Edict Zero – FIS – EP203 – “The Road Not Taken”
EDICT ZERO – FIS – Season 2
Episode 3 – “The Road Not Taken”
#CREDITS#
VOICES:
James Keller, Julie Hoverson, Phil Rossi, Tanja Milojevic, Russell Gold, Michael Hudson, Kim Poole, Glen Hallstrom, Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard, and Jack Kincaid.
EXPANDED VOICE CREDITS
DOI Agent Simon Griever _____________ Michael Hudson
Ambassador __________________________ Jack Kincaid
Misc voices _________________________ Jack Kincaid
E-1 Embassy Op on ship ______________ Tanja Milojevic
Special Agent Benjamin Zurn _________ Russell Gold
“Pat”, The Room Manager System ______ Jack Kincaid
Special Agent Nick Garrett __________ James Keller
Nurse in background _________________ Tanja Milojevic
Z-Chip RMOS Specialist ______________ Glen Hallstrom
Special Agent Jewels Kircher ________ Julie Hoverson
Special Agent Marcus Briggs _________ Phil Rossi
Special Agent Kora Reznik ___________ Tanja Milojevic
San Julian Cops & misc voices _______ Jack Kincaid
_____________________________________ Tanja Milojevic
Adam Beacher ________________________ Jack Kincaid
WIFIS Tactical Op ___________________ Jack Kincaid
Special Agent Melinda Parish ________ Kim Poole
Assistant Director Alan Dockstader __ Jack Kincaid
Deputy Director Rachel Church _______ Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard
Sunset Bay Cop at Theatre ___________ Jack Kincaid
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SOUND FX:
Collective Slipgate Nine Studio Resources, ERH, The Free Sound Project, Nine Inch Nails (remixed multi-track effects and drone derivatives), freesfx.co.uk, selections from the Public Domain & Free Sound Internet Resources.
MUSIC/AMBIENCE (SUMMARY):
Nine Inch Nails, Kevin MacLeod, Tom Cusack, ERH, How To Destroy Angels, Natalie Nicole Gilbert, and countless selections from Public Domain Internet Resources (including MusOpen and the Internet Archive).
MUSIC/AMBIENCE (NOTES):
The “Edict Zero – FIS – Theme” tracks and all their derivative mixes–which are interwoven through each episode–are remixes of ’26 Ghosts III’, from the CC-licensed Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails. Also, many of the sound effects and special ambiences (i.e. scene headers) heard in Edict Zero – FIS are derived from samples from the hundreds of Nine Inch Nails multitracks made available at remix.nin.com.
Additional attribution:
Midnight on Cassiel Beach, Scene 1, includes “The Shores of North Island” and “Edict Zero – The New World” by Jack Kincaid, with supporting ambience layers by ERH.
Interwoven throughout ep: “The Dire Ambassador” — medley/remix of Hungarian Rhapsody and “34 Ghosts IV” by Nine Inch Nails.
Post-Credits Lead-In to Scene 2, includes “The Shores of North Island” by Jack Kincaid, “999,999” from The Slip by Nine Inch Nails, with additional ambience by ERH.
Zurn flashback to a doomed ship, Scene 2, music by Tom Cusack.
“The Space in Between”, instrumental remix of music by How To Destroy Angels.
Meeting in Jethro, Scene 5, includes “Lightless Dawn”, “Shores of Avalon”, and many interwoven fragments by Kevin MacLeod.
Interwoven throughout ep: “Ghosts of Edict Zero” & “Extended Ballad of Intrigue”, Special Remix of ’26 Ghosts III’ by Nine Inch Nails, and other music by How To Destroy Angels, Natalie Nicole Gilbert, and Jack Kincaid.
“The Out”, Scene 5 conclusion, ambience by ERH.
Discovery in San Julian, Scene 6, music mostly by Tom Cusack.
On a New Road, Meeting in Jethro Continued, Scene 8, music by Kevin MacLeod.
Interwoven throughout ep: “26-A-64”, (Melissa), Piano music by Jack Kincaid with accompaniment of music and ambience by Kevin MacLeod and Nine Inch Nails.
Zurn & Reznik in San Julian, Scene 9, includes
“A Drowning”, instrumental remix of music, by How To Destroy Angels, also:
“Nine Lies The Heart”, ambience series, by ERH.
Dockstader visits Sunset Bay, Scene 10, music by Kevin MacLeod.
Stealth Mode with Dockstader & Griever, Scene 11, music by Tom Cusack.
—
Written and produced by Jack Kincaid.
—
SLIPGATE NINE 
Hey Jack,
just some quick feedback [unfortunately, I don`t have time for the audiodrama talk forum right now because I`m a bit stressed out with an IT project]:
All in all, these three episodes so far represent an “excellent” start into season 2 of “Edict Zero”! And I think you`ve found the right mix of 1) suspense / mystery 2) horror 3) sci fi and 4) humor [I find it particularly funny when one of the AI systems goes wild. If the complex tools I have to use in software development had a voice, they would certainly talk like the AIs in “Edict Zero” – frankly, between you and me: I think the machines want to take over the world by driving humans “insane” :-)].
There`s just one thing that I find a little bit disturbing: the intros.
1) You use a whooshing sound for the transition between different scenes. That´s ok, but
I`d use this effect very sparingly. If you use it too much, it makes the head spin.
Example: after listening to episode 1 of season 2, I went jogging the next day early in the morning. It was dark, empty and quiet outside, but I always had to look around to see if a car was coming because I had this whooshing sound in my mind. And if you ask me what I remember mostly of this episode, well, it`s “whoosh – whoosh – whoosh” :-).
This might be my acoustic idiosyncrasy, but perhaps other listeners feel the same way, too.
2) I think the intros aren`t very helpful from the content side:
* The hard core fans like me who listen to the episodes several times don`t need a mnemomic jump-start at all
* Other listeners might still have problems to orient themself because the intro scenes follow the logic of a chain of associations, and that means it`s less a matter of “narrative logic” and more a matter of “narrative atmosphere”.
I know in the Edict Zero-plot there isn`t an all-knowing narrator who could speak the intros, but I`d prefer “more narrative” and less atmospheric intros. Maybe, you could
use the different voices of the Edict Zero-characters to make such intros. Or, you could
use the voices of other podcasters for “the story so far”.
But, again, this might be an idiosyncrasy of mine when it comes to audio dramas.
Anyway: brilliant work – so that all the “suffering” that goes with such an ambitious audio production was worthwhile!
I wish you some happy holidays and hope to see you in the audio drama talk-forum
in 2012!
Cheers
Peter
December 7, 2011 at 10:02 am
Hi, Peter. Always great to hear from you and receive your feedback! I’m glad the kick-off to Season 2 will bring you back for more in the future. In regard to the quirky AIs, yes, I have a soft spot for that too. It’s part of the fun.
About the “whoosh” used in dividers between scenes and time/place, I agree that I should probably use them more sparingly or run the risk the desensitizing the listener’s ears to it. Because the recaps involve little clips of dialogue, there are a lot of dividers in there and thus a lot of whooshing. The thing is, I think the sweeping sound is a good, solid divider. You are the first to have mentioned distaste for it, so I’ll be interested to see if anyone else brings it up now that you initiated a point for discussion on it. Nonetheless, I will give it thought.
As for the episode recaps, well, I would like to believe that when people listen to Edict Zero, they give it their undivided attention. Some assuredly do, but I think it’s safe to assume that most probably don’t and Edict Zero doesn’t do a lot of spoon-feeding. There are aspects to the story that are complicated indeed. It expects the listener to think, develop interpretations, extrapolate from what data is provided. It expects a little work on the part of a listener. Many have found the recaps extremely helpful in jogging their memory or, because I carefully choose the segments to make it so, aiding in making the connections and generating the right context. Even though it’s more work for me, I don’t mind taking the time to produce those recap segments. I do intend to make them shorter in future episodes, only touching on plot points or past events which will come to play during the episode that follows. I do it for the benefit of the listener who may otherwise be a little lost, and do it hoping that I have not inadvertently made other fans feel patronized by what is a redundancy, relative to their sharp understanding of things. If that makes sense? Shorter recaps in the future, though. The recaps in EP201-EP203 were fairly long.
About narration: it’s a personal preference thing. It almost seems like a contradiction, given my novelist background, but it really isn’t. Relative to me, narrative on a page and spoken narrative are two different animals.
It took me untold-of hours of audio production with Hoad’s Grim and Deadsville Nine stuff to accept that spoken narration doesn’t work for me, not as the one doing the narration (which I have sworn off for good). I tried to find my way with it, but I don’t feel … through my creative filter … that it works. It feels foreign and just plain odd. That’s from my perspective, but, eh, all things relative.
The atmospheric intros and spaces between dialogue where only music and sound effects carry the mood and story, I suppose, is trying to do the duties of a narrator, or some would say. It’s not an attempt to compensate for the lack of narration from my standpoint, however. Telling a story with words is the writer in me. The rest is the musical/ sound designer side of me, who considers all elements of the production (ambience, music, sound effects, voices) as equal partners, each doing their part to tell the story in concert. Music alone can tell a story through how its movements makes you feel.
Maybe I digressed.
There will be some circumstances where narration of sorts will be useful and there may be a few examples in Edict Zero where it was, albeit through character dialogue or other means than an omnipresent narrator presence. It’s definitely not something I would make a tradition of or integrate back in, now that I’m concentrating on a modern style of audio drama. It would work for many listeners, I’m sure, but, alas, it does not work for me, and I’m the one who has to produce it 😀
My response has gotten as long as your comment, hasn’t it?
Thanks for your thoughts, Peter! They’re welcome, appreciated, and get me thinking. Very good feedback.
May you have happy holidays as well!
December 7, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Hey Jack,
apropos “distaste” for the whooshing sound effect:
First, let me say that I like your elimination of the (all-knowing) narrator and your use
of the spoken word, sound effects and music as “equal” partners. I`d say that this is a very promising way for audio dramas! Nevertheless, I loved the “frantic narrator” of “Hoad`s Grim” – at least, after the first “shock” 🙂
Second, I don`t know if “distaste” for the sound effect mentioned is the right word. I´d rather say, if the whooshing sound is used too often, it becomes too “dominating” in the delicate balance between word, music and sound. And perhaps one main problem of the “Edict Zero” audio production is to maintain this delicate balance so that no dimension alone dominates the other ones.
Especially in the intro and outro of episode 1 season 2, the whooshing sound effect worked as a kind of perturbation, for my acoustic taste. Consequence: I started focusing
on this effect, and the longer I listened, the more I focused on the whoosh sound – as if all my attention was absorbed by it.
Or, to give you an analogy: it`s summer time. Your room is hot, dark and quiet, and you`re trying to sleep. But there`s a small mosquito flying around you: “buzz, buzz, buzz…”. The more you focus on the buzz sound, the less likely you will fall asleep.
So, in short, I found that the whooshing sound demanded too much of my “attention” so that it was more and more difficult to focus on the other aspects (esp. dialogs).
Maybe this is my acoustic idiosyncrasy. Just wait how other listeners will react. But a simple remedy might be to use this effect “sparingly” so that the delicate balance mentioned above is maintained.
> My response has gotten as long as your comment, hasn’t it?
Yes, it has 🙂 But it’s always interesting to get some background information from you!
> Maybe I digressed.
I like your digressions as much as your “quirky AIs” – just “keep ’em comin” 🙂
Cheers,
Peter
December 8, 2011 at 5:56 pm
You are more patient than I could ever be when someone tries to tell you how to “improve” E0 as if they are doing all of the work. I think the show is amazing. Every time I re-listen to the entire show (more times than I can remember) I ALWAYS find some thing new I missed before. The incredible complex and supremely layered audio is still unmatched today including the AD’s that are not free. I would not change a thing and I think it is wrong to leave comments like the one your reply that I am replying to .
July 13, 2015 at 10:09 pm
I don’t mind it so much, Fred. I’m always open to suggestions and feedback on anything that I do. Better that than silence. I always keep in mind where it comes from — i.e. is it from a fan whose intent is to improve the experience? Sometimes, criticism can direct my attention to a problem. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I go on doing what I want anyway, because a great deal of thought has already gone into it beforehand, but I do listen to and consider any and all thoughts on the material.
July 28, 2015 at 4:41 pm
The last line of 203 gave me a genuine LOL . Nice one!
December 8, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Indeed. The endings to ALL of the episodes this season have been especially rerwarding – but in the rush of this season of the year, the ending of episode three gave a welcome, stress-relieving guffaw. Thanks!
December 9, 2011 at 4:07 am
I’m happy to hear that it succeeded with the desired effect. Thanks to you, too, for listening. Cheers!
December 9, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Thanks, Peter. I appreciate you giving your honest feedback. I understand what you’re saying, and you are right about maintaining that delicate balance. I’ll give it thought and perhaps I might find an alternative for the divider for the recaps. I expect it could be tricky and, as it’s meant to stand out as a solid divider, I may end up choosing something else you find equally obtrusive. Alas, I can be a stinker like that. We’ll see. And perhaps others will bring up the topic now.
As for the Hoad’s Grim & D9 narrator … errm… yes, he … or should I say *it* … was a unique entity (and not one I’d care to channel again).
To FNH: I rather like that final note of EP203 too, which is why it had to be perfect.
Cheers, gentlemen.
December 9, 2011 at 3:54 am
Can these episodes be downloaded?
November 17, 2016 at 1:11 am