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nikojen
Title: The Kids Are Alright
Author:nakedwesley
Fandom: SGA
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: NC-17
Length: 5:04:38
Download: mp3 m4b
Voice - This is a case where I like the reader's voice better the more I listen to it. At first it seemed kind of nasal to me, now it seems warmer, fuzzier, kind of like a higher-pitched version of gravelly. The enunciation is always clear, which is awesome. The reader has a habit of reading long phrases all at one go, and the tone tends to get a a little flatter toward the tail end of the longer ones. It doesn't come across as breathless or uncomfortable, though, I think because there's a human amount of breathing audible before and after. When there are a few of these in a row, though, the voice gets noticeably tight and strained. Since this actually works in this fic, given the emotions John in particular is juggling, that's cool, but I think in a reading of something fluffy or sexy, it might make sense to add a few soft pauses for breath when the text has a cluster of longer phrases.
POV - The narration seems to be voiced similarly regardless of which character's point of view it's in, and I think this works just fine in this fic, where the author usually makes the new POV clear in the first sentence after the switch. The 5-ish second pauses between sections also help as an auditory cue to the change. I like that the 2+ seconds of quiet at beginning and end of each file add up to the same 5-ish second POV break, as it makes the listening seamless.
There were a few spots where those five second silences made me wonder if my MP3 player had shut down, though, and it seems to be where the reading doesn't make it clear by tone that a section has ended. Compare, for example, the gaps between files 1 and 2, and at 2:50 in file 2. In the first, Rodney's accusation ends on rising notes. Given all the dialogue-related pausing that's been going on for the preceding several minutes, this rising note leaves me expecting more narration or a response from another character. Instead, the pause drags on and suddenly we're in Ronon's POV. In the second example, Ronon's narration finishes on a downward note that makes it clear something has ended, so I'm prepared for the POV to change.
Sometimes the changes are particularly cool, like in file 2 around 12:00. The pace of Rodney's narration is just slightly fast, just slightly loud, coming off his anxiety about trying to cover up his and Ronon's driving off the unwelcome guest. After the pause it comes back a little quieter, a little more mellow, just right for the drunk and sleepy state the characters have achieved. Also clearly shows that time has passed.
Dialogue - The characters seem to be voiced slightly differently, though it isn't always apparent to me. Rodney's a little more clipped and often slightly louder and higher than the others, Ronon a little lower and rougher, John's sometimes a little drawlier, though much closer to the general voicing of the narration.
All of the dialogue is nicely imbued with emotional interpretation through changes in tone, volume, pace -- basically all the tools that make the narrative parts so nice to listen to, but intensified, more varied. Mostly I really enjoyed it, but there is on spot that made this fic for me. In part 2, at 15:30, the reading wavers as John's hurt comes through the anger, and suddenly I care about his relationship with his brother, because I flash to that scene in--"Adrift", maybe?--when Keller tells John that Elizabeth won't be the same if she survives and he suddenly gets that he's lost her. If I'd been reading this in text form, I would have glossed right over the bit about his voice cracking and missed how freaking important this relationship is to him.
There's a bit somewhere after the warehouse on the Apollo where John reports to Landry, and both their dialogue is delivered in a near-monotone that mismatches the generally lively voicing. I didn't much like it as a choice, though I can see how it gives a distinct flavour to the business of reporting versus conversing.
There are nice clear pauses between narration and dialogue, except where a dialogue tag follows right on the speech, so it's always apparent when someone is speaking, and the text usually makes clear who the speaker is. So while the hints of voice acting aren't needed to follow things, they make a nice touch.
In a few spots, using pauses both to indicate dialogue and POV switches works against clarity, though. At about 3:30 in file 3, Rodney's sudden volume change following his quiet thoughts and then a pause made me think there'd been a POV change as well. I was halfway through the shower before I figured out that it was Rodney who was wet and not John. This caught me the same way on three listens, even though the narrative text right after Rodney's declaration indicates he still has POV.
Story Choice - The pace and such of the narration stays more-or-less even throughout, even during the action scene in the warehouse and the sex scenes. Most of the expressiveness rides in the dialogue, leaving the frankly-delivered narrative bits to stand on their own. I think this makes this style of reading well-suited to stories of this type, with the bulk of the storytelling centred around conversations and day-to-day levels of activity. In a high-action story I'd prefer more emotion and excitement imbued in the description of the action.
Volume - The recording is at a good volume for me: loud enough that I can hear it on the bus when I crank it up, quiet enough to fall asleep to with the volume dialled all the way down. Also, the level stays more-or-less even so that I don't have to futz around with the volume, even when Rodney is freaking out. The emphasis is managed more with tone and intensity, very nice.
Sound Effects - There's a tin-canny effect on the dialogue at the other end of phone calls that works wonderfully. It's distinct and familiar, but doesn't interfere with the clarity of the words, and it's edited to fit naturally into the reading. Two thumbs up.
Editing - It must be pretty good, because I only noticed one mistake, and now I can't find it. *facepalm* Why didn't I have my notebook out the FIRST time I listened?
All in all, an enjoyable listening experience. Thanks for sharing your work!
nikojenTitle: The Kids Are Alright
Author:
nakedwesleyFandom: SGA
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: NC-17
Length: 5:04:38
Download: mp3 m4b
Voice - This is a case where I like the reader's voice better the more I listen to it. At first it seemed kind of nasal to me, now it seems warmer, fuzzier, kind of like a higher-pitched version of gravelly. The enunciation is always clear, which is awesome. The reader has a habit of reading long phrases all at one go, and the tone tends to get a a little flatter toward the tail end of the longer ones. It doesn't come across as breathless or uncomfortable, though, I think because there's a human amount of breathing audible before and after. When there are a few of these in a row, though, the voice gets noticeably tight and strained. Since this actually works in this fic, given the emotions John in particular is juggling, that's cool, but I think in a reading of something fluffy or sexy, it might make sense to add a few soft pauses for breath when the text has a cluster of longer phrases.
POV - The narration seems to be voiced similarly regardless of which character's point of view it's in, and I think this works just fine in this fic, where the author usually makes the new POV clear in the first sentence after the switch. The 5-ish second pauses between sections also help as an auditory cue to the change. I like that the 2+ seconds of quiet at beginning and end of each file add up to the same 5-ish second POV break, as it makes the listening seamless.
There were a few spots where those five second silences made me wonder if my MP3 player had shut down, though, and it seems to be where the reading doesn't make it clear by tone that a section has ended. Compare, for example, the gaps between files 1 and 2, and at 2:50 in file 2. In the first, Rodney's accusation ends on rising notes. Given all the dialogue-related pausing that's been going on for the preceding several minutes, this rising note leaves me expecting more narration or a response from another character. Instead, the pause drags on and suddenly we're in Ronon's POV. In the second example, Ronon's narration finishes on a downward note that makes it clear something has ended, so I'm prepared for the POV to change.
Sometimes the changes are particularly cool, like in file 2 around 12:00. The pace of Rodney's narration is just slightly fast, just slightly loud, coming off his anxiety about trying to cover up his and Ronon's driving off the unwelcome guest. After the pause it comes back a little quieter, a little more mellow, just right for the drunk and sleepy state the characters have achieved. Also clearly shows that time has passed.
Dialogue - The characters seem to be voiced slightly differently, though it isn't always apparent to me. Rodney's a little more clipped and often slightly louder and higher than the others, Ronon a little lower and rougher, John's sometimes a little drawlier, though much closer to the general voicing of the narration.
All of the dialogue is nicely imbued with emotional interpretation through changes in tone, volume, pace -- basically all the tools that make the narrative parts so nice to listen to, but intensified, more varied. Mostly I really enjoyed it, but there is on spot that made this fic for me. In part 2, at 15:30, the reading wavers as John's hurt comes through the anger, and suddenly I care about his relationship with his brother, because I flash to that scene in--"Adrift", maybe?--when Keller tells John that Elizabeth won't be the same if she survives and he suddenly gets that he's lost her. If I'd been reading this in text form, I would have glossed right over the bit about his voice cracking and missed how freaking important this relationship is to him.
There's a bit somewhere after the warehouse on the Apollo where John reports to Landry, and both their dialogue is delivered in a near-monotone that mismatches the generally lively voicing. I didn't much like it as a choice, though I can see how it gives a distinct flavour to the business of reporting versus conversing.
There are nice clear pauses between narration and dialogue, except where a dialogue tag follows right on the speech, so it's always apparent when someone is speaking, and the text usually makes clear who the speaker is. So while the hints of voice acting aren't needed to follow things, they make a nice touch.
In a few spots, using pauses both to indicate dialogue and POV switches works against clarity, though. At about 3:30 in file 3, Rodney's sudden volume change following his quiet thoughts and then a pause made me think there'd been a POV change as well. I was halfway through the shower before I figured out that it was Rodney who was wet and not John. This caught me the same way on three listens, even though the narrative text right after Rodney's declaration indicates he still has POV.
Story Choice - The pace and such of the narration stays more-or-less even throughout, even during the action scene in the warehouse and the sex scenes. Most of the expressiveness rides in the dialogue, leaving the frankly-delivered narrative bits to stand on their own. I think this makes this style of reading well-suited to stories of this type, with the bulk of the storytelling centred around conversations and day-to-day levels of activity. In a high-action story I'd prefer more emotion and excitement imbued in the description of the action.
Volume - The recording is at a good volume for me: loud enough that I can hear it on the bus when I crank it up, quiet enough to fall asleep to with the volume dialled all the way down. Also, the level stays more-or-less even so that I don't have to futz around with the volume, even when Rodney is freaking out. The emphasis is managed more with tone and intensity, very nice.
Sound Effects - There's a tin-canny effect on the dialogue at the other end of phone calls that works wonderfully. It's distinct and familiar, but doesn't interfere with the clarity of the words, and it's edited to fit naturally into the reading. Two thumbs up.
Editing - It must be pretty good, because I only noticed one mistake, and now I can't find it. *facepalm* Why didn't I have my notebook out the FIRST time I listened?
All in all, an enjoyable listening experience. Thanks for sharing your work!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-19 01:55 pm (UTC)At first it seemed kind of nasal to me, now it seems warmer [...]
Unfortunately, I think it's just nasal. :P It's been driving me a little crazy. When I did my first podfic over the summer, I didn't notice a problem with things coming out nasal, but then I caught a cold in August. It was just a minor case of the sniffles, but ever since then, I seem to have a permanent, mild head-cold that I only notice when I try to record something. I don't know what happened. It's really frustrating...
... And probably TMI. ^_^ Thanks again, ma'am. I really appreciate the feedback.