You think I would?ve figured this out on one of my previous projects, but the fact stands: Good preproduction sense really helps you out when you?re trying to pull the project together at the last minute. Lack of preproduction forces you to either get stuck with a product of different quality than you had hoped, or into spending a lot more time, money, or both to get what you wanted because of your lack of foresight. Sort of like having to send something overnight instead of first-class mail because you forestalled the post office visit.
I?m referring presently about the production process of my latest audio story, Drizzle. Drizzle is about a bitter business man who through the aftermath of a random event begins to look at the world differently. It?s only my third drama so far, and only my second with such an intense deadline (I had a huge amount of time to lollygag and figure out what I was doing for Day of the Dead, even if it *was* a significantly more complex project). Anyways, I haven?t had the opportunity, what with the rigors of work and personal commitments, to properly do a recruitment effort for FinalRune Productions. And so pulling Drizzle together was a complete magic trick that happened only because of some fast thinking and great generosity of the people who did act in it. Some time during the second crunch recording session in the WMPG station I thought to myself ?Hmm? wouldn?t it be nice to figure out who the cast was ahead of time, have everyone scheduled to arrive at appropriate times, and then just zip through the recordings?? rather than the frenetic scene-by-scene assembly that this production has turned into.
Now, I don?t feel all that bad about things, since I feel that being able to pull together a project when pressed for time is a great skill and has been employed by some of the best producers since the get-go. Nonetheless, it doesn?t make you staid to make some good judgements and think about things ahead of time. Once I get this project out the door, then sit down for my eggnog, chocolate covered cherries, and apple pie, I?ll be working on some articles for this site that deal with my experiences in production and radio drama writing, casting, etc. I don?t have the kind of experience that many article writers bring to the table, but I do have the perspective of a broke student with $0 as a budget trying to make this kind of work happen to offer. For other indie audio fiction producers, this could just be the thing.
Happy holidays y?all!