This past weekend I finally got around to doing battle with the weeds in our front yard (I won the battle, they're winning the war). As a result, I had quite a bit of gray time to fill. Rather than start a new audio book, I decided I'd try out a multi-chapter podcast I'd had downloaded on my phone.
The production is named We're Alive, and the domain name that hosts it says it all: www.zombiepodcast.com. That's right, this is a good old fashion zombie story.
I'm a few chapters into the podcast, and it's playing out much like you'd expect: the Zombie Apocalypse arrives, and a rag-tag bunch of individuals are figuring out how they are going to stay alive. I'm in the early stages of the story, so the plot is fairly predictable.
What's remarkable is just how high quality this production is. This isn't a guy sitting around reading into a Logitech microphone (not that there's anything wrong with that); these are real actors, with real skills bringing the story to life. Clearly there was a time when radio dramas dominated the entertainment universe, and a project like this shows they can still very much work.
While I'm certain that the individuals taking part in this project think radio is the perfect format for telling their story, I can't help but think of a Lloyd Kaufman's advice to wannabe movie makers:
Should you let the budget that you've attained dictate the grandiosity of your screenplay that you write? Common knowledge says that if you've got a five-dollar budget, you shouldn't attempt to recreate the roman coliseum games in all their splendor and glory. But common knowledge is for assholes. I say that if that's your story you really want to make, a box of assorted animal crackers can be bought for $.98, monofilament can be pilfered from your Dad's fishing kit, and those little green army men can be easily turned into gladiators with the aid of a handy disposable lighter.
In other words, if you've got the idea for a fantastic movie, and a tiny budget, maybe this audio only podcast model fits the bill? It's all storytelling, right? And the podcast model makes content delivery a snap.
You can start listening by clicking here. If nothing else, you might pickup some useful skills to help deal with that impending Zombie Infestation.
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