This text is part of the special book Francization
Like Captain Kirk from the popular series star trek, Sylvain Mallette, president of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), wanted to go where no union center had yet gone. For the past two years, the union, which represents more than 50,000 teachers, has produced eight audio podcasts of 30 to 50 minutes hosted by columnist and screenwriter Catherine Ethier.
This series, titled Bell ringexplores topics that union members care about, such as mental health, the commodification of education, the francization of immigrants, results-based management, the professional autonomy of teachers, and the invisible work of women. in school.
However, to present these serious subjects, Sylvain Mallette wished to get out of the language of wood, but especially from the traditional means of communication of the trade union machine, to do things differently. He therefore asked columnist Catherine Ethier to act as host, designer and scriptwriter to give an unusual humorous voice to union communication. The series is based on dozens of interviews with teachers and specialists, but the treatment is not agreed: the tone is playful, even frenzied, and even touches on the fantasy by using all the tricks , ranging from sound effects to caricature through song.
Professional autonomy
“It works because we were given carte blanche,” believes director Guillaume Tellier, who says that trade unionists expressed some doubts when it came to exploring the issue of mental health. “We told them, ‘Let us go.’ »
“We didn’t want podcasts to become Pravda “, indicates Sylvain Mallette, who wanted to leave all the freedom to the two artists. “I claim the professional autonomy of teachers, so there was no question of interfering in all of Catherine’s and Guillaume’s choices. »
Although the two designers worked independently, the discussions with the union were numerous and detailed. It was a question of agreeing on the themes of the podcasts, but also of discussing the research files of the FAE and of becoming familiar with the pedagogical and union jargon. “For example, we prefer to speak of ‘school population’ rather than ‘clientele’, because we reject the commodification of education”, illustrates Sylvain Mallette.
Guillaume Tellier arrived very early in the project, just after Catherine Ethier. “We discovered the same humor,” he says. I don’t have Catherine’s verve, but we have the same understanding of things, the same reflex for the second degree. »
Catherine Ethier writes all the texts, but Guillaume Tellier, who attends all the meetings and all the interviews, adds more in the studio and in the editing. In the second episode, which focused on mental health, the duo hit hard by producing a series of fake B series trailers. had the idea of bringing in François Legault with aubergines instead of shoes because there was a “discount on the Blue Basket”. »
The approach is willingly pamphleteer and creative. For the third episode, while recording teachers during a demonstration in front of the National Assembly, the duo had the idea of caricature Minister Roberge and Prime Minister Legault as singers of a ” boy band with marvelous talent. And this is how the third thief in history entered the scene, actor and composer Renaud Paradis, who lends his voice to characters and composes the songs.
Lots of listening
“The binder of the sauce is Catherine, who is a talented interviewer, but who is above all capable of doing a pirouette in the second degree”, affirms Guillaume Tellier, who is currently preparing episodes 9 and 10, which will focus on the sexual and gender diversity in schools and which will give a voice to a young transgender teacher. “As a straight white male, it takes a lot of listening. »
He adds that in times of pandemic, the challenges of production were many, because it was not possible to interview everyone in the controlled universe of the studios. You had to send the microphones to the interviewees in their school and deal with background noises such as the sound of the bell, announcements from the management and sound cut-outs due to poor connections.
“We also complicated our lives by choosing to make a very scripted and very polished series, he points out. For each episode, we have to digest a very dense research document wondering how to make it sexy. And during editing, you have to deal with the unexpected, make new connections, in addition to eliminating background or mouth noise. But I consider it a duty to honor the word of those who give us their time, out of respect for our listeners and our interlocutors. »