Ugh, this is terribly frustrating. I had been working on a post for about twenty minutes and I lost it.
Anyway, here we go again:
I had volunteered to be the director on the other thread that dealt with this same topic. Now, before I go on it should be noted that I was asked not to plan for a possible audio-book on the 'downs forum due to legal concerns.
On that same note, it appears (and following the "understanding" of SaucepanLawyer who is NOT an expert on this topic) that as long as the project is not for either money nor to be reproduced in public, we should be safe from copyright infringement issues. Ultimately what it means is that should we go forward with it, there will be no fame and money. Just the satisfaction of doing a fun job as well as having a copy of however the finished version of the audio-book looks like. For some reason, I don't think that the previous statement will discourage any of you
Now, given that we can't really plot for it on this forum, I will open a new e-mail account and free forum tomorrow to handle all the work that may be necessary, but I will bend the rules a little bit and pray the mods look kindly upon me... as I will tell you what I have thought so far. It's not much as I haven't sat down to organize my thoughts, but you'd be amazed at how creative one can get while waiting for a chemical reaction to happen.
On the story itself
LoTR is long. It'd be insane to try to tackle it all at once, so I would suggest the following. We start by doing the first few chapters of FoTR (hey, you've got to start somewhere eh?). Rather than dividing it on chapters, though, I thought of making bigger divisions based on the main characters present. A (very) tentative attempt at doing so, would be the following
1-Introduction (Narrator(s) telling the information that's given on the introduction of the book)
2-The Shire to Buckland (We have lots of hobbits and a little bit of Gandalf included) *from now on, Narrator(s) is(are) a given.
3- Buckland to Bree (We'd have some hobbits and a black rider or two. Let's not forget Tom Bombadil or Goldberry!! and yes, I think Goldberry has a few lines.)
4-Bree to Rivendel (Here we have more hobbits, Aragorn and even the Witch King!! but he has no lines other than ugly screams)
5-The Council of Rivendel (This should be a fun one and I might suggest to be among the first we try to do. Lots of characters, many different races... yes, it should be fun)
Now, here we are faced with two distinct options. We could have one voice actor per character all along, but it would take a big compromise from the main characters. We could also have different voice actors, each of them being responsible of only one of the big sections. On one hand it'd make the work faster and the work load lighter, but it might turn out to be a little incongruent at the end. Not only because of the different voice tones, but also the different ways of expressing emotions through our speech we all have. I rather do things the long and hard way, but of course it's up to what most people will want.
Finally, I thought of a few important 'positions' that need to be filled before we can start planning things throughly. They are in no special order, as they are all just as important
*Webmaster: I have no idea how to make a forum look nice. I will just grab any forum that works and is free to begin with, but if we are going to pretend this project is somewhat serious, we'd need to look somewhat serious as well!!!
*Co-directors: If we go ahead and start recording, and most importantly if we are recording a couple of sections at the same time, things may get a little complicated to handle all by myself. I will need some help making sure the project moves forward
*Commited voice actors: While it would be awesome to have a few dozen well motivated, commited volunteers to enact all the characters whether minor or not, it is likely that a few volunteers will do most of the work. We need some people that I know I can count on for the long haul. (Note: "the long haul" does not necessarily mean the whole of LoTR but at least, a couple of chapters... after all, every chapter may take quite a bit until it's done)
*Nogrod and anyone else who wants to help with the mixing. I took the liberty of addding Nogrod's name already as I think I can count on him... my friend, it seems we are destined to work together!! But the mixing of the different bits and pieces of sound will be a lot of work. I will definetly do a part of it, I hope Nogrod will too but we may need more people.
Having said that, any kind of help will be appreciated, whether it is on the planning, the "acting" or the mixing. Or even if it's just to hang out and offer ideas, everyone is welcome! It may look like a daunting, long task to accomplish but the truth is that I think it will be fun... and of course, me talking about doing FoTR and whatnot may sound a little extreme but... keep in mind I'm always planning ahead. Honestly, I'd be happy if we recorded a chapter or two and then decided that it might not work for whatever reason.
Not that I'm planning on it not working
Anyway, I hope the Barrow Mods forgive me for falling on temptation and doing a little planning on the 'downs. I promise that no more will be heard about it from my part, besides the notice with my new e-mail and possibly the forum adress.
That's all for now, I hope I managed to catch your interest! And remember, even though I volunteered to be director, it does not mean things have to be done my way... It's just my first attempt at organizing a lot of crazy thoughts and ideas.
Matias (Farael)