Vivid Language - About Audio Description

Examining Audio Introductions - Lord of the Flies

Audio introductions are often a straight-forward delivery of descriptive material. But, as with anything that involves writing and performance, creativity and innovation can lend an extra layer of meaning or coherence with the subject.

One excellent example is from a theatre performance of Lord of the Flies from The Leeds Playhouse.

The audio introduction is in three parts.

It's introduced matter-of-factly by the director Amy Leach. She notes that the play has integrated audio description — meaning that there is enough information in the dialouge and sound effects to communicate most of the action, a technique familiar to playwrights for radio drama — and notes that audio description for the play itself would be delivered by "the Little Un's", unnamed younger children who have survived the aeroplane crash, as if commenting on the activities of the older children.

The set descriptions that follow are also presented as a dialogue between three “Little'uns” and framed as a narrative of them speaking into a radio trying to signal for help. It includes radio crackling sound effects, and the sound of waves crashing onto a shore.

An example transcript:

Little'Un 1
We're on an island!
Little'Un 2
Tell them it's a tropical island!
Little'Un 1
Yes, it's a tropical island with palm trees all around.
Little'Un 2
Are they palm trees?
Little'Un 3
They are, but they're black.
Little'Un 2
And they make really scary shadows at night …

It almost makes a game out the presentation and progressive elaboration of the material.

Lastly the cast introduce and describe themselves, which connects their voices with their descriptions.

The coherence of this material with the play itself, brings to my mind "viral" marketing campaigns, such as the Meet David and Quiet Eye short films for the promotion of Prometheus (). Slightly oblique vignettes that flesh-out the narrative world of a film, but are not necessary to understanding the actual film-going experience.

The audio introduction is 6 minutes, and worth your time if you are interested in the form and how to creatively present accessibility information. The play certainly sounds like it would have been a fantastic live experience.

Lord of the Flies Audio Introduction - Leeds Playhouse (SoundCloud)

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