This radio piece is a type of documentary that is constructed as a diary, trying to catch the atmosphere of a place and/or somebody’s life/profession. The most important in a radio diary is that it is chronological meaning things are presented in the order they actually happened, and with minimal interference from any reporter/journalist.
In this piece we are visiting the main fire station in Sunderland, capturing the sounds and getting an insight into the fire fighters everyday life. After running around with a microphone for a whole day and chatting with fire fighters, the main challenge was to put it all together without interfering too much. It was tempting to part up the interview and change the order of things, but then it would be a normal documentary rather then a radio diary.
In the order that things happened we hear the
early morning radio check and equipment check, lunch where we
also get a chat with a fire fighter, a fire drill and at last
a turn-out. Nothing of this was directed by us, and you might
say that we were lucky to get this much action to capture.
