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Main Area and Open Discussion => Living Room => Topic started by: mouser on July 06, 2011, 08:46 AM

Title: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: mouser on July 06, 2011, 08:46 AM: From Drake's Games (http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2011/07/podcast-review-were-alive.html), one of my favorite board game review sites, comes this recommendation about a very cool and scary online indie radio show about a zombie apocalypse. You can listen to all episode online.

I downloaded the first couple episodes and gave it a spin on the way to work. And then I was hooked. It turns out, We're Alive is just freaking brilliant. The story takes about two minutes before it grabs you by your nostrils and forces you to listen to every word. The characters are believable, the story is intense, and the acting is... well, OK, the acting often blows.

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2011/07/podcast-review-were-alive.html
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(http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2011/07/podcast-review-were-alive.html)

Direct link to show: http://www.zombiepodcast.com/The_Zombie_Podcast/WereAliveEpisodes.html
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: allen on July 06, 2011, 11:14 PM: I've been listening to this since it came out. . . my only complaint is that the next episode isn't out yet. It's fantastic.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Deozaan on July 07, 2011, 10:40 PM: It's great but the acting is terrible? How is that possible?
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: allen on July 08, 2011, 07:41 AM: You think the acting is terrible? I guess it didn't seem so to me. It's not as hyper-real as in Hollywood, per se -- but neither is stage acting. Their voices can be a bit over the top, but that's necessary for you to keep the characters straight since you don't have any visual queues to go on and are dealing with a sizable cast.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Deozaan on July 08, 2011, 01:32 PM: You think the acting is terrible?
-allen (July 08, 2011, 07:41 AM)

I don't. I haven't listened to it yet because of the review that mouser posted (emphasis added):

The characters are believable, the story is intense, and the acting is... well, OK, the acting often blows.

When I read that I thought it sounded really terrible and I didn't want to give it a try.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Shades on July 08, 2011, 07:03 PM: @Deozaan:
Just started with listening and it got me hooked after 5 minutes...and I don't even like podcasts.

The acting doesn't sound bad at all, but as I am still in chapter 2 that could change. Although I don't think that will happen.

Besides all (downloadable) chapters are split up in 3 parts with each part about 15 minutes long. Not too much time to lose, I think.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Deozaan on July 08, 2011, 09:49 PM: Ok. I've added it to my podcast application and I'll give it a try sometime. (c:
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 10, 2011, 11:38 AM: I listened to the first three parts of Chapter 1 - you're right mouser, the acting is pretty bad!

But any zombie story is gold these days... secret passion of all of us, methinks!

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 12:05 PM: But any zombie story is gold these days... secret passion of all of us, methinks!

-J-Mac (July 10, 2011, 11:38 AM)

Not for me! ;D

Yeah OK!
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Sorry, but I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to accept ravenous and cannibalistic walking corpses. No matter how much biowarfare and viral technology gets dragged in to support the concept.

Same goes for vampires. I liked it better when it was more a case of some sort of dark magic and a bit less 'scientific' (and maybe pornographic) than most vampire stories are these days. Dracula was scary because there was no rational or understandable reason for why he came to exist.

The new stuff, with all their "bloodlines" and mutations and viral infections and DNA and yadda-yadda, just makes it seem like they're thinly veiled parables about racism and intolerance. "Meh!" To Kill a Mockingbird handled that theme much more elegantly and powerfully.

All this aside, I did give the first three installments of We're Alive a listen. And despite my problems with the whole "zombie thing" - and the occasional lapses in production or acting - it's a very well done and compelling story. Because, unlike so many other scifi/horror hybrids, there's a very solid and compelling story being told.

That alone makes it worth it to me.

I'm definitely going to listen to the whole thing.

Thanks again Mouser for finding and sharing this with us. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: app103 on July 10, 2011, 12:09 PM: Sorry, but I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to accept ravenous and cannibalistic walking corpses. No matter how much biowarfare and viral technology gets dragged in to support the concept.

Same goes for vampires. I liked it better when it was more a case of some sort of dark magic and a bit less 'scientific' (and maybe pornographic) than most vampire stories are these days. Dracula was scary because there was no rational or understandable reason for why he came to exist.
-40hz (July 10, 2011, 12:05 PM)

My dad loves horror movies. The way he explains it is this:

Horror movies don't scare me, no matter what. Real life is scary, horror movies aren't. Horror movies are an escape from the horrors of real life.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 12:23 PM: Horror movies don't scare me, no matter what. Real life is scary, horror movies aren't.
-app103 (July 10, 2011, 12:09 PM)

I agree. I watch the live feeds from the Senate and House of Representatives when I really want to get scared into a sleepless night. ;D
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 12:47 PM: If you like We're Alive, check out the indy film Pontypool (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226681/).

It's low budget, takes place all on one set (a second string small town radio station), in one day - and it's actually one of the more believable and chilling treatments of the zombie theme ever made. (Watch trailer (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi480510489/) here.)Maybe it doesn't have the lovely Milla Jovovich or the production budget of her Resident Evil franchise to fall back on. But the terrific dialog, minimalist staging, and competent cast generates a quietly chilling (and believable) atmospheric horror experience that makes it well worth watching. Blows the doors off movies with magnitudes larger budgets. Highly recommended.

~~Get it from NetFlix!~~ EDIT: Not any more. See below. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 10, 2011, 01:02 PM: 40hz,

Have you seen the Zombie Apocalypse page at the Centers for Disease Control web site? Everyone's getting in on the act!

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp)

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 10, 2011, 01:13 PM: If you like We're Alive, check out the indy film Pontypool (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226681/).

It's low budget, takes place all on one set (a second string small town radio station), in one day - and it's actually one of the more believable and chilling treatments of the zombie theme ever made. (Watch trailer (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi480510489/) here.)Maybe it doesn't have the lovely Milla Jovovich or the production budget of her Resident Evil franchise to fall back on. But the terrific dialog, minimalist staging, and competent cast generates a quietly chilling (and believable) atmospheric horror experience that makes it well worth watching. Blows the doors off movies with magnitudes larger budgets. Highly recommended.

Get it from NetFlix! :Thmbsup:

-40hz (July 10, 2011, 12:47 PM)

Huh. Netflix says, "Not Available". 88 member reviews there so it appears that it was once available, but apparently not anymore. :(

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 01:18 PM: 40hz,

Have you seen the Zombie Apocalypse page at the Centers for Disease Control web site? Everyone's getting in on the act!

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp)

Jim
-J-Mac (July 10, 2011, 01:02 PM)

Yes I did. :Thmbsup: Zombie-fanatic friend showed it to me, knowing how much I adore the genre. ;D

Just one more example of "your tax dollars at work" AFAIC.

Now if they could maybe buckle down a bit more and do something like...oh I dunno...maybe come up with a vaccine for caries? Especially since the medical industry doesn't seem to want to do it because they can garner much more "collateral revenue" treating the symptoms of that little monster rather than by slaying it.

:-\ 8)
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 01:24 PM: Huh. Netflix says, "Not Available". 88 member reviews there so it appears that it was once available, but apparently not anymore. :(

Jim
-J-Mac (July 10, 2011, 01:13 PM)

@Jim - Bummer! I just edited my original post. Thx.:(
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 10, 2011, 03:15 PM: OK, you know I had to go and look up caries to see what the heck it was. Never heard of that before. Learn something new every day!

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 10, 2011, 03:20 PM: OK, you know I had to go and look up caries to see what the heck it was. Never heard of that before. Learn something new every day!

Jim
-J-Mac (July 10, 2011, 03:15 PM)

You're welcome! ;D :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Deozaan on July 16, 2011, 02:27 PM: Okay I'm currently listening to part 1 of #1.

So far it's really good. ;D
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: allen on July 16, 2011, 10:12 PM: What's great is not having to wait a week or more for the next part... being caught up and having to listen to it as they release it sucks! They like to leave you hanging.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 17, 2011, 07:10 AM: What's great is not having to wait a week or more for the next part... being caught up and having to listen to it as they release it sucks! They like to leave you hanging.
-allen (July 16, 2011, 10:12 PM)

Alexandre Dumas did that when his famous Three Musketeers was first published. So did Charles Dickens with many of his stories, which were also originally published as serials.

Leaving your audience hanging is a great technique. Goes all the way back to a young lady by the name of Scheherazade who successfully used it 'dodge a bullet' 1001 times in a row. ;D
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Jimdoria on July 19, 2011, 02:47 PM: This has become a welcome addition to my commute!
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 19, 2011, 09:09 PM: Hey 40 - I purchased Pontypool from Amazon... received and watched it yesterday. Pretty cool flick! Very weird to have a full-length zombie-type film with no gore! And hardly any blood! Interesting concept though. Leave it to Canadians to insist that to avoid the infection people speak French and NO English is to be spoken at all!

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 19, 2011, 09:41 PM: Leave it to Canadians to insist that to avoid the infection people speak French and NO English is to be spoken at all!
-J-Mac (July 19, 2011, 09:09 PM)

@J-Mac: ***gobsmack*** Would you believe me if I told you that little detail did not register with me until your mention of it right now? :-[

Anyway, glad you liked the flick. I thought it was very well done.

Note: if you want to read a good non-Zombie treatment of the "language is a virus" concept, check out Neal Stephenson's book Snowcrash. (http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Bantam-Spectra-Book/dp/0553380958/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311129463&sr=1-1) Hysterically funny book which makes you think. A big fav of mine. :-*
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: J-Mac on July 19, 2011, 09:47 PM: @40hz: Cool - I'll check it out. Now that I buy most all of my books and DVDs used at Amazon it has become much more affordable for me! :D (Other than brand new stuff... those I have to go out and get them the old-fashioned way. Steal 'em! :o )

Jim
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: kyrathaba on July 20, 2011, 10:46 AM: I listened to the first two episodes this morning. Great stuff!
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: kyrathaba on July 20, 2011, 11:48 AM: Make that the first three episodes: oh yeah, I'm hooked!
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 20, 2011, 01:47 PM: At the risk of going OT, here's another indy (via KickStarter) work produced for the web that I think is very promising. It's a thriller/scifi movie called Pioneer One (http://www.pioneerone.tv/).

Here's the first 8 minutes of episode one to whet your appetite:

Pioneer One is an independently produced drama series made for the Internet.

...

In March 2010, writer Josh Bernhard and director Bracey Smith quit their jobs and set out to produce the pilot episode of Pioneer One as a proof-of-concept for how the series could be produced and released. Funds were raised through a Kickstarter campaign, favors were called in, and much sleep was lost. The pilot was finished shooting by the end of April 2010 and was released online on June 15th through VODO.net.

Then something unexpected happened.

Within two weeks, the pilot was downloaded nearly half a million times, and $20,000 was raised from viewer donations alone. By the end of the summer, we had raised well over $30,000 from people all over the world whose sole interest was seeing the show continue and succeed. We made plans to produce the next three episodes of our 6-episode first season with that money.

In October 2010, off the heels of the pilot’s win for “Best Drama Pilot” at the 2010 New York Television Festival, production began on episodes 2, 3 and 4. These episodes continue to be released as we’re raising funds for the final two episodes of season one, with production planned for May, 2011.

They've completed 4 of the 6 episodes for their first season. Episodes 5 and 6 have recently finished shooting and they're asking for contributions to help get them finalized.

Full episodes are available free to either download in HD or watch online.

(I was impressed enough that I bought in. :Thmbsup:)

8)
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: kyrathaba on July 20, 2011, 02:40 PM: Thanks for this link, 40hz. I'm definitely gonna check this out.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Deozaan on July 20, 2011, 08:49 PM: Yes indeed that does look good.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: 40hz on July 21, 2011, 09:56 AM: Quick addenda to Pioneer One: be sure to check out the blog. They have some interesting things to say about the show and how it gets put together. Excellent resource for anyone interested in the process of developing a series like this. Even more valuable for anyone who wants to follow in their footsteps with a fan-sourced creative effort of their own.

Considering the generally dismal programming coming out of TV Land, I strongly suspect this approach to doing an independent series is going to become The Way anything that's worth watching gets made in the not too distant future.
8)
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: kyrathaba on July 23, 2011, 02:18 PM: I've finished the first eight chapters of "We're Alive". Great stuff! I have to say, so far my favorite character is Saul, though Burt runs a close second. Anyone else have a favorite?
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: Shades on July 23, 2011, 03:56 PM: Anxiously waiting for the season 2 final! The three military guys and Burt carry this series well.
Title: Re: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama
Post by: mouser on December 01, 2011, 01:51 AM: Well I was just about to post a new thread about PontyPool, a very cool movie and radio drama -- when i did a quick search of the forum and discovered that 40hz mentioned it earlier this year:
If you like We're Alive, check out the indy film Pontypool.

I just saw PontyPool a couple of days ago on Netflix streaming (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Pontypool/70109421?trkid=2361637), and I *really* enjoyed it.

I'm happy to say you can also listen to the radio drama (it's actually just the movie's audio track, slightly re-edited), for free online: here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2009/06/090617_pontypool_audio.shtml).

There's very little to see so I think makes a great radio drama.