orality and storytelling
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Lend me your eyes so my ears can see
Audio description or AD is the oral narrative system used in film, and during certain live events such as theatre performances and sporting competitions, to compensate for the absence of images for the visually deficient. ADs of screenworks are pre-recorded, but for live events the description is spoken by the describer simultaneously with the event. In this post, beginning from the origins of AD, we'll visit the various stages involved in creating the audio description for a screen fiction by which an audio describer works to make the visual become verbal.
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Come any closer and you’ll be in the movie
As a kid, I used to dream of sitting in the front row at the cinema, but you had to fight for a place. 60 years on, it's another story but, when it happened to me, I had an unexpected and unforgettable visual experience. I saw things you don't normally notice, and I heard others that you don't normally listen for.
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Songsmith Bruce Springsteen tells dark bedtime stories – and the world wants more
The album "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen was first released in 1982. We'd listen to a tape of it on the battery cassette player we took in our car on long trips. "Nebraska" was a twilight choice. With each song we carried an extra passenger who would briefly be there, tell their tale, then vanish, leaving space for the next one.
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Spring clean
We have been doing a Spring-clean on the blog and the new version is ready. Easier to read and to use.
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Is Shakespeare better in translation?
English is my mother tongue but I have lived most of my life in France. Recently, I went to see a new production of Shakespeare's Richard III in French. For the first time in my life I realised I could actually undertsand every word. Okay, so here's the big question : Is Shakespeare simply better in translation?
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The Card Sharp
When telling a story, it is essential to create an audience who feel compelled to pay attention. In exploring the theme of The Oral Tradition recently, certain memories have popped up which show how instructive everyday situations can be in developing an understanding of how this tradition works. Here's a memory of a card-sharp (or card-shark, if you prefer) from when I was 7 or 8 years old.
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Shakespeare in French? You must be joking!
Believing you won't understand something can be an obstacle to even trying. Why didn't I feel that as I followed Richard III's opening monologue in a new production of this famous Shakespeare play in French ? Perhaps because, when you are in a theatre, you are drawn into a more-than-verbal situation. You are held in a room by a character, eye to eye, who wants you to understand what s/he is going through by any means necessary. Unless Shakespeare is simply better in translation?
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Dublin Lad Learns Morse
Ken Kenny, our Dad, was many things in his lifetime, and among them was Marine Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy. He could always be coaxed into talking about the years he spent at sea. He loved telling people about this period because it took him and his listeners on a journey to places we'd all heard of, but that he'd been to, and come away with a story, or sometimes several. Here's one of those stories. A chance to explore the world of a Merchant Marine Radio Officer.
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John Trudell – a voice to be reckoned with
I first noticed John Trudell in 1992, the year he released a CD called AKA Grafitti Man. It was the wind and fury of "Rockin the Res", heard on the radio, that stopped me in my tracks. His was a voice : almost conversational but somehow assertive. He seemed to be talking about life as he experienced it, but also something wider. And wilder. The tension and poetry made you sit up and listen, and the music made you want to dance even if you didn't know how. Want to know more? Discover John Trudell here.
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Smoke Signals in the classroom
Storytelling in the language classroom is a powerful tool. But what happens if nobody wants to listen? Or if, at least, that's how it feels? The problem is often not with the story. It's about the smoke signal you're sending out : people can't see the signal, all they can see is the smoke. Here are some ways to change that.
