Today’s post is all about writing. I’ve touched on my own creative writing here and shared some of my poems and flash fiction. Today I want to talk about a unique kind of writing: audio description (AD). My friend Chanelle, Certified Cool Person, works as an audio describer for live theatre performances and also writes AD for films. Instead of a regular book review, I virtually sat down with Chanelle for an interview on her work.

What is audio description?

Audio Description is often described (ha) as “The visual made verbal.” To put it simply, it is taking the visual elements of any piece of media– from television and film, to live theatre, to artwork in a museum– and putting them into words. I often like to explain it by likening myself to the narrator of an audio book, in that I’m filling in the details of the world and action around the dialogue for a show or performance.

How did you get started doing AD work?

I honestly stumbled into Audio Description completely by accident! In a pre-shift meeting at the performing arts center I work at, my managers at the time asked if anyone was interested in learning how to become a Describer and get training for it. At the time, I was very interested in pursuing voice acting, and since I’ve always loved creative writing, I thought that it would be a perfect opportunity. A few months later, I was sent to the American Council for the Blind’s annual convention, and underwent a certification class with Joel Snyder, the creator of the Audio Description Project. And, it’s been a whirlwind ever since!

What are some skills you’ve learned or developed doing AD?

I’ve definitely learned how to think on my feet, and hilariously, I’ve become very good at reading people’s body language from doing AD! When you have to stare at people’s physicality and faces to interpret their emotions for hours on end, and then translate that into words without explicitly saying “he’s sad” or “she’s wanting to kill him,” it ends up just filtering into everyday life! In general too, it’s also helped improve my own writing.

What are some differences between working on films or TV shows and live performances?

The biggest difference between working on digital media and live media is having access to a pause button, for one! In all seriousness though, they are two drastically different forms of entertainment, each with their own conventions and quirks that have to be followed and accommodated for. With providing AD for film or TV, many distribution studios (or sometimes even the production studios) have explicit guidelines of what you can and cannot say, including not using film jargon such as actually describing the makeup of a shot (saying the view is tilted/at a Dutch Angle, zooming in on an actor’s face, etc.), because it’s thought to break immersion for the listener; with live theatre, I have significant more artistic freedom, but I also don’t have the luxury of being able to take my time and really examine a scene, because I have to be active and engaged with the show as it’s actively going on. With TV and Film, I can take my time and script things out, while with live Theatre, it is entirely improv!

What’s the biggest challenge of AD work?

The biggest challenge I face while doing AD, regardless of the media, is figuring out how to best translate what I’m seeing in a way that both makes sense and still delivers the impact of the scene, while still managing to fit everything in a pause in the music or dialogue. As much as I’d love to wax poetic about the scenery or action, sometimes I just don’t have the time, so I have to focus on the core pieces of any given scene in order to make sure the intention is fully conveyed to the best of my ability. Sometimes, unfortunately that means some things fall through the cracks, but it’s also why it normally takes me about 2 hours to write a script for 15 minutes of screentime, or why I can’t describe the full choreography or staging for a fast-paced musical like “Hamilton” or “Moulin Rouge” without stepping on the dialogue or lyrics.

What’s your favorite part of doing AD?

My favorite part of doing AD is honestly just being able to give people the chance to experience media that they might not otherwise have access to– especially for shows that are almost entirely visual like Cirque du Soleil’s performances! Plus, being able to see some really cool shows and being paid to experience them doesn’t hurt either. ;P

Do you have a favorite project you’ve done?

Unfortunately I’m under a few different NDAs, so while I can’t get into specifics of a lot of the projects I’ve worked on for digital media (and unfortunately, due to the nature of a lot of these projects, I’m also not credited on them either, so I try to leave little “hints” within a particular script to show that it’s my work. So, if you hear several instances of alliteration within a piece of audio description… 😉 ), for live theatre my favorite shows that I’ve worked on were “Hadestown,” as well as Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson One”! The staging and costumes for both shows are absolutely incredible, and the shows themselves are so very dynamic that I have a lot to work with!

Is there anything else about AD that you’d like to share? 

Audio Description isn’t just for the blind! If you’re wanting to enjoy a TV show but you can’t actively sit down and watch it, see if it has an AD track– it’ll be listed underneath the language options on the program. That way, you can still follow what’s happening if you’re doing chores instead of listening to a podcast or something.

---

I’ll add one more thing: Talking Books is a Library of Congress program which provides free audiobooks and Braille books to the people with visual impairments and reading disabilities in the United States. It’s a fantastic program and I can’t recommend it more highly. I’m always thankful for Talking Books for providing my grandma with entertainment during the COVID-19 lockdown, during which she read every cat mystery on the market.