Letters to Humanity: Part II
The Story Continues…
Letters to Humanity started out as a few lines of dialogue as my feelings of isolation, loneliness, and fear in facing an unknown world last November began to develop into a survivor story. Written as short radio transmissions, the narrator Sam investigates strange events and mysteries during his stay in an abandoned bunker, navigates a changed world, and finds hope and meaning as he moves forward, even in the bleakest of circumstances.
The podcast itself shared its fair share of bleak circumstances. After four successful episodes, what began as a small break due to full time jobs, relationships, and school grew into an unintentional 6 month hiatus. Finding a way back to continuing the series seemed to grow farther and farther away, as fear of failure and the inability to move forward crept in. But after the opportunity to revisit the podcast arose, I knew it was time for us to return and continue the journey that had begun not too long ago.
The Production Process
The production process for Letters to Humanity goes a little like this: I take a few days to write the upcoming episode, video call my voice actor, and we record the script together. I listen to each take, and try to help my voice actor, James, get the best take possible take by voicing out suggestions. Recording sessions range anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending how many episodes we’re producing for the week. Then, after 10 hours or more of audio editing, music mixing, and recording foley to produce the right tone and atmosphere, a podcast episode is released into the wilds of the internet.
It definitely takes a little extra to bring these podcast episodes to life.
Trial and Error
A couple of new editing methods were developed to save time. These included pre-determining what music clips would appear in the episode before the episode was recorded, sampling audio and foley from previous episodes, and doing a clean scrub and edit of the voice audio track before placing the music.
Due to microphone mishaps, we tried a different microphone method that included James recording in his car for episodes 5 and 6. There is a slight audible change in quality of the recording between those episodes and episode 7, but the episodes still managed to manifest the spirit of the show.
“Contrary to what you might think, a bucket list isn’t a list about buckets, it’s a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket- which I think means before you die”- Episode 007- The Bucketlist
Iterations or Improvements
During the six month hiatus of the podcast, I rewrote the following script more than 15 times. I have 19 pages of variations of episode 5 by July, but that next episode to help continue the series still didn’t feel right. I somehow had to capture the essence of past episodes and help direct the podcast to where I wanted it to go and I was so unsure on how I could move forward.
I managed to get past the creative block that plagued me by testing out different script ideas among close friends and learning to let go of how perfect I thought it should sound. I held close to the ‘Fail Faster’ mentality, realizing my limitations and how there is no such thing as perfection. I listened to Mario Kart music to keep me motivated and on task as I pummeled out new scripts, and in the end, being able to release fresh episodes brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction.
Besides the more minimalistic cover art, I decided that one improvement I could incorporate was a new mini arc, or a mystery that Sam could solve. This mini arc finally begins in episode 7, while the other episodes serve as background pieces and set up for future episodes and mysteries. I am hoping to make my episodes longer than 11 minutes each, and will possibly qualify for sponsorship soon. These ad breaks and a more advanced plot moving forward may help the episodes get to a heartier, 15 minute mark.
Publishing and Availability
Letters to Humanity is now available on Anchor and Spotify, and will be uploaded with captions to YouTube in the upcoming months.
Anchor Links:
Episode 005- The Glass Eye: https://anchor.fm/letters-to-humanity/episodes/005--The-Glass-Eye-e18b3iv
Episode 006- The Calendar: https://anchor.fm/letters-to-humanity/episodes/006--The-Calendar-e18ilm2
Episode 007- The Bucketlist: https://anchor.fm/letters-to-humanity/episodes/007--The-Bucketlist-e18ljss
Spotify Show Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZQKofekkXCb8NmJsPIkCK?si=Xxv5hLLERJy7GHXL_NXpgw
In Conclusion…
I know that the following episodes may be flawed in their own ways, and may retain a different sort of magic, but I am still am pleased that they carry the same spirit of the original first episodes and I’m proud of what’s been accomplished thus far.
Here’s to passion projects, those in process, those yet to begin, those moving forward, and the creators that have the courage to make them possible.