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Post by James on Apr 25, 2014 19:32:36 GMT -5
Also, for me at least, the production issues are kind of moot because I'd prefer the radio show format to the "over the intercom" format. But, I'm happy to be outvoted on that and to try and make the latter work if people prefer it. Yeah, I see your points. It's an issue that's gonna crop up regardless, I guess it's just a matter of quantity. How often do you want to have to deal with it. Like you said, though, recording dialogue in isolation reduces the chances of improv... Similarly, so does a one-man radio host. I think a one-man radio show does allow us to slide the scale on how comfortable we're feeling, though. We can start off with a good balance: a radio host with a certain amount of monologue, commercials, interviews and call-ins, guest crew members. If it turns out we're actually quite good at producing a show, we can then up the complexity. If it turns out this is a lot harder than initially thought, we can dial it down a bit. With the multi-host or intercom approach, we don't have that freedom. I guess I'm being deliberately cautious here. I want the idea to work. I'm trying to spot pitfalls. |
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Post by Kaez on Apr 25, 2014 19:38:48 GMT -5
Two bickering presenters is kind of cliched, though. Also, it might be making a rod for our own back. I imagine it's easier to produce a podcast with one host and guests, than with two hosts. Just because they're both going to have to be own at the exact same time, whereas with one host, we can record in segments. Hmmm. Pros and cons to both. Cliche'd, maybe, but it sure does allow for some killer comedy. ^ As I said, multiple people = more comedic opportunity. Single recordings = a lot easier. |
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Post by James on Apr 25, 2014 19:47:41 GMT -5
Actually. There's no reason why we can't really do all these ideas.
We can decide to write either a multi-host or a single host radio script. This is something we need to decide on though before we can start writing a script.
But also, every few episodes, the broadcast can malfunction. Instead of broadcasting the show, the speakers broadcast the "intercom" of the ship workers for the period of the show.
Not only do we get to have the stability of a radio show, we get to incorporate Zovo's cool idea. Also, they can rift off each other. So the radio show might be saying how this is happening and it's all good, and then the malfunction reveals that the workers are hating this new event.
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Post by Matteo ((Taed)) on Apr 25, 2014 21:25:09 GMT -5
I actually know almost nothing about sound editing or anything like that, but I was just envisioning some possibly imaginary problems. It seems like there's the potential for a headache when you have different mic setups with different background noise recording simultaneously in different countries over Skype. Maybe it will work perfectly, but I just wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. If anyone has any experience with mixing or recording or whatever, some expertise would be great.
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Post by Matteo ((Taed)) on Apr 25, 2014 21:27:11 GMT -5
So how far do you think we want to take our weird science quotient? Should there be experiments and unpredictable technology in play on the ship?
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Radin
Scribe
The Beacon of Light
Posts: 685
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Post by Radin on Apr 25, 2014 23:03:10 GMT -5
If I can get a microphone working, I'll lend my voice when needed. Loved acting in drama, not sure how my voice acting is but id give it a try.
I'll post an some ideas in a day or two.
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Post by James on Apr 26, 2014 1:04:34 GMT -5
So how far do you think we want to take our weird science quotient? Should there be experiments and unpredictable technology in play on the ship? I think there should be quite a bit of weird science. I have an idea for an episode where everyone is really excited because the ship has made contact with some other non-natural signal. An event that has only happened once in the history of the ship, and the mysterious vessel was never heard of again. Only for everyone to realise due to some sciency-wciency reason (wormholes? blackholes?) that the signal was actually from the other ship, but just in the future (and vice versa). |
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Sensar
Author
Homonecropedopheliac and Legal Property of AWR
Posts: 6,898
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Post by Sensar on Apr 26, 2014 15:21:46 GMT -5
Woof, what a time to drop by the forum for a quick stalk. Hey, everyone.
It seems that this a thread that's very much concerned about this idea artistically, but I have a few words to say about practicalities that should be addressed now. I'm someone who has acted in many a production and has been, of late, directing. My professional interest is the stage, and my voice production work has been sparse at best, but there are always general rules that apply to any production.
-- The best solution is generally the simplest one. James' suggestion of starting easy and turning up complexity as experience is gained is probably the best thing to do. Experience will be your teacher more than anything else, so I'd even suggest producing a few pilot recordings before anything officially ready for an audience. Perhaps record test versions of a script, or do readings over Skype--it will help hearing it spoken/interpreted to finish writing it, and you get the benefit of trying to record. Get friends to listen to them and give feedback.
-- Improv in scripted scenes that is actually useable is both rare, and often the product of experienced actors. Having improv is fine, but it can set the tone of a show that doesn't take itself seriously at all (in the sense that it's more about the actors playing than the actual reality you're attempting to manifest). Improv, in this context, won't serve you too much.
-- This is more personal preference, and there are always exceptions, but try to avoid having the writer also be the director. It's incredibly beneficial to have two heads in the mix, and a director has a very different set of concerns than a writer does.
-- Schedule as early as you possibly can, and make room for mistakes to happen--they will, without a doubt. Supply your actors with scripts ahead of recordings if you can. I'm pretty sure the industry standard for voice is to supply pretty soon before, but since this isn't a professional endeavor, giving your actors something to work with before hand will no doubt be helpful.
-- What works gets used, what doesn't gets thrown out. This advice included. Even if something would be nice, ultimately what makes the cut is something that plays well.
-- What sort of a run time are you looking for each podcast? An hour? Twenty minutes? Undefined? That's an important decision.
-- I'm sure there's a lot of technical things about mikes and recording that are specific to this field, but I don't know much about them from a technical standpoint. Most mikes that we have probably won't cut it. Editing is incredibly important as well. There will be have to be an investment in software and hardware at some point if you really want this to sound good.
This all being said, I do think that this is a very doable and fun idea.
I hope some of the advice is helpful. And, on a more selfish note, I would personally love to expand my voice acting repertoire, so if you would like someone who has been trained, let me know. I also have a few close friends who would jump at the chance to try their voices at the mike.
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Post by James on Apr 26, 2014 17:50:20 GMT -5
Just thinking about a few points... -- The best solution is generally the simplest one. James' suggestion of starting easy and turning up complexity as experience is gained is probably the best thing to do. I think perhaps we should have a starting point of: - Having one presenter - Have a roving reporter that the presenter doesn't really care for (maybe the reporter's from a different section of the ship?) - If we find things going easier than feared, promote that reporter to co-host. I was thinking along those lines with the different producers and so on. I don't think we'll be able to completely separate the writer from the director (since hopefully a lot of people will contribute little bits as writers!). I do agree with Pete that having the Admins as producers make sense, but I'd add a caveat there that maybe we don't cover everything we need to. If there's anyone with the skills require, they should stick their hand up and get involved! I'm happy to take the Organiser/Producer of the Writers role if no one else wants to. With my timezone and unreliable internet, I can't probably be trusted much to be director (or much of an actor for anything more than maybe tiny commercials). Should we look at a half an hour run time, plus or minus a few minutes. I'd love to do a full hour but that might be pushing it. Again, that might be something we can increase if things are going well. I've done a tiny, tiny bit of reading. Apparently, the editing part and so on can be done very professionally on free software. We just need someone who can actually do it. Microphones are probably going to be the key thing in terms of equipment. Thanks for a really great post, Sensar! |
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Post by Kaez on Apr 26, 2014 18:16:41 GMT -5
Woof, what a time to drop by the forum for a quick stalk. Hey, everyone. It seems that this a thread that's very much concerned about this idea artistically, but I have a few words to say about practicalities that should be addressed now. I'm someone who has acted in many a production and has been, of late, directing. My professional interest is the stage, and my voice production work has been sparse at best, but there are always general rules that apply to any production. -- The best solution is generally the simplest one. James' suggestion of starting easy and turning up complexity as experience is gained is probably the best thing to do. Experience will be your teacher more than anything else, so I'd even suggest producing a few pilot recordings before anything officially ready for an audience. Perhaps record test versions of a script, or do readings over Skype--it will help hearing it spoken/interpreted to finish writing it, and you get the benefit of trying to record. Get friends to listen to them and give feedback. -- Improv in scripted scenes that is actually useable is both rare, and often the product of experienced actors. Having improv is fine, but it can set the tone of a show that doesn't take itself seriously at all (in the sense that it's more about the actors playing than the actual reality you're attempting to manifest). Improv, in this context, won't serve you too much. -- This is more personal preference, and there are always exceptions, but try to avoid having the writer also be the director. It's incredibly beneficial to have two heads in the mix, and a director has a very different set of concerns than a writer does. -- Schedule as early as you possibly can, and make room for mistakes to happen--they will, without a doubt. Supply your actors with scripts ahead of recordings if you can. I'm pretty sure the industry standard for voice is to supply pretty soon before, but since this isn't a professional endeavor, giving your actors something to work with before hand will no doubt be helpful. -- What works gets used, what doesn't gets thrown out. This advice included. Even if something would be nice, ultimately what makes the cut is something that plays well. -- What sort of a run time are you looking for each podcast? An hour? Twenty minutes? Undefined? That's an important decision. -- I'm sure there's a lot of technical things about mikes and recording that are specific to this field, but I don't know much about them from a technical standpoint. Most mikes that we have probably won't cut it. Editing is incredibly important as well. There will be have to be an investment in software and hardware at some point if you really want this to sound good. This all being said, I do think that this is a very doable and fun idea. I hope some of the advice is helpful. And, on a more selfish note, I would personally love to expand my voice acting repertoire, so if you would like someone who has been trained, let me know. I also have a few close friends who would jump at the chance to try their voices at the mike. Don't know shit about this kind of thing, but all of that -sounds- right and I believe it. |
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Post by James on Apr 29, 2014 4:29:23 GMT -5
Alright, I want to avoid riding roughshod over the project and making all the decisions myself, but we seem to have stalled.
Proposal.
The show is a morning radio show. It is broadcasted to the ship as people head to their work. It tells people the news of the ship (long-running plot points) and cover light-hearted topic, motivating workers to function. It has one host and many back room staff. It also has a roving reporter. This reporter may one day become a co-host.
Also, at random intervals, the radio has a frequency to instead broadcast the internal chatter of the ship's staff (dependent on how easy that is).
The ship itself involves many different sections and so on. While the radio broadcasts ship-wide, a lot of the workers on the show have only ever been in their own section. The ship is ran by an AI. People sort of know the AI and the Great Artie has become synonymous with the ship itself. It is just there. It hardly communicates with people.
Yes? No? Move on to the next step? Give up?
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Post by ASGetty ((Zovo)) on Apr 29, 2014 11:03:19 GMT -5
I think it's time for a prototype script.
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Radin
Scribe
The Beacon of Light
Posts: 685
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Post by Radin on Apr 29, 2014 12:26:31 GMT -5
Yeah, give it a go. A lot of stuff will still need to be sorted out but do what you can.
I did like the idea of it being so far into the future that their knowledge of the past is really distorted. The few things I think of off the top of my head:
Star Wars becomes a religious cult with people thinking the force is real and all the surviving lore gets complied into a 'bible'. Maybe they are also at 'war' with a similar star trek cult.
Christianity is thought to be a cannibalistic ancient religion where the savior, zombie jesus, would rise from the dead and bring others back with him granting 'eternal life' by allowing them to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
Famous quotes, sayings, or ideas being completely wrong and mentioned randomly and excepted as correct. "My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country."- Adolf Hitler.
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Just random ideas that could be used or mentioned at any point.
Id like to know more about the background of the ship and why the humans are on it.
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Post by J.O.N ((Dragonwing)) on Apr 29, 2014 22:18:39 GMT -5
Yeah, give it a go. A lot of stuff will still need to be sorted out but do what you can. I did like the idea of it being so far into the future that their knowledge of the past is really distorted. The few things I think of off the top of my head: Star Wars becomes a religious cult with people thinking the force is real and all the surviving lore gets complied into a 'bible'. Maybe they are also at 'war' with a similar star trek cult. Christianity is thought to be a cannibalistic ancient religion where the savior, zombie jesus, would rise from the dead and bring others back with him granting 'eternal life' by allowing them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Famous quotes, sayings, or ideas being completely wrong and mentioned randomly and excepted as correct. "My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country."- Adolf Hitler.--- Just random ideas that could be used or mentioned at any point. Id like to know more about the background of the ship and why the humans are on it. I love this, its such an internet thing at this moment that you can easily see it being a thing in the future. |
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Post by ASGetty ((Zovo)) on Apr 29, 2014 22:30:41 GMT -5
Yeah, give it a go. A lot of stuff will still need to be sorted out but do what you can. I did like the idea of it being so far into the future that their knowledge of the past is really distorted. The few things I think of off the top of my head: Star Wars becomes a religious cult with people thinking the force is real and all the surviving lore gets complied into a 'bible'. Maybe they are also at 'war' with a similar star trek cult. Christianity is thought to be a cannibalistic ancient religion where the savior, zombie jesus, would rise from the dead and bring others back with him granting 'eternal life' by allowing them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Famous quotes, sayings, or ideas being completely wrong and mentioned randomly and excepted as correct. "My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country."- Adolf Hitler.--- Just random ideas that could be used or mentioned at any point. Id like to know more about the background of the ship and why the humans are on it. I love this, its such an internet thing at this moment that you can easily see it being a thing in the future. Gotta be careful with any of the mistaken history stuff though. It really needs to be written in such a way that it's evident it's the characters who are ill-informed, and not the writer. |
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