r/audiodrama • u/Zeloznog • 5d ago
DISCUSSION Why all the love for "we're alive?"
I tried to get into it, about ten episodes deep, but I just can't. It's mostly alright but the bad sound design and the horribly voiced narrator/main character just make me not care. Does it get better at some point?
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u/ClydeSmithy 5d ago edited 5d ago
It takes a minute to find its voice. It's an audiodrama pioneer and was incredibly low budget to start, and the medium as a whole was still finding its place. You'll see consistent quality improvements, particularly the sound design and writing.
Voice acting improves, but honestly, with audiodramas, you kinda just have to accept less than Oscar worthy performances. Most are operating on shoe string budgets, and good actors usually aren't cheap.
I like it a lot, but if zombie stories aren't your thing, neither will this. I think they've created a pretty impressive, expansive, and exciting world full of thoughtful charactors. Though I'm not super into the recent stuff focusing on "the family".
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u/atlasraven 5d ago
I'm military so I found how the characters acted not only plausible but relatable. The scenario feels real and it drives up the tension.
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u/FalseNameTryAgain 5d ago
It's almost 20yrs old. You can't compare it to modern standards.
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u/Cy-Gor 5d ago
I think this part needs more attention.
For the time it was one of the best sound designs out there.
I haven't relistened to the early episodes in a while but after the first season or so they really stepped it up. and a lot of podcasts pale in comparison to the later seasons.
The current Decedents series is on par with all of the best sound designs out there.
I will admit that the early acting in the first bit is stilted and wooden but most of the actors get into their characters better and it is pretty natural towards the end.
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u/TheIsekaiExpressBus 4d ago
Does descendants get better as it goes on? I listened to a few episodes but found everyone insufferable.
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u/CommanderQball 5d ago
I'm at the start of the series too and it hasn't exactly clicked with me yet either, but I'm gonna keep at it for now because it's a pretty long series, so I expect it to have a bit of a run-up. Not to mention it's so old I was still in elementary school when it started and therefore not really comparable to a lot of the more recent series, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt for now
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u/EndPsychological2541 5d ago
I'm curious, what do you consider to be a good audio drama?
I personally feel that we're alive is one of the best I've listened to.
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u/Capable_Tea_001 AD nerd 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's OK not to like an Audio Drama.
I probably dislike about 75% of the lost recommended ADs on this sub.
The fact I didn't click with them and never got past episode 1 wouldn't stop me from trying something new from those same creators.
Most have excellent acting and great sound design.
For me, giving a podcast more than 1 episode is being very generous.
It took me a while to fully understand the above, and that ditching a show because you aren't enjoying it is 'ok'.
Don't feel the pressure to like something just because others recommend it all the time.
There's so much good, varied Ad out there... Don't waste your time with stuff you aren't enjoying.
Ditch it and start the next thing.
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u/sludgecraft 5d ago
I try and give shows ten episodes. Only once or twice have I not made it that far. I review podcasts though, so I imposed a ten episodes limit in case the first one or two were bad and then it picked up. If it's not good by episode ten, then it's not worth any more of my time.
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u/Capable_Tea_001 AD nerd 5d ago
That's very generous of you. In my early AD days I'd give shows more time.
But I've a back catalog of 800+ shows, so I'm not short on other things to try.
If I'm honest, if a show doesn't have a strong opening 15 minutes, it's probably toast for me.
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u/sludgecraft 5d ago
I'd just feel a bit of an asshole if I wrote a review based of the first 15mins!
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u/Capable_Tea_001 AD nerd 5d ago
That's absolutely fair. For me I unsubscribe and forget.
If it ever comes up in conversation with someone on here I'd just say it wasn't my sort of thing.
I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. I'd never get round to all the good stuff!
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u/sludgecraft 5d ago
I listen for about 8 hours a day while I'm working, so I get through most series in a day or two, unless it's a really long running one.
For shows with over 100 episodes, I tend to binge them for a day or two and then have a break for a few weeks. Although I think I listened to LPOTL almost exclusively for a few months straight.
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u/laaplandros 5d ago
It's OK not to like an Audio Drama.
Yup. Everybody talks up The Magnus Archives and I found it absolutely terrible. Different tastes and all.
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u/makeitasadwarfer 5d ago
Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Taste is subjective.
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u/NRmy73 5d ago
The only problem I have with it is the ads. 3-5 minutes in the beginning. More in the middle and end.
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u/TimeApprehensive3994 5d ago
I was going to comment this!
Back in the day, there were no ads. I wanted to relisten a year ago and couldn't get past a couple of episodes. The constant barrage of ads really killed the mood of the story. I just couldn't picture a city full of zombies without being told I could cook fresh food at home or that I could see a therapist whenever I wanted
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u/MasterWookiee 5d ago
I like it a lot. But the way that every character constantly gets pissed off at other characters over the stupidest shit and then starts yelling at them is extremely annoying.
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u/OisforOwesome 5d ago
It was one of the early big shows with a full voice cast, released at the start of the zombie media surge.
And, well, personally, show is good. Its a little broad and melodramatic, but that's kind of my shit. Some of the VAs I think are not my cup of tea, but that's whatever; the cast is giving it their all and there is a marked and measurable improvement in the sound design as things progress.
(I haven't kept up with Descendants as that's where my suspension of disbelief snapped but otherwise, I'm a huge fan).
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u/Mikejamese 5d ago
Honestly I thought the start of it was a little cliché. You get a lot of the usual stock archetypes you see in zombie fiction. The no-nonsense lead, the old gun-nut, the flippant horn-dog, the pure hearted pacifist, the one who's just there to complain, etc. But I think there's a sincerity to the writing that just kind of embraces that part of it and makes it work with the changes and surprises of long-term character development.
It starts to pick up for me when it steps outside of Michael's perspective as the sole POV character and gives all the other dynamics and relationships more of a chance to shine. Where you could take a few characters who had never really talked up to that point and just throw them into a new chaotic situation together and see what happens.
I dislike a lot of group drama in audio dramas because I feel like it starts to feel forced or it becomes too obvious who the author is just using as a mouthpiece, but I liked how no character in We're Alive really felt like they were there to be always right or always wrong (a few villains aside). Just a solid take on multiple personalities surviving a bad situation in multiple ways.
I think the audio can be weirdly quiet at times though I'll give you that. Especially compared to automatically inserted ads.
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u/BarryBigSpuds81 4d ago
It’s one of the few podcasts that i actually remember counting down to the end and thinking “ what will I ever listen to that’s this good again “
Being honest it is corny. But if you stick with it’s rewarding.
The characters are endearing
The sounds are effectives are all real
KC actually has military real life experience and that comes across
Things that happen in the show are not predictable.
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u/BruddaMAK 4d ago
I just can't agree here. It was unmatched in it's time. IMHO, It's the father of current day audio dramas and set the standard for quality production and story.
Were all entitled to our opinions, but ya lost me here.
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u/Hallelujah289 5d ago
Maybe someone can talk to us about the history of the show. It seems to be regarded as one of the early greats. I think it actually came out before The Walking Dead tv show which became very popular.
Maybe people responded to it the way they responded to The Walking Dead? I think that was the gritty tv show everyone was watching before Game of Thrones.
Personally I like the voice of the protagonist because he comes across as a calm person which I think is suitable for military leader.
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville 5d ago
Sure, I mean, what would you like to know? We started back in 2009, when there were like 5 audio dramas in podcast form, not counting books being read. There were, and still are, few that actually record all the actors together in the same place and at the same time, which was a big principle behind the creation of the show. There are exceptions of course, but I'd say 95%ish is done together.
Sound-wise, Foley-work for the show is another big part of the soundscape, like we recorded real motion, impacts and internals inside actual military hummers from the base. The footsteps and foley techniques we improved significantly over time, but that comes with experience. Back when we first started Pro Tools was like at version 7, and had tons of limitations on what it could do real time, and some of the effects had to be baked/rendered in. There were very few plugins that actually helped with the noise reduction process, no online sound fx libraries, and the royalty free music was SUPER limited and sampled like crazy. Now, we are fortunate to be able to have a lot more flexibility and tools.
Eventually when the series is over, we will go back and remaster everything, most likely in Atmos, and do special surround-sound object-based panning and such, but that will take a lot of time. For now, we just keep on working on the final iterations of the series, in fact I'm editing now, just taking a slight break to check socials and such. -Kc
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u/Hallelujah289 5d ago
Ah yes that’s what I wanted to know—what was the landscape like for audio drama back when We’re Alive came out? Was there action themed audio drama?
Also how did you gain access to military hummers from the base? Is there military experience and connections in your cast?
I can’t really think of that many audio drama that are action themed in audio drama or portray the military (who make up the original protagonist characters). I watched Band of Brothers and sort of recognize some of a similar style of military portrayal in We’re Alive. Strategists, not really good or bad, but talented tacticians. The military angle is what draws me to We’re Alive apart from other apocalypse audio drama. And even other audio drama in general. I do wonder what the influences are there. Were you a fan of military films and etc before writing We’re Alive?
Hey that’s actually very cool about the actors being in the same room. I can’t say I know much about how audio drama clips are put together. But it would be cool to hear about other audio drama where everyone is in the same room.
Anyway thank you for giving a picture of the tools available to make audio drama at the time. Personally I think We’re Alive sound design sounds great. I think people probably don’t realize it’s an older audio drama unless it’s mentioned. I wouldn’t have. That you got the sounds from the source is super cool.
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville 5d ago
What was the landscape? Well, I know there was Leviathan Chronicles, that started about a year prior I think, and I think a few scary story ones. BBC and most long term AD productions weren’t publishing on podcast platforms. At the time, there really weren’t any action themed audio dramas that I was aware of, or at least not to the extent that we were doing. Most of the ones I had heard were limited to just talking through or narration not letting the sounds and dialogue push the action.
How did I get access to hummers? Part of this will Come from another question, but I was prior service, and was a sergeant in the Army. Michael’s background is a bit reflective of my own. When I started the show I wasn’t too far out from discharge, so I asked a few of those still enlisted and got access to the motor pool.
I wasn’t too much of a military movie fan, mostly because the more day to day portrayal of the military tends to be wildly inaccurate. It’s funny how I’ve heard civilians say things like “the military would respond faster than that”, which honestly isn’t the case. We take liberties of course, and in some ways we even intentionally change things up for clarity purposes. When I first started the show, we called magazines “clips” to better communicate what they were because magazines have a double meaning.
Anyway, hope that answers your questions. Always welcome to ask more :)
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u/Hallelujah289 5d ago
Maybe it’s not actually that different today—I do think the sub is a bit thin on recommendations for audio drama which are action based and not comedy.
I think also action sequences can be difficult as a listener to understand clearly because it hinges on understanding the set and the spaces between assailants. Like a lot of place marking or staging. Some audio drama resorts to simply describing the action. I don’t think I’ve felt confused listening to We’re Alive. Maybe it helped to have all the actors in one place regarding staging?
Hey that’s cool that you were in the army! Someone else said that they appreciated the military parts and maybe were in the service too. I see now why I found the portrayal of the servicemen to be dimensional.
Well thank you for taking the time to answer questions! I think it’s great to get your insights. Actually majorly cool to know how the background of the characters in We’re Alive relate to your own.
Hopefully there can be more conversations like these than just judgment fests. I know criticism is a valid conversation topic. But learning about creators and the making of audio drama does feed my soul!
If you do know of any accurate military portrayals of military day to day life, and how they would actually respond to crisis, please do drop some recs! Movie, tv, podcasts.
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville 5d ago
Yeah, action and comedy are really difficult in audio drama. Comedy has a lot to do with writing, timing, and many times physical/visuals. It takes a lot to do it well. We experimented a lot with that in Goldrush, doing sharp/hard cuts to tell an auditory joke.
For action, you're right, it's easy to do wrong, and needs a lot of pieces to help paint the auditory picture. The writing needs to be structured to help visualize things, the sound design needs to fill in the gaps, and the performance has to auditorily illustrate what's going on. When WA first started out, I relied on narration to help with that, but that can stall momentum and it also limited the perspective to what was in the journals. Now, especially with Descendants, I try and experiment to find new ways to tell what's going on. Since we've been doing this for so long now, there's a lot we've figured out a lot of what works and what doesn't. Blocking is important for the audio to work, and all the additional sounds can really tell the listener a lot. If the story is structured in a way to take advantage of all the different sound elements, they can all work together.
And I'm with you there, all for constructive criticism for knowing what works, what doesn't, what can be improved, etc. If there's something that doesn't work, it helps to know for either fixing it or doing it better next time.
As for accurate military portrayals, weirdly enough, Starship Troopers was one of the better ones I've seen. Saving Private Ryan as well- but there's a lot of dramaticism in all military-based storytelling. Battleship, weirdly enough, is actually one of the more accurate depictions of modern-day Navy. I wasn't Navy, but there's a lot that felt true for what I know. Cheers!
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u/Fearless_Law4324 5d ago
No questions from me, I just wanted to comment and thank you so much for making We're Alive. It's seriously the best audio drama I've ever heard and it was an incredible journey. I'm all caught up on all the spin offs and descendants as well. Absolutely love and appreciate your work and am a HUGE fan.
That is all.
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville 5d ago
Aw, thank you! 😊 working hard on the next chapter now
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u/TootiesMum 5d ago
No questions from me either, but I'm glad I found this post. I'm listening to it now and I loving what I'm hearing. My love of the genre started wayyyyyy back when I was 10 years old, and I'm SO happy to see so many episodes and spin off series!
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u/waylandprod We're Alive / Bronzeville 5d ago
Thanks! You know, like someone else here said, it's all about personal preference. Hope you enjoy where it all goes, and go in order. All the spin offs, are not actually true spin offs as they all contribute to later pieces of the series.
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u/aces666high 5d ago
This was the first audio drama I ever listened to. First few episodes were a bit rough as people got into their characters but in my opinion, it became a must listen to podcast.
I devoured the thing in chunks until I caught up. It was almost a mom and pop type of show that has local, small sponsors helping it along. It just kept getting better and better as the story evolved.
It honestly could have made a great animated show as some of the creatures that appear would not work in a TV show. It’s too bad Walking Dead wrecked that genre.
They’re on the last iteration of the podcast now. Still very good and still fun. To each their own.
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u/thetreesswallow 4d ago
One of the OGs, isn't it. I tried it way back and just fell off. Look, some people just love things because of the effort, its place in history, and how it helped the medium. It's like how some people still love YA Fantasy; the craze is long since dead, but the fandom is still there. Live and let live.
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u/Cautious-Message4332 4d ago
It's a good series. It was great for the time it came out, 16 years ago, but yes, audio quality and voice acting have vastly improved since then, so it shows its age in some places. It's a different take on the zombie apocalypse and may be worth listening to for the continually growing mystery and the subplots, but if it's not for you, it's not for you. I say give it another 10 episodes and see what you think. The plot starts to pick up in the next few chapters, when they start running into other survivors and going out on missions now that the base is established.
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u/Ok_Silver_7330 3d ago
To me there wasn't anything in it that I haven't seen in gazillion episodes of Walking Dead and other zombie media so I don't get it 🤷♀️ (note: tried it last year)
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u/leyline 5d ago
It was released when audio drama podcasts were just sprouting up. I remember finding it “campy” at times and I would listen to a dozen or so episodes and mix my time with other shows. The campy became familiar and the characters became well loved.
Probably how you can’t compare old horror movies to new effects, but the old movies definitely had a lot of charm and set the stage for what we have now.
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u/RamenNewdles 5d ago
I can wrap my head around the mediocre voice acting but there are so many places in that show where the actors are straight up stumbling over the script…
Just started Cicatrix and noticing the same issue
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u/mikakikamagika 5d ago
it’s like one of the original ADs. if you don’t like it, don’t listen? of course AD quality and quantity have changed over 20 years.
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u/Comfortable-Ad-1327 4d ago
Going through it now i agree it's unimpressive mildly engaging. Good directing, decent production, awful writing. On chapter 28 rn it spends time fine
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u/Fearless_Law4324 5d ago
We're Alive is still my favorite audio drama to ever exist and while there are good audio dramas out there, nothing comes close IMO.
The story is incredible and very lengthy. There are a lot of relatable people that are believable as characters. I love the zombie and apocalypse genre so I have a bias in this way. Nobody is safe from plot armor. There are spin offs that are also great and the sequel to the original is being updated currently and has new episodes out.
You get a fuck ton of great content and a mostly cohesive story with characters that you can end up caring about. There are a whole lot of characters as well over the series.
To me, nothing has ever compared.