[Kirok]

TrekUnited is supportive of ALL Star Trek fan made productions - films, game mods, web comics ... check out the Fan Production directory! However one media has not had as much exposure as others and has made significant strides that we feel should be recognised is Star Trek fan audio dramas.

The major manstream media publicity is with fans making their own TV programs or movies however a fan movie is way beyond the resources of most fan groups. There are other options though and an audio production, what used to be called a "radio play", is one of them. It might sound strange in this modern world where even our music has to be accompanied by a video for it to succeed in the charts, but there's still an interest in them. In fact when "Star Wars" ran as thirteen half-hour Star Wars radio programs in 1981 on National Public Radio, the response was incredible. They got 50,000 letters and phone calls in a single week, 750,000 listeners per episode and a 40% jump in the overall NPR audience.

In the past, many radio plays have had major cult followings, like "The Goon Show", and many have made the successful transition to TV - "The Green Hornet" springs to mind, as does "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" which even made it to the movie screen! Although Star Trek has never tried to break into the radio broadcast market there have been audio dramas, as reported by Curt Danhauser on his excellent website …

Quote

There were only eleven different original STAR TREK stories [between 1975 - 1979], but they have been released and re-released a number of times in different record types. There have been a total of twenty-three record packages released from 1975 to 1979 by Peter Pan Records and Power Records which was a division of Peter Pan Industries. Ten of these were 7 inch 45 rpm records, three were 7 inch 33-1/3 rpm mini LPs and eight were 12" 33-1/3 LP records. Ten of the record sets contained a read along comic book.

What is involved in creating an Audio production? The term "audio production" covers a number of sub-types. It’s base form, the audio book, could be something as simple as a narrator, sometimes the author or an actor with a good speaking voice, reading a story with only the simplest of background music and sound effects. Some audio books have several actors doing the different voices in a story but it is from this point that they start to verge on a full blown audio drama, a radio play. I suppose the name changed because it can be distributed on many different types of media besides radio: Internet Radio, Audio Cassette/CD. MP3, Podcast ... The difference between an audio book and an audio production is that the latter uses little narration and instead relies on the script and special effects to tell the story. Go down to your local library, you're bound to find examples of each.

J. Michael Straczynski - Yes, that’s the same J. Michael Straczynski who wrote and produced "Babylon 5" - says in his "The Complete Book of Scriptwriting" that writing for audio is both rewarding and demanding in that the success or failure of the production pretty much relies on the story, the script. From a production point of view, it is far more accessible in that you don't have the problems and expense of props, scenery, costume or video special effects. In fact you can forget the whole complex and costly process of video recording & editing. At the same time "audio only" can have a freedom not enjoyed by video in that they can paint mental pictures that could be impossible to create on the screen. Our own imaginations can supply monsters and worlds tailor-made to our own dreams and nightmares, waiting to be called up when we are sucked into good story!

I am personally quite excited about the possibilities that audio dramas open for Trek fans. Audio dramas are far more than the "poor cousins" of fan films, the easy option for a group to get involved in creating a fan production. Audio is an important and integral part of any video production, but nowhere more so than when it adds a voice to virtual video: animations, machinima, Sims and Brick movies or online comics.

• What is the current status of the Star Trek audio drama scene?
  
• Why is Star Trek a good subject for this media?
  
• How accessible is Audio Drama as the entry level fan production
  
• How have Star Trek audio drama groups expanded into original productions
  
• Fan audio on public radio - breaking into mainstream media?
  
• Audio drama as the stepping stone to animation

Trekunited has sent invites out and has pleasure in reporting that both Eric Busby of Darker Projects, the makers of "Star Trek: The Section 31 Files" and Jeff Bridges of Pendant Productions, the makers of "Star Trek: Defiant" have agreed to be part of what will be a major event with the theme - "Audio dramas: the cutting edge of fan productions?". Stay tuned for news of more participants!

To go ahead at a date and time to be arranged within a week of March 20, it will take the form of a Live Chat preceded and supported by this thread on the TrekUnited forum. After the Live Chat - which will include prizes and giveaways to fans - there will be a two page article in "Hailing Frequencies Open" and a comprehensive article to be published on Wikipedia to reach mainstream readers.

This is a fan organised event and as such there will be no cost or profit for anyone - other than the increased visibility and goodwill that all concerned will reap within Star Trek fandom.

I look foward to your participation: I will be the moderator for the chat ... and may God have mercy on my soul!

Regards

Kirok of L'Stok

[Kirok]

This event is gaining pace as two more invitations have been accepted by Tanveer Naseer of Star Trek: Unity and Jim Caswell of Star Trek: Eras

Tanveer is the director of ST Unity's first audio episode and scribe for a few others. production officially started on Star Trek: Unity's first 'audiosode' "Disunity" on Feb 6 and "work is proceeding on a number of fronts including voice work from the cast, early music selection and some ideas for some new musical 'variations', creation of custom SFX for this episode, promotional work". Work continues apace with Star Trek: Unity's original goal as a machinima in Half Life2, however they have recently expanded their 'Fanchise' to include audio dramas that are going to introduce and expand on the storyline.

Jim Caswell a co-creator and producer of Star Trek: Eras, the newest entrant on the Star trek audio drama scene. "Eras is a multi-generational audio series, spanning through the entire history of Star Trek. Told from the perspective of Admiral Evori, an El-Aurian who has been a part of Starfleet since the beginning, each story can range from his "present" place in time following the conflict with the Romulans (as depicted in Star Trek: Nemesis) to his experiences with humans during their explorations using Warp-5 engines (the time period established in the Star Trek: Enterprise series)."

Watch this space for more info shortly!

Cheers

Kirok of L'Stok

[NX014Ever]

I have always said, why back when, that this could have been a real possibility for bringing back Enterprise in some form from the start of our efforts here. I love the idea of another audio series. Be it whatever the setting or time period.

This post has been edited by NX014Ever: 12 March 2007 - 07:08 PM

[Kirok]

NX014Ever, on Mar 13 2007, 01:09 PM, said:

I have always said, why back when, that this could have been a real possibility for bringing back Enterprise in some form from the start of our efforts here. I love the idea of another audio series. Be it whatever the setting or time period.

ST: Eras has a part of it's storyline in the Enterprise era and ST: Unity is sited slightly later, 12 years after the inauguration of the UFP in 2163.

You know ... just as "Star Trek: New Voyages" has continued the "five-year mission" of the Original Series with new actors for Kirk, Spock and McCoy etc. there is no reason why someone could not do the same thing with ST: Enterprise as a Season 5 audio drama. One advantage of an audio drama is that it is considerably easier for a VA (Voice Actor) to do a reasonable version of one of the original actors, like Trip, Archer or T'Pol, than it is for an actor to try to emulate them in voice AND appearance! A listener will supply the costumes, backgrounds and visual effects all in their own mind!

There are even scripts out there already in the form of Virtual Enterprise although they are not made for an audio drama. Writing for audio has very special challenges.

Just an idea.

Cheers

Kirok

[Kirok]

Sorry I've been missing in action recently, I've been laid up with the flu when I haven't been at work on night shifts - you should try it sometime, its mind-bending! But I got Klingon antibodies, man, and those flu bugs have no honour!

The Star Trek audio drama chat is scheduled to take place in the TrekUnited chat room on Saturday March 24, 8pm EST, which will be Midnight in London, 5pm at Los Vegas and 10am Sunday morning in Sydney, Oztralia. I have been blown away by the support of the principles involved who have said that they will attend (in alphabetical order) ...

• Jeffrey Bridges of Pendant Productions, the makers of "Star Trek: Defiant"
  
• Eric Busby of Darker Projects, the makers of "Star Trek: The Section 31 Files"
  
• Jim Caswell, co-creator and Producer of Star Trek: Eras
  
• Tanveer Naseer, Director of Star Trek: Unity's first audio episode, currently in production

I can guarentee some surprises on the night - not just the prizes that have been pledged by the various production groups - initiatives that could hopefully help raise the public profile of these prolific and hard-working groups.

See you there!

Kirok of L'Stok

[mlaz]

Good to hear you are batteling the flue.
I am realy interested in this and will try to get on line this time if the forum lets me in as last townhall meeting that didn't work.
As I have a whiplash reading is a big task for me now and star trek novels are rarely put into audiotapes a lot goes past me. You can watch the DVD's but.... well did that more than once.
Is this right?Click Here to see 8pm EDT in your local time

[Kirok]

mlaz, on Mar 23 2007, 12:55 AM, said:

Good to hear you are batteling the flue.
I am realy interested in this and will try to get on line this time if the forum lets me in as last townhall meeting that didn't work.
As I have a whiplash reading is a big task for me now and star trek novels are rarely put into audiotapes a lot goes past me. You can watch the DVD's but.... well did that more than once.
Is this right?Click Here to see 8pm EDT in your local time

Absolutely right, Mlaz - thanks for that link to the world time clock! Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your injury, that can be really serious, I hope you are improving?

One undeniable challenge for audio drama is that people are immensely dependant on visual clues in their day-to-day lives. Which would you hate the most, loosing your sight or your hearing ? With only audible clues to help you it is hard to tell the difference between a spaceship and a hole in the ground! But done right you can put your headphones on, close your eyes and relax and you are there! You could be sitting in the park or on a train going to work with your head in the 24th century!

This is one reason why fan productions are ideally suited audio dramas. Take the audio drama that pretty much kicked off the modern revival of the audio drama in America, Star Wars! Not only did listeners have a clear mental picture of the many "larger than life" characters, most of them had their own musical themes! You only have to hear that alien jazz band to know you are in the Mos Eisley Cantina or hear Leia's theme to "see" her.

Star Trek doesn't have quite the same musical themes, although The OS had definate mood music for battle, romance and humour for example. However it has its fair share of instantly recognisable audio icons: the communicator chirrup, the sound of the transporter, the doors and the phaser. Perhaps more importantly fans can visualise all the famous stereotypes. Just mention that someone is a Ferrenghi, a Klingon or a Borg and not only will the listener instantly know pretty much what they look like but a it will conjure up a complete cultural background for each character!

The same goes for any of the fan-based audio dramas, for example Pendant's DC lineup of Wonder Woman, Batman and 'Supes' or Darker Projects Dr Who and Masters of the Universe productions.

What about original productions, though? Fan fiction and other fan-based productions have been likened to painting by numbers by their detractors and there is no doubt that production groups, once they have had a few successful projects under their belt, will want to "push the envelope", to try something new and original.

[To be continued ...]

Kirok of L'Stok

[Aussie Trekkie]

Also remember that shows/movies like Superman and Dick Tracy originally started life on radio before coming to the big or small screen so audio presentations have played a major role in current lives.

[Kirok]

Aussie Trekkie, on Mar 23 2007, 03:16 PM, said:

Also remember that shows/movies like Superman and Dick Tracy originally started life on radio before coming to the big or small screen so audio presentations have played a major role in current lives.

Quite right, AT.

Superman was a star of radio long before he was a star of TV and the silver creen ... and Pendant audio productions! So was The Lone ranger, The Green Hornet and The Shadow. Where is GhyGhov when you need him - he does an awesome Shadow impression! All of those were licensed productions of established comics or pulp fiction characters. this is mirrored by what Star trek: Unity is trying to do by creating background audiosodes as they call them, to lay a groundwork for their forthcoming animated trek drama.

There are of course practical advantages to the original productions mentioned to date. An original work is theirs to do with as they see fit, they don't have to worry about making allowances for using somebody else's copyrighted universe. They can sell it on CD, have it broadcast on national radio or commercialise it in any way they wish: sell coffee mugs and T-shirts with their name on it or license it to toymakers or comic books if there is a Market for it..

Perhaps just as importantly the writers, cast and production team can confidently take credit for any success that it enjoys. There can be no suggestion that, for example any large hit counts as a podcast are because of the popularity of Star Trek or Wonder Woman.

This is just one example of how fan films are creating a precedence that fan films, indeed any fan production, can follow: expansion into original productions. Fans who have learned their craft wit practical experience on fan audio productions are now looking at creating original works.

Individually and as groups many in the fan film community are taking the same path. Star Trek Hidden Frontier is finishing its seven year, seven season run shortly. They're giving nothing away publicly yet but it is no secret that Rob Caves has the talent, infrastructure and motivation to do an original production. Will they be the first to make the transition to independent filmaker? There are several good quality groups who might follow them.

But how would they do it? Do fan audios have a lead in that direction as well? Perhaps. Stay tuned.

Cheers

Kirok of L'Stok

[J. Marcus Xavier]

The most obviously advantageous aspect with going audio drama is also the biggest issue with fanfilm productions: budget. It's possible to make a professional quality audio drama with great foley and music, and you never have to dip into CGI costs, travel expenses for all of your actors, bluescreening or set building. Sure, it's a bit odd to be deprived of the visual aspect, but what is fanfiction? What are novels? Books? The imagination is a great vehicle for creating your own SFX, and I don't think Western culture is so far gone at this point that a majority of people couldn't appreciate a well-written story.

With audio drama you don't have to have all your voice actors on one place, you can buy quality canned effects off the internet, and do all your mixing on software that you might already have (Macromedia FLASH, for example). I, for one, definitely think that the benefits of saved time and cost make audio drama an extremely attractive venue for fan productions. It's a step beyond written fiction, and also a good vehicle to get people to visualize your story (at least in their heads)--perhaps even people that wouldn't normally bother to read a bit of fanfiction.

My 2 cents.

[Chris McKeown]

Well I think Audio Drama is the way to go these days. Yes it reminiscing to the days of old. (Yes guys I'm that old to remember). But with the craz over MP3 and folks wanting their entertainment while their on the move is a great way to bring life back into Audio dramas. It also leads to turning folks imagination back on again instead of looking at the Boob Tube. Also this is a way to introduce new materials and old, a test market kinda to see what is really interesting folks. And who knows what Hollywood might pick up from these to move on to bigger and better things.

Kirok when we get the media section up on Sci Fi United.com we would really like to host some of your material. We already are dealing with Pendent Productions and are waiting to really push you guys to the Sci Fi base at SFU once the media section is up and running.