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Introduction
to Broadcasting MCM
411
VU
LESSON
09
RADIO
DOCUMENTARY
A
very prominent feature of
radio programs is the
production of Radio Documentaries.
As
radio
features may be prepared
again and again on a given
subjects, the documentaries
are
generally
produced only once. Usually
these documentaries consume 10 to 15
minutes; the
producers
who are generally handling
the current affairs program
are assigned the task
of
making
radio documentaries. But it is
not a hard and fast
rule, any producer who
shows
interest
in accomplishing such programs
may be asked to do
it.
Types
of Documentaries
Narrative
Here
a talent will describe the
subject matter with facts,
figures and articulate the
narration as
to
create interest about the
topic. If the documentary is
about the Texila ruins, it
needs so
many
facts to be told to the
listeners to keep their
interest intact. Listeners
would be keen in
listening
as when the Texila
civilization came into
existence, how the people
lived there, and
what
type of artifacts have been
recovered from that place.
It would be very interesting to
find
in
the documentary what
language those people used
to speak and if still there
is any one in
any
part of the world who
could understand that
language.
Musical
A
type of documentaries which
explains the topic in a
script frequently, punctuated
with
musical
insertions. This is done
when a documentary is required on a
personality closely
linked
with music; secondly it is on
birds, rivers, nature and
tourism. Your voice
superimposed
on
musical notes enhances the
value of script and
enthralls the listeners
better than a dry
description
for long spells of
time.
Documentaries
which are made about
tourist resorts or fascinating
places otherwise are
frequently
marked with musical notes to
highlight the points not
through words but by
creating
an
atmosphere which makes the
listeners understand about
those places in a rather
lighter
way.
Dramatized
At
times an impression of drama is
essential to elaborate the
theme of a documentary,
though
this
is done sparingly. Some
documentaries on historical wars
may carry some impressions
in
words
or sound effects to create a
sense of excitement and to
make the audience
understand
the
historical facts close as
they might have happened.
Over doing dramatic effects
may
remove
some of the gloss of a radio
documentary.
Imagination
In
documentary production, the
producer has to show his/her
imagination in giving treatment
to
the
subject matter. It is not as
ordinary an approach as writing
down a script and reading it
to
impart
information on the subject.
But putting in imagination
does not mean that a
producer
takes
the documentary to an extent
where the elements of
objectivity are over
shadowed by
the
subjectivity. In such a case a
documentary may not be able
to keep its essence as
the
piece
of broadcasting.
19
Introduction
to Broadcasting MCM
411
VU
Insertions
A
good radio documentary is
punctuated with insertions
from the relevant material.
If there is a
mention
of some paintings, you may
have quotations from the
books, or talk to experts
who
know
what it is all about. This
trend is getting very
popular lately. In fact
interviews of a number
of
people concerning with the
subject matter of the
documentary are conducted. At
first all the
irrelevant
matter is discarded from the
interviews and then the
answers are inserted in
the
documentary
in a manner of inter-cutting. This
means that instead of taking
long talk with a
person
at one go, only a brief
piece of answer from the
interview is inserted at an
appropriate
point
in the documentary. Obviously
making a documentary in this
style requires more
application
of mind and an elaborate
post production. A very
dedicated production team
is
required
to complete the task of
making a documentary of this
type.
Close
to places
Like
features, a producer is supposed to be
visiting the place to get a
real feel of the
surroundings
to involve the listeners in
this type of radio
production. It is always different if
you
are
making a documentary on mighty
River Chinab by walking
along the river and
stopping
where
it is necessary to mention some
very particular thing about
its surrounding. The
producers
who believe in sitting in a
studio and making the
documentary by having
certain
sound
effects can't reach even a
shade of a documentary which is
made by actually
visiting
the
river.
Same
is true if you are assigned
to make a documentary on
Minar-e-Pakistan. The feel of
the
beautiful
sight of the Minar in its
very picturesque surrounding of
Lahore Fort, the
Badshahi
mosque
and the River Ravi on
the other side, would be
available in the documentary
only
when
one would go to that place.
And it will be possible to talk to
the people coming from
all
over
the country to visit the
Minar-e-Pakistan only when
you are there. This is a
task not
possible
to be accomplished by sitting inside a
studio of a radio
station.
The
documentaries are about
people, places and events of
historic value.
Post
Production
They
need more care in post
production for they are
usually placed in archives
and kept there
as
a future reference as well.
When a documentary is made,
its various elements are
recorded
in
a very lose form. Some
one, while giving impression
about a place, might have
said things
which
you do not desire to include
in the final cut of the
program. Similarly there
have been
sounds
in the background which are
not making it possible to
listen to the narrator's
voiceover.
or
some time when you
are recording voices of
certain elements, the voice
level goes
extremely
down and does not
remain worth broadcasting.
All these flaws are
removed during
the
process of post-production and it is
also possible to include
some voices and
observations
at
this stage of production.
There is hardly any program
which does not go through
the stage
of
post production for it is
the last stage where a
mistake is corrected, otherwise
listeners
would
correct you, may be,
the harder way.
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