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RSS Feed Panorama17. 06. 11. - 13:00
A Blue Danube Radio legend in Vienna
It would certainly be difficult to forget my first day at work here in the newsroom. I was dispatched off to interview one of the UK’s most colourful characters, she only lived round the corner which was convenient – I think the editor was worried I might get lost.
Sure enough a two-minute walk away and I was in the flat of Ellis Hill. Who is Ellis? You might not recognise her down the street but you would certainly know her voice. Whether it is from answering machine messages in companies and institutions across the country through to radio programmes or commercials on the television - Ellis has more experiences of the media broadcasting world than Barack Obama has followers on Twitter. And she's also a regular on the local stage scene. That first day was my chance to delve into the archives of her past and discover what really makes her tick at the age of 76 when she is still a clockwork of desire, drive and passion.
Ellis has taken to the stage with the likes of Barbara Windsor, Sheila Hancock and Tony Booth, and was famously part of the BBC’s Late Night Line Up broadcasting team where she worked with Joan Bakewell.
East Londoner Ellis’ illustrious career began back in 1960 at Joanne Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop at the age of 25. Ellis was to be at the vanguard of Littlewood’s acting revolution. Also known as "The Mother Of Modern Theatre," Littlewood brought a whole new dimension to acting. She let actors express themselves, do their own thing. Ellis was about to enter her very own new dimension in her life as this would kickstart her incredible career. It was here that Ellis gathered her seemingly innate ability to communicate effortlessly with the wider audience. Despite only spending a year at the Workshop, Ellis insists that this was the most crucial part of her career as this invaluable year provided her with the seed from which her career would blossom.
Shortly after finishing the Workshop and appearing in many theatre and pantomime productions, Ellis then hit the television screens and radio airwaves in Britain. During this time, Ellis worked as a producer, news reader and radio DJ for the world’s largest broadcasting organisation, the BBC. Her television and radio career in Britain lasted for an astonishing 27 years from 1965-1992. In 1992, Ellis was presented with the opportunity to work for the English speaking Blue Danube radio in Vienna, Austria. Working as a presenter and radio DJ, Ellis provided listeners with daily programmes of different musical styles including light operetta (something she would demonstrate herself to me later!), swing and big band.
After 5 successful and joyous years broadcasting to the Austrian capital on Blue Danube Radio, it was now time for Ellis to retire. Along with Ellis’ retirement, came the end of Blue Danube as the broadcaster ORF (Österreichischer Rundfunk) decided to take the radio into a new direction and FM4 was born. However, her passion for the art of communication is so strong that she would soon find herself back in the clutches of the broadcasting world. Intuitively, Ellis recognised the need for the English speaking personnel on FM4 to provide listeners with a clear, concise and professional "Radio Voice." Ellis now trains the personnel of FM4 through her very own constructed "The Radio Voice, A Guide For Beginners" training booklet which is split up into five chapters, each covering a different aspect of possessing a quality radio voice.
Ellis compared a radio voice to a night out clubbing. For people to take notice of you when you are out on the town, you must be as attractive as your assets allow. Your voice is no different. Your voice must grab people, make people listen. When I asked Ellis to sum up a perfect radio voice in three words, she responded with the words "warmth, fullness and richness." These three words echo Ellis’ personality. Maybe that is why she has had such a successful career. She tried to train me, but coming from up north Blackburn, England, she was not really getting anywhere!
Ellis’ training focuses intently on getting the individual to relax. You have to have the right pitch of voice, tonal quality and breath control. Express yourself through your voice, enchant listeners with your natural well paced words.
Ellis challenged me to reel out some testing, torturous, tongue-twisters, a common part of Ellis’ warm up routine for her learners before they broadcast their voices to the listeners. After Ellis had reeled off twelve mind-boggling tongue-twisters with ease, it was now my turn. "Will Willie Winkins wink, or will Winnie Walk?", "Cracked cricket critics." We’ll stop there! So hard, so challenging, but if you can master these devilishly tough sequences of words, your voice will flow. Every part of your voice will have warmed up enough for your voice to express clearly what you want to say.
Regrettably, my time with Ellis was all too short.
Ellis’ methods of training the personnel of FM4 all stem from the experiences she gained over the course of her career. It was great to spend my afternoon with such a colourful, interesting, and overall enthusiastic person.
I will leave you with Ellis’ favourite tongue twister, see if you can bash this one out, "Heather is hoping to hop to Tahiti, to hack a Hibiscus to hang on her hat, Now Heather has dozens of hats on her hat-rack, so how can her hop to Tahiti help that!".
By Matthew Riding
Austrian Times
Tag cloud:
Radio broadcasting stage training Danube voice Ellis Theatre television rsquo listeners radio career tongue twisters Britain Workshop passion personnel Littlewood
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