This short episode has doubled as a test for our new recording method and as a prequal to series 2.

Credits

Writer

Mark Chatterley

Actors

• Simon – Mark Chatterley
• Whoosh! Doors – JD Kelly
• Ms Jones – Verity Smith

Music

• Background muzak and sound effects – Pete Bayliss of Jamyama Media
• Jingle – Kate Rabaiotti

Post-production

Alecx Cutter

The day went well. Using actors in my local area, I knocked up a short Supermarket Matters script (about 3 minutes long) which would test some of the scenarios which we found difficult in post before. These were:

• People leaving the ‘action area’ but still talking
• People interrupting each other
• People talking over each other

All of these, in our old method, were a pain to get right. This new recording method should sort them out during the recording.

And it worked!

The actors felt like they were properly acting, rather than just reading lines, as they had a space to move around in. They could control how loud they were in the recording by moving toward or away from the mic rather than having to guess with the volume of their voice.

All in all, a good day.

The recording is now with our post production dude to play around with to see what the final quality is like compared to what we have produced before. I have high hopes for this.

One cool point of the new recording method is that we can add the Whoosh! Doors sound effects on live and record with the doors ‘as is’. This is done by having JD Kelly, the Whoosh! Doors actor, in another room with his own mic. This mic is attached to some magic sound box which adds the effect live and then piped into a set of speakers in the room with the other actors. Some sort of wizardry then links all the sound back to JD’s headphones so he knows what is going on. All with no lag. Amazing.

This ends up with the actors talking to a set of speakers. See below:

The Whoosh! doors.

I shall let you know what happens with the sound files during post production.

The existing method has all the actors sat or standing around a table with their own mics. At the time, this was a quick way of setting things up and allowed us to concentrate on producing our first series. But there were a number of issues we had with this set up which mainly focused around the time it took to clean up the audio for mastering.

Now that we are moving forward and looking at longer, more professional episodes and projects our amazing sound dude (who there will be a blog post about soon) has been thinking of different ways in which we can set up the recording sessions to make a more professional product.

The new method involves setting up some free-standing mics in a room to record a whole area. The actors then act within this area (think of them essentially acting out a play like they were on stage). This means audio effects where someone is further away from the action don’t need to be created in post-production, as the actor will actually be further away from the mic.

If this works, it opens up a lot of doors for us. In terms of Supermarket Matters series 2 it will allow us to hit the ground running when it comes to post production. But, in terms of future projects, such as the Drama Showcase I want to do, it could possibly pave the way for live audience recording.

I am very excited about this Saturday and will let you know how it all goes.

Expect an update early next week.

While I have you here, please do take some time to look at our funding page. There are different perks on offer for different funding levels and every little bit really does help!

The first series of Supermarket Matters was created as a way of testing the water to see whether entertainment delivered in this way was of interest to people. I am glad to say that the answer to this question is yes. It is because of this that we are ploughing ahead with series 2.

But this is where we hit a slight block. We have no source of income. The first series of Supermarket Matters was funded out of my pocket, but due to a change in circumstances, this cannot happen anymore. The good news is that a lot of the expense of setting up the production company has been taken care of last year. We have all the equipment we need and so on. But there are still a few things that need funding.

As such, we have created a crowd sourced funding page which can be seen here: Supermarket Matters IndieGoGo page.

You will be able to track how much funding has been received and how long there is left until the end of the campaign. There are perks that you can get for funding the project at different levels and these are spread across a wide range of minimum donations even if you can only spare a few quid, there should be something for you.

Even if you can’t afford to donate, we would appreciate it if you could spread the word about Supermarket Matters. The more people we get interested in what we are doing the better.

Thank you.

Credits

Writer

PJ Montgomery, JD Kelly and Mark Chatterley

Actors

• Simon – Mark Chatterley
• Mr Bradshaw – Mark C.
• Mrs Haywood – Helen DeVitt
• Brian- Osian Edwards
• Whoosh! Doors/Head office – JD Kelly
• Tina- Serena Lewis
• Jules – Sian Prescott
• Ms Jones – Verity Smith

Music

• Background muzak and sound effects – Pete Bayliss of Jamyama Media
• Jingle – Kate Rabaiotti

Post-production

Alecx Cutter

Credits

Writer

PJ Montgomery, JD Kelly and Mark Chatterley

Actors

• Simon – Mark Chatterley
• Mr Bradshaw – Mark C.
• Mrs Haywood – Helen DeVitt
• Customer – Osian Edwards
• Whoosh! Doors/Head office – JD Kelly
• Customer – Serena Lewis
• Storyteller/Customer/Special guest – Steve Mellor
• Mad Jasper – PJ Montgomery
• Sian Prescott – Jules
• Ms Jones – Verity Smith

Music

• Background muzak and sound effects – Pete Bayliss of Jamyama Media
• Jingle – Kate Rabaiotti

Post-production

Alecx Cutter

The first will be released on Christmas morning – our Christmas present to you!

The second will be released on New Year’s day.

We won’t go into what happens in the episodes now, but we can tell you that they are the first episodes in the longer 25 minute format. This is the format that Supermarket Matters will take moving forward, bringing them more in line with what would be expected of a radio play.

Christmas and New Year – in postproduction

Christmas and New Year will see the release of two special episodes. These two episodes will mark the start of the new Supermarket Matters format of 20-25 minute episodes.

These episodes were recorded in one day in October and are now with our amazing post-production dude Alecx.

Series 2 – in preproduction

Series 2 will follow series 1 and have eight episodes in the new 20 – 25 format.

Treatments have been submitted for series 2 and successful writers have been contacted. If all goes to plan, these episodes should be recorded in Spring 2012 and be released in Summer.

—

We also have some plans to bring you more information about the writers and actors involved with Supermarket Matters, along with some read-along episode commentaries.

As always, if you would like to get involved with any of our projects, do get in touch.

You would need to be available to record on Sunday 16 October 2011 in Stroud, Gloucestershire and at some point early in 2012.

Roles currently open are:

Clue

Due to our current actor landing himself a part in a Hollywood movie filming in London he is unable to carry on with his role as Llewellyn Parsons. As Clue is so fundamental to the plot of the upcoming episodes we have decided to recast him.

Tina

Clue’s date at the Grab’n'Go Christmas and New Year’s party. She is a tad dim and really not that interested in anyone. Clue just wants a midnight kiss, so could he be settling for Tina? Probably.

Brian

Jules’ date to the Grab’n'Go Christmas and New Year’s party. Brian is in a band, one that probably isn’t that great… You know the type.

Customers

If you have never done any voice acting before and want to try your hand, why not have a go at being one of the Grab’n'Go’s customers. Depending on the script you’ll get a line or two of dialogue.

Supermarket Matters series 2

Would you like to write for Supermarket Matters series 2? Do you have a brilliant idea for Clue and the gang? If so, get in touch markc@inearentertainment.com

Once you have sent an email letting us know you are interested you will be given access to the show bible and the planned story arcs for series 2. After a thorough read of these you can submit a treatment for an episode you would like to write. The eight best treatments will be chosen and the writers will then be asked to write the episodes.

The deadline for treatment submissions is October 31 2011. Writers will be notified if they have been successful by the end of 6 November 2011.

You can submit treatments for up to two episodes.

30 minute drama showcase

Taking a more traditional radio drama format the 30 minute drama showcase gives six people the opportunity to have an audio-only drama created by In Ear Entertainment.

Not limited to any subject, you can allow your imagination to go wild.

The deadline for treatment or script submissions is 14 November 2011. Please submit ideas to markc@inearentertainment.com

Additional information for both opportunities

• Submitted treatments should be no more than 1 A4 page long and contain a full account of your episode.
• In Ear Entertainment will provide feedback on script drafts as they come in.
• In Ear Entertainment reserves the right to edit episodes – although these edits will happen in conjunction with the writer.
• The writer maintains copyright of the episode but gives In Ear Entertainment the right to disseminate and promote both the written and audio versions of the script.