"All Ears" - a documentary celebrating the medium of modern audio drama

Does modern audio drama give the amateur fiction writer the opportunity to create their own ‘Lost’ or ‘Walking Dead’ style series? Put on your headphones and find out!

The demand to be entertained is not a new thing. We all love the feeling of escapism we get by losing ourselves in an epic novel or movie, but in an era of commuting and long working hours finding the time to sit down with a good book can be difficult. Fortunately we also live in a World of instant communications, smartphones and mp3s, and as podcasting and Internet radio continues to grow at a phenomenal rate you can grab your entertainment fix at the touch of a button – even whilst your eyes are busy helping you to drive the car, mow the lawn, or clean the bathroom.

Modern audio drama doesn’t just give you the opportunity to dodge bullets and run from hordes of bloodthirsty zombies in the immersive universe of We’re Alive, or travel to the utopian underwater city of Leviathan and hang out with its immortal citizens on your morning commute. The medium also gives its listeners the chance to get involved in acting, writing and producing their own shows, many listeners have taken so much pleasure from their favourite audio drama that they’ve felt compelled to purchase a microphone and learn to mix audio. Some of these listeners have then gone on to produce great shows themselves: inspiring new listeners, and so the cycle continues. This gives the modern audio drama community a magical and unique quality that cannot be found in any other medium. How many fans of The Walking Dead have found themselves playing a character in the show after chatting to the shows producer online?

If you have a great idea for a story you don’t need expensive filming equipment, sets, lighting, costumes and props. With a microphone, some audio editing software and a steep learning curve you can create anything, from a comedy in the Wild West to a survival horror on an alien infested Martian colony. The only limit is your own imagination.

In “All Ears” we bring together some of the best writers, producers and voice actors in the World of audio drama to talk about their experiences and journeys in this amazing medium , as well as offering invaluable advice to those thinking of picking up the microphone and headphones themselves!  

With thanks to Julie Hoverson, Jack Kincaid, Christof Laputka, Rich Matheson, Fiona Thraille and Kc Wayland.

Clips heard in this show were from The Leviathan Chronicles, We’re Alive, Keeg’s Quest, Fatal Girl , Edict Zero FIS, Darker Project’s - The Section 31 Files, Dixie Stenberg, We Are Not Alone, and Children of the Gods. Music by Tom Cusack.

"All Ears" is a Yap Audio Production, released under a creative commons license. (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs)

www.yapaudio.co.uk

All Ears - Celebrating Modern Audio Drama

Producers of audio drama.

Email info@yapaudio.co.uk Website www.yapaudio.co.uk Twitter http://twitter.com/YapAudio

All Ears - Celebrating Modern Audio Drama

Yapaudio