We're Alive Fan-Made Tribute Audio Drama!

[Litmaster]

Hello Forumites!

I know we are all mourning the end of We're Alive as a series, but I wanted to let everyone know that the fun is not over just yet! I am currently editing a fan-fiction audio drama, set in the world of We're Alive, that I should have finished here within the next week or so. The story details the exploits of 6 Redshirts on their way to LA to attend a zombie convention in early May of 2009, when the REAL zompocalypse breaks out! Essentially, is serves as a 45 minute prequel to the events of We're Alive that occur on May 8th, 2009.

The cast is primarily made of of Forum members who attended the We're Alive Convoy trip, but it also features some of the actual music and sound effects from Season 1. Not only that, but in this production you will also hear SEVERAL cameos from actual members of the We're Alive cast, including Kc Wayland himself!

BE PREPARED to hear voices you haven't heard for quite awhile! It should be a good time, and a fun little epilogue to a truly epic series. :nik:

Lit

[Osiris]

God dammit, is it a prequel or an epilogue?! MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!!!!

[Litmaster]

God dammit, is it a prequel or an epilogue?! MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!!!!


Bitch... it's a prequel that comes AFTER the series... what would you call that?!??

[Gooer]

Bitch... it's a prequel that comes AFTER the series... what would you call that?!??

*mind explodes*

A prequel i guess....? It's still set before the main story......kinda like how Star Wars was made.....?

[LiamKerrington]

Falsa demonstratio non nocet.
It is a prequel, 'cause it is set into the hours (and days?) before the outbrake; as I understand it from your posting as well as your announcements on the We're Alive Fancast it is not considered to "bring closure" to the story.
And I am VERY EAGER to listen to it - not only because of the return of some WA Cast members, because of the fandom-awesomeness. Thank you!

[Osiris]

Bitch... it's a prequel that comes AFTER the series... what would you call that?!??

Considering it wasn't written by Kc? Fan generated content.

[LiamKerrington]

Considering it wasn't written by Kc? Fan generated content.

How does that relate to "spin-off"? Especially in this particular case?

@Lit: When will it be released???

[Osiris]

How does that relate to "spin-off"? Especially in this particular case?

@Lit: When will it be released???

I mean, it falls in the category of fan-fiction. But does it really matter what it is? It'll be cool to hear. Looking forward to it.

[Litmaster]

Considering it wasn't written by Kc? Fan generated content.

Ah, screw Kc. I'm taking over this beyotch!!!

[Kc]

Ah, screw Kc. I'm taking over this beyotch!!!

It was fun to act in too. I'll get you all the sounds you need soon. The chaos hasn't calmed down here.

[Litmaster]

It was fun to act in too. I'll get you all the sounds you need soon. The chaos hasn't calmed down here.

Just some insight for those of you who have never tried to make an audio drama: I' ve got well over a dozen hours sunk into the editing of this one 45 minute piece, and it STILL sounds like shit compared to the original episodes. And this doesn't even count all the hours I put into writing the script, arranging casting, recording lines, background bed, foley sounds, rooting around online for certain sounds, bugging Kc for his old stuff, etc, etc...

So yeah... Kc and Grayson are both masochistic, clinically insane individuals. :nik:

[LiamKerrington]

Just some insight for those of you who have never tried to make an audio drama: I' ve got well over a dozen hours sunk into the editing of this one 45 minute piece, and it STILL sounds like shit compared to the original episodes. And this doesn't even count all the hours I put into writing the script, arranging casting, recording lines, background bed, foley sounds, rooting around online for certain sounds, bugging Kc for his old stuff, etc, etc...

So yeah... Kc and Grayson are both masochistic, clinically insane individuals. :nik:

Now you, too. And if only for this single challenge.
But I guess that your recording suffers from the lack of a studio-recording, right? I could imagine that your recordings require a lot more care then any recording in a studio.

And I wonder: did you record several takes with your cast? Or is it the Clint-Eastwood-approach - first take taken?

Best wishes!
Liam

[Kc]

Just some insight for those of you who have never tried to make an audio drama: I' ve got well over a dozen hours sunk into the editing of this one 45 minute piece, and it STILL sounds like shit compared to the original episodes. And this doesn't even count all the hours I put into writing the script, arranging casting, recording lines, background bed, foley sounds, rooting around online for certain sounds, bugging Kc for his old stuff, etc, etc...

So yeah... Kc and Grayson are both masochistic, clinically insane individuals. :nik:

Yup! We are crazy. Now add on, Artwork coordination, Website and Forum maintenance, podcast feed maintenance, social media managing, online store inventory-design-budgeting, royalties and contracts, account and finance management, and of course future projects.

There's still more, but you get the picture. We be NUTS.

[Litmaster]

Yup! We are crazy. Now add on, Artwork coordination, Website and Forum maintenance, podcast feed maintenance, social media managing, online store inventory-design-budgeting, royalties and contracts, account and finance management, and of course future projects.

There's still more, but you get the picture. We be NUTS.

Delegate, delegate, delegate... Wayland Productions has got to be more than just Kc Wayland, man.
Seriously, you're gonna have a stroke before you're 40 and we're all gonna get fucked out of some great storytelling...



But I guess that your recording suffers from the lack of a studio-recording, right? I could imagine that your recordings require a lot more care then any recording in a studio.

And I wonder: did you record several takes with your cast? Or is it the Clint-Eastwood-approach - first take taken?


Well, the lack of an available studio is a bit of an impediment with the voices, for sure. Not so much for the background sounds, as a lot of those were field recordings done in a realistic setting (e.g., in a car). This would have been more of a problem if, say, I were recording a Game of Thrones audio drama, where any unwanted traffic noise would really fuck up the 'realism' of a piece set in a fictional world without automobiles.

Most of the voice recordings were done in our hotel room on the Saturday morning of the WA finale event. It was fairly quiet, except for some damn cleaning lady that kept running her vacuum down the hall, so we had to grab takes every time she turned it off and was switching rooms! Some of the cast voices you hear were emailed to me (great individuals, for sure), some with multiple takes of each line, some were done live the night of the finale event, and one was done over the phone just this morning. :D However, the final scene of my audio play was recorded in the actual We're Alive studio, so at least with that part I had ideal conditions to work with. :)

So the technique I'm using isn't the same as what Kc does in the original: most of the voice tracks for mine were done individually and at different times from the other actors, as opposed to having everyone together in the same studio at the same time. I can actually see what an advantage that can be, as it engenders much more realism in the performances. It's an impediment to not be able to hear HOW someone else is reading their lines before you read your own; I found myself having to correct a lot of the performances that came out with a different kind of energy or inflection than what I was looking for.

I also learned from this experience just how many ways there can be to interpret a line. You write the script and have an inner dialogue in your head for how the characters sound when they speak to each other. Then when the actors read their lines, you often find a quite different interpretation of the words you wrote for them to say. I'd say about half of the time the reading is fine, 30% of the time it is off and needs to be corrected, and maybe 20% of the time I actually get pleasantly surprised when an actor reads a line in a way that sounds much better than what I was imagining in my head. I wonder how many times Kc had this experience over the past years...

So yep, I've got a total of 10 cast members participating in this project, not including Kc. I won't say who yet because I want people to smile when they recognize a familiar voice. It's just chock-full of We're Alive references. I hope the fans enjoy it... :nik:

[Gooer]

Well, since you're using some of Kc's sound clips, i guess i'll now have to compare this to Kc's work......

All jokes aside, it sounds great!

[Kc]

Delegate, delegate, delegate... Wayland Productions has got to be more than just Kc Wayland, man.
Seriously, you're gonna have a stroke before you're 40 and we're all gonna get fucked out of some great storytelling...


Well, between Gman and I, we have our areas we focus on. I don't even touch the store any more, which is HUGE amounts of stress. And we have zinterns as well that help out tremendously. There's a bit of some training involved with that stuff too as you can see here. This video is only available via link, and we try to keep this in house, but you can check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_1yypYR9TU&list=UUIShWN6mnXUm9HXbZ_wJqNA



I also learned from this experience just how many ways there can be to interpret a line. You write the script and have an inner dialogue in your head for how the characters sound when they speak to each other. Then when the actors read their lines, you often find a quite different interpretation of the words you wrote for them to say. I'd say about half of the time the reading is fine, 30% of the time it is off and needs to be corrected, and maybe 20% of the time I actually get pleasantly surprised when an actor reads a line in a way that sounds much better than what I was imagining in my head. I wonder how many times Kc had this experience over the past years...



It's all about direction. The director's job is to make it all consistent and work. It was very important especially when you record someone separately like Michael. Also, it helps to have multiple takes to pick which match the next character.

[7oddisdead]

As one of the actors...ill jump in here and say this.

recording in the studio felt a thousand times more natural than recoding in the hotel room. Actually having people to work your emotions and inflections around makes the process way easier. Between that, and not actually having the script in advance to read through and "rehearse" lines made finding the character inspiration difficult. Of course, I was busy driving across the country, looking at the grand canyon, etc...i probly could have made time to look the script over more...but. Meh.

it was a fun experience. I'll say that:nik:

[katlero]

Finally got a chance to use my theatre degree! Knew that expensive piece of paper would come in handy! :D Excited to hear the final product.

[MrRedBeard]

My favorite part is my dying first.... im the red shirt.

[Gooer]

My favorite part is my dying first.... im the red shirt.

Wow thanks for the spoilers Red...... sheeeeesh..........

[Litmaster]

My favorite part is my dying first.... im the red shirt.


Wow thanks for the spoilers Red...... sheeeeesh..........


Yeah, seriously! What the heck, Red?! Why don't'cha go ahead and spill some more beans while you're at it??!? (The CIA just crossed Red completely off their recruiting list...:nik:)

Just don't tell them about my love scene with Scratch, or the part where Katie fends off a horde of Zeds with a toothpick and a hair dryer...

[Gooer]

Just don't tell them about my love scene with Scratch

Pfft, if only. AMIRIGHT? *wink wink*

[Witch_Doctor]

It's a damn good piece of writing.



Nuff said.

[Litmaster]

Aaaaaaaaand DONE!
The WE'RE ALIVE FAN-MADE TRIBUTE AUDIO DRAMA IS FINISHED!!!!

That's right 50 solid minutes of audio goodness is IN THE CAN!
They said it couldn't be done! They doubted! They lost interest! BUT IT GOT DONE!!! BOOM!!

Look for it to be hosted on Mick & Redbeard's We're Alive Fancast site (http://werealive.mickred.com/) soon!

[Kc]

Just got to the ending. This is great.

[Gooer]

Am i blind.....? I don't see it....

[7oddisdead]

Gooer

its not up yet. Steve just sent it to those of us involved via email.

gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, all things considered. :)

[Gooer]

Gooer

its not up yet. Steve just sent it to those of us involved via email.

gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, all things considered. :)

Ah, that'll explain why i couldn't see it :P

It sounds promising....

[Raven]

Todd is a thespian!

[Witch_Doctor]

Todd is a thespian!

Come on now, Raven. Let's respect his life-choices. :nyan:

[Witch_Doctor]

I must say, that I'm really impressed. LitMaster actually spliced the dialogue together nicely, considering most of the characters' lines were recorded separately. The cameos are awesome. Can't wait for everyone to hear it. Lit took his microphone EVERYWHERE, so I was surprised at what ended up in the final cut. I have to say there were a few cringe-worthy moments when i thought he may have recorded something embarrassing when we weren't looking.

[Raven]

Come on now, Raven. Let's respect his life-choices. :nyan: Oh I respect them. Even encourage them XD

[7oddisdead]

Hey now!!

I have to maintain my urban-hermit status. Don't spread all this around....they'll kick me out of the union, then how am I gonna find work!?!?






:hsugh:

[Raven]

http://www.stlauditions.com/app/

Welcome! :)

[Litmaster]

If i'm responsible for making anyone's career in Hollywood, I expect to be compensated... HANDSOMELY. :nik:

[7oddisdead]

Note to self: look up the definition of "handsomely"

[Litmaster]

Note to self: look up the definition of "handsomely"

Think 6 figures..... :nik:

[MrRedBeard]

Yeah, seriously! What the heck, Red?! Why don't'cha go ahead and spill some more beans while you're at it??!? (The CIA just crossed Red completely off their recruiting list...:nik:)

Just don't tell them about my love scene with Scratch, or the part where Katie fends off a horde of Zeds with a toothpick and a hair dryer...

Umm woops I didn't even think about it

[7oddisdead]

Think 6 figures..... :nik:

so.....action figures?...figure skaters?...perplexed Romans?...

[Litmaster]

so.....action figures?...figure skaters?...perplexed Romans?...

No... 6 of these:
https://myweeklyfascination.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/3802172-starwars-original12actionfigures_color_9x-lrg.jpg

That's what I require. :nik:

[Litmaster]

Ok, it's up! Mick has just now posted the We're Alive Convoy Fan Audio Drama online! CHECK IT OUT HERE!!

http://werealive.mickred.com/convoy_tribute_audio_drama/ (http://werealive.mickred.com/convoy_tribute_audio_drama/)

ENJOY THE NEARLY 50 MINUTES OF ADDITIONAL WE'RE ALIVE CONTENT!!! :nik:

[Gooer]

.... I'll do it when i wake up..... Now, it's sleepy time....

[Litmaster]

:nik:

[LiamKerrington]

Crazy shit is happenin' ...
To be continued??? Big time LOLitude ...

[Storm]

As many of you know, We're Alive aired its final episode in Los Angeles on Saturday the 19th, 2014...
Missing a month here maybe? I don't know... But glad to see it's finally up, I'm sure it's awesome! :D

[LiamKerrington]

As many of you know, We're Alive aired its final episode in Los Angeles on Saturday the 19th, 2014...
Missing a month here maybe? I don't know... But glad to see it's finally up, I'm sure it's awesome! :D

I really like it. It was very different from the WA chapters. And you feel and here the fan-contribution.
I am pretty much amazed about a couple of things:
a) first and foremost: all the homages combined with b), which is ...
b) ... the original cast and crew that played along and joined your chapter,
c) the sound-quality - not only that there is little to know "noise", but also that Kc (or whoever) gave you the opportunity to use real WA themes, ambiente, fx, and shit, but no tanks ...

Crazy-ness. And I am wondering: will there really be a part 2? Or does "to be continued" refer to chapter 1 of We're Alive?

Best wishes!
Liam

[Litmaster]

As many of you know, We're Alive aired its final episode in Los Angeles on Saturday the 19th, 2014...
Missing a month here maybe? I don't know... But glad to see it's finally up, I'm sure it's awesome! :D

Ha ha... oops! That is Saturday, JULY 19th, heh heh....

What, you didn't hear that? It's IN there! I said it! (uh, just the J, U, L, and Y were silent, is all... :hsugh: )

[Litmaster]

I really like it. It was very different from the WA chapters. And you feel and hear the fan-contribution.
I am pretty much amazed about a couple of things:
a) first and foremost: all the homages combined with b), which is ...
b) ... the original cast and crew that played along and joined your chapter,
c) the sound-quality - not only that there is little to know "noise", but also that Kc (or whoever) gave you the opportunity to use real WA themes, ambiente, fx, and shit, but no tanks ...

Yeah, that was really great to get so many of the cast to participate in this; they were really good sports about it, despite the fact that I had a REALLY small window to work with in terms of floating the idea to them, handing them a script, and seeing if they were willing to do a cameo. Some of the characters I wrote into the script only after I found out they were willing to do it! I actually recorded Otto and Nate on my portable recorder in the empty theater lobby while the WA after-party was going on across the street. Also, the bit at the end with the 4 soldiers was recorded on the sidewalk outside the after-party, at about 12:15am! That was all improv, too! I just told them my basic idea of doing a scene in heaven with the soldiers and they just ran with it from there. Got it in one take, despite Robbins' "mom" shouting from the background! :D I do regret, however, that I wasn't able to get more of the female cast members in on the show--they were too busy being mobbed by autograph-seekers so I had a hard time getting close to them!

I think the sound quality came out ok despite the adversity of working with obviously non-ideal conditions (like recording in a hotel room, car, or street corner). However, the final scene was actually recorded in the WA studio, so I have no excuse there... And yeah, Kc was great about sharing a lot of the earlier sounds from Chapter 1; I was really trying to invoke the spirit of that early chapter, which is still one of my favorites despite the fact that it's not as technically brilliant as some later chapters.



I am wondering: will there really be a part 2? Or does "to be continued" refer to chapter 1 of We're Alive?

Well, as we all know (*sniff*), MY fan production is the MAIN story in the We're Alive universe, buuuuut if you want to go on listening, there is about 50-odd hours of some kind of epilogue that Kc Wayland came up with... :nik:

[Storm]

Cthulhu, I love this! (Calling out God's name every time was starting to get a bit boring, so decided to switch to someone else for a while)
Well done! All those references, both the extremely obvious ones, the more subtle ones, and the ones I'm not even sure were there in the first place, other than in my head...
The last scene is great! I love that Puck just shows up in the middle of it. It's fun fun fun~ ^^
And great mix between what happened on the real trip and what's happening in the story. I will definitely listen to this a couple more times and add it to my WA-relisten-Schedule...Which I don't really have, buuut still...
One thing though... Where was the zombie kitteh?!?! :P

[molson]

It was great and I look forward to the inevitable side-project: "Tales From We're Not Going To Be Alive For Very Long".

Things I especially enjoyed:
-Spirited video game commentary
-Angel making it very clear that his role in all things is to see the bigger picture
-Muldoon introducing people to heaven with the line, "Robbins made a wall fall on me".
-1/2 off appetizers in heaven. You can't beat that! I'm turning my life of sin around immediately.

[Witch_Doctor]

Litmaster took that microphone EVERYWHERE! Recorded EVERYTHING. He did a really good good of putting it all together. For instance, most of our lines were recorded individually. That is, Raven recorded her lines by herself, Katlero recorded her lines by herself, Mr Red Beard... you get the picture.

Everyone was taking photos of the Grand Canyon, Litmaster was waving a microphone over the rim. :nik:

[Litmaster]

The last scene is great! I love that Puck just shows up in the middle of it. It's fun fun fun~ ^^

Yeah, that was hilarious! I guess Brett was leaving, saw the guys all standing around a microphone, figured he'd come by and see what the heck was going on, then suddenly realized he just butted in on the scene! I was really trying hard not to laugh in listening to his half-assed justification for why his living character suddenly shows up with a bunch of dead guys in heaven! The part at the end was comical as well so I just left it as-is instead of trying to fade it out. :nik:

[turbo]

Great job Lit!

[LiamKerrington]

Well, as we all know (*sniff*), MY fan production is the MAIN story in the We're Alive universe, buuuuut if you want to go on listening, there is about 50-odd hours of some kind of epilogue that Kc Wayland came up with... :nik:

A huge fan-contribution for your single-episode-chapter-thing-pilot for "We're Alive, a Story of Extinction" ...

This made me laugh. Thank you!

I so much would like to rep you. But for whatever odd reason: I cannot, 'cause I need to share some love with others first ...

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

A huge fan-contribution for your single-episode-chapter-thing-pilot for "We're Alive, a Story of Extinction" ...

This made me laugh. Thank you!

I so much would like to rep you. But for whatever odd reason: I cannot, 'cause I need to share some love with others first ...

Hi Liam, would you mind if I would rep Lit on behave of you?

[LiamKerrington]

Hi Liam, would you mind if I would rep Lit on behave of you?

Wow! Thanks, mate! I'd like to rep you for this offer. But I can't do so either! So, if you don't mind ... Next beer's (or drink of whatever kind) on me, when we meet again.

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

Wow! Thanks, mate! I'd like to rep you for this offer. But I can't do so either! So, if you don't mind ... Next beer's (or drink of whatever kind) on me, when we meet again.

Sounds reasonable!

[Witch_Doctor]

Hi Liam, would you mind if I would rep Lit on behave of you?


Wow! Thanks, mate! I'd like to rep you for this offer. But I can't do so either! So, if you don't mind ... Next beer's (or drink of whatever kind) on me, when we meet again.


Yeah, that was hilarious! I guess Brett was leaving, saw the guys all standing around a microphone, figured he'd come by and see what the heck was going on, then suddenly realized he just butted in on the scene! I was really trying hard not to laugh in listening to his half-assed justification for why his living character suddenly shows up with a bunch of dead guys in heaven! The part at the end was comical as well so I just left it as-is instead of trying to fade it out. :nik:

I'm Repping everybody! I'm the Oprah of Reps. You get a Rep, you get a Rep and YOU get a Rep! Everybody gets a REP!

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

I'm Repping everybody! I'm the Oprah of Reps. You get a Rep, you get a Rep and YOU get a Rep! Everybody gets a REP!

Do not make a Tom Cruise out of me, WD. :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znsXA2aTXCE

And thank you very much.

[LiamKerrington]

I'm Repping everybody! I'm the Oprah of Reps. You get a Rep, you get a Rep and YOU get a Rep! Everybody gets a REP!

Yo, man! Yo, yo, yooo!
Witch_Doctor
is da REPper in da house!
You, bro!

[hemmywill]

Years have passed, but still, have goosebumps every time I replay it.

[Litmaster]

Aw, YEAH! :nik:

[molson]

Was thinking about this the other day - anyone still have a working link, or could host it somewhere?