While not exactly electronic or even electric, the Mystery of Greek Amphitheater’s Amazing Sound Finally Solved according to live science. Every good audiomaturge (yes, it’s now a word) understands the importance of making the best opportunity of your sound waves. The Greeks weren’t just experts in warfare, but also sonic tactics through the use of “audio traps”. The corrugations of the seats are part of the key. We always knew that we have created our audio works on the backs of giants, it’s not often that we’re reminded that they were some of the greatest myth makers too!
Category: Media (Page 10 of 45)
Wired recently wrote an article entitled: Where is Hollywood Looking for its Next Hit? Podcasts.
From the article:
Like books, podcasts prove that a story works, that listeners like it and will keep coming back to follow it. More importantly, podcasts can prove an idea’s viability at a fraction of the cost of producing a TV pilot. “It’s essentially a prototype of a produced franchise,” says Chris Giliberti, the head of multi-platform efforts at podcast company Gimlet Media. “In Silicon Valley terms, this is an MVP.” And in the past year, TV producers have started to recognize podcasts’ value. Amazon announced last fall that Gale Anne Hurd, who helped transform The Walking Dead from a beloved comics series into a beloved TV series, would be adapting the horror show Lore for the streaming service. ABC is already working on Zach Braff’s Alex, Inc., an adaptation of tech industry podcast StartUp. And now, Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is adapting Gimlet’s Homecoming for Amazon, starring Julia Roberts.
For a long time now we’ve been arguing that a good audio drama is a great idea to sell to Hollywood. It’s a fraction of the cost with the entire story in tact. Nice to see that others are getting the same idea.
Slate Magazine recently wrote an article The Renaissance of the Humble Radio Drama in which they described this strange medium that everyone thought dead long ago is still alive… and thriving?
The author Angelica Cabral writes “Radio dramas may seem like a thing of the past, but they’re still a great way to tell stories.”
We’re almost through two decades and three waves into the modern audio drama wave. How many times have we seen the same article published? Still, any news is good news, and after sending up fireworks in the air for so many years, perhaps the great train of the Internet media is finally starting to notice the display.
Have a look see at which shows are mentioned and see if you agree with their assessment.
Say Edict Zero in the Audio Drama Production Podcast and everyone drinks. This perennial favourite of the audio drama community is becoming more popular outside of the community as well. And it’s good news. Unlike so many of the other darlings that have more in common with youtube confessionals than traditional audio drama, Edict Zero relies on strong characters and developed plots. Recently in Working the Galaxy a detailed interview with Jack Kincaid, Russell Gold, and James Keller shed light on this modern audio drama classic.
Craig Robotham is amazing. There I said it. A tireless educator, writer, and audio drama lover, Craig has built an impressive collection of dinner theatre audio drama you can host in your own home at Weird World Studios. But that’s not enough, Craig’s assembled a list of supplements and guides to help any educator neophyte in this amazing medium.
Check out his Education List and get ready for the Fall!
Many know by now that Tim Heffernan of The Dramapod fame has made a miraculous transformation of his site into a hub of potential RSS Feeds for the audio drama community. In his one site he’s created the opportunity for producers of audio stories to come together and host their series without cost.
When Tim asked us to participate through the beta process, we at EVP considered the obvious: “Why not have a podcast strictly of our own shows?” Hence the Electric Vicuna Production Podcast was born. Here we chronicle the complete package of EVP shows, and as of this week we just hit EPISODE 50!
Just in time for another great leap ahead for Drama Pod- the integration of iTunes. So, for all of you folk who use i-tunes, here’s the iTunes link for the EVP Podcast. Happy listening!
Yet more evidence that the world of Audio Drama is heating up by Audible‘s announcement, The Conversation has an article entitlted: How podcasting is having a major revival with new audio productions of The X-Files and Doctor Who. Looking at some of the exciting releases like The Invisible Man, Homecoming, Doctor Who, Bronzeville, and X-Files. Everyone is starting to jump on the audio drama bandwagon:
Starting in November, the US psychological thriller Homecoming was released as a podcast staring David Schwimmer, Oscar Isaacs and Catherine Keener. This was followed by the Bronzeville serial starring Larenz Tate and Lawrence Fishburn, which brought 1940s underworld Chicago to life.
Over in the UK a number of classics have been making headlines as richly imagined audio productions. The Invisible Man, released in February starring John Hurt, kicked off a series of high-quality HG Wells releases for production company Big Finish, and in April Wireless Theatre Company produced Black Beauty with Samuel West and Tamzin Outhwaite.
Meanwhile Doctor Who fans are thrilled to hear that the popular pairing of David Tennant and Billy Piper are back, opening the Tardis door on a new run of audio adventures. And David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will be reprising their classic roles this July in X-Files: Cold Cases on Audible.
But then, why wouldn’t you?
The Internet is buzzing with the news that Audible.com has decided to launch a five million dollar fund to find and play audio drama writers. The Digital-Reader has all the details:
Audible, the digital audiobook giant, announced Tuesday that it would create a $5 million fund to commission new works from emerging playwrights — not for the stage, but for people’s headphones and speakers.
As audio fiction seems to be having a moment, in the realm of podcasts, Audible plans to draw from the vast pool of young writers to create one- or two-person plays. They will be available beginning late this year, the company said.
Playwrights can apply for grants to cover both “industry standards” for new commissions and the cost of production, said Donald R. Katz, Audible’s chief executive and a former journalist and author.
“I’m hoping that people just come out of the woodwork,” Mr. Katz said.
Audible is hoping to fund dozens of playwrights. This will certainly help put proof in the pudding that we’re entering a new age of Audio Drama listeners and production!
So many great actors work in the medium of audio drama/radio drama these days, every little bit of wisdom and experience can help. Consider the article in Spotlight by Katie Redford who gives great advice on how to break into radio:
When I was little, my parents always told me I could be anything I wanted to be. I don’t think they thought I’d take it quite as literally as I did when in one of my first ever jobs in radio, I played a t-shirt. Yes, I was the voice of a t-shirt. I was a bit thrown by the Director’s notes too:
“Yeah, we’re not feeling it. Can you sound a bit more… like a t-shirt?”
Radio is a fascinating genre and I feel extremely fortunate to currently be a part of it. It’s a medium that so many established, highly respectable actors such as Sheila Hancock, Amelia Bullmore, Daniel Mays, amongst many more, work in time and time again. When Bill Nighy was recently awarded an award for his services to radio drama, he said: “I am as proud of my involvement in radio as of anything in my professional life. Long may it provide its unparalleled service and entertainment.”
The thing is though, how on earth do you crack a career in it? It’s tricky enough to break through this industry anyway, but radio almost seems to be in its own bracket. Here a few suggestions that hopefully will help get the ball rolling for you.
Read more of the article and get your ode to audio working for you today!
One of the great elements of audio drama, is its nature to be portable. Runtastic has discovered the value of a good story on the go as well it seems. Check out this article at Wired:
Fitness app company Runtastic has launched Story Running, a range of downloadable stories written with the specific aim of motivating people to run.
Runtastic has recruited script writers and musicians to create a series of 40-minute stories with a narrative arc that allows for interval training. The stories — which can be downloaded through the Runtastic app — fall under categories such as adventure and fantasy, and are accompanied by music with different beats per minute to encourage different running speeds — starting slowly and then increasing in speed as the tension in the story rises, before slowing down as the runner draws to the end of their route.
The idea came about in Runtastic’s kitchen, with CEO Florian Gschwandtner telling Creative Director Chris Thaler, “We should do story runs.” Thaler thought it wounded awesome, but wasn’t entirely clear on what a story run was. Gschwandtner simply replied: “We tell them stories while they are running.”
Check out the rest of the Wired story, and consider how Runtastic apps may provide brand new audio drama in the community!