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| Viewing Page 1 of 1 (Total Posts: 18) |
| Author | Comment |
Joel Calhoun
Sep 3, 07 - 9:31 PM |
Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Thought you should know about this...the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company produced an adaptaion of the first of the "Night Watch" sub-series of Discworld and are posting it up as a 3-part podcast. Visit podcast.artc.org and right-click the POD icon to save to disk so you can listen whenever you want. BTW, have you checked out artc.org? Or any of the other websites I mentioned in a previous topic? A quick refresher: Radio Repertory Company of America: rrca.com ZBS Productions: zbs.org Ziggurat Productions: zigguratproductions.com Alien Worlds: alienworlds.com |
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Thomas M. Wagner
Sep 4th, 2007 - 6:40 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
I'll do it. I heard a really great adaptation of The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents from the BBC not long ago. |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 4th, 2007 - 9:52 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Glad to hear it. And if I might make a small suggestion: As I'm sure you've probably learned by now, the ARTC is a non-profit organization and as such is reliant on a) donations and b) sales of previous recordings on CD or at audible.com. On the latter front I would highly reccommend an adaptation of Robert Heinlein's "The Menace from Earth". I chose this particular title because I've read the actual story and was curious as to how it would play out. Also on this particular CD is an orignal story called "Luna Shall be Dry!" This is part of a series of episodes featuring an original character created by the ARTC called "Rory Rammer, Space Marshall". Here is a copy of the introuduction taken from ARTC's web site: Come away with us now, to the far-off future days of 1985 A.D., after men have landed on the Moon, when Space Marshal Rory Rammer and his sidekick "Skip" Sagan guard the rule of law and the rights of the innocent "From the Skies of Earth to the Orbit of the Moon!" It is what's known as a "Bat Durston" type of series and is to ARTC what "Guy Noir, Private Eye" is to A Prairie Home Companion. Just something to think about... |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 12th, 2007 - 7:00 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
I've listened two two-thirds of ARTC's adaptation...how about you? You've probably noticed this already, but some scenes and dialog from the novel have been left out to get the program down to an hour's length. In fact, it was mentioned in the text of the introduction how difficult it was to adapt the novel for an hour-long program. In any case, I bought the novel yesterday and have read up to the point where Carrot has arrived in Anhk-Morpork and the dragon claimed it's firest victim. Tell me,what was your recation when DEATH appeared and the Librarian popped up? |
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Richard Hayden
Sep 13th, 2007 - 3:16 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Hi Joel I've listened to part one of the series and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was charmed by the live performance style that refused to edit fluffs and stumbles – of which there were actually very few. John Rhys Davies is obviously brilliant, although I thought the actor voicing Death sounded wrong. I always imagine Death's voice would sound like tombs slamming shut but here he sounded almost snide. But that is a minor quibble. You're right that a lot has been trimmed to fit it all in and I wonder how someone completely new to the Discworld concepts would understand any of it. I was intrigued to hear, Tom, that you have heard a BBC adaptation of The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. That completely passed me by. I must try to track down a recording. All the best Richard Hayden |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 14th, 2007 - 7:18 PM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Just thought you and Richard should know that I finished reading the book as well as listening to the podcast. Richard, it's likely the actor playing DEATH was trying to affect an English accent ala Christopher Lee(who did the voice in an animated adatpion of "Wyrd Sisters")and wasn't very succesful. Just remember that these are Americans doing an adaptation of a British novel. I wonder what an English adaptation of an American novel (say any of the Honor Harringtion books) would sound like...? |
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Richard Hayden
Sep 15th, 2007 - 2:59 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
You raise an interesting point on the matter of accents, Joel. You're right in that Terry Pratchett is English but the Discworld is not England. In these situations I feel that performing a tale in the accent most easily recognised by the audience is more effective. For instance, a few years ago, the BBC put on a radio play called Bomber (by Len Deighton). It is a brilliant piece of work about various parties involved in a bombing mission during World War Two. All the German parts were played by English actors who made no effort to put on a German accent. This must have been a stylistic decision because I find it hard to believe the BBC couldn't source a few actors with the skills or background to produce the necessary accent. And it worked superbly. Also I would argue that an actor's skills should include the ability to reasonably impersonate other accents. The British actor Tim Roth did a good job in Reservoir Dogs and, in the other direction, Gwyneth Paltrow was superb as an Englishwoman in Sliding Doors. Okay, it's unfair to compare international stars with a regional rep company but still, the voice is the key tool in radio theatre and we, the audience, can reasonably expect the actors to meet a certain standard. All of this probably suggests to you that it ruined my experience, which would be a pity because I thought it was very well done and I'm really pleaseed you brought it to my attention. By the way, if you're a fan of old 70s British SF TV shows (Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel, Tomorrow People, etc.) a company called Big Finish has been producing monthly CD-based audio plays with many of the original actors. You can find them at www.doctorwho.co.uk. The casts are small (for budget reasons) and the quality of story telling is mixed but generally these are worth at least a look. |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 15th, 2007 - 6:00 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Tom, I'm aware of Big Finish and tried to purchase something from them; unfortunately my debit card isn't cleared for purchases outside the U.S.  Also, I never said that Discworld was like England, only that its' author was from there. |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 15th, 2007 - 6:39 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
D'oh! Apologies, my last post was addresed to Richard. I should really read these things more carefully before postings |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 15th, 2007 - 6:40 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
D'oh! Apologies, my last post was addresed to Richard. I should really read these things more carefully before posting these things. |
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Richard Hayden
Sep 15th, 2007 - 4:04 PM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Hi Joel Big Finish have a few outlets in the US. Here's one - www.whona.com. Inevitably, the strength of the pound against the dollar at the moment means there are few bargains to be had just now but it's worth bearing in mind. There are a great many erudite reviews of these recordings to be found at www.gallifreyone.com. Richard |
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Joel Calhoun
Sep 17th, 2007 - 9:35 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Richard, thanks for the tip. I've ordered two CDs over the weekend (The Reaping and Live 34) and they've just shipped out today. With any luck they should be here by the end of the week. |
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Thomas M. Wagner
Sep 19th, 2007 - 9:03 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Well, it just so happens that, apropos of this discussion, I've just been contacted by a publicist for BBC Audio, who asked if I could post some links to some of their SF material at their download shop. So far she's sent me a link to Nigel Kneale's The Quatermass Memoirs. Folks who wish to buy the show on CD can do so here. 
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Thomas M. Wagner
Sep 23rd, 2007 - 6:12 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Folks with Usenet access will enjoy knowing that the audio adaptation of Guards! Guards! has been posted to alt.binaries.sounds.radio.bbc over the last couple of days. |
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Sarah Hayes
Jan 16th, 2008 - 7:46 PM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
As much as i love Terry Pratchett and everything about him.. (I'm writing a thesis on humourous speculative fiction using his Discworld series for my Year 12 HSC - Australian, so you probably have no idea what i'm on about - google it)  .. I just couldn't handle the accents, i guess I've always imagined something quintessentially British about Ankh-Morpork Does anyone know of any British radio productions of Pratchett's work? also to Mr Thomas Wagner, you're site is amazing and particularly useful for a science fiction and fantasy obsessed youth have you ever considered reviewing Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale? (okay i admit, its one of my books for school) But it is actually quite good, and the mysterious atmosphere she created kept me up all night until I'd finished so.. just a suggestion and thanks 
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Richard Hayden
Jan 17th, 2008 - 3:59 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Hi Sarah BBC radio has dramatised Mort and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. However, the recordings are not available commercially. Keep an eye on the BBC7 website, where drama repeats often show up (I don't know whether you can access them outside the UK, however), or join usenet where there are groups for this sort of file sharing. There may be other adaptations that I have missed. In terms of visual adaptation, ITV produced animated series of Wyrd Sisters, Soul Music and Truckers. BBC produced Johnny and the Bomb and Sky made Hogfather (with The Colour of Magic in the pipeline). Most of these are available (or have been in the past) on video or DVD. Hope that helps. Richard |
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Thomas M. Wagner
Jan 17th, 2008 - 6:54 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Thanks for the nice comments, Sarah. I'm glad you enjoy the site and I certainly do my best to make it useful and one folks want to come back to. I actually did read The Handmaid's Tale back in the 80's when it came out, and I have to admit, I didn't like it at all. But maybe I should give it another shot after all these years. |
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Joel Calhoun
Jan 21st, 2008 - 10:48 AM |
Re: Audio Adaptation of "Guards! Guards!"
Bad news... ARTC is going to stop uploading podcasts for now... If there is anything there that you want to listen to that you haven't done already...better do it now while the site's still up. And remember, you can order CDs online at artc.org or download them at audible.com |
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