Summary
Welcome to City of Threads. In this short introductory episode you’ll hear a bit about what this podcast series is all about and meet some of the people who’ve made it and feature in the episodes.
Transcript
Logo and theme music play out
Sound design close crop of all the names as the music plays gently underneath
Jeff: So, we are now recording, ok?
Holly: as you know my name is Holly
John: I’m John
Rachel: ok so I’m Rachel
Nikki: I’m NIkki Durston
Barrington: Barrington
Emma: my name is Emma
Jeff: my name is Jeff
Lou: Lou Lifely
Chris: I’m Chris Turner
Alan: Alan Dyte
Nick: Nick Bignall
Anela: ok, my name is Anela
Katy: I’m Katy. Katy.
Fanny: Fanny Eaton hall
Elanora: I’m Elanora Ferry
Rosa: my name is Rosa
Emily: I’m Emily. Emily? Mm hmm
Ant: Hello, I’m Ant
Sound design: segues into binaural sound of door opening and group talking then gin bell ringing
Holly: you ready?
Rachel: So just double check that everybody is rigged up with all the tech they need? Yes, yep, yes? Good, so let’s get started,
Holly: So OK – bell rings – so this is our famous gin bell that we use to start our sessions, if you hear the gin bell then it means we would very much like your attention…laughter…
Narrator: Hello and welcome to City of Threads, an immersive podcast series produced by PECo Theatre.
Sound design: close cropped, overlapping snippets of the group doing bits of silly sales pitches, lots of laughter and self-deprecation, communicates the energy and fun the group are having
Jeff: it is now time to take you on a journey
Nikki: this unique podcast series offers a real insight
Elanora: it’s a ground breaking project
John: ‘ere heard about that podcast that a group of visually impaired people are doing in Bristol
Emma; where can I find it
John: I ‘aint got a clue yet
[Sounds of laughter]
Narrator: The City of Threads podcast began life when, in 2019, a group of visually impaired and sighted artists and collaborators took journeys together into the city of Bristol, with the aim of uncovering the usually unheard stories and experiences of visually impaired citizens and returning these stories to the heart of the city narrative. The journeys were recorded and revealed such a treasure trove of insights and shared experiences that the idea for the City of Threads podcast series was born.
Narrator: The story of how the City of Threads group came together has many and various threads of its own…
Sound design: closely cropped snippets of the group talking, a sense of multiple threads of story coming through
Elanora: you were advertising for people to come along and join the project and I thought it sounded interesting still lovin’ it.
Holly: I think I popped in at that point as well, and that’s when I first met Rachel and Elanora and John.
John: Alan was, was Alan already on, no Alan wasn’t on side at that time, Alan came along
Jeff: I joined in 2018 and I was invited to come along and I’m still here and I’m still enjoying it so…
Nikki: I’d met Jeff at a VI social and he told me about the project and I was just blown away by it
Emma: I came in in 2019 and I was very intrigued
Nick: I actually joined the project through Holly, I work at @Bristol now known as We the Curious and she was really interested in one of the exhibits that we had there so we started talking about that and that led on to me talking about my music and then she mentioned this project and then, the rest is history…
John: we’ve come a long way and the family has grown and we still love each other and we’re still talking [laughter]
Narrator: The making of this series has happened against all odds, in the months before and during the pandemic, working on location, in socially distanced DIY recording studios and of course via the ubiquitous online ZOOM call.
In each episode, members of that core group will be taking you with them on their journeys into the city, revealing it in new ways and from their unique perspectives.
Every journey reveals a portrait of the person who led it, capturing their everyday experiences and each episode includes conversations with invited guests around the rich and fascinating themes that all these journeys have unearthed.
Following each of the main episodes is a sister immersive episode that will be using the magic of immersive sound design to take you deeper into the heart of some of the places and moments from the journeys.
Sound design; immersive sound moment of city with car tyres driving from left to right
Narrator: a couple of other things it might be good for you to know before you begin …
During the podcasts you’ll sometimes hear the term V.I. which is shorthand for visually impaired.
Sound Design: Immersive sound of the cane sweeping the floor
Narrator: And that…… is the sound of the long cane, you’ll hear it fairly often, as quite a few of the travelers in the City of Threads use them.
Oh, and I’ll be your narrator…
So, now you know a bit about the podcasts and the journey taken to make them, you are invited to start your own journeys and enter the City of Threads……
Sound design: music ramps up and gives us the sense that we are off on a journey