 |
 |
|
Radio Sees Stars at MADCs The MADC's 21st awards was a great night for people passionate about radio production. Phil Webster received a special award, there were several bronze radio awards and even a silver. Toward the end of a long night marred by shocking acoustics and audience inattention, the announcement of Phil Webster's award for 'Most Outstanding Contribution by A Creative Person' drew cheers and applause from all sectors of the room. Several studios went home with awards for radio spots. Flagstaff and Risk both won bronze for 30 second radio commercials for Father's Day spots, for Australia Post and Just Jeans respectively. Good Audio Sense won bronze for a 45 second radio commercial for Victoria Bitter, as well as bronze for Best Radio Campaign, also for VB. Paul le Couteur from Flagstaff won silver for a 30 second Father's Day spot called 'Put Mum On.' Gusto Music ended the evening very merry, with two bronzes for their own entries and contributions to a gold and two silvers. The gold was the Chairman of Judges award for the Tourism Victoria spot with the nostalgic 'Run Rabbit Run' soundtrack. The same campaign earned Silvers for Best Cinema Commercial, TVC over 45 seconds and a bronze for Best Soundtrack. Gusto also won a bronze for best Soundtrack for a Nike TVC. Sound Lounge audio featured in Just Jeans TVCs that won a silver in the 15 second TVC category and bronzes for 15 second, 30 second and campaign under 30 seconds. Sound Lounge's Richmond Footy Club TVCs won bronze for TV campaign of more than 30 seconds. GAS was involved with two bronze-winning spots in the 30 second TVC category, for TAC and Cricket Australia. Sydney-based Sound Reservoir produced the audio for a bronze-winning 45 second TVC for Big M. See all the winners at www.madc.com.au/awards2004/finalists.asp. Philip's Over the Moon Philip Webster says he's still stunned by his special MADC Award for 'Most Outstanding Contribution by a Creative Person.' "I was sitting there having a cup of tea Saturday morning and thinking about it," Philip says. "And I just thought 14 months ago I was given an opportunity which I was seeking and I've been able to do something and turn something around from a negative into a positive and it was just wonderful, just a knockout that people in the industry have seen what we've been doing, and awarded me this." On the night, he says it was a bit confusing. "I heard my name mentioned I was trying to listen to what Emma was saying and I missed what she was talking about - what it was for - and then I heard Philip Webster and everybody jumped on me and there was this huge uproar. The guys were just terrific, saying 'go up, go up.' I was trying to work out what I was going up for - I knew I'd won something but I didn't know what, so it was really interesting." The special award joins several others on the mantlepiece in Kath's office, but Philip says it will be kept very shiny. "I'm very proud of it, it means you're doing you job well and you've passed your exams. I'm dux of the class if you like. And I just want the rest of the team here to go on and have the excitement I had in accepting this award, because you know in their time they're bound to win this down the track as well, so that's what I look forward to."
UnFlagging Praise for Pro-Tools Flagstaff Studios is enjoying new freedom and flexibility after swapping their DSP system for Pro-Tools. Apart from a few early hiccups the new software and desks have fitted in exceptionally well. Flagstaff producer Paul le Couteur says there was really nothing wrong with the DSP system, but it wasn't going anywhere. "DSP was moving along to be able to deal with 5.1 and Surround and all those sort of issues. They pretty much got there and basically fell over so we were left with a system that worked well but didn't really have a future in it. "Pro-tools ticked all the boxes of what we wanted. It had all the capabilities of things like 5.1 mixing, Surround, and it had all the access to all the great plug-ins. "I used to perceive that it was a fantastic system that could do a lot of great things, but perhaps was a little more difficult to use..but I think it's crossed over that threshhold now. Once you get your head around it it's very straightforward to use now," Paul says. ...more creative choice... An added bonus was that the O2R96 mixing consoles fitted into the studio perfectly, so there was no re-building required. As expected, there were a few hiccups early on. "Most computer systems tend to not be happy when you're not in synch with them. DSP was the same. The first month you tend to crash it a few times because you're either working too slowly or too quickly or just not working in synch with it. But once you get your head around it it's fine and now it's really good I'm really enjoying it." Apart from all the obvious things like the enormous volume of plug-in software available, Paul says there are fantastic benefits from the connectivity of the new Pro-Tools system. "Things like file-sharing, OMF transfers, interacting with other parts of the building, we've got all the editing suites that we communicate with at AAV, and we can do all that via the AAV network now much more easily. It just absolutely makes all the interconnectivity with all the other studios or other parts of the building much easier. We have much more creative choice because of the greater opportunities to access all this great software. "We did a job recently where we wanted to record an orchestra. We went down to Edensound and recorded the orchestra down there on their pro-tools system and we took a fire wire drive down, just copied it across to the fire wire, brought it back here plugged it in and continued the job back at Flagstaff Studios. That amount of flexibility is just fantastic." "The other thing is we're doing music composition now and again the ability to be able to compose in another room and ship it around rooms really quickly via the fire wire drive or the network just makes the process much easier. It's a new growth area for us and that facilitates all that choices as well." Course Teaches Finer Points of Copywriting The Australian Film Television and Radio School has introduced a short course in radio copywriting. The Creative Craft of Radio Copywriting is a 12-week correspondence course that will be offered twice a year at AFTRS. The content of the course was developed jointly by Commercial Radio Australia and Austereo's joint creative directors Kevin Best and John Dickson. Topics include marketing and advertising, ideas generation, the copywriting brief and writing the advertisement. The course costs $900. Extraordinary Fun at Rowlands John Rowland says he's having "brilliant fun" with the sound design for a feature animation by Australian producer-director Anthony Lucas. The Extraordinary Geographical Adventures of Jasper Morello is a half hour gothic adventure of Jasper Morello's travels in a giant airship through a parallel universe. "It has full on adventure soundtracks, monsters, machines and storms : It's every sound designer's dream. It's a gift from heaven," John says. The film which will have a full Dolby 5.1 Surround Mix will be screened on SBS as well as the short film circuit, but is ultimately destined for Britain's Channel 4, as a pilot for a potential series. The voice cast includes Joel Edgerton as Jasper Morello, Jude Beaumont as his wife, Helmut Bakaitis as the villain and Tommy Dysart as the captain. Close Shave at Risk Delia West at Risk Sound is sporting a new Annie Lennox hairstyle, after braving not one, but TWO haircuts in support of the Leukemia Foundation's Shave-For-A-Cure fundraiser in March. Delia decided to take part in the fundraiser when she heard about it on the radio. She and her niece provided support for each other as they recruited sponsors and strengthened their resolve. At the official Shave-A-Thon in Melbourne City Square on March 12th Delia lost her locks to a number 2 blade. Back at work, Risk engineer Dylan Stevens offered her another $50 if she'd let him shave her with a number 1 blade. By that stage, she figured she had nothing much more to lose! Delia says it's definitely a weird experience. "It's like velcro - you kind of stick to the pillow." She says she hid under a hat for a while, then she got bored as it started to grow back, so she dyed it blonde. But she says "It was for a good cause and I'm glad I did it." Delia and her niece raised nearly $1000 for the Leukemia Foundation.
Double Digit Rise in Radio Revenue Metropolitan radio stations enjoyed a 12% increase in advertising revenue last month, compared to last year according to figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers. In the 10 months to April, advertising revenue for all metropolitan commercial radio stations totalled $427million dollars. Revenue for April alone was $42m. "Overall the industry has delivered a better ten months to April compared with the previous financial year - a good indicator of the strength of the market for commercial radio," says Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner. Your Bits - Studio news
Our Bits - AudioNET® news This is the second anniversary of KillerBits newsletter. Thanks to everyone who contributes news and story ideas. Just in case you're interested in past issues, the entire back catalogue of KillerBits is on the DBM Systems corporate site. Just click on 'news' at the top of the page and select which month you're interested in. AudioNET® Thought For The Day "A bad idea does not get better online." - IBM.
|
Killer Bits: May 2004
| ©2003-2008 DBM Systems Pty Ltd | Site Map |