Director's Notes - "Bedwetter"
Our first episode wasn't ever supposed to be heard.
Ryan had created a reading series called "Pre-Post Humanists Present:." The idea was to create a venue for longer pieces of fiction, and to have those pieces be read by professional actors rather than the authors. (It was wildly successful. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it). Little vignettes separated the scenes, and I was brought in to host and direct the vignettes. Eventually I got to direct some of the stories, too.
Because I'm a voice actor, when I needed to cast the stories, I would call my actor friends... most of whom were also voice actors. After a few months, Ryan and I started to realize that we might be better served by doing this series as an audio thing. A few weeks later, Reading Out Loud was born.
Once we had resolved to make audio, we needed to figure out what the hell we were doing. Our intention was to make 30 minute episodes for public radio, but that's a lot of audio. We needed to start with something a little smaller, so Ryan offered up an old piece he had written called "Bedwetter." I adored it. Eleni (who co-hosted the PPH shows with me) and I recorded it, and I quickly sent it off to sound designer extraordinaire: Scott Minor.
A few days later, we got the finished story back. I sat down to listen, and after about 20 seconds, I started to panic. It didn't sound at all like what I was expecting it to sound like. I clenched my teeth and kept listening.
By the end of the piece, I was jumping up and down, laughing and crying. Apparently, what I was expecting it to sound like was completely and totally wrong, because the piece Scott created was beyond perfect. It's an amazing example of how audio is not only a means to tell a story, but also a tool that can make a story better.
Our first episode was supposed to be 30 minutes long, but we had to put "Bedwetter" into the world. We loved it too much.
Ryan had created a reading series called "Pre-Post Humanists Present:." The idea was to create a venue for longer pieces of fiction, and to have those pieces be read by professional actors rather than the authors. (It was wildly successful. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it). Little vignettes separated the scenes, and I was brought in to host and direct the vignettes. Eventually I got to direct some of the stories, too.
Because I'm a voice actor, when I needed to cast the stories, I would call my actor friends... most of whom were also voice actors. After a few months, Ryan and I started to realize that we might be better served by doing this series as an audio thing. A few weeks later, Reading Out Loud was born.
Once we had resolved to make audio, we needed to figure out what the hell we were doing. Our intention was to make 30 minute episodes for public radio, but that's a lot of audio. We needed to start with something a little smaller, so Ryan offered up an old piece he had written called "Bedwetter." I adored it. Eleni (who co-hosted the PPH shows with me) and I recorded it, and I quickly sent it off to sound designer extraordinaire: Scott Minor.
A few days later, we got the finished story back. I sat down to listen, and after about 20 seconds, I started to panic. It didn't sound at all like what I was expecting it to sound like. I clenched my teeth and kept listening.
By the end of the piece, I was jumping up and down, laughing and crying. Apparently, what I was expecting it to sound like was completely and totally wrong, because the piece Scott created was beyond perfect. It's an amazing example of how audio is not only a means to tell a story, but also a tool that can make a story better.
Our first episode was supposed to be 30 minutes long, but we had to put "Bedwetter" into the world. We loved it too much.