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amplificathon...freeform sneak rec!
There are two podfics recorded for Podbang 2009 that are especially close to my heart and that I have meant to rec for a while. I want to talk of both in the context of what makes a good story to podfic, for me, and of reader/story match.
I had read neither story beforehand, so I am judging the story as interpreted through the reading.
anatsuno reads the magical number seven (plus or minus two) by general_jinjur . 6:14h.
I was amazed by this podfic. I went in pretty neutral, my only expectation thatanatsuno would deliver something solid, no matter how unhappy she herself was with the recording.
What you need to know is that there a multiple instances of short-term memory loss at the beginning of this story. In practice, this means a frequent "rewind" of the same situation. Sound confusing?
And there's the thing: it isn't, really. I'm really puzzled about how well you can follow the flow of this narration, because it does not flow forward, exactly.
Stop. Rewind. Play. Skip. Pause. Play. Skip. Rewind.
But at the same time, the unrelenting "onward" of the reading -- you don't rewind a podfic half as often as you skip back to re-read, do you? -- fits the underlying urgency of the story extremely well. There is a mystery to solve, and anatsuno's voice takes you along, vey matter-of-fact, we-have-business-to-attend-to, soft, but inexorable.
Or, to put it another way, the reading adds a linear undertow to the not-exactly-linear fic.
The fact that this is a plotty gen story also helps to keep your attention. There are puzzles, action, movement. Personally, I find my mind does not stray as much with this kind of story.
This is not a lyrical reading. There is something cold and uncomfortable and fascinating about this story. Anatsuno's voice is lovely as always, clear and, most of all, a bit weary. Probably that is me imagining my meta-knowledge into this, knowing how anatsuno struggled with the recording, but -- it fits. It fits all so, so well.
I listened to the entire 6 hours in one go, early into the morning.
It's an unexpected treat, and I'm seriously glad I listened rather than read this story, because the amalgamation of reading and fic is, as they say, more than the sum of its parts.
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pennyplainknits reads Reparo by amalin . 8:15h.
I received this fic as a Podbang gift, which, yes, makes me kindly disposed to it. But it' also just really good. Let me expound.
The story itself is a sort of fix-it Harry Potter fic set after Half Blood Prince that morphs into Harry/Draco slash, with a refreshingly non-fanonized Draco and a wodnerfully sympathetic Ginny. I liked the story itself well enough, although I had to suspend disbelief right at the beginning, because I found the premise -- not weak, just underexplored.
In marked contrast to "magical number seven", this is not a plotty story. The main conflicts are character-based: it's about their feelings and motivations. And the characters is what the reading explores: in an either intuitive or conscious genius move, Penny imbues every single one of them with a distinctive voice. It's an astounding 8-hour tour-de-force of consistency and amazing voice-acting.
The largest part is, of course, the narrator. Here, Penny is a very animated reader with a mobile and energetic voice.
Harry, the viewpoint character, has (what I assume is) Penny's natural speaking voice. Draco may be my favourite, his crisp, contemptuous consonants just perfect. Ginny is wavering between vulnerable and exasperated (go, Ginny!).
I found Hermione's voice a little shrill and annoying, the result of pitching an already rather high female voice even higher. But then I reminded myself that, well, Hermione *is* often rather annoying! and so again, the voice was quite in character.
It'd be criminal to neglect McGonagall, though, who has the most delightful Scottish accent. Even minor appearances like Cornelius Fudge get their own voice, it's astounding how Penny manages to not run out of variations. (Try that sometime, it's harder than it sounds.)
It's a good thing the characters carry this fic, and that I found myself caring for them, because it does have very odd pacing. There are long stretches of what I perceived as no action happening at all, and where I wasn't sure if things were supposed to be heading anywhere plot-wise. Character-wise, the developments were more clear; but the odd burst of frenzied plotty action crammed into the last hour was an odd fit to an overall rather languid and exploratory ensemble cast character study.
This is not a negative, though: I'm trying to lay out how this is a very different listening experience compared to a "plotty gen podfic" (for lack of a better name). To put it very inelegantly, I'd say this sort of podfic is more emotionally engaging and immersive, and does not require that much concentrated listening: you can let your attention drift once in a while without losing the thread completely.
Overall, I would already have enjoyed a podfic of Reparo for the story, but it's Pennys skill and audible dedication as a reader that makes it such a highlight worth recommending.
There are two podfics recorded for Podbang 2009 that are especially close to my heart and that I have meant to rec for a while. I want to talk of both in the context of what makes a good story to podfic, for me, and of reader/story match.
I had read neither story beforehand, so I am judging the story as interpreted through the reading.
anatsuno reads the magical number seven (plus or minus two) by general_jinjur . 6:14h.I was amazed by this podfic. I went in pretty neutral, my only expectation that
anatsuno would deliver something solid, no matter how unhappy she herself was with the recording. What you need to know is that there a multiple instances of short-term memory loss at the beginning of this story. In practice, this means a frequent "rewind" of the same situation. Sound confusing?
And there's the thing: it isn't, really. I'm really puzzled about how well you can follow the flow of this narration, because it does not flow forward, exactly.
Stop. Rewind. Play. Skip. Pause. Play. Skip. Rewind.
But at the same time, the unrelenting "onward" of the reading -- you don't rewind a podfic half as often as you skip back to re-read, do you? -- fits the underlying urgency of the story extremely well. There is a mystery to solve, and anatsuno's voice takes you along, vey matter-of-fact, we-have-business-to-attend-to, soft, but inexorable.
Or, to put it another way, the reading adds a linear undertow to the not-exactly-linear fic.
The fact that this is a plotty gen story also helps to keep your attention. There are puzzles, action, movement. Personally, I find my mind does not stray as much with this kind of story.
This is not a lyrical reading. There is something cold and uncomfortable and fascinating about this story. Anatsuno's voice is lovely as always, clear and, most of all, a bit weary. Probably that is me imagining my meta-knowledge into this, knowing how anatsuno struggled with the recording, but -- it fits. It fits all so, so well.
I listened to the entire 6 hours in one go, early into the morning.
It's an unexpected treat, and I'm seriously glad I listened rather than read this story, because the amalgamation of reading and fic is, as they say, more than the sum of its parts.
pennyplainknits reads Reparo by amalin . 8:15h.I received this fic as a Podbang gift, which, yes, makes me kindly disposed to it. But it' also just really good. Let me expound.
The story itself is a sort of fix-it Harry Potter fic set after Half Blood Prince that morphs into Harry/Draco slash, with a refreshingly non-fanonized Draco and a wodnerfully sympathetic Ginny. I liked the story itself well enough, although I had to suspend disbelief right at the beginning, because I found the premise -- not weak, just underexplored.
In marked contrast to "magical number seven", this is not a plotty story. The main conflicts are character-based: it's about their feelings and motivations. And the characters is what the reading explores: in an either intuitive or conscious genius move, Penny imbues every single one of them with a distinctive voice. It's an astounding 8-hour tour-de-force of consistency and amazing voice-acting.
The largest part is, of course, the narrator. Here, Penny is a very animated reader with a mobile and energetic voice.
Harry, the viewpoint character, has (what I assume is) Penny's natural speaking voice. Draco may be my favourite, his crisp, contemptuous consonants just perfect. Ginny is wavering between vulnerable and exasperated (go, Ginny!).
I found Hermione's voice a little shrill and annoying, the result of pitching an already rather high female voice even higher. But then I reminded myself that, well, Hermione *is* often rather annoying! and so again, the voice was quite in character.
It'd be criminal to neglect McGonagall, though, who has the most delightful Scottish accent. Even minor appearances like Cornelius Fudge get their own voice, it's astounding how Penny manages to not run out of variations. (Try that sometime, it's harder than it sounds.)
It's a good thing the characters carry this fic, and that I found myself caring for them, because it does have very odd pacing. There are long stretches of what I perceived as no action happening at all, and where I wasn't sure if things were supposed to be heading anywhere plot-wise. Character-wise, the developments were more clear; but the odd burst of frenzied plotty action crammed into the last hour was an odd fit to an overall rather languid and exploratory ensemble cast character study.
This is not a negative, though: I'm trying to lay out how this is a very different listening experience compared to a "plotty gen podfic" (for lack of a better name). To put it very inelegantly, I'd say this sort of podfic is more emotionally engaging and immersive, and does not require that much concentrated listening: you can let your attention drift once in a while without losing the thread completely.
Overall, I would already have enjoyed a podfic of Reparo for the story, but it's Pennys skill and audible dedication as a reader that makes it such a highlight worth recommending.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-27 12:20 pm (UTC)What a fascinating thing. You did not imagine my (slight) weariness, which was, I hasten to say, NOT actually a weariness I felt towards the story or even the process of recording at the time. I don't... tend to feel like I make a lot of conscious acting choices when I record; by which I mean that I let my gut lead me into the choices; the sort of weariness here in Number Seven was due to my impression of what the story was doing, what it wanted me to do.
so wow, am I glad to see that it works. :)
I know this wasn't written for me - all the better - but, omg, thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 10:15 am (UTC)I think you have a really good -- intuition for choosing the right voice for the fic. But then, I find your voice quite versatile to begin with.