Author Topic: "We're Alive" - Online Radio Show Drama (Read 24569 times)

mouser · « **on:** July 06, 2011, 08:46 AM »

From Drake's Games, 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....view-were-alive.html
Screenshot - 7_6_2011 , 8_42_58 AM_thumb.png

Direct link to show: http://www.zombiepod...reAliveEpisodes.html

allen · « **Reply #1 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.

Deozaan · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:40 PM »

It's great but the acting is terrible? How is that possible?

allen · « **Reply #3 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.

Deozaan · « **Reply #4 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.

Shades · « **Reply #5 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.

Deozaan · « **Reply #6 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:

J-Mac · « **Reply #7 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

40hz · « **Reply #8 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!

Yeah OK!

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.

app103 · « **Reply #9 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.

40hz · « **Reply #10 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.

40hz · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2011, 12:47 PM »

If you like We're Alive, check out the indy film Pontypool.

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 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.

J-Mac · « **Reply #12 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

Jim

J-Mac · « **Reply #13 on:** July 10, 2011, 01:13 PM »

If you like We're Alive, check out the indy film Pontypool.

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 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!

-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

40hz · « **Reply #14 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

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

Yes I did.

Zombie-fanatic friend showed it to me, knowing how much I adore the genre.

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.

$:-\$

40hz · « **Reply #15 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.

J-Mac · « **Reply #16 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

40hz · « **Reply #17 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!

Deozaan · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2011, 02:27 PM »

Okay I'm currently listening to part 1 of #1.

So far it's really good.

allen · « **Reply #19 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.

40hz · « **Reply #20 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.

Jimdoria · « **Reply #21 on:** July 19, 2011, 02:47 PM »

This has become a welcome addition to my commute!

J-Mac · « **Reply #22 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

40hz · « **Reply #23 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. Hysterically funny book which makes you think. A big fav of mine.

J-Mac · « **Reply #24 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!

(Other than brand new stuff... those I have to go out and get them the old-fashioned way. Steal 'em!

)

Jim