haunted-carousel-productions

[haunted-carousel-productions]

As promised, the recordings from my Serials play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark PI!

Nick (LEF/ Haunted Carousel's editor/soundscaper/audio engineer) is going to make some adjustments to improve the sound quality eventually, but he's doing it as a favor and I don't want to rush him, so the recordings stand as they are for now.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Also echoing what everyone else has said! Please go for it. It’s one of the few narrative media where anyone can create and distribute.

If you want to learn from some of the lessons I learned along the way, I compiled a list you can read here: https://www.tumblr.com/haunted-carousel-productions/774201179997700096/lessons-for-first-time-audiodrama-creators-i

It is also one of the most welcoming artistic communities you can find.

I want to create an audio drama so badly. It would be a dream come true. Either create one or at least help in creating one in some way. It's honestly hilarious how often the "Audio drama fan to audio drama creator" pipeline occurs. I wish I could join

[haunted-carousel-productions]

The series wrapped on Monday. Highlights include:

Episode 1: Really just a vaguely positive glow of a full house laughing at all of my jokes, even those about scholarly debates about Hamlet.

Episode 2: an actor got sick, so I filled in as an understudy. I've honestly kind of blacked out my actual performance, but I'm told I did okay (more importantly the actor was doing better soon after this)

Episode 3: We accidentally spilled a bunch of Swedish fish on an audience member. He sort of brought it on himself.

Episode 4: Hamlet left another cast member tied to a chair on stage, and our play ended with Hamlet and Horatia running out on stage like "oh no, we forgot [actor]!"

Episode 5: We did the Clue home video ending, so everyone got their unhinged monologue.

Yesterday was the third episode of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark PI.

This means we are officially past the halfway point.

Writing/directing/producing for stage is interesting compared to audiodrama. Some of what I used in audiodrama is transferrable. Some is not. I would liken it to going from watercolor to acrylic painting-you can use some techniques but not all of them.

Of course this is a serial, too so maybe it’s more like watercolor to gouache?

The scripts are generally shorter, which is good because there is a tighter turnaround. The actors have to be off book, whereas audiodrama, you do not.

There is also the fact that audiodrama has many more steps after the actors do their thing.

Then there is the world of costume and props and lighting and where everyone is on stage that is not a factor in audiodrama

We have been relying on live foley rather than sound tech, which is unique to our show but still a way to put the audiodrama skills to use.

All this to say, I enjoy working in either medium, but it’s been an interesting process.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Yesterday was the third episode of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark PI.

This means we are officially past the halfway point.

Writing/directing/producing for stage is interesting compared to audiodrama. Some of what I used in audiodrama is transferrable. Some is not. I would liken it to going from watercolor to acrylic painting-you can use some techniques but not all of them.

Of course this is a serial, too so maybe it’s more like watercolor to gouache?

The scripts are generally shorter, which is good because there is a tighter turnaround. The actors have to be off book, whereas audiodrama, you do not.

There is also the fact that audiodrama has many more steps after the actors do their thing.

Then there is the world of costume and props and lighting and where everyone is on stage that is not a factor in audiodrama

We have been relying on live foley rather than sound tech, which is unique to our show but still a way to put the audiodrama skills to use.

All this to say, I enjoy working in either medium, but it’s been an interesting process.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

The first episode ("Foul, Strange, and Unnatural") of my Serial Play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark PI is up on Youtube, which means I have an embedded recording on the Lavender Evening Fog site. They're going to send me the recordings after the run of the series so I can put them on the website and I might see if Nick can enhance the sound before I do, but the recording is available now if anyone is interested in watching.

Episode 2 was on Monday evening, so after the recording hits Youtube, I will put it on the website as well. I actually acted in that one because Rosencrantz and/or Guildenstern was sick. I will not be reprising the role, as they are doing better now.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Lessons for first-time Audiodrama creators I learned making Lavender Evening Fog

Today marks the four year anniversary of the first full episode of @lavender-evening-fog-podcast. If you want to make audiodrama, here are some lessons that I learned along the way, that will make it easier for you. We went into it loving the audiodrama artform but not knowing a lot about it, so please learn from the experience we gained making the show over four seasons.

Cut the volume you plan to put out in half. And then maybe cut that in half. There are a few ways you can do this-- for example if you are planning on every other week, put out monthly episodes instead. Or maybe rather than doing a 12-episode season, you do a 6-episode season. Or maybe rather than doing 12 half hour episodes, do 12 fifteen minute episodes. One of these ways of reducing may make more sense for your story than the others, but the takeaway is the same--producing an audio drama is a lot of work, and if you have never done it before, it is likely more work than you expect. You can still tell your story, it might just take more time. "But Victoria," you say, "I am already being very pragmatic about this!" I believe you dear reader. When we started LEF we intentionally made the episodes monthly because we knew more frequently would be difficult. Yet the plan was to have two 12-episode seasons that would involve dropping an episode every month for two years without break. About six episodes in we realized that we would burn out if we did it that way. Fortunately, because of how we mapped the story, it was very easy to convert that to four six-episode seasons. This allowed us to take breaks while still having consistency in our release cadence, because that consistency is incredibly important, and it is easiest to sustain over time if you have a handle on the work.

Have as much as possible done before you develop a release schedule. This may be the exception to #1--if you have everything done, by all means, go forward with whatever schedule you like. But it is easier to have a season done and drop episodes than to be working on it up to your release day.

If you can't have everything done before you start thinking about a release schedule, at least have the writing done and polished. Sometimes, you will need to revise pretty heavily. Especially at the beginning when you are getting the voice right. Because writing and getting feedback can take awhile, you want to give time to think about it, try to have your scripts done if nothing else.

If you find yourself relying on some part of your story too heavily, try writing a scenario without it. At the end of Season 1, we introduced the idea of Nick voicing Billy, and by the Season 2 premiere, we felt comfortable recording more interactions (remember, this project started during peak Covid). I was so excited to write for more than just myself, so I wrote a bunch of Billy scenes that didn't move anything forward. Once it was pointed out that this was a problem, I decided to send Billy to a conference. That gave me an opportunity to reframe rather than relying on a narrative crutch. This resulted in the Anna-Georgina is sick episode, which I still think is one of my favorites.

Create frameworks that make writing easier. For example, we wrote the show in little fragments of Anna-Georgina's audiodairies. That made it so much easier to plan (we know we need 8-12ish segments per ep), to write (again, if I wasn't feeling like tacking a particular big of the plot, I could work on another), and to record (The Lucy letters and the long pieces of exposition were always recorded last)

Figure out your tech before you record your first episode. We didn't fully and I'm still kind of embarrassed. Like I'm proud of what we produced starting out, but I wish we (mostly me, Nick always knew what he was doing) had figured it out earlier.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

[Hamlet, Prince of Denmark PI. A Serial Play by Victoria Dickman-Burnett. Part of Serials at the Know Theatre. Episodes Jan 27, Feb 10, Feb 24, Mar 10, Mar 24 at the Know Theatre at 7 pm. Purchase Tickets in advance online at knowtheatre.com]

I am proud to announce my next creative project! Branching out from audiodrama to the stage, though the serial format does make it feel familiar! If you’re in Cincinnati, you should come and check it out! If you aren’t, they typically post a recording online a day or two after the show.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 25

[Transcript]

Day 25

This episode pairs well with Chocolate Dipped Orange Rooibos Tea

Rooibos the orange cat has discovered a new enemy. The humans she lived with have brought a tree inside the school. However, unlike other trees, Rooibos is not allowed to climb it. It sits in its stupid bucket at the end of the front hall, covered in shiny things that would make the perfect toys, mocking her. 

The man who comes to take care of the spinning horses brought this new nemesis into the school, and everyone was talking about how the tree would be planted outside after the season passed, but Rooibos was preoccupied with the desire to climb the tree. 

Yet, every time she tried to climb, someone would hear the noise of the objects the humans had hung on the tree, and they would stop her before she got to the top. 

She tried to climb the tree when the humans were in the kitchen, baking all day, but the man who gives her treats found her and gently lifted her from the tree.

She tried at night, but the woman who talks to herself took her out of the tree and banished her to spend the evening upstairs.

Her opportunity came when the singing people showed up at the front door of the school, but as she got higher in the tree than she had ever been before, she noticed the tree had begun to shake, and she realized that she could fall from the tree, or maybe even hurt the tree. The tree was not her enemy. It was just a tree.

She tried to climb down herself, but was unable to. Fortunately she was noticed and removed from the tree. From that point on, she curled up to sleep at the base of the tree every night until it went outside, but she no longer tried to climb it, but an old friend.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 24

[Transcript]

Day 24

This episode pairs well with Champagne and Berries Green Tea

Christmas Eve in

Haunted Houses

Alone among the snow

Mysteries to be solved

Promise to make the experience interesting

Another cup of tea

Going to spend the night searching

Never certain what will happen

Enigmas unseen

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 23

[Transcript]

Day 23

This Episode pairs well with Evening Garden Green Rooibos

Rooibos the orange cat is in trouble. It is not her fault, but she found herself in the art room, and wound up chasing a spot of light on the wall from a sun catcher, only to fall– not very gracefully, but no one was watching– onto a painting and wound up covered in chartreuse paint. Unfortunately, the sound of her fall did alert the woman who talks to herself, and Rooibos was promptly subjected to– horror of horrors– a bath! 

Rooibos survived the ordeal, but not without substantive resistance. She, on principle, does not use her claws on either the woman who talks to herself or the man who gives her treats, but she did vocally state her objections to the bath. After her watery torture was over she decided to find a place to hide for awhile.

The school is full of many good places to hide, even if the art room door was shut to keep her out, which did not escape her notice.  She noticed a window open in the woman’s office. Outside, the garden was illuminated in moonlight. A nice walk among the plants would be nice, she thought. Before they brought her into the school, she would frequently sleep on some moss under the lilac bushes. She was thinking that would be nice, when the woman who talks to herself found her at the window.

“No, we can’t have that,” she said as she shut the window. “I’m sorry about the bath, Rooibos, but that paint would have made you sick if you’d cleaned it off yourself.” She then picked up Rooibos and carried her to the sofa,  where the two of them sat and Rooibos started to purr. Maybe it was not so bad after all.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 22

[Transcript]

Day 22

This episode pairs with Peppermint decaffeinated green Tea

Morning light streams

In through heavily frosted windows

Needles of pine against the roof

Through the wind

Dancing light 

Returns when it is all over

Evening out to a bright morning Another snowfall soon

Might bring low temperatures

Stay warm–stay inside.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 21

[Transcript]

Day 21

This episode pairs well with Malabar Indonesian Black Tea

December 21, 2024

Okay, I have pulled all of the books on the list, and it has been super productive.

There was one more letter in Twelfth Night–similar in tone, but this time longer, more anguished. No list on this one. But in A Christmas Carol and Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, there are more book lists, though they are written on much more modern paper. In The Canterbury Tales, there is what looks like a poem “Why do the edges of the world ache?” 

Anyway, as I pulled the books on the new list, there are more story fragments, and book lists. They are in all different sorts of handwriting, so I am not sure how it got here, but I think some of the handwriting is the same, and some of them are connected. I’ve got three more lists to pull, but I’m going to try to piece this together before I have to leave.

Okay, I’ve got to get back to work. I have no idea how deep this goes, and there are so many books here. 

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 20

Day 20

This episode pairs well with Alejandra’s Soothing Herbal Tea

I must arise from the mist. 

Emerge

EMERGE.

I am an ancient being. 

I feel a deep connection with the moss, the rocks, the untouched forest. 

I sleep amongst the roots and leaves, awakening slowly.

I am becoming. 

Becoming.

Transforming.

Arise.

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 19

[Transcript]

Day 19

This episode pairs well with Strawberry Wild Decaffeinated Black Tea

December 19th, 2024

Today the doctor called. I’m feeling better, my progress since my procedure has been going well. I’ve been taking it as easily as possible, passing my days here reading. I’ve looked over the note I found between the books probably a hundred times, to see if there is anything else I could learn. I didn’t find anything, but just now inspiration struck. When I feel the paper, there are indentations beyond what is written. So I made a tracing, and it appears in the same writing, there is a list of books:

A Christmas Carol

Twelfth Night

The Canterbury Tales 

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

I think I have seen all of these in the library, and while I don’t know if the author even intended this to be read by the letter’s recipient, I am going to pull them and see what I find. 

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 18

[Transcript]

Day 18

This Episode Pairs well with Yerba Mate Green

[phone call]

Hi George, I wanted to see if you wanted to meet up in a few hours at the diner. I am going to be working on this paper in the office until about midnight and then would likely be up for either extremely late dinner or extremely early breakfast. Anyway, text me if you get this, or, you know what, I’m going to be going there anyway, if you’re up for it, just meet me there at about five after midnight.  Of come into the office any time before midnight. You know where to find me. Okay, hopefully see you soon! Bye!

Okay, now to rid myself of the distractions. Change of scenery, check. Dinner plans to look forward to, check. A friend aware of these plans so that I cannot weasel out, check.  

It is weird being alone in a building with no one else. If ever I wanted to  start an urban legend, now would be the time. Let’s see, I’m was working alone at night and I saw a woman in a white dress who just sort of glowed… How is that? 

This is not going to get me finished with this paper any quicker.  

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 17

[Transcript]

Day 17

This episode pairs well with Mt. Airy Dreams Herbal tea

In my mind, I am lost in a forest.

In my MIND, I am lost in a forest.

The mist clears. What will it reveal? 

I do not know the forest.

It knows me. 

I fear it knows me. 

I don’t want it to know me.

The clearings hold too many secrets. 

I must sleep in the mist. 

What will I dream?

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Teavent Day 16

[Transcript]

Day 16

This episode pairs well with Formosa Oolong tea

While the power outage startled Rose, three years of working at the camp had prepared her for it. Fortunately, the circuit breaker box was in the utility closet just off the basement lounge where she found herself. When it did not return the power, she was able to start a large fire in the fireplace, and wrap up in a blanket to wait out the storm. She hoped that wherever her friends were, they were safe and out of the storm.

The basement room where she waited out the storm was build into the hill, meaning that three of the four sides of the lodge were underground, while the final side had a large window that looked out into the forest. Looking out into the forest in the storm, she thought she saw figures moving through the trees, but every time she saw one, the wind shifted the trees and she realized that it was just her mind looking for shapes in the forest. 

She stepped away from the window when there was a knock at the door.