We had a guest lecture from Dan Shepard, who produces Radio features. He has been working for the BBC, working on radio features for around 20 years. He also formed a business called Far Shoreline Productions, producing features, podcasts and radio programmes for the BBC. Before the lecture we were required to listen to a few pieces. The first one was a world service feature about traveling across Australia by train and the other was ‘cutting up the cut-up.’

He started by talking about the different between radio documentaries and radio features. Documentaries are generally news based, whereas features ‘explore ideas and people’ and be quite poetic. He explains that a good feature, allows you to explore your imagination though the use of sound.

The use of sound is very important in any radio piece. In features, you can either record sound effects on location or get them from a sound FX library. Other sounds such as vox pops and views from previous features can be used, found in archives.

There are two types of Features, Presenter led, ( e.g. the Cut ups example) and montage (e.g. train example) He talked about the process montage example of the Train Journey, and how he had to record lots of interviews and sound effects. Tis required finding people on the train to describe what it was like, and using field recording techniques

Dan explains the reason he makes features is: He says

“You can go into a subject in great depth and explore different shades. It also gives you scope to explore a subject that can transform you, and encourages you to create the images in your head.”

A feature producer is in charge of everything including producing, editing and research. It is then passed onto the studio manager, who does the final mix and delivers it for broadcast.

Cut Ups is a presenter led feature, and has more of an orthodox and conventional format. The presenter is there to explain and sign post the audience, rather than using sound to just create an image.

Podcasts transform the world of speech radio. Dan gave a strong opinion how the future of radio lies within the podcast. He also mentioned how a budget for a standard feature is around £6000-7000, which isn’t a lot considering the costs etc.

Although not being particularly interested in radio, I was interested by the way he was passionate about creating a feature that puts the image into your head, and the commissioning process. It was also really interesting when he talked about he sees Podcast being a large part of what radio is.