Sarah Buchynski - Tumblr Posts

hey writers, did you know,

when you get other people involved and start properly taking your audio drama from page to airwaves,

that you get to talk to those other people about your world and your characters and your ideas all the time?

that all the cool people you got involved because you think their work is brilliant will ask you to tell them about those things?

and that you don't have to worry "am I being tedious/dominating the conversation by talking about my writing", because all these cool people whose work you admire literally need you to talk about your writing so they can do their jobs?

Questions about I Need A Miracle that temporarily stumped me

When you, a writer, bring in a production company to produce an audio drama you wrote, members of that company will ask you questions about that audio drama.

Some of those questions will stump you.

That's the first step of the piece becoming a collaboration instead of a solo work. Because those questions will make you see your writing through someone else's eyes. And coming up with answers changes the finished thing into something you couldn't have made alone.

When @wirelesstheatre agreed to work on I Need A Miracle, I was ready to take my hands off the wheel. Didn't want to be the overly precious writer dictating how other people interpret the scripts! But mostly I just really enjoy learning other people's takes on stuff I've written. I thought I'd sit back and enjoy watching them all cook.

A thing I've learned: when you're the one funding the project, the people involved want to know your opinion and that you're happy with the direction things are going 😅

So I found myself in meetings being consulted on things I hadn't prepared myself to have opinions about. Questions like...

Who'd be your dream cast?

My first response to this one was just to give them names of people I know (the usual @merelyroleplayers suspects – once a theatre luvvie...)

When Sarah and Fiona pushed, I started naming audio drama podcast luminaries, your @woodenovercoats people, your @thesiltverses people.

And then someone in the meeting threw out a name as a possibility, which made me realise we were operating on different definitions of "dream casting". I'd made assumptions about what our budget could comfortably accommodate and unusually, those assumptions were overly modest.

This is one arena where, after offering some names because Fiona asked so nicely, I did end up just stepping back and letting Fiona do her thing. And look at the incredible cast we put together thanks to her!

What's the vibe?

This one came from composer Katie. There was a point where I was seriously considering not using music in I Need A Miracle at all (past Matt, what were you thinking?), so I hadn't given it a lot of thought.

We talked melody versus ambience/vibes. We talked moods. We talked instruments and influences. It was a lens I hadn't seen the story through before and it was so damn much fun.

And motifs! Each character in I Need A Miracle is one and done, so they don't get themes, but that led Katie to ask what does recur between different episodes. Are there realisations or turning points that multiple characters experience? What moments echo through the series and how can the score make those moments resonate?

It wasn't until Katie asked the question that I consciously thought, wait, yes, there are parallels and correspondences and themes running through the series (and like, of course there are, but you don't plan that stuff out when writing). And that got me excited to hear the music lifting those moments!

What's the tech level?

Final one, from sound designer Sarah Buchynski (Polarity Audio Works).

There's a specific bit of scene-setting in the series finale that I'd kind of thrown in there for funsies but which raised some (it turns out) interesting questions about technology in a miracle-powered world.

Miracles are magic, so are we talking fantasy? Or sci-fantasy, with sufficiently advanced technology indistinguishable from magic? Steampunk, electropunk, or some other -punk?

My job is the characters, and the bits of worldbuilding that inform them, their wants and needs. Everything else is fill-in-the-blanks. But then Sarah asked the question, and I had a fun old time coming up with basically just enough of an answer to make her job more fun.

Make it up as you go along

Did you think I was going to end this by advising audio drama writers to have answers ready to questions like these? No! Experience the thrill of discovery as I did! Answer whatever questions you need to answer to write the thing, then make up the rest as and when people ask you. That way you never waste imagination juice answering a question no one ever asks. It's foolproof!

These reveals simply cannot stop keeping on coming!!!

Sound design for I Need A Miracle is by Sarah Buchynski

Sarah is the power behind Polarity Audio Works: a post-production house that understands the power of audio storytelling and is passionate about creating immersive stories.

You might recognise Sarah and Polarity from such illustrious credits as Kalila Stormfire's Economical Magick Services, Counterbalance, White Vault: Artifact and White Vault: Acquisition.

@merelymatt says, this show creates its setting in glimpses and snapshots, but with Sarah on board, every out-of-focus glimpse and passing scene is a fully realised world with depth you can sink into. Listen out for how her design subtly and simply sets the rules – and more importantly, the feel – of a world where the miraculous is mundane.

Harry also plays Porphyra, in collaboration with Sarah Buchynski. I wish you all could have been there in the studio to witness Harry's five straight minutes of assorted mewls, hisses, whickers and snorts. There was an early draft of this episode where Porphyra sounded absolutely frickin huge, like an ancient dragon, which I briefly considered leaning into for the laughs, but we all ended up agreeing housecat size was the thing to aim for

In your benevolence,

hear the Lover's plea to understand Porphyra

Episode 2 of I Need A Miracle is out now. Search for I Need A Miracle in podcast apps or head to foggyoutline.com/ineedamiracle for all the ways to listen.

Starring Harry Myers as Tullup, the Lover

Written by @merelymatt

Directed by Robert Valentine

Recorded by Stephen H at Jukebox Studios

With broadcast assistance from Teresa Milewski

Sound design by Sarah Buchynski

Music by Katharine Seaton

Produced by Sarah Golding for @wirelesstheatreco and @foggyoutline