and Australian by choice, Tony’s life in radio spanned four decades. He made an unexpected exit earlier this year, but left a body of work that will endure.

Here's a tribute to Tony and his work, "Listening for Pleasure," from Australian Radio National's 360 (may load slowly on some browers).

He also said some memorable things about his medium of choice.

"Audio images can be arranged, heard, felt and understood in a non-literal, non-linear way. The mind engages in active listening, storing, ordering and even re-ordering audio material almost subconsciously, using the patterns left by fragments, a well as solid expositions to create three dimensional images that takes involvement far beyond the common linear listening most radio demands
and imposes."-2006

Some called Tony a "collagist" as a way of explaining his audio alchemy. Many of the finest examples of which were on ABC's "The Night Air," a program he helped create and that still holds true to his style of telling stories with a kaleidoscope of sound. Here's his last production for the program, part one and part two.

"On location, I use the microphone as a camera with added ears, by which I mean when I make recordings I am not always aware of what’s in “the frame”. With sound it is the context and juxtaposition of foreground and background sounds that create new, or reflect existing meanings and understanding, not always apparent when I am “there”. I act as an almost passive conduit for those messages. What happens is not altogether predictable so when I am “listening” with the microphone I am involving potential listeners in a research experiment."-2005

Much of Tony's work made for easy and enjoyable listening. One that wasn't easy to hear was "Tokyo's Burning," a powerful piece on the 50th anniversary of the Dresden-like bombing of Japan's capital city (again, the sound file may load slowly depending on your browser).

"A feature can be noise and excitement. It can use the techniques of drama. It can tap memory and emotions. It can be poetic. The feature goes beyond the simple literal presentation of facts, opinions and explanatory narration. It is an experience that can be heard and enjoyed more than once."

Naturally, others had something to say about his work. An ABC colleague, Eurydice Aroney, wrote in an academic paper before his passing:

"Barrell's 'hybrid' forms insist on a modern reading of the functions of 'documentary' material in the invisible world of the aural imagination. In this acoustic space the radio producer can build up layers of sound and meaning, superimpose 'real' or documentary material and fictional elements on top of each other, weave them together in ways that are just not possible with visual images."

The Euro may be shaky, but European radio is as strong as ever

Our friend Connor Walsh, a London-based radio producer and Manager of In The Dark, was a judge last week at the Prix Europa, the continent's "largest festival for Television, Radio and the Online Media." He interviewed one of the winners for us (listen below), followed by his take on what it's like to judge and choose Europe's best.

Connor with Anna Thaulow, winner of the Prix Europa Special award.

On the Jury at Prix Europa
by Connor Walsh, Manager of In The Dark and Contributor at AudioDocumentary.org

Passion: Radio features. Job: Not radio features. Opportunity: 5 days' leave in late October…

The Prix Europa is a big deal within the documentary units of public broadcasters in Europe. I don't work in those circles, but it turns out that you don't need to be on the inside to get on the jury – you just need to click the box that says "juror" when registering on their website. [prix-europa.de]

Next thing you know, it's autumn in Berlin with its beautiful air and golden leaves. But once you follow the gold stars on the footpath up into the gorgeous 1930s Haus des Rundfunks, you'll miss that fresh air.

8:50 Sunday morning and it's down to work. Introductions, ground rules, grab a pack of transcripts, then get down to listening to six documentaries. About the transcripts: each producer has to provide 80 printed transcripts of their piece, in the original language and English. English is the operating language of the event – all instructions and discussions. There's a short break after each item, with lunch wherever you like (but I suggest the staff canteen, not least for the funky pater-noster lifts and chance to snoop around the Radio Brandenburg-Berlin studios.

After listening to six documentaries, it's time for the discussions. everyone's opinion around the circle is equal, and everyone brings their own and national qualities. This is great. It can become repetitive, but it also drives home factors you would never ever think about in making your own features.

By seven PM, you'll wrap up the discussions and cast votes on a small ballot paper. Then a drink and chat in the foyer cafe before heading off mostly to the same restaurants, then bars again. Chatting with young and old producers from around the continent (plus Chris Brookes of Newfoundland and the one American, who came in useful when we needed someone to translate from French to English). Some nights there are receptions in embassies. Sometimes some people get sense and have an early night. Sometimes.

Repeat until Friday evening. 

And then you're free for almost 24 hours until the awards ceremony. That's where you find out the top five, and then the top two. The winners get a small but heavy trophy in the shape of a bull's head. And then a little piece of paper with the scores of the top ten documentaries. Personally I was happy with everything that was there, but there were plenty that didn't make the list but would have happily sat there – in my opinion. And there is a large personal element to this. During the discussions, most people felt at some stage, "Did I hear the same programme as everyone else?" Were there bad programmes? Yep. But others did point out their strengths, which was surprisingly useful.

In short: I made new radio friends, I met younger producers who were so foolish as to ask my advice (cue loooong speech on my radio theories), I had my ears opened by some of Europe's finest, and I wanted to go back to mainland Europe!

Radio owes a lot to Orson Welles, and vice versa

We promise this blog is not "All Welles All the Time." But there's a wonderful new documentary about Welles' life in radio that just hit the air. Filmmaker and author R.G. Greene has produced the definitive piece on how the young actor/writer/producer dominated the medium. Ttitled "Airborne," it debuted over the weekend (listen to it here) on KPCC Radio's On Ramp, replete with nice bits of 30's and 40's radio, from "War of the Worlds" to Welles on The Jack Benny Show. But this is more than just a fawning homage. Greene gives you Welles warts and all.

The genius of "Citizen Kane" inspired by the power of radio

Because this blog is about the creative possibilities of soundrich radio, our first post tells how the medium impacted the film recognized as America's greatest ever. On this the 70th anniversary of Orson Welles' masterpiece, a Wall Street Journal article reveals how Welles' radio background added an extra dimension to "Citizen Kane."

"The visuals in "Citizen Kane" would be complemented by (and even take cues from) audio techniques carried over from radio. Many of the film's signature devices were motifs developed by Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe during their years in radio."

"Starting in 1937, Welles and his ensemble, in their 'Mercury Theatre on the Air,' 'Campbell Playhouse' and other broadcasts, had created riveting adaptations of 'famous stories by great authors,' from Charles Dickens to Dashiell Hammett, Joseph Conrad to Agatha Christie. The Mercury's live dramatizations of such works as Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' John Buchan's 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' and Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca'—with their superb mix of composer-conductor Bernard Herrmann's scoring, Welles's and others' expressive voices, and evocative sound effects—were like marvelous films unfurling inside a listener's mind.

" 'Welles had "a real fascination with sound,' " Mercury member William Alland (who would play the persistent reporter in "Citizen Kane") said in a 1988 documentary. " 'Sound in radio is like lights in a theatre. . . . With sound, you can do so much colorization; it's more than just a background. So that sound became a very creative part.' "

Do your ears a favor. Listen to some original "Mercury Theater" episodes here, as Welles pioneers the use of sound in ways that have reverberated through radio, film and television for three quarters of a century.