And ACTION

Finally, the moment this incarnation of my BCA project has been building up to.

On the 13th of February, I finally recorded the first four episodes of Drake Mandible out at the Springfield Uni Campus.

EXCITE!

I was SUPER fortunate enough to be able to get Marcus Oborn and Tammy Linde to lend their voices for the Adventures of Drake Mandible and my GOODNESS were they the right choices.

All during the recording, they were attentive, professional, fun (without going overboard) and were quick to grasp my vision for the series and perform accordingly. (Would Recommend!)  Even Zac, the sound engineering student Nick and Ashley assigned to us was agreeable, helpful and -above all- actually knew what he was doing. Even with me still recovering from the dreaded lurgy, we were still able to pull of a top-notch performance, if I do say so myself.

Recording went pretty smoothly, knocked over in a few hours. Now while we didn't have time for a "live recording" in front of an audience, having all three actors in the booth at the same time really helped everything flow and feel more natural.  The ability to bounce off each other really adds to the dynamic between each of the characters, and it's something that I'm excited to explore further.

***

Adapting my stories into script format was an interesting exercise for me. I ramble on a lot when I write and use a lot of what Dr Rebecca Scollen would refer to as "purple language", unnecessarily flowery words. But I think it works in the context of this series, it adds to the over the top flavour giving it a comedic twist. But since I'm limited to two to three pages per script, I learned how to keep each chapter concise, and therefore the attention of the audience.  I'm also learning how to compress several chapters of the written story into a single audio episode. Short and snappy, keeps them happy. (Totes just made that up)

Structurally, I try to adhere to the same basic formula: Recap of the climactic event from the previous episode, resolving the situation then setting up the new situation, ending on a new climax then teasing the next episode. It seems to be working so far, so I don't see any reason to change it for now.


A few posts back, I mentioned Steve's observation of me starting to find my own voice and style of writing, and this became more apparent when upon reading my scripts aloud, Marcus and Tammy declared that they were "Nate on a Page." I guess the off-kilter, faux-cheesy the writing reflects my personality well.

I think the humour of the series comes from the mock-serious tone, trying but not quite succeeding in being witty, but still somehow charmingly unusual. Sort of like a man trying to hobnob with the top-nobs at a garden party, but his dinner jacket is three sizes too big and one of his trouser legs is missing. And the man acknowledges his curious appearance with sly winks to the onlookers, even as he carries on behaving as straight-laced as everyone else. And in any case, he enjoys the breeze around his left knee.

Then, of course the tone shifts in "The Interlude" and it's like the skewiff gentlemen flips out and stabs the nearest waiter to death with a toothpick, then sits in the punchbowl and sobs...

Er...yes...I believe this simile has run amok on me.

Stay Tuned, Ladies and Gents ;)