Category: production notes

When I used the Reeves Superman scream in the previous episode, it was very much because I remember it as being the most epic scream ever. When I heard it in the podcast, something felt a bit off about it, but I figured that was just me, and it was fine. But then someone commented with the same concern, and it drew my attention back to it. While it worked perfectly in the movie, it just doesn’t quite fit with what I’m doing, and I didn’t want to admit that. I flinched away rather than face the disappointment of not being able to use it. I regret my earlier weakness, and I’ve now updated that episode to have a different scream, one which I hope works a bit better.

SFX: wood creak, lab (Starship Medical track), cave wind, city at night 1 + city at night 2

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots
Prison – Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, by Surfacing

Here’s the link for Rationality: From AI to Zombies, the podcast

Listeners of SF podcasts may recognize Bill Parker, who is voiced by Scott Andrews of Beneath Ceaseless Skies! :) Scott is a great guy, and I recommend Beneath Ceaseless Skies if you’re into Fantasy short fiction, or podcasts of the same.

As for this episode – oh man, sooooooo many hours to put together! It’s been a long time since I spent this many hours on an episode, but I really enjoyed it, and I think it turned out very well. Maybe I’ve been doing this too long, but most episodes feel almost routine these days. Having a big show-piece episode like this was really fun, even if I don’t have the time/energy to do one like it every episode. I knew I wanted something really flashy for the World Record Duststorm (real event, check out Alexander Wales’s notes at the bottom of the text version), and this did that for me. :)

I was hemming and hawing about the music right up to the final days, and I’m glad I delayed as long as I did. I don’t think any of my earlier ideas would have worked out quite as well as what I ended up using, which I only discovered fairly recently.

SFX: whooshes, waves, seagull, crash 1, ship horn, metal creaking 1, thud, metal creaking 2, car crashes, storm coming, storm here!

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots
Luthor Manor – Boccherini’s Minuetto, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,
Smallville – Over You, by Last Call Romance
Dust Storm – Schism, by Metamorphestra (see their Kickstarter!)

Obviously the first thing to mention is that I’m super happy Last Call Romance graciously granted me the use of their song “Over You” to use as the Smallville Theme. I saw them playing in the new year on New Year’s Eve at a local venue, and they were fantastic! I continue to encourage people to go see local bands in their area. Particularly if someone you know knows someone in the band, the personal connection makes it that extra bit more enjoyable. :) If you’re in the Colorado area, Last Call Romance has a webpage and a Facebook page listing upcoming shows.

In personal news, I have a short story published in the March/April issue of Analog Magazine! I wrote about it a bit here. If you’re up for Space Zombies, with Theology, and wonky narrative structures, it might be of interest to you!

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots
Luthor Manor – Boccherini’s Minuetto, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 
Mayor’s Veranda – Forest Night, by Tabletop Audio
Smallville – Over You, by Last Call Romance

You may notice that there’s a few lines missing from this episode. And I don’t just mean the usual dropping of “he said”s that aren’t needed. There’s actual legit lines I removed from the final version of this episode, because I couldn’t get them to work right. /sigh. It’s episodes like this one that really remind me of the difference between me and the professionals.

I usually get all the lines for a single character all at once, remotely. The actors never get to meet each other, or hear each other’s lines or how they’re delivered. It’s up to me to give lots of feedback, to make them match. In this episode I failed to do so, and so several times the dialog between Jimmy and Eleanor didn’t quite work. The words were as written on the paper, but the tone of a response didn’t match the tone of the delivery, and I had to cut either one or the other. I considered leaving them in, but the difference was really very jarring. Honestly, I think it would have done more violence to the original work to leave in those lines than to cut them, and it would not have been fair to Alexander Wales to make it sound like he’d messed up the dialog when it was entirely my failure as a director. I hope that the episode is still OK, even as imperfect as it is. I will strive to do better going forward!

SFX: 1940’s Office, doorbell

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots
Luthor Manor – Wagner’s Rienzi Overture
Crime Scene – Nightmare, by Tabletop Audio
Bar – Creep, by Postmodern Jukebox

Not much to say about this one, aside from that I’m extremely happy that Nathan Bowman’s performance is so spot-on.

SFX: 1940’s Office, more city rooftops, telegraph, gaggle of reporters

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots

One of my favorite aspects of Rational FanFiction is that it often takes the original universe and tries to make it makes sense without altering it much. To not just point out how weird it is that Superman has a day job, but to explore what would have to be true about the alien’s psychology. And giving a decent hand-waving of the Clark Kent Effect as well!

I’m also a huge fan of dramatic irony, so Lois’s shrugging about hurting Clark’s feelings was so delicious.

Finally, some of you may recognize the voice of Rein, fearless leader of the Worm Audiobook, as the Mayor. :)

SFX: 1940’s Office, Forest: Night, children playing

Music:
Intro/Outro – Handlebars, by Flobots
Luthor Manor – Boccherini’s Minuetto, Wagner’s Rienzi Overture