Checking Vital Signs - Who's still alive?

[Miri]

It's hard to believe it's been over a year since this thing launched, isn't it? And for a lot of us projecteers, it's been a big year.

I don't know if the project will be resuscitated or reorganized, but I think the possibility's worth considering. In order to plan for that, though, we'll need to know who's still here! And I just plain miss everyone I got the chance to talk to.

So, if you can, answer. What's going on with you? What do you think about the possibility of reviving this?

[blackboe]

I'm here. I think it'd rock.

[sandjosieph]

I'm here, I think.

[Rasselas]

I'm here, have been here the whole time, still as up for it as I was. I think though, that Casey is still working on everything, that we just lack lines from Antimony.

Well, here's a suggestion: let's have two Antimonies; give the second-most-voted one the missing lines until the first one returns to activity or something. I think if we have the master tracks for the project, it won't be difficult to replace the lines later if we decide to do so - Casey would probably know better. If the real Antimony never stands up (mehehe), we can just rerecord what she's sent in to have a rounded-up feel of it all. But I bet once things get rolling, she might feel like coming back or something. Seriously, the Antimony role is a pretty huge and demanding commitment for just a non-paying, fan project. I know we are striving for quality here, but does it make sense to sacrifice the whole project on account of this?

This might make the project move along, it'd give everyone else things to do, and it'd rejuice things with fun again. Seriously, I'd like to hear your opinions on this suggestion, perhaps we can reach a general consensus here.

[xanbcoo]

I keep an eye on the forums and I've been using Skype a lot more recently, so I should be available for any progress we feel like making on this thing.

I know we had a pretty big problem in having our Annie disappear, so I think we should try to make an effort to reorganize.

I'm talking to Miri on Skype right now and we want to start having regular Skype-meetings for rehearsals. Even a once-a-week check-in would be great, regardless of who can participate.

[Casey]

May 31, 2010 5:17:14 GMT Rasselas said:

let's have two Antimonies; give the second-most-voted one the missing lines until the first one returns to activity or something.

Actually, there were only ever two people in the running for the part, and the other one hasn't logged in since March 29th. Of last year.

[Rasselas]

That's no reason to keep this hanging, let's just find someone appropriate among the existing and active cast to be like an understudy for Annie or something. Our choices are kind of limited:

a) Keep the current situation and we might see a finished chapter in a couple of years.. maybe.
b) Pick a quickly-elected replacement from the active actors pool.
c) Rerun the audition for Annie.

B) and c) can be done either with the understanding that the actor chosen is our "second Annie" until we see how things will proceed; or we can just pick a completely new Annie and start over. The latter might seem like the best idea at first glance; however, I keep mentioning the idea of an Additional Annie because it's such a huge role and commitment for "just" a fan project. Our lack of progress so far shows how significant this fact is.

Edit: I have Skype on at all times, any of you feel free to contact me anytime. I think a conference chat would be a good idea, if not sound then just even text would be useful.

[Casey]

May 31, 2010 6:10:10 GMT Rasselas said:

That's no reason to keep this hanging

I wasn't offering it as a reason to keep this hanging; only as an explanation why that particular avenue of resolution isn't open to us. I still agree that some resolution should be reached. You had only asked if that particular idea was an option, and I'm only conveying that it isn't; that's all.

[Rasselas]

True, true. I'm just pushing for a constructive and quick resolution, really. So what do you think should be done?

[Casey]

Well I hate to replace Cake as I really think she nailed the part. But in a larger sense, I think you have a point that expecting one person to carry the entire load of Annie's lines throughout the whole comic is a huge amount. So perhaps we should consider something that we talked about a while back, which was that each part could (potentially) go to a different person per each chapter. In other words, break the project down into mini-projects, with each chapter being its own project. If a person wanted to re-commit to whatever the next chapter was, they could do so for as many chapters as they wanted. But it might be easier to have people only have to commit to one chapter at a time, and then see how they felt about continuing that role into the next chapter.

[Casey]

Here's some more information on Cake, btw. After she moved to her new place, she did re-record her lines for Ch. 1, with her new mic. Unfortunately though, it was set up such that there was a lot of popping and other signs of sound pressure on the mic. I asked her to re-record the lines, but I was aware when I asked that I was asking her to re-record for something like the 4th time. That's just the way things go when you have to move, and when you're doing a non-profit fan project with home computer equipment in your spare time. Those limitations aren't going to change: we can only strive to mitigate them.

Having said all that, I'm actually in the process of going through those audio files to see if they can be wrangled into submission through technology. It won't be as pristine as I would have liked, but if I can't get re-re-re-records, then I'll work with what I've got. And it does look like I'm not going to get them. The perfectionist in me won't be 100% satisfied, plus summer semester starts on Tuesday so my own free time is about to go in the bucket... but I'll do what I can and see what I get. I think actually I've gotten as far as I can for the moment, because I don't seem to have any copy of Page 5 where "Gillitie" is spoken with the hard G. So Cake if you're reading this...

[Aricos]

I'm still alive ! And I've done some recording, but I think I did something wrong with the files and they went wonky. So I threw them out. That was ages ago though.

Lately, I've gotten sick a few times and that just made blegh of my voice (so I don't sound so cute and Kat-ish no more... I closer resemble a dying horse right now). I hope my voice returns soon and I can start recording the rest of the chapter 2 lines again. I'm sorry for being so absent and flake galore . It's not my intention!

[beatfox]

I'm not technically part of the project yet, but if a filled male role reopens for whatever reason, I'm available to audition as a backup.

I would offer to help out with music, but at the moment I'm pretty occupied with writing music for the webcomic Homestuck - I may be able to contribute some stuff here once that finishes.

[Ulysses]

I'm still around. I don't check Skype that much, but maybe I'll start being more regular with it if people are going to be around.

I like the idea of having each chapter as an individual project, by the way. It solves the big problem of attendance, and people joining the project for giggles then not committing. Not that any of the people here have, obviously, but it's a possibility. With the mini-projects, if someone can't or doesn't want to continue that's not a problem.

[Mr Pitchfork]

I'm here to do stuff sometimes if people need it. I considered auditioning for Jack or some secondary roles, but I haven't gotten to it and ATM it's likely not necessary.

[Miri]

Haha, wow, a much quicker response than I was expecting! Looks like we've got a lot of ideas and a lot to talk about. =) As much as the continuity nerd in me protests, casting each chapter individually is probably the best way to proceed.

XanBCoo, SandJosieph, and I were indeed talking about having a regular weekly meeting on Skype. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we'll be there each Sunday, at 8 PM GMT/3 PM U.S. Eastern/12 Noon Pacific. From there you can do the math. Ideas flow best in real-time.

[Casey]

Jun 1, 2010 19:45:28 GMT Miri said:

As much as the continuity nerd in me protests, casting each chapter individually is probably the best way to proceed.

I agree with you; I'd love to have some consistency from chapter to chapter. I would prefer not to do it on a per-chapter basis either. But I guess we have to weigh the two advantages to doing it this way: One, people aren't obligated for a huge commitment and therefore we aren't bogged down by burnout, and Two, it will end up giving more people an opportunity to be a part of the project.

I suppose there's also nothing set in stone as far as changing our minds later. We could go a chapter or two a la carte and see how it goes.

As I mentioned before, there's nothing stopping a person from choosing to play the same character for multiple chapters. In fact I would imagine that that would be the norm, with the exception being when someone finds that they can't commit beyond a certain point in a timely manner.

[Miri]

Jun 1, 2010 20:16:42 GMT Casey said:

As I mentioned before, there's nothing stopping a person from choosing to play the same character for multiple chapters. In fact I would imagine that that would be the norm, with the exception being when someone finds that they can't commit beyond a certain point in a timely manner.

That's what I was thinking (and hoping) as well. The part would first be offered to whoever played it last, and only if they opted out would it be opened up to auditions.

[Rasselas]

If I don't collapse to sleep at that time, I'll probably be there. I like this chapter-by-chapter idea, even if only because it might finally mean some progress. Oh and I also thought Cake was perfect for the role, but a perfect Annie that we don't have around means we don't have a project at all. However, nobody would be more delighted than me if she showed up and had time for this again.

[bluemotion]

I would love to be a part of the project, but own no good mic

Still, just speaking up to say I check in here a lot to see if it's gotten going again. I think the fan project is an awesome idea and I'd love to see it come to fruition.

[Rasselas]

bluemotion: Mics are extremely cheap. You can get a relatively decent one for the price of a snack.

(Proof, first amazon result for mic: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001MNX9WK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000ATCOR&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=12T3AKQ5G0ECHZGYQ5XZ)

Of course, Casey might frown at the quality.. and at me for suggesting this, but most of the time the biggest problem was silencing the computer and everything else, and not so much the mic quality itself.

[Casey]

*shrug* What do I know? Background noise is much more an issue than mic quality, more often than not, just as you said. I did my recordings with the boom mic in my Logitech headset, and look how that came out.

[nadir]

I'm still here, though not actively participating, of course. However, I can audition for some male characters (and possibly Mallt-y-nos, but I seriously would not advise thinking too much into that) when the need arises, should be no problem.

[bluemotion]

Jun 3, 2010 7:02:42 GMT Rasselas said:

bluemotion: Mics are extremely cheap. You can get a relatively decent one for the price of a snack.

(Proof, first amazon result for mic: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001MNX9WK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000ATCOR&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=12T3AKQ5G0ECHZGYQ5XZ)

Of course, Casey might frown at the quality.. and at me for suggesting this, but most of the time the biggest problem was silencing the computer and everything else, and not so much the mic quality itself.

Yea, I have a headset mic that I picked up for 5 bucks on Amazon to play WoW with, but the quality is very poor. Part of that is probably the lack of a good recording program, of course.

Still, if there's a part that requires a deep male voice, keep me in mind

[Miri]

Jun 3, 2010 20:16:51 GMT bluemotion said:

Jun 3, 2010 7:02:42 GMT Rasselas said:

bluemotion: Mics are extremely cheap. You can get a relatively decent one for the price of a snack.

(Proof, first amazon result for mic: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001MNX9WK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000ATCOR&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=12T3AKQ5G0ECHZGYQ5XZ)

Of course, Casey might frown at the quality.. and at me for suggesting this, but most of the time the biggest problem was silencing the computer and everything else, and not so much the mic quality itself.

Yea, I have a headset mic that I picked up for 5 bucks on Amazon to play WoW with, but the quality is very poor. Part of that is probably the lack of a good recording program, of course.

Still, if there's a part that requires a deep male voice, keep me in mind

Audacity is an awesome free download, if you're looking for a decent recording program. ;D Ask and ye shall receive.

[bluemotion]

I have heard of that program. I even tried downloading it once to fool around with, but either it didn't work right, or I'm just kinda stupid. Probably the latter.

edit: nevermind, I downloaded it and figured it out. Neat!

double edit: also, I was right. This mic has far too much background fuzz, even with the room completely silent and the mic away from my face.

[cheddarius]

My first impression of Mallt-y-nos was that she was a dude.

[Miri]

Jun 3, 2010 23:21:41 GMT cheddarius said:

My first impression of Mallt-y-nos was that she was a dude.

Mallt-y-nos will be such a character voice that I have no doubt that a sufficiently talented actor of either gender could play it. =) Considering that no one working on the project (that I'm aware of) is over a hundred years old, whoever gets that role will have to work to give a good voice for it. We've got awhile before casting ol' Mallt is an issue too - she's chapter sixteen, isn't she? (One of my favorites.)

[bluemotion]

By the way, is Goatmon still here? Did he ever send in his auditions for the dog characters? Because I would very much like to voice 1 or all of them.

[cheddarius]

I'd love to see what peoples' renditions of Coyote sound like. He's awesome.