For our second evening of live-tweeting with #ds106radio, we listened to some of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward from BBC Radio 4’s The Lovecraft Investigations. The story is framed as a podcast, The Mystery Machine (not that Mystery Machine), which might be a little confusing at the start. It was actually a great move on the authors’ part, because it creates an excuse for narrating everything. Otherwise, having voices tell us what we’re supposed to be seeing would come across as forced and hokey.
We also saw a number of ways in which sound sets the scene. I particularly like some of the phone conversations, where you could hear the point of view. You knew when we were in the room with Heawood and Fisher was on the other end of the line, and vice versa. Little noises let us know when we’re outside, echoes let us know when we’re in an empty room. When the sounds tell us these things, the dialogue and narration don’t need to spell it out. As was observed on Twitter
#ds106 The incorporation of aspects such as the sirens makes the story more intriguing, like you're listening in live time as they make these discoveries.
— Lucy Schraff (@LucySchraff) February 24, 2021
Unfortunately the broadcast broke before it ended. Charles probably put a curse on us. But we should have it working for tomorrow’s tweet along…
