Monday, March 22, 2010

Audio-wha? A Number of Terms

There have been a lot of people tossing around different terms and mixing and matching audio drama with audio books. So what are the difference?
Following are my takes on the different descriptors:
Audio Book- A faithful reproduction or adaptation of a short story, series of poems, essays, novel, or novella in which the original text is used. A single reader may dramatize dialog by mimicking different voices, but action and character are entirely described by the story. While sound effects and music may appear, they are unnecessary to tell the story.
Audio Cinema- A modern term that tries to marry audio with moving pictures of the mind. Controversial as some people believe the very idea of using images is against what audio drama does. However it does make an effective metaphor.
Audio Drama- Any story that is original or adapted from another source but remains entirely in a script format that uses sound effects and multiple actors to tell a dramatic story. Audio Dramas require a respect for the audio medium as they are simply not plays or television without visuals.
Audio Play- Similar to audio drama but tends towards being more "theatrical" in that the show sounds like (and may well be) it is performed live on a stage at the time of recording.
Audio Series- A continuing series of Audio Drama shows either all based on the same characters, plots, worlds, or theme.

Audio Story- A generic term that encompasses all forms of storytelling in an audio form from narrative, poem, fish tail, to play.
Audio Theater- A generic name title often interchangeable with "Audio Drama" but like Audio Play, suggests a more theatrical show in scope and release.
Described Audio- An outside narrator describes all visual events in an audio performance, used to instantly translate the audio track of a movie into something more viceral for the listener. This can reduce the movie into more of an audio drama with audio book narration if used excessively. Good Described Audio is sparse in its descriptions.
Multi-Cast Audio Book- Same as an Audio Book except that there are a number of actors that read dialog and narrative portions. Some actors represent characters, others represent narrative points of view.
Pulp Audio- A new term to express genre-styled audio dramas.
Sonic...- A new word that replaces "Audio" in almost all variations, but essentially means the same thing. (Sonic Play, Sonic Series, Sonic Theater, Sonic Cinema)

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