PODCAST | Francesca Raffi interviews Marie Campbell, professional audio describer and lead trainer in Red Bee Media’s Audio Description team.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

Using her 20+ years of describing experience, as well as her training expertise across Red Bee Media’s English language operations, Marie Campbell will look back at the journey AD editorial guidelines have been on with regards to sensitive content, starting when AD in the UK was in its infancy and the nascent guidelines were predicated on a linear televisual landscape that looked, by default, much more “white” and “male” compared to what we see on our screens today. She will explore how a desire to avoid “othering” led to outdated guidelines that failed to describe the diversity of the world we live in as televisual content started to change and embrace that diversity in a more visual and meaningful way.

Marie Campbell has been describing for over 20 years and is the lead trainer in Red Bee Media’s Audio Description team. She started out in London, helping to set up the BBC’s first ever AD department, where she developed editorial guidelines and new bespoke software while integrating the service into the wider, well-established broadcast chain. Marie has described for the majority of UK broadcasters, overseen the describing of 200+ films on the theme of disability for the British Film Institute and been part of the pre- recorded AD team during the Winter and Summer Paralympics. She continues to be at the forefront of AD excellence, developing guidelines and using her expertise to train new scriptwriters and voicers in the UK, USA and Australia, tailoring the service to different English-speaking countries, while integrating workflows, maximising collaboration and providing ongoing support to new AD teams. Marie is currently looking at how e-learning can be used to facilitate audio description training.

Since 2007, ARSAD has been the meeting point for researchers, industry, trainers, trainees, users, practitioners, regulators, broadcasters, policy makers, social activists, cultural managers and anyone interested in audio description. The 2023 edition will kick start discussing the growing role of technology as a cornerstone of our everyday interactions. Technology facilitates contact, provides new opportunities but it also faces us with some challenges. In this technologically-driven world an awareness of social aspects is also growing, from diversity to sustainability, with collaboration at the core of many social actions. Within this context ARSAD aims to be a thought-provoking event where we can learn about the present of audio description across the globe from multidisciplinary perspectives and where we can get a glimpse of the future of this fascinating access mode.