Taking part in the Black Library Audio seminar at Black Library Live! this past weekend brought home how little of the audio process is known by listeners. With an audio extract of The Thirteenth Wolf available over on the Black Library website, I thought it would be good to show people a piece of the script that was used for the recording.
Many audios start off written in regular prose, typically a short story of around 10,000 words for an audio that will fit into the 80 minute recording limit of a single CD. Some get written directly as a script, and certainly that has advantages for the author but does mean that should Black Library want to publish the story, in an anthology for instance, it needs to be edited into prose, so there are pros and cons to each approach.
The Thirteenth Wolf started in prose and the editors turned it into a first draft script for the purposes of a read-through for length, plus adjustment to make it work slightly better in the audio format (for example turning pieces for narration into dialogue or timing the descriptions and dialogue differently).
This then undergoes a further transformation into the production script, which includes direction and emphasis prompts for the actors, tags for atmospheric (background) sound effects and spot FX for the sound engineers and scene introductions to aid with the recording.
Included below is the opening section from the production script. If you enjoyed this, I hope to feature more on audios in the future, including talking to some of the voice actors as well as Matt Renshaw, BL’s in-house audio producer.
SCENE 1: INT. STORMBIRD TROOP COMPARTMENT – SPACE
[ATMOS: inside a cramped dropship, fifty Space Marines are strapped in for a bumpy combat mission; the engine whine is rising as they hurtle down through to the surface of Prospero, the hull shaking around them in a powerful wind-roar; the characters have to raise their voices over the din]
Aboard the Stormbird Clawrend, the Old Guard of the Thirteenth Great Company shared a poignant silence. The growl of plasma jets and wind from the thickening atmosphere shook the hull around them. Bulveye stared at each of his veterans in turn, and met their gazes with his own knowing look.
They were armoured in bulky war-plate of storm-grey, gilded and silvered, decked with trophies, medallions and honours. Necklaces of alien fangs and bones hung about their gorgets and their arms were bound with iron torqs. Tatters of parchment – oaths of moment and honours from the Allfather himself – marked them as heroes of a hundred wars.
Each had been a grown man when the Imperium had rediscovered Fenris. Too old, they said. Too old to benefit from Great Russ’s gene-seed. Too old for the transformations. Bulveye grinned toothily.
BULVEYE (muttering): Too tough to die, too stubborn to give up, eh? We proved them wrong…
Halvdan, his single eye shadowed in the light of the troop compartment, asked a question of the Old Wolf.
HALVDAN: Will we offer terms to Magnus?
Bulveye shook his head.
BULVEYE: I asked that same question of the Wolf King himself. There is no chance of reconciliation. The sorceries of the Thousand Sons must be extinguished.
Halvdan offered no argument. Ranulf nodded sombrely.
BULVEYE (cont’d): We are the Vlka Fenryka, brothers, the Space Wolves, the Rout. We have come as the Allfather’s executioners, with a single purpose – to destroy a world, to annihilate its people and render its civilisation down to ashes. Prospero, home to the Thousand Sons, Legion of Magnus the Red, the Crimson King. Traitorous lord of a corrupt world. We are righteousness, and that cannot be held at bay.
[SFX: Jurgen laughs]
Jurgen let out a short laugh.
JURGEN (laughing): Yet the power of Magnus protects his capital. Mass drivers and magma bombs have burned all the rest of Prospero, but Tizca still stands.
[SFX: others laugh and jeer, but not Bulveye; his pretence of being annoyed quietens them all]
BULVEYE (stern): A Legion destroying another is a humbling matter. We should take no joy from the destruction of our brothers. Be brutal and efficient, the Wolf King said, but do not glory in the fall of Magnus and his sons. [pause, then playing for cheers] But show no mercy either!
[SFX: whipped up by that, they all laugh and jeer their foes even more; these guys clearly do not fear death]
BULVEYE (cont’d): The other Great Companies are already on the ground. We will have some catching up to do…
[ATMOS: distantly at first but drawing closer, anti-aircraft fire starts to throw the dropship from side to side; the Space Wolves cheer the closest explosions that rock the hull and ping them with shrapnel, defying their foes to do better]
The hull started to rattle with the detonation of anti-aircraft fire, and the rush of wind grew louder and louder as the gunship descended.
[SFX: dropship’s thrusters fire; a klaxon begins to sound in the cramped compartment; the Space Wolves quieten down]
With a change of inertia that would have broken the spines of lesser men, the Stormbird fired its landing thrusters, forcing the Old Guard into their harnesses. Bulveye stroked the sealskin-bound haft of his single-bladed power axe, Eldingverfall – the storm’s strike.
[SFX: dropship makes a messy combat landing; outside, the sounds of war can be faintly heard; Bulveye unbuckles himself and hits the door release button]
They landed, the gear hydraulics shrieking below them and the hull shuddering from the impact. Bulveye stood, hitting the activator for the assault ramp.
[ATMOS: heavy hydraulic ramp opens, revealing an apocalyptic battle raging in the city outside]
The brightness and all-consuming roar of battle swept into the gunship. Bulveye lifted Eldingverfall, catching the ruddy light on its rune-etched blade, and raised his voice over the din.
BULVEYE (as a war-cry): Did you not think we would get our hands bloody today?
[SFX: the legionaries roar, and charge down the ramp]
I hope you found that interesting. If you’re having a go at writing for audio yourself, you might like to read these writing advice blog posts that I’ve posted on the subject.
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