RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

at a quicker pace and a break of half a second in these new proportions indicates a much longer time interval. The layman might conclude from the above that the radio play is a collection of monologues and rejoinders spoken sotto voce from Classical drama. However, the skill of the talented actor who has a real feeling for radio lies in his ability to divide his attention between his partner and the listener, and he is helped in his realisation by the producer’s imaginative use of interplay. Although for some of the time he is himself creating the play, he is listening to the whole radio score all the time. And the secret of interplay resides precisely in the interpenetration of cues with quick reflex actions and interruptions. But these interruptions, which the actor sends to the listener over the microphone, appear to be reflected back to the actor during the play. As the listener’s partner he hears them, with half his attention, like an echo, while the other half of his attention is focussed on the script in front of him as he stands turned towards the microphone. In this respect the process of acting before a microphone is simiiar to тапу other actions in the civilised world - piloting a plane, driving a motor vehicie, controlling a machine. THE IMPORTANCE OF IMAGINATIVE EDITING OF THE MAGNETIC SPEECH PLAY From the psychological point of view imaginative editing on the magnetic tapes means arranging a variety of different sound sensations in such a way that they can be recognised in a time unit. Just like a river tributary, a certain kind of sound will flow into the main tape. Each of these inflows has its own specific characteristics. There is, for example, taped speech, with music, witH another speech, with secondary music, with proper sounds and so on. Every tape input is capable of receiving previously mixed material, so theoretically the possibilities for combination are enormous, just like on a chessboard. This is why the idea of perception is imposed biologically. Perception thus becomes more elastic, wider, if conditions already exist for it to unfold in all its forms through foreknowledge and рге-cognition. If a listener is already familiar with a word, a tune, a code, or an attitude - something to which he was once exposed, the тетогу of which has lasted, it will now co-exist with new sensations yet will not disturb their starlight hour of exposition. The cumulative composition of a series of sensations will, in this new time interval, make up a corporate whole while giving the impression that it has always been there, What is necessary is to flx the moment of clear exposition of the sensation desired, From the technical standpoint each emhasis of one element is achieved through careful balancing-by subduing the sound ievel of all those elements which are not dominant. So there must be a careful and subde substitution of elements. The level of sound distinctiveness is measured in decibels and great саге must be taken regarding other