LEAP OF FAITH RADIO PRODUCTION with Bobby Ocean
Everything I ever needed to learn about the biz came from pure ignorance.
In other words, books, flicks, or jocks.
Movie Pearls and What They Mean In Radio Production
— “I’ll be back.” – Write with variety to avoid burning.
— “Bond. James Bond.” – Call letters in twice, once at the end.
— “Life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re
gonna get.’ – Variety & unpredictability are radio’s friends.
— “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” – Make it compelling.
— “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?
Well, who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well, I’m
the only one here. Who the f–k do you think you’re talkin’ to?”
– Talk to one person at a time.
All knowledge is built up from not knowing. The mind needs labels and names so it can refer to its myriad of infinite material.
It happens all the time in radio production. One grabs a hunk of I-Don’t-Know, adds a favored pearl of wisdom, flops it down on the desktop and gets to know the nature of what one doesn’t know.
That’s the beginning. Saying,”I don’t know,” means you are empty of predetermined patterns, so, instead of what you may expect, you can more readily see what’s actually there, notice any patterns or behaviors that will reveal its essence.
Once you find that, the rest is easier: just spin to make it go in the right direction.
To get the “juice,” however, the good stuff, you have to dig deeper than the initial implication found on the mere surface, whether it’s Marvel comics, Buddhist scripture or the King James Bible.
For example, one of the air personalities was Not Very Good at reading and interpreting commercial copy, so, to get out of the conflict, would reference movies, saying things like: “A man’s gotta know his limitations.” Great movie line, especially when it comes out of Clint Eastwood’s mouth, but not great broadcasting advice. Far too scant for the Production Guy who has a deadline.
So, Production Guy dives deeper, realizes that, whatever he may be, “the man” in this quote is most certainly NOT the WORDS, “Not Very Good,” that make up his description. Nor is he any of those transient QUALITIES, but another thing altogether. And, while “a man could certainly benefit from knowing his limitations,” even better, he may can transcend his shortcomings entirely by realizing they are really informal “information bytes in passage,” not permanent statistics.
So – knowing about limitations doesn’t necessarily mean being stuck with them, not at all. His or yours. Production Guy learns to coach talent through scripts. Not Very Good gets better, feels encouraged and motivated about the experience. But only when you dig deeper.
Usually.
Unless we’re talking about one guy, may he rest in Peace…one of my favorite air personalities, Chuck Browning, who, would not allow himself any production chores, as a point of pride. He was one of Peck’s original, old-school, bad boys and wore his rebellion as a badge of honor. He got away without voicing spots for years because no one could top his spin.
When asked to cut a spot, the Chucker would look em in the eye just long enough to get their attention, accept that as validation for what he said next, “You don’t plough a field with a thoroughbred.” And, while they were reeling over that, had disappeared down the hall and out of the building.
“Dig deeper!” — Victor Frankenstein to his lab assistant, Igor.
