| | Home| News | Members | Join Now | ATW | Resources | About NATF | Other sites | Contact Us | |
|
|
| Sonic Force - Composing With Time | NATF Welcomes New Executive Director! | NATF BOARD 2007 ELECTION RESULTS | Older News Stories | Print Editions | Send News Items |
|
2008 ATW Features Cowboy Poets, Shakespeare, Barbara Rosenblat and Brother Blue The 2008 ATW will include concurrent Foundation Classes in all aspects of audio theater production including: writing, performance, recording, mixing, sound design, directing and much more. Special Programs include:
Artist profiles in the print edition of NATF News. ATW Registration Form, and Financial Assistance Application on the NATF website... |
|
| 2007 Freshman Class
Gary Phillips, a member of NATF's 2007 "Freshman Class" (now Workshop 101) was surprised to learn that the audio play his group created and performed placed third in the first annual audio competition sponsored by the Missouri Review. But he wasn't surprised they'd gotten a look. More... |
|
NATF Announces 2007-2008 Script Competition Winners
Seven scriptwriters from all parts of the country earned top honors in the National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. (NATF) 2007-2008 Script Competition. The top three winners split will $800 in prize money and received a fee waiver for the 27th Audio Theatre Workshop in West Plains, MO, June 22-27. The four "Honorable Mentions" received a 50% fee waiver for the June Workshop. The 2007 - 2008 Script Competition Winners are:
In addition to being slated for possible productions at upcoming NATF festivals, all 7 scripts will be featured in NATF's 2007-2008 script book, which will be available for sale through our website and at the June Workshop. Three judges evaluated 36 scripts for this year's competition:
The 2008 NATF Audio Theater Workshop is made possible, in part, by funding from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts. |
| NATF member Tom Lopez was delighted when NPR's daily
series, "Day to Day," aired one of his "2 Minute Film Noir" pieces.
They were designed for magazine shows, and it actually fit in quite
nicely.
Day to Day, March 10, 2008 · Producer Thomas Lopez, of HearingVoices.com, presents "Chez Tootsie." In this episode, an American private eye falls in love with a mysterious French woman, but things are not what they seem. |
 |
|
A colleague remembered
I have the unfortunate duty of passing along some very sad news. My friend Erik Villesvik has passed away. Many of you met him through the National Audio Theatre Festival and had the opportunity to work with this talented, intelligent and creative person. I've been working with Erik since 1987 and we discovered we had a mutual love for radio theatre and comedy. We formed a partnership and created The Cabinet of Dr. Marconi. I think a great triumph for Erik was Not Another Talk Show, a play he wrote and which was performed at NATF some years ago. We then went on to direct and produce a studio version starring Phil Proctor. Dave Ossman directed the NATF version and also appeared in the studio version. Erik was the best writing partner I have ever had and I will miss him. -Dan Epstein |
|
Sonic Force - Composing With Time
By Dianne Ballon
A highlight at this summer's Audio Theater Workshop was the performance of Dwight Frizzel and Michael Henry's powerful and moving audio art piece, Sonic Force: Thunderbolt Threnody. Sonic Force is based on the recordings of two A-10 Warthog attack planes, an Air Evac Helicopter, sound effects and a live musical ensemble.
The A-10 jet maneuvers were recorded over a period of two years at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Frizzel recalls the decision to record the A-10's for the piece. "We listened to all the jets and this is the one. It has a very unusual sound. It's different than every other jet in the sense that it has a complexity. They're very gestural and very musical. The noise is sound inside sound."
I sat in on the musical ensemble rehearsal where members of the band, the local community and participants from the workshop all took their places and waited for the cues. What moved me about the piece was how the music connects, matches, and then takes off from the sound of the jets, and how we normally wouldn't think of a war plane as "musical".
I asked Frizzel to describe the musical elements of the piece. "It's really the brilliance of Michael Henry's score and his orchestration", he said. "The Warthogs are really the focus. The role of the instruments is partially to mix and meld with the sound. And certainly start playing with it during the fly over sequences. So the piece is sensitive to the A-10, the sound signature of it."
"And certain kinds of things will happen when you meld with sounds. They locate in a place between you. It's almost as if they reach inside you or you're reaching inside them. So there's an experience perhaps the musicians are feeling with this, when it's right and things are mixing. And then the audience will experience it in terms of how that sound projects, moves or hovers between the players. It's part of the spatiality of it."
Added to the mix were unusual sound effects that were performed live. During a rehearsal break, sound effects artist David Shinn described the bowed cymbal: a cymbal partially submerged in water, played with a violin bow. David Shinn: "I am running a bow over the edge of the cymbal while lowering and raising it in and out of the water. The water is changing the sound of the cymbal. And there's a microphone that's underwater and a microphone above water to catch both aspects of the sound." The result: a drawn out sound that resembles the haunting call of a whale.
Next, was the wind wand: a short handle with a long dowel that was spun by the wrist. David Shinn: "And we also have some wind wands. It's a rubber band that's stretched along a dowel. And it has a spreader, and you can move the spreader up and down the dowel to change the tune. And we have two of them that we're playing, harmonizing at different pitches. We should be able to harmonize with the helicopters that are flying over in this surround sound experience."
With rehearsals, sound levels and timing in place, all were ready for the performance. Frizzel calls it a "celebration of the Soundscape", a "blending of the machine and the human."
He adds: "When I was imbedded with them, it was our intersection which allowed this whole thing to happen. So in a sense it's also an experiment in bridging communities. Will we transform the entire military to make art all the time rather than war? I'm not so sure. But we did make art for at least Sonic Force."
|
|
NATF Welcomes New Executive Director!
By Janine Marr NATF's Search Committee worked for several months screening and interviewing the many applicants who desired to become NATF's new Executive Director. In November, A. Nannette Taylor of Damascus, OR, accepted the position. Ms. Taylor has extensive experience managing non-profit arts organizations, including ASU's Kerr Cultural Center in Phoenix, AZ and the Columbia Theater Company in Portland, OR. Charles Potter, speaking as chair of the Search Committee, states, "The Search Committee was impressed from the very start with the strength of Nannette Taylor's qualifications for the post of Executive Director of NATF. We were even more impressed with how seriously and how graciously she took her every interaction with us, and by her clearly expressed life's desire to 'educate and to entertain.' We are all truly thrilled that she has accepted to lead NATF forward in the coming years. Thank you, Nannette!" Nannette's enthusiasm for NATF and the arts is clearly evident in her response to accepting the position: "I have no doubt that this will be an exciting, challenging, and rewarding experience. I am looking forward to meeting NATF's board, members, and supporters and the process of working together to continue and expand the proud heritage of serving and enlightening the community at large through a deepened understanding and appreciation of what Audio Theatre is and can be." Ms. Taylor succeeds Sue Zizza, who vacated the seat of Executive Director 12/31/07, after eleven years of service in that position. Thank you Sue! Welcome Nannette!
|
|
NATF BOARD 2007 ELECTION RESULTS
By Janine Marr, NATF Board President Fifteen people were nominated for the five available positions on the NATF board during the annual membership meeting in June. They included both new members and members who've been with NATF for many years. Nominated were Butch D'Ambrosio, Andrew Davis, Steve Donofrio, Helen Englehardt, Richard Fish, Nancy Fohn, Lucus Keppel, Patrick Keleher, Gary Phillips, Joel Pierson, Brad Smith, Ellen Stewart, Michael Wilson, George Zarr, and Sue Zizza. Approximately 14% of the ballots were received by mail. The remainder were electronic ballots. There were two write-in candidates: Joe Bevilacqua and Judith Walcott. The election results were very close, and more members voted this year than in recent years. Thanks for your vote! More than 50% of the membership elected the following members to the NATF Board, serving the 2007-2010 term:
Butch D'Ambrosio
Steve Donofrio Ellen Stewart George Zarr Sue Zizza Sue joins the board when her term as Executive Director ends this year. Steve Dononfrio will continue to serve as Treasurer for the organization for another year, and is interested in training a future treasurer for our growing organization. The NATF Board thanks Bill Oakley, Brad Smith, and Michael Wilson for their substantial contributions to the NATF Board, including much time in the pre and post efforts for the June workshop in West Plains. Their dedication to NATF has strengthened our ties with the local community of West Plains, and allowed us to continue to develop our workshops there. Bill Dufris, Jeffrey Hedquist and Dave Taylor were all recently appointed members of the NATF Advisory Board. Earlier this year, Roger Gregg was also appointed to the board.
|
|
NATF Attends Prix Europa
(part 1: radio drama) by Janine Marr
There were thirteen award categories, including best radio drama, radio documentary, television fiction, television documentary, television current affairs, best fiction television script by a newcomer, best television program for a multicultural audience, and a special internet exploration award, which went to the BBC for their climate change experiment which encouraged thousands of computers to link together to demonstrate climate change. Janine Marr juried in the radio drama category where directors, producers, writers and dramaturges from all over Europe competed for two radio drama awards. The plays were presented in their original languages, and scripts were given to all listeners in the original language and English. Many plays were heavy in the use of narration, a standard format for most of Europe. Karl Henrik Grondahl, NRK Producer from Norway, commented that drama is best for radio, and even the use of narration, because radio is a very personal thing. He also said that in Norway, over $1 million in CD sales have been made in the past ten years, mostly from the sales of detective series and children's stories, the two largest markets in Norway. Norway surpassed many other countries by selling CDs. A representative from Bulgaria stated that her country had just begun to record direct to CD, whereas Jesper Bergmann, a dramaturgist from Denmark hired by Ireland's RTE, said that their new productions will be made available for download. Pam Marshall, radio drama producer from the BBC, reported that Great Britain is also researching the download market and has experimented with streaming. With the many recent budget cuts in European radio drama, programs produced for broadcast have become threatened. Management typically cites production costs as the reason for the cuts. Author Simon Froehling from Switzerland indicated that his generation (30 or under) don't even listen to the radio-they prefer to download and listen on demand. In addition to dramas with narration and inner voices, there were some comedies, and some experimental art forms. Janine noted that there are some incredible sound designers in Europe, and some of the plays had a very contemporary and layered feel, many using the full stereo spectrum, orchestrating the music and sound with the voices. The top two radio dramas, receiving the coveted Prix Europa awards, were Santo Subito from Germany, and Mayday from Ireland. Countries rounding out the top ten were Russia, Croatia, Belgium, Poland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and Ireland. Janine was able to acquire copies of some of these productions for a listening session at a future NATF workshop. Renee Pringle juried in the radio documentary category… Note: http://www.prix-europa.de/publish/n_subnews.html?lang=GB for info on the event-Renee and Janine can be found in photos of day 1. |
I spoke with co-creator Dwight Frizzel, a few days before the performance while in the background composer Michael Henry played bursts of jet engine sound combined with musical segments that fought to be synched with a click track. Frizzel explains: "We're adjusting the click track right now, and so there are all these technical things that need to be done as we get the click lined up with the Warthogs. Everything is very closely timed. So it's really composing with time."
NATF Board members Janine Marr and Renee Pringle attended the Prix Europa Conference in Berlin, Germany, in October. Over 1000 participants from the media, including radio, television and the internet, representing more than 40 European countries gathered to watch, hear, and jury more than 250 nominations from 671 entries which represented 36 countries at the largest media awards festival in Europe.