Have Foley, Will Travel

I started a new job today. Allie, the stage manager of my current Hamlet tour, is directing a production of "Dracula" at a local high school. When she found out that I produce radio plays and work with live sound effects, she asked if I would be interested in coming in to work with some high school students on live sound effects for the production. Always interested in making contacts, working, and earning some money for my art, I jumped at the chance. My first rehearsal was today, although Allie and I had tried unsuccessfully to meet up over the last week to chat and get the script to me. So today I watched a run of the play while making notes regarding some possible sound effects. I gave the production manager a wish list at the end of the day, rounded up handfuls of wood, screws, and metal, and then headed home to research the sound of bat wings.

I love my job.

As of right now, I think that designing the live sound effects on this show should be pretty easy. There are only a handful of "sounds" written into the script that I need to figure out, even though they seem to happen over and over again throughout the play. Most of the work is going to revolve around two or three "atmospheric sound cues" that are going to create different moods for different characters. The idea I have is that certain characters are going to get sound cues to serve as their "theme." As the director, Allie can then decide when and how she wants to use those themes to underscore or foreshadow things happening in the play.

When I go in tomorrow, I'll start working with my actual sound performers on the rhythm, style, and cues for live sound effects. Having done so many live shows, Radio Hound Productions has developed something of a "house style" that I now have to teach to high schoolers and let them process it further. It is what I get hired for, so its what I get to do. Updates to follow.