August 2008 RAP
August 2008 Highlights
Feature: Acting in My Mental Movies
by Craig Jackman
I lead an exciting life. One Friday night last June, the kids were out
with their friends, and my wife and I stayed home to watch TV like most
normal suburban parents. Flicking around, we landed on Larry King. How’s
that for life on the edge! The special guest was Al Pacino, for only his
fourth interview in 25 years. Now I am not the biggest Al Pacino fan in the
world. I actually think most of his movies are a little dull. My wife, who
thinks film is one of the highest of the art forms, loves everything he has
done… so in the interests of marital harmony, I relinquished control of the
clicker. Little did I know I was going to get some positive creative
reinforcement in the next 52 minutes.
Interview: Arden Hanlen, Capital 95.8, London, United
Kingdom
by Jerry Vigil
Each year, we try to visit with at least one or two of our RAP Awards
trophy winners, especially newcomers to that short list. Taking home the top
prize for Large Market Promo this year was Arden Hanley, Senior Imaging
Producer at Capital Radio in London. Recognition for his work is nothing new
for Arden; he has many other awards under his belt from competitions in
Australia, New York, and the UK. We get better acquainted with Arden in this
month’s RAP Interview, who started his radio career in Australia at the very
young age of eight! After a rapid rise through major stations in Australia,
a sight-seeing trip to Europe eventually turned into permanent residency in
the UK, where Arden now handles the imaging for one of London’s first
commercial radio stations. Be sure to check out this month’s CD for an
awesome sampler from Arden, including his award winning promo.
Production 212: Grill On!
by Dave Foxx
There are two kinds of Creative Service Directors in this world. There
are those who are constantly scrambling to meet deadlines and those who are
home at the grill long before those pesky deadlines pop up. The scramblers
tend to want to go back and fix things after they hear them on the air
because they can make the “so much better,” while the griller is onto
dessert. The scrambler just can’t seem to find the time to get those
long-term projects done, while the griller churns out those long-term
projects over the course of a week or so. So, which are you, a scrambler… or
a griller? It’s not a trick question. (OK, maybe you don’t grill, but do you
scramble?)
Feature: Produce Dave Foxx!
by YOU!
We had a suggestion from one of our readers that sounded, not only like
some fun, but something that would generate some results that would allow
all of us to get a unique look at how different producers would tackle the
same job. The idea was to provide you with a voice track from Dave Foxx, and
turn you loose on the production. How would you produce the promo? What
effects would you use? How would you process his voice track? What other
elements would you include? Just imagine the endless possibilities.
What we hope to get in the end is a wide variety of interpretations of how
producers would approach the promo. So, without further ado, on this month’s
CD, you’ll find the voice track from Dave Foxx for a promo which he has
already produced. We won’t let you hear Dave’s version of the promo until we
present all the submissions on next month’s CD. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE
VOICE TRACK.
There are no rules here, except that you produce the promo as though it were
going to air. Have fun and email the finished promo to jv@rapmag.com by
August 23rd. You do not have to be a RAP subscriber to play! We’ll feature
the submissions on the September CD, and then we’ll let Dave write up an
analysis of what he hears, and publish that in the following October issue.
You’ll also be invited to send along your own comments on the results to be
published in the October issue as well. In addition, though not required,
we’d ask that you provide a paragraph or two with your promo, describing
your approach to the promo, and any thoughts you might have on the exercise
in general.
Considering the wide variety of production styles featured on the RAP CD
each month, this exercise should deliver some interesting insights into how
we approach our work, and hopefully provide us all with some new ways to
tackle that same old promo day after day. Furthermore, Dave has noted many
times that one of the difficult things about critically reviewing production
is getting past the announce style of the VO before evaluating the other
elements and their construction. Using the same VO puts everyone at the same
starting point and allows us all to evaluate just the production.
Test Drive: Mackie HR-Mk2 and MR Studio Monitors
by Steve Cunningham
In the beginning, there was the Yamaha NS-10 studio monitor. With its
compact size and white woofer cone, and despite a distinct lack of bass and
brittle high-end that required Kleenex over the tweeters — the specific
brand of tissue was a hot topic among audio engineers — the NS-10 became a
standard for nearfield reference monitors worldwide. But times and tastes
changed, and the mid ’90s saw Mackie’s amazing HR824 active nearfield
monitors replace the NS-10s as go-to nearfields. Sometime after, Mackie
released a smaller version, the HR624, which never reached the popularity of
its older sibling but was still very successful. I had a pair of these
charmers for several years, and what they lacked in low end compared to
824s, they more than made up for with the same open top end and detailed
mids of their big brothers. I mixed countless commercial spots on them, and
liked them a lot.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks! - What’s your recurring
job related dream?
Q It Up: We’re going to have a little fun with this
month’s question: Job related dreams. Do you have a recurring job related
dream? The dream of the dreaded dead air is one of the more common amongst
radio people. This editor’s most frequent is of being on the air, and one or
two hours into the show, realizing that I have not played a single
commercial that was on the log. Panic! There I am... with pen in one hand,
and the commercial log in the other. Do I check them off and hope nobody
notices? Or do I confess and face the consequences? Fortunately, I always
wake up before I have to make that decision! What’s your recurring job
dream? And if you’ve ever ventured an analysis of it, what was it? What does
it mean in your real, waking world?
Radio Hed: Guided Tours
by Jeffrey Hedquist
In my in-person seminars I’ll often ask an audience member to tell me
about their favorite restaurant. Since most of them are in radio and now “on
mic,” they start to deliver a commercial. I stop them; hold my hand to my
ear in the “I’m holding a phone” position. They do the same. We start again.
Simulating a phone conversation, I pretend I’m their best friend asking them
about their favorite restaurant. The conversation that ensues is much more
natural, spontaneous and well… un commercial-like. But you know what? It
works. It’s more believable and if it was recorded just the way it happened
with all the pauses, incomplete thoughts, real enthusiasm and frank
recommendation it would make an effective… commercial. Hmmmm…
...And Make It Real Creative - “No Man is an Island”
by Trent Rentsch
It doesn’t surprise me that several mummies have been discovered lately.
I’m not talking about the ones found in pyramids or underground in stone
crypts around the world, I’m talking about ones like the remains of the
woman in Croatia discovered several months ago sitting in a recliner in her
living room, mummified. Heck, if it wasn’t for my wife and stepson here in
the house, it wouldn’t surprise me to be found that way sometime in the
future… dried hands still laying on the keys of my computer, 3 and a half
paragraphs of my book glowing from the dusty monitor, cursor still blinking
in mocking glee.
The Monday Morning Memo: Magic Words
by Roy H. Williams
Yes, there are magic words. Do you know them? Penetrate the shield of
customer indifference by shooting verbs from your word-gun. Leap the wall of
inattention by putting verb-springs under your feet. Hold the gaze of a
wide-eyed audience by smearing verb-honey on your lips. Verbs are magic
words. Rollicking, laughing, lollygagging verbs. Snuggling, cuddling,
canoodling verbs. Prancing, strutting, swaggering verbs. Sizzle and wiggle
and leap and thrust, drizzle and tickle and beep and bust, projected into
the mind they must trigger a mental action.
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