In a new digital age where technologies are ever changing and evolving, it seems strange and somewhat counter progressive that we should consider Radio – a beloved though aging entertainment enterprise – as an experimental platform for Documentary. Nonetheless, in this Doc/Fest Session from 2013, ‘The Alternative World of Radio Docs’, chairman Jeremy Hardy leads an eclectic panel of creatives, all of whom are committed to this medium, as they discuss the weight it holds in the modern Documentary world.
Radio 4’s Prix-Italia prizewinner Laurence Grissell discusses the multilayered process of producing his hit ‘Wireless Nights’ series for radio: his experience of merging reportage with music and the entrancing narration of ‘instinctive Broadcaster’ Jarvis Cocker, whose butter-soft articulation affords each show a compelling theatrical dimension. But why radio? Is the spiritual home of the Documentary not on-screen?
But, as Grissell asserts, “Radio is not just telly with no pictures”. Joining him is Radio 4’s Commissioning Editor Tony Phillips and Fallen Tree Production’s Eleanor McDowell, whom both appreciate the sheer intimacy evoked in a radio doc: a magical overlap between drama and documentary which has the potential to unlock new bounds of aural enjoyment, fostering a relationship with the listener that television seems devoid of.
The ‘power of the voice’ is one that cannot be undermined, which is why Radio Docs survive in a fast-moving interactive age. There’s a huge scope for ambiguity and authorship, and in the absence of the small screen, amazing effects can be created very economically. In the RadioDoc world, the art of the interview takes new shape: Joby Waldman, Head of Speech Programmes at Europe’s largest Independent Radio Company ‘Somethin’ Else’, addresses just how well natural-occurring silences and shifts in tone translate on the airwaves, when they can be so easily missed on television. This unique synthesis between audio and imagination makes for a truly personal, unhinged Documentary experience. I mean, when was the last time Jarvis Cocker whispered in your ear!?
Complete with snappy soundbites, a quickfire Q&A session and expert advice on how to pitch your RadioDoc to commissioners, allow your perspective on the world of the Radio Documentary to be altered by this vibrant Podcast.
Download it for free by searching Sheffield Doc/Fest on the iTunes store.
Written by Lucie Eaton