Proposal for forum: Audio Dramas -or- Fan Audio Dramas

Hi, I'd like to make a suggestion for a new message board. The board I'm suggesting would be called something like: Fan Audio Dramas or Audio Dramas in general.

The Fan Film message boards are great, don't get me wrong, but it seems to me the demographic is not the same for those interested in audio dramas versus those who are interested in film. If anything, I think the demographic would be closer to the Literature forum because of the "imagination" factor of having to develop your own ideas for how a character or scene looks.

I've posted a thread on the fan film boards about this very topic...asking people's thoughts on audio dramas and the response has been very light...mostly the responses have been from the people who are, also like myself, developing a Star Wars fan audio drama themselves.

I fear asking the same questions on the literature forum because I'd probably get backlashed for posting in the wrong place. There are also tons of official audio dramas (both the NPR ones and the book ones) and I think perhaps the TFN community could benefit from a new board with one of the above titles, especially since audio dramas do not fit in per say the "music" or "fan film" forums. I'd be happy to co-moderate it if need be..I'd even be happy to work on web development for a section like that if need be. But, any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Keith Abbott
www.riseofnobility.com

 

I do agree with you, audio dramas sound like they'd best fit in with Literature, especially considering with 3 exceptions, they are all based on EU material. Is there really enough to warrent an entire board for discussion of them? I'm not sure there is.

I really have no idea on fan audio dramas. Are there a lot of those? Sounds like fanfiction to me, but at the same time, it's audio, not written, so I'm not sure...

 

Actually Bria, they aren't all based on literature/EU. The original Radio Dramas for Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were released on NPR and eventually on cassette and then CD. Even Mark Hammill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy D Williams participated in the original series. You'd be surprised at the quality if you'd take a listen to them.

Then came the audio dramas for the books.

So there are both realms to consider with this request. They don't fit necessarily in the Literature forums because some are bascically films without the video, and others are just read versions of the books. It just depends on which ones you pick up at the store.

As to fan audio dramas, this is a new phenomenon for the most part. There have been very short spoofs. Mostly done on commercial radio and involve music of some sort. But the first audio drama so to speak was Stormtrooper Bob. A funny comedic drama that was done over the course of several years through a show called Jedi Talk. Those files are now being hosted on TFN's Fan Films site. However, once again..these aren't fan films and I'm not sure that in the future having these two mediums combined will be in the best interests of their producers. Audio dramas and fan films just aren't the same thing.

Anyhow, on to the next bit of news. Second Strike is another fan release that came out in December. Act 1 to be exact by Nathan Butler. Part 1 of 3. The rest of that drama will be released throughout this year.

Then there are several other productions underway already. Ours, Rise of Nobility, will be roughly 45-60 minutes long and should hopefully be out in late August or early September. You can see our site at www.riseofnobility.com.

There are also several others...Resurrection, Smuggler's Run and JediEd. More planned after that.

This may very well be a huge upcoming genre for star wars fans to emerse themselves in. I think in the long run, separating the genres between audio and film would be the best suggestion. And I do agree audio dramas do have more in common with literature than fan films. That's weird to say, but fan film fans seem to be more interested in the visual aspect of "film" than the visual aspect of personal imagination. I don't mean to sound like I'm coming down on those fans, but I think that's the perspective most are taking, otherwise I think there'd be more interest over there in this genre.

As to whether or not there's enough interest to warrant another board or section on TFN for downloads...why not test the field with one board...and see how it goes. What kind of interest there is for fan and offical audio drama releases. If it goes well..perhaps TFN could open a new section like fanfilms.com but just for audio, maybe including music.

Keith

 

Well, I think things should start with a thread. If a thread can't drum up enough discussion, then an entire forum would be wasted.

Partly because I don't think one forum should cover officially (film related), fan made audio dramas, and audio-books. The audio dramas based on the films are nearly the same thing as the novelizations. They are considered EU and I think it would be simplest to leave discussion of them where similar discussion is already taking place.

Same with the audio-books, they probably cover the same material as the novels, no reason to put identical discussion in two places and I doubt mentioning that you listened to the book rather than read it will result in exile from the Lit forum.

Fan made works don't really belong in Lit, however, since it's about officially released material. They don't put fan fiction in Lit for the same reason. I would expect that the needs of audio drama makers could be covered by the Fan Films forum; discussions about script treatments, suggestions about programs or equipment to use, announcements about completed projects, etc.

Talk to the forum mods if they feel fan made audio dramas should be included in that forum. If they don't think it belongs there, then plans for a new forum could continue.

 

I don't think the "official" radio dramas need their own forum. If Literature is good enough for novels, short story collections AND comic books, it can handle the radio dramas if anyone's interested.

As for fan audio dramas... now's not the time to discuss that. We haven't even had a full-time mod in the fan films forum for over a month and TFN Fan Films is backed up like the dickens. When Azeem and MaxVeers return to active duty it would be interesting to pursue this idea. But at present I am guessing the Fan Films Forum, even in its current anarchistic state , has a good support network for anyone. Hey, we were also fielding someone's questions about making a "fan video game" too.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

We already have a drama board

 

You guys touch on some good points, but let me touch on a few things.... I've noticed that the music forum contains both official music discussion and fan created music discussion. There's prescendent right there to start a joint thread. However, I see your points and I too could see that there could be two separate boards for these: one fan, one official (if necessary of course).

But let me restate the fact that the official radio dramas are not the books. Even Mark Hammill stars as Luke in the first one, and Anthony Daniels. These are basically movies without film in a way with all the effects being used. I hardly think those discussions would be appropriate for the literature forum. Perhaps the Original Trilogy forums..but then again they aren't films.

Do you see the quandry? This perhaps might be the reason there is a lack of discussion on the topic in general. Perhaps nobody knows where to post about audio and radio dramas for Star Wars.

There are threads in the fan film section, and there hasn't been a reason to squash them. The moderators have been quite liberal on this topic, which is great for those of us who want to talk about it. I understand Adam's views about now not being the right time, but perhaps a poll could be opened somewhere to ask people's opinions on the matter. I'm curious where people think discussion of this type should be going on.

I only bring this up because I'm not sure where our audience is for this type of discussion. Is it in the literature forum? Is it in the fan film forums? Is it in the movie forums? Or is it in the music forums where everything is audio based? I don't wanna ask 4 questions in 4 different places to find out what should be what and where the audience is. Catch my point? That's why I'm asking the staff here at TFN for their opinions and suggestions.

There isn't an audio drama forum. And whether or not there should be one, is not up to me to decide...but considering the medium....the question arises as to where it fits the best, or does it fit at all under the current circumstances.

Keith

 

Hmm . . . I'm going to sound like a heretic on this one.

First of all, let me preface this: I am quite interested in the fan audio field. I had the chance to appear on Digital Llama Radio twice (three times if the first recording hadn't fouled up), have relesaed around 25 episodes of ChronoRadio, and wrote, directed, and starred in the first major serious in-universe SW fan audio drama out of the gate. I'm VERY much in support of the genre.

However, I acknowledge that very few other people are, as of yet. There are quite a few audio projects out there, and they've certainly cropped up pretty fast in the wake of the RoN and 2S announcements a year or two (or whenever) ago, but compared to the following and population of, say, the fan FILM community, I don't believe that there are yet high enough numbers of interested parties to justify the creation of a new TFN board, as of yet.

Now, I do think that fan audio deserves its own discussion forum.

How do those not contradict? Well, I think that until the genre and community for fan audio grows a bit, it could use its own separate board off of TFN, perhaps on EZboard, just to get the ball rolling on such a forum and see how it goes. Honestly, though, there are really only four or five fan audio productions actually out there right now: Stormtrooper Bob; Second Strike; ChronoRadio, and Digital Llama Radio. SB is hosted at TFN Fan Films, as is DLR, which tie them into that board, and Second Strike drew much of its cast from that community, linking it there as well. CR is more dealing with publishing issues, so it finds its home rather easily on the Lit boards here and elsewhere.

The same generally goes for the original SW Radio Dramas, which are often topics of discussion on the Lit board, particularly because many people's only exposure to them were published scripts rather than the actual audio productions.

Bria noted that, aside from 3 of them, the audio dramatizations for SW are all EU-based. That is quite true. Crimson Empire, Dark Empire, etc. are all EU. More to the point, they are dramatizations and adaptations for a second medium based on previously published lit material. I can't see the justification for separating those in their discussions.

Either way, if it does come down to wanting to start one, and it goes through, I'll fully support the idea. I'm just not sure that it isn't something that's being suggested rather prematurely.

 

Nathan's point could very well be true in that...I could be premature in asking for a forum for fan audio dramas, or fan audio, etc. Hey, but it doesn't hurt to ask right?

The reason I ask in the first place is because I believe there is plenty enough material that could be lumped into this type of forum board, but more so...if you look at TFN's Fan Force boards, those are handed out left and right in order to propel discussion and to propel an eventual Fan Force chapter even when only a few people post per week sometimes. My belief, is that if "if we build it, they will come."

To me, it's worth a shot. I'd rather see a forum like this here on TFN than EZBoard if possible. I'll leave it in your hands. However the staff at TFN which to proceed, well, I'll leave that up to you. If you have any questions or would like my help in moderating such a board please let me know.

Thanks
Keith

 

Interesting. The FanForce issue was something I'd forgotten. Perhaps it'd be possible to create a fanforce based around not a location, but a hobby, like fan audio...?

 

I'd just like to chime in here and say that a Fan Audio Drama board could be a good idea.

As said before, FF boards are made (it seems like) daily, even if there is little or no interest in that particular board.

A Fan Audio Drama board would not take up that much space in the Fan Activities section, and could create more interest in the Fan Audio drama genre.


?Eaglet

 

Perhaps it'd be possible to create a fanforce based around not a location, but a hobby, like fan audio...?

Um, no. Fanforce is about getting people together in person. If you want a board for a specific hobby, then JC is the place for it, not FF.

 

Fan Force boards aren't just handed out whenever they are felt like, there are certain requirements to both getting it started, and to keep them from being deleted. But as the name implies, they are there for gathering fans in real life, not hobbies. The requirements for non-FF boards are different.

Nathan pretty much summed it all up. There isn't a big diversity of material that can fall under this banner, and the majority of it is just audio book versions of the Bantam and Del Rey novels, which are all discussed in Literature in the first place. The base for Fan-made audio dramas is also small across the entire net, and isn't likely to sustain much discussion, especially as a few of the others are attached to other discussion areas.

For the moment the best option would be to keep the fan-made discussion in Fan Films if the guys in there don't mind it, keeping an eye on any expansion. If it is something that grows and keeps up a sustained interest, it can always be looked at later on. Discussion of the officially released stuff can stay where it's always been, in Lit and the movie forums for the OT ones.

 

I'm only posting again in this thread to see if there's continuing interest in starting a new section on TFN. If there isn't, well...hehe...this thread can die off once again.

Keith

 

No offense, but if there was we would have heard something since the 14th of March.

 

No offense taken, I'm mainly referencing this thread from another forum here at TFN.
Keith

 

I honestly don't think an Audio Drama Forum would generate much traffic.