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podficmeta2011-04-07 03:22 pm
paraka) wrote in podficmeta2011-04-07 03:22 pm
Entry tags:
What makes a fic podficcable or unpodficcable?
I want to know, is there anything specifically people look for when choosing fics to podfic (other than rare pairings/fandoms right now since amplificathon is currently running :P). I mean, obviously people go for fics they like but are there elements of the writing style that will draw you in or have you backing away?
If an author wanted to write something specifically with podfic in mind, how could they go about that?
I think the obvious ones for me would be basic spelling and grammar (and few typos) just because I'm hesitant to change the author's words even if they don't make sense. If a fic doesn't have those things down, I don't even consider podficcing it.
Most of the other things that get to me are harder to pin down before a recording and it's not until I'm reading into my mic or later editing that I notice these things.
Dialogue tags: or something to help indicate who's speaking. Visually you have line breaks and text formatting to help show when speakers have switched off but that's not there in podfic. There are things podficcers can do to help (doing voices, longer pauses when speakers have switched of, etc.) but it's definitely nice.
Repetitive words: they're really obvious in podfic. "Sara jumped off the bed and looked under the bed" even look a bit wrong written but it really jumps out when read aloud. Or "John said... Cameron said... Reilly said...Derek said..." all in a row, on paper it can almost be ignored when you replace the "..." with speech but if it's used in the same spot every time someone speaks it's very noticeable in a podfic.
Vocabulary: There are a lot of words whose meanings we know but may never have heard spoken aloud. I know I've found myself rushing to a dictionary more than once in the middle of a recording. And while the odd word off won't scare me off if every second word isn't one I know would probably intimidate me into giving up.
What actually can scare me off before I even start is if you combine vocabulary with repetition. If some word I'm not confident in my ability to pronounce is featured throughout a fic I might not want to try recording it. Or it can cause problems while I'm recording, my last podfic heavily featured the word "masseur" and by the end it didn't even sound like a word to me any more :S
Language: Lots of fics can be written in one language but still feature another language within it. I don't know which is worse, a story with a human language I'm not all that familiar with or a made up alien/supernatural language. Conceivably I can look up how to pronounce a human language but, that way lies making native speakers cringe at my butchering. At least no one can tell me I'm screwing up a made up language, however since it's made up, the author may have felt things such as vowels or something are unnecessary making it super hard to pronounce.
Embedded asides: Have you ever run across sentences where mid though, the author will go on a tangent and by the time the get back to the sentence on hand you forget what was originally being said? At least when reading the words on screen, your eyes can wander back to the beginning of the sentence to see where things were left off but with audio, it's a lot harder to stop and rewind.
Huh, I was able to come up with more than I expected on my own. What do you guys think?
amplificathon is currently running :P). I mean, obviously people go for fics they like but are there elements of the writing style that will draw you in or have you backing away?If an author wanted to write something specifically with podfic in mind, how could they go about that?
I think the obvious ones for me would be basic spelling and grammar (and few typos) just because I'm hesitant to change the author's words even if they don't make sense. If a fic doesn't have those things down, I don't even consider podficcing it.
Most of the other things that get to me are harder to pin down before a recording and it's not until I'm reading into my mic or later editing that I notice these things.
Dialogue tags: or something to help indicate who's speaking. Visually you have line breaks and text formatting to help show when speakers have switched off but that's not there in podfic. There are things podficcers can do to help (doing voices, longer pauses when speakers have switched of, etc.) but it's definitely nice.
Repetitive words: they're really obvious in podfic. "Sara jumped off the bed and looked under the bed" even look a bit wrong written but it really jumps out when read aloud. Or "John said... Cameron said... Reilly said...Derek said..." all in a row, on paper it can almost be ignored when you replace the "..." with speech but if it's used in the same spot every time someone speaks it's very noticeable in a podfic.
Vocabulary: There are a lot of words whose meanings we know but may never have heard spoken aloud. I know I've found myself rushing to a dictionary more than once in the middle of a recording. And while the odd word off won't scare me off if every second word isn't one I know would probably intimidate me into giving up.
What actually can scare me off before I even start is if you combine vocabulary with repetition. If some word I'm not confident in my ability to pronounce is featured throughout a fic I might not want to try recording it. Or it can cause problems while I'm recording, my last podfic heavily featured the word "masseur" and by the end it didn't even sound like a word to me any more :S
Language: Lots of fics can be written in one language but still feature another language within it. I don't know which is worse, a story with a human language I'm not all that familiar with or a made up alien/supernatural language. Conceivably I can look up how to pronounce a human language but, that way lies making native speakers cringe at my butchering. At least no one can tell me I'm screwing up a made up language, however since it's made up, the author may have felt things such as vowels or something are unnecessary making it super hard to pronounce.
Embedded asides: Have you ever run across sentences where mid though, the author will go on a tangent and by the time the get back to the sentence on hand you forget what was originally being said? At least when reading the words on screen, your eyes can wander back to the beginning of the sentence to see where things were left off but with audio, it's a lot harder to stop and rewind.
Huh, I was able to come up with more than I expected on my own. What do you guys think?
no subject
offensive terminology. It's one thing to read (or glance over); it's another to have to say offensive terms out loud. Even when they're in character, it can affect whether I want to read a story. So that's become a big point for me lately...
Definitely. I have one friend that got turned off of an author when she started to notice casual misogyny within her works.
For me, I definitely can't say that I don't swear. In my younger years I even did it a lot but now when I swear, it's because I feel it and it adds to my point. I'm currently working on a podfic with a character who includes some version of "fuck" in every sentence and it's weird for me. I'm uncomfortable saying it so casually, so I keep trying to add meaning when I say it and worry that it's going to come off as over played. :-/ But, on a personal level, I just don't think I can casually say fuck after every sentence.
no subject
Casual misogyny...oh yes. I've been doing older stories, and there's a lot of stuff we wouldn't see any more today. I read one story and it wasn't really bad or really noticeable and I still loved the story to pieces but...I realized my awareness of the issues and my sensitivity level certainly had changed in the last decade!
no subject
My pet peeve...J2 and their douche bags. do not want!!!!
no subject
I get that. If you can change it, without it changing the atmosphere of the story it's probably not a bad idea. Sometimes an author doesn't realize how offensive a statement can be, other times they used it specifically to provoke that reaction. If I had done the former, I would probably appreciate the editing, if it were the latter... that could be problematic.
I do so appreciate it when an author says it's ok to edit their works when you podfic. Historically I would podfic a story and ask permission later, so never felt I could change things up, however lately I've been getting permission first, sometimes even involving the author in my podficcing process and it can be so useful when they let you change things up a bit.
Casual misogyny...oh yes. I've been doing older stories, and there's a lot of stuff we wouldn't see any more today
And there are a lot of things that are commonly written today that can hit some people's buttons. I know I've seen more than one person get upset over the comparison to a "14 year old girl" (or similar age). It's really common but it's also problematic how it's used.
I think misogyny can be especially weird in slash because there are things that can be said by women that sound misogynistic coming from a man. And while slash fandom is primarily women talking to other women, we often talk through boys giving it an off feel at times.