Kyle, Chris, Celesta, and I were all speaking on Skype and it was brought to my attention that we need to speed up the process for the podcast. In order to do so, we need to finalize how the podcast will be done.
[ol]
[li]Podcast Title[/li][li]Episode Topics[/li][li]Alternating Teams[/li][li]Dates[/ol][SIZE=3]Podcast Title(s)[/SIZE][/li]Unless anyone had a problem with ThunderCast, then I think that’s the name almost all of us agreed on. Until someone else suggests something else, that is probably what the podcast will be called.
[SIZE=3]Episode Topics[/SIZE]
We need to brainstorm a list of topics to talk about during the podcast. For the most part, we will most likely stick to one topic per episode and instead of having an hour per episode, it will be half an hour. Feel free to jot down your ideas here.
The first episode will be the introductory episode where we (the team) introduce ourselves and kind of talk about what we are responsible for on the site and something about the ThunderCats (what it means to you sort of deal).
[SIZE=3]Alternating Teams[/SIZE]
Because of the time conflicts, the best idea we had was to have alternating teams doing every other episode. That way, listeners will always have a fresh take and different perspectives on different topics.
[SIZE=3]Dates[/SIZE]
I’d like the first episode to coincide with the relaunch of the site (the new design) by the middle to the end of August. It’ll give Kyle and I time to fiddle around with the podcasting software and also give us time to finalize other areas of the podcast as well.
So I think in order to push this podcast to the final stages, we need to get an official thread (which this thread is going to be) and try as much as possible to sort out every detail by the end of July.
OK, on the subject of episode topics, I’ve thought of a few - I am, however, becoming very concerned that these podcasts are going to quickly run out of legs as we go through subjects.
Here are the suggestions I have:
Favourite episodes and why Favourite characters and why The WB DVD releases - fan opinions/our opinions (bearing in mind that several of us have wildly different views on these) Discussion of ThunderCats’ popularity, both back in the '80s and now ThunderCats’ level of impact, US vs. UK ThunderCats expanded universe - i.e., the comics and books and what was cool/bad about them The music of ThunderCats - favourite themes and how they enhance certain scenes/episodes SPECIAL EDITION LARRY KENNEY INTERVIEW EPISODE! (Celesta seemed to think Larry would be up for it - how cool would it be if he was?!)
These are some (pretty run-of-the-mill) ideas for topics to get the pot boiling - hopefully the rest of you guys can come up with some more!
Also, I’ve been having a lengthy think about other ways to enhance the podcasts, and one thing that occured to me was to try and make them as fan interactive as possible. I was wondering whether there would be a way to have, for example, people submitting .mp3s of ThunderCat-themed music that they may have created or stuff like that?
Also, and this you guys will probably think is a crazy suggestion, what about having a short 5 - 10 minute segment that was either something like a serialised ThunderCat radio drama, or a serialised audio version of a (shortish) fanfic? People could submit story suggestions for a drama, or submit whole fanfics for consideration. I know, I know - silly idea really, but I’m trying to think “outside the box” here!
Chris…those topics there would be excellent to start with. It would be good to have Mark around for the animation art section but he has pretty much been MIA for quite some time. If theres anyone who knows their stuff about the cels it is Mark but that idea can almost be nixed as he hasnt been around in ages. I can write down several topics that can be discussed and although they may be general topics they can be expanded to cover specifics. Topics i would suggest are:
Toys Animation Art
Those 2 are the only ones that come to mind right now. The toy line could be expanded to perhaps one episode cover the general aspects of the toys and in subsequent episodes go more in depth with things like variations, prototypes, LJN history…pretty much the toy section could be broken down to actually have more material to do podcast on. The toy section itself is big and having 30 mins to cover a general view of the toys is not enough. Just my $.02
I agree, that would have been an excellent thing to talk about in a podcast, but in Mark’s absence, whilst a few of us know a little bit about animation art, he was the definitive authority.
I agree with everything you say, Manny, and that was stupid of me to forget the toyline as a topic! smacks forehead That’s a great suggestion, and I also think you could probably make at least two different podcasts out of talking about the toyline. What would possibly work best IMO is if two seperate podcasts about the toyline were spaced out, so (for example) making the first one podcast #3 and the next one podcast #7.
I also think that for the toys at least, it would be important to try and get both you and Neil to do those together, as you two are unquestionably the most knowledgable guys here on the subject of the toyline. Bear in mind that, as far as I’m aware, there’s no reason why these podcasts can’t be recorded out-of-sequence/several in one go and edited and “released” to the public some while after they’re recorded. Heck, we could be our very own Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Between Neil and I we could basically cover the whole toy area but what would be really nice is to bring a special guest…Andrew for example? Andrew is probably too busy but we can throw a suggestion out there, he’s probably the most knowledgeable person I know as far as Thundercats toys is concerned. Who knows maybe we can lure him in if we mention his toy website www.toysandtoons.com on the podcast.
I agree 100%, stuff like this is what we need for these podcasts - anything to make them interesting and different each time. It’d be great if Andrew would be up for it!
Totally agree, guest stars will make these much more interesting. If we only have a few guests I would recommend not using them all in the first few podcasts. If we establish the team first so people notice the guests more when they are eventually featured..
