There’s plenty of press given to big budget series and breakout features made in Ireland, and the few Irish documentaries that make it onto our radar tend to be about social issues, immigration, or some connection we have to the land. The fact that director Ken Wardrop’s work (Mom and Me, His & Hers) focuses on intimate personal connections, make his films feel quite fresh and compelling. His latest film, Making the Grade tackles the niche (and for some, traumatic) subjects of piano lessons, student-teacher interaction, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s “grades” for piano students. After watching the charming and quiet, but persistently probing film, I was curious to learn about Wardrop’s approach to sound. How do you capture sound in a piano lesson without affecting the lesson? And, in a film about such a broad range of music, how do you choose the score, etc.?
Wardrop’s films offer us glimpses of the connections between people and situations, so I had to ask about his own connection to music, lessons, and particularly the piano. Because he’d often used piano in his past films, he says he’s “always been working with it (piano music), and liked it on that level”. Growing up his family always had a piano in the house, but more as furniture than something that ever got played. And, he now lives with a pianist. So, as he began to think about and consider piano as a subject, and narrowed his focus to piano lessons, he thought, “Here’s a wonderful window of opportunity into a bizarre relationship between a teacher and a student, who only get to meet each other once a week for thirty minutes. Sometimes that relationship can go on for twelve or fourteen years while someone goes through the grades”. He continues saying, “Obviously then, the grade system itself provided this wonderful opportunity of a narrative structure that, as a documentary maker, you’re always looking for.”
Production & Process
When pressed about the details of sound in production, Wardrop admits that with his small team, they wind up each wearing many hats, and often approach challenges differently than larger productions. For Making the Grade, Wardrop’s production coordinator, Steve Battle, also recorded the sound. Battle’s musical background (playing in bands) gave him an understanding of how to record the piano as best he could with the gear they had available.
And, though they didn’t want to disrupt the rehearsal process too much, they did take the time to put radio mics. on the two characters (teacher and student) in each scene, as well as swinging a boom on the piano for lessons. These mics. were mixed to two channels, with both radios going to one channel, and the boom placed on its own ISO (isolated) track. For scenes with only one individual (usually a student) playing, they used the “extra” radio mic. for further coverage
Sound on Film
Making music with
Making the Grade
With Glenn Kaufmann
66 CinÉireann / April 2018