(Item 145 to 150) Note Pad October 2015

A u d i o D e s c r i p t i o n A s s o c i a t i o n

n o t e p a d

I t e m s 145 - 150 O c t o b e r 2 0 1 5

145 First AD of live theatre screening! The Barbican Centre makes history again* this week with an audio description of its live screening of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in the Barbican Cinema two days ahead of the audio described performance in the Barbican Theatre.

Appropriately for Hamlet, the describers – Julia Grundy and Ellie Packer – are two of the RSC’s team of freelance describers. They have been working with Barbican staff and NT Live, the Royal National Theatre’s broadcasting initiative, to develop the crossover description which is, as far as we know, the first of its kind in the UK.

The plan is to record the live audio description in the cinema on 15 October for use with repeat screenings. Making the CDs of the audio introduction available to cinemagoers as well as theatregoers has also been mooted. For the describers, the challenge now is to adapt the AD they have written for the theatre performance on 17 October, to reflect the cinemagoer’s experience of the production, based on watching the camera rehearsal the day before transmission.

Julia and Ellie also describe for Sightlines which handles the contract for the Royal Opera House, where similar plans are under consideration.

* The Barbican was the setting for what was effectively the start of screen description in the UK – RNIB’s launch of the first audio described video in September 1992, Hear My Song, with AD written by Veronika Hyks and voiced by actor Andrew Sachs. Big screen audio description arrived in 2001 at the Odeon, Leicester Square, with Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, described by Di Langford. 146 Science Museum develops Audio-Eyes app

Sonali Rai at RNIB has alerted us to a very interesting development at the Science Museum – the Audio-Eyes app. Operating solely within the Information Age gallery, the Audio-Eyes app provides blind and partially sighted visitors with audio-only descriptions of more than 60 exhibits, including key objects and tactile displays.

Rather than leading visitors on a step-by-step route, Audio-Eyes uses signals from beacons around the gallery to follow their movements, enabling them to roam freely and discover the exhibits independently.

The app is available from the iTunes store for use on the visitor’s own iPhone or iPad or on a Science Museum device available exclusively to blind and partially sighted visitors at the Information Desk where staff are happy to answer questions in addition to the 4-minute audio tutorial which opens automatically.

For more details, visit the Science Museum website: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/online_science/apps/Info-Age-Audio-Eyes

147 RNIB trials MovieReading app The Science Museum was the venue for last month’s RNIB Conference on Audio Description: Celebrating Progress and Looking Forward. For the invited audience of representatives of the film and television industry and their blind and partially sighted customers, the highlight of the afternoon was the presentation of the results of the user trial of the MovieReading app carried out by RNIB earlier this year. The app is currently available to cinemagoers in Italy who can use it to access audio description or captions.

198 existing users of AD took part in the trial, and most responded positively to the app and their first experience of using it as an alternative means of obtaining audio description. The main benefit they reported was being able to access AD on a personal device, which allowed them to filter the description through their phone or tablet into headphones, so they could watch television and films with family or friends without disturbing them. A more cautious comment came from one participant: The biggest improvement I can suggest is content, I think. The app does its job very well, but the only way it will really hold its own is if the descriptions available match content already available on air. It was an afternoon full of quotable comments: Audio description should be conspicuous only by its absence/Watching a film without audio description is like reading a book containing nothing but dialogue/The UK is the best place to watch television and film if you are visually impaired. The last quote occurred more than once, but any tendency to self-congratulation on the achievements of the past 10 years was curbed by a reminder from the CEO of UK Cinema Association of the non-technological challenges that still remained – issues of staff training and awareness, for instance, and the lack of public awareness, all of which UK Cinema is currently addressing with best practice guidelines, online staff training and countrywide training sessions for managers.

Among the topical developments mentioned was the controversial use of synthetised speech for delivering audio description, and the exciting prospect of live television description for programmes such as Strictly.

Sessions were recorded by Insight Radio, RNIB’s radio station, and will be available at www.insightradio.co.uk, while a full report of the user trial of the MovieReading app will appear on the RNIB website at www.rnib.org.uk Alternatively, you can email Sonali Rai at [email protected] for a copy of the report when published. We also plan to include a summary by Sonali in ADA’s newsletter.

148 Your Local Cinema.com asks for your views Hello! I’m gathering views and opinions on a new idea to vastly increase the number of audio described/narrated films produced annually. The ultimate aim is to enable people with sight loss to enjoy the same choice of films, with the same convenience and purchasing options as everyone else. Can you help? I would very much appreciate your feedback. Just reply to this email for further information: [email protected] Thanks very much for your time.

Derek Brandon, Your Local Cinema.com http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/ad.html For more than a decade Your Local Cinema.com has worked with the UK film industry to help people with sight loss to enjoy films via audio description/narration. “It’s like listening to a Harry Potter audio book, but with all the actors voicing their own parts and a narrator setting the scenes, all perfectly timed to the film soundtrack!” 149 VocalEyes invites responses to its theatre survey Audio Description in UK Theatres: 2015 Survey

VocalEyes is a charity that has provided an audio description service for theatres across the UK since 1998, making the performing arts accessible for people who are blind and partially sighted.

This survey aims to build up a picture of the provision of audio description and access for visually impaired people within theatres across the UK.

Our aim is twofold. We want to get a better understanding of the difficulties that venues face, and what they need from VocalEyes and other audio description providers, so we can improve our services and the activities that we should focus on in the future. We also want more information to help us campaign and advocate for better awareness and funding for the right of blind and partially sighted people to experience and enjoy the arts.

The information and opinions that you provide in the survey will be kept confidential. We plan to share the summary findings from the survey with the theatre community, but will ensure that it will not be possible to identify details about individual venues from the information or quotes in the public report.

If you have any concerns or questions, please email me and I will be happy to help. Thank you for your time,

Matthew Cock, Chief Executive, VocalEyes [email protected]

To take part in the survey, visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AudioDescription2015

150 Extant expands its audience development programme Creative producers, Turtle Key Arts, based at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, are working with Extant on its Spring 2016 tour of Ionesco’s The Chairs, and with the participation and development work which is part of this project. Headed by its Artistic Director and CEO, Maria Oshodi, Extant is the UK’s leading professional performing arts company of blind and partially sighted people. It is known for its innovative approach to creative practices and arts management, as well as the unique cultural perspective it brings to all its work.

The project will help three UK venues to become a hub of excellence for engaging with the visually impaired community. Using a 3 year model which has already been successfully piloted at Sadler’s Wells (London) and delivered at The Albany (London) and Arena (Wolverhampton), Extant will embark with MAC (Birmingham), The Lowry (Salford Quays) and Stratford Circus (London) on a complete audience development programme.