Screenwriting : Podcast Production by Rebecca D Robinson

Sounds pretty cool. I hope to do the same thing soon.

Congratulations

This is so exciting Rebecca D Robinson! Really happy you are taking this leap! Very cool!

Thanks, Jason. I'm starting to recruit for actors - will post on Stage 32 in a few days!

Congratulations, Rebecca. :) When ready, post any casting calls or production needs you may have on the "Jobs" board found in the upper menu bar. That's where members post "want ads" or searches for creative partners, paid or not paid. Best wishes! Looking forward to your podcast!

Thank you, Beth!

I used to write and produce an audio drama radio program. It was a lot of fun. We had some great actors involved. A lot of work, but I loved it. May do it again as a podcast one of these days.

Do you have any advice for me, Thom Reese? I am jumping with both feet into audio production - have only done a little during my iMovie days in grad school. I was intending to try to do it myself, but am wondering if I need a sound engineer? There's quite a bit of complexity and I'm only semi-skillful with hardware.

Rebecca, that's actually a pretty big question. There can be so much to it, depending on how much you want to do. We did full cast audio dramas, using our own sound effects and original music for each episode.

I guess the first question is, what program are you using to record the audio? We used Pro Tools, but there are a lot of less expensive programs out there that will do just fine. Getting a sound engineer is great if you know someone, but if you're going to have to hire someone it might be better to learn basic recording techniques yourself. I would suggest watching some basic You Tube tutorials on sound recording.

A couple of tips: We used acoustic foam to create a sound booth in a closet. It allowed us to control the level of echo on each actor's voice. We recorded each actor separately, each getting their own audio track. This allowed us to edit and rerecord without "bleed" from another actor's take. We then added the appropriate amount of reverb to make the voice sound as it should for the setting of the scene. I.e., if they were supposed to be in a tunnel, there was a lot of echo, if they were supposed to be in a small room, nearly none.

After we recorded all of the actors, we'd do a rough mix and edit on the voices before adding sound effects and music.

I hope this is at least a little bit helpful. A lot of it was simply learning by doing.

Here's a link to a sampler/promo trailer of some of our audio dramas. It might give you a few ideas. Have fun with it. I'll try to answer more specific questions if you have them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3u6BOJ_cm0&t=14s

Thanks, Thom, that is very helpful. My challenge is that I will have to record each person at their home, using whatever equipment they have. I watched a class by Mike Disa on how he did it - he had everyone on a zoom session, but had each person record on Quicktime and send him their individual files. Then he layered it all in Protools - adding sounds and music. I'm not paying the actors and it's original material so I don't have to pay royalties on anything. And he gave me some leads on sound effects and public domain music, so I'll look into that. This is quite a fun project to have during lockdown! And I watched/listened to your promo on YouTube - the sound quality is very good!

Thanks, Rebecca. In retrospect, I 'm not thrilled with the sound on the trailer. The music's too loud. But that aside, it sounds like your on the right track. Having everyone record in their own homes with different mics and room dynamics will be a challenge to bring it all together so that it sounds like they're all in the same place, but there are a lot of good free audio effects you can access these days that should help. Have fun with it!

I will. And you'll see my post when I'm ready to share:)

Sounds good.

Rebecca. It does sound like you are having fun. My co/producer/director is going to be shooting a trailer in the next couple of weeks and I am anxious to see how it turns out.

This is the most fun ever, Dan!!

Squee! So excited to hear of your success and how you are enjoying the process! Keep up the good work!