Thread by @apollopods

Next live tweet here at the audio fiction track of #PM22 is starting! This session is on making ✨cinematic✨ audio with @misty_flores, @naomicshah, Zackary Grady, Adam Pincus, and @picturestart! 🎥

Q for Shah: Green Mountain is like "if a Hallmark movie were inclusive" 😂 -- how did Shah get into audio? What's their process?

A: Diversity and representation are factored into every single step of development. Why hasn't a project like this been greenlit? #PM22

Every single aspect of the business model of @meetcuteromcoms has diversity and inclusion baked in, behind the mic and in front.

Hollywood gives pushback on diversity, but for Meet Cute, it's helped them expand their audience! See the Edison research tweets from earlier #PM22

https://twitter.com/apollopods/status/1562439970698448898?t=C1npRBvTVb3XJg2NrFo_4w&s=19

Through quantitative AND qualitative data shows that people get invested when they see themselves in the story. Again: #RepresentationMatters! #PM22

Q for Pincus: What was the process behind making a borderline ARG to track the story's villain? 🗡️

A: The writer had written as a ghostwriter for awful men--and then she thought, what if they were even worse than I thought? What if nobody BELIEVED me about it? 😱 #PM22

Pincus works in the medium by factoring in phone calls, Zoom calls, etc. which incorporated a lot of the writer's background as a playwright

But they realized that you have to be selective about sound design. You have to think about what info the audience needs to hear #PM22

Example given: if someone stirs a coffee with a spoon, if they don't hear the spoon tap on the cup after, they're like, "hey where's the spoon?"

POV is important: what can your character hear? What do they focus on? #PM22

When doing sound design, think about what is IMPORTANT. If it's not important, your audience might not need to hear it.

Pincus also talks about how sometimes things that work on the page don't work in audio. Sometimes you have to hear it to figure out what doesn't work #PM22

Pincus talks about a scene involving a siren and just to put this out there:

sirens in audio can be very confusing for people who listen to podcasts in cars! i recommend avoiding noises that could cause alarm like sirens tbh! #PM22

Q for Flores who is developing a telenovela yessss: how do you create a plot with propulsion?

A: It's about the journey and the protags, especially in a genre like telenovelas. You have to have that "unnamed energy" of stakes, the hero's journey, and the characters #PM22

Something "romantic and fun" works well in audio, and so does a story so character-driven.

The romance is balanced with suspense! The stakes are key. #PM22

Q for Grady: how do you deal with tricky, prickly protagonists?

A: the protag has anxiety and control issues! "Do we root for him? Do we like him?" Don't fall into the trap of softening difficult characters. Lean into it! Have characters remark on it! #PM22

Grady talks about Victoria Sprouse's dissection of characters as mirrors and windows

Listeners' favorite characters wind up being the ones that initially seem the most difficult! #PM22

Q for Flores and Shah: What's the right way to genre bend?

A: Make sure the audience can stay on the right track with you. Every genre has things people love, but people don't typically stay to one genre. Character progression is what should unify these elements! #PM22

Q for Shah: how do you be sexy in audio though? 😍

Tension, dialogue, silence, and characters! The sound of a shuffle of a feet for nerves, a breath, a gasp, all build tension without needing to rely on dialogue or visuals. Witty banter can also be good good shit 🥺 #PM22

Chemistry is chemistry, audio or visual!

Grady focuses on breath, writing inhales and exhales into the script! Exhales dissipate tension; inhales increase tension. Factor this into the sound design! Pull out ALL the breaths when you want something to be tense. #PM22

Flores adds that it's also about the "exchange of energies." What are the energies between the characters? What do they get from each other? What excites them about each character.

"Go through every scene with intention." Everything should reflect that energy. #PM22

Q: Is it easier to do audio worldbuild in real life or on high genre?

Pincus has worked in both, and doesn't think one is easier than the other. The important thing is a cohesive language. How does it sound when it's close to you? When there's danger? #PM22

Grady shares that his grounded, real life project takes place largely over the phone and on grindr! They couldn't find the right sounds so he... went on grindr and had a convo with someone and recorded the sounds 😂

It can be harder to be immersive in the real world! #PM22

Grady invites you to lean into the challenge of world building. It can be freeing! It can be exciting! Lean into audio! 💙✨ #PM22

Flores shares that building a real world and building a fantasy world are, at the end of the day, the same: "To break the rules, you have to know what they are first."

Flores comes from comic books btw, love itttt 🦸 #PM22

Q for Pincus and Grady: What do you wish you knew before going into the editing booth?

Grady says, "How much I would cut." He thought the script was tight, but "we need to trust our audience a little more." You don't need as much exposition as you think! "You're gonna cut" #PM22

Pincus backs this up. Original scripts had a lot of narration, but so much was cut--a whole prologue scene was cut! "13 minutes was cut from a 90 minute feature, and 9/10ths of ot were narration... totally unnecessary" #PM22

You might need a little more sound design than you think, too--silence can feel unnatural and empty. (We love room tone.) #PM22

Q for Shah: How do you keep a big cast distinct?

Make sure the voices sound distinct, and fill in the gaps. Be intentional about how you cast. Create specificities for your characters that remain consistent #PM22

Draw inspirations from people you know! Drawing from real examples can help characters feel real and unique.

Grady: "I have a LOT of opinions about this 😈"

No more than 3-4 characters in a scene, to start #PM22

Think of your characters as A STRING QUARTET! Cast thinking musically! Who's your cello, your two violins, your viola? Literally consider tone, timbre, accent, dialect, etc. #PM22

Q for Flores: How do you make a satisfying ending?

Have your character arc wrapped up. The protag ends with what they need--even if it's not what they THOUGHT they needed in the beginning. #PM22

Q&A time!

Q: Does your audio NEED to be cinematic?

A: "I think some of the most fascinating scenes are two people talking." --Grady talks up the importance of contrast: small, intimate scenes vs larger, louder scenes. "Both have value." #PM22

Q: What boundaries are you trying to push with future projects?

Shah: featuring more voices and characters we haven't seen in much storytelling, using different lenses. Also playing with time in audio! Reversing time, speeding time, etc. #PM22

Q: What is set dressing, and what needs to be there for story? How do you differentiate?

Pincus says it's a feel thing. It's okay to add if something if it feels empty. Sometimes, more can just be too much. #PM22

And that's this panel wrapped! Gonna be thinking about that string quartet idea, that breath idea, for a long time 😍 #PM22