Don't Mind Riku Cave: Production Update (Patreon)

We're here today with a big production update on our newest scripted horror story: Don't Mind Riku Cave!

Research.Did you enjoy the details found in The White Vault?The unsung hero of Riku Cave is the sheer volume of research that has gone into the archaeology and history sections. Well before the outline was complete, we met with the curators of numerous museums in Japan that specialize in one of Japan's pre-historic populations, the Jōmon. We brought a translator with us, as many of the museums do not offer information in English, and we had very specific questions about the lives, creations, and lifestyles of people who lived more than 5,000 years ago. We spoke with experts about everything from ground acidity, ceramics, and weather events, to migration patterns, hoping to ensure that our story is accurate and realistic. Original ideas within the outline were scrapped when they did not line up with accurate information, and a better, more grounded story was built as knowledge was accumulated. What you're going to hear on Don't Mind Riku Cave reflects the archaeological practices and knowledge held today within Japan*. (*Held at the time of research, as archaeological knowledge and theory are always evolving)

Casting.We had open auditions for the past few months, which closed last week. However, we're still waiting to hear back from actors we would like to cast (and their agents, where applicable). We're simultaneously coordinating recording dates, locations, timezones, and paperwork. This applies to all 35 actors we need to cast and record before the end of August. In addition to scripts and recording, all actors need to fill out our release form, and some are also submitting headshots & bios for our website.

Recording.Each recording session is between one to four hours in length, and is directed remotely (via Zoom) by Travis & Rikke (who is joining us to co-direct this complex story). We have already recorded & wrapped three actors for Riku Cave since we began recording over the weekend. Each of the actors was in a different timezone and country, and we've been thankfully free of technical issues! We've been creating fiction podcasts for over a decade now, so we already have an established acting "style guide" where we lean toward realism. Therefore, our primary focus in these sessions are diction (making sure words and emphasis are clear and sound natural), consistency in volume (accounting for distance and situational awareness like ambient noise / SFX, whispering, yelling, etc), consistency in tone (i.e. a running character should sound winded), accent (see below), and the consistency of proper nouns (see below). We're also coordinating payments, the receipt of the final audio files, and the naming / spec standardization and storage of the recorded MP3 files.

Accent.Every actor on the cast of Riku Cave is either Japanese or of Japanese descent. Due to the variety of nationalities in The White Vault, we wanted characters who could be identified as Japanese speakers by their voices alone. Counter to this, Don't Mind Riku Cave is a story that takes place in Japan, all the characters are from Japan, and the dialogue is completely in English. So our focus shifted to English fluency, which allows actors of all accents (be it a Japanese, American, English, or otherwise) to participate in the story.

Formality and Names.Another creative decision has been adapting the formal manner of Japanese speech to English without making the characters feel awkwardly formal (aka Atrian). We decided to keep some Japanese naming conventions like using last names and occupations titles more frequently, which was workshopped and edited with the help of our Japanese cultural consultant. We worked in a few Japanese idioms that adapted naturally to English as well. During recording we are actively experimenting with mirroring the almost tonal nature of certain phrases like "Thanks for the meal" or "Good Morning" in English, in an effort to get our dialogue even closer to the "feel" of Japanese. We have also decided to go with the Japanese pronunciation of character names, which has really kept us on our toes during the recording sessions. As a fun side note: Feedback from our primary cultural consultant also led to use changing the name of our story's protagonist, as it was previously a bit too similar to an well-known Japanese singer from the 70s.

Visuals and Promo.If we only made a podcast and released it, very few people would listen. We've been hard at work to design the cover art for the show, including the logo for this season (seen at the top of this post!). But it doesn't end there because we also have to add a show page to our website, update the branding for our social medias (which are many), and start to think about promotion. All of the Don't Mind covers are painted by Abagail Spence, who brings her folk-art style to each idea we give her. Outside of the cover art and the Dogū design sketch, every other visual you see for Don't Mind is created by Statz (co-creator and writer). She is not formally trained for this, it's just another aspect of making a podcast that the two of us have come to learn as a necessity for our continued survival as Fool & Scholar Productions. So when you see a cool flashy visual, know that it was made by the same person who wrote the show (and co-wrote this update).

What Can You Do?If you want to help out the production, then share our stories! Tell people about Fool & Scholar Productions, be it Don't Mind, The White Vault, Dark Dice, or anything we've made that you've enjoyed. We're still an indie team, making our shows in our basement and trying our best to stand out amongst the goliaths of the podcasting industry, so every bit helps!

We hope you're excited or this new story! Don't Mind Riku Cave is a standalone tale that will be available on the Don't Mind podcast feed. As we've shown, every season of Don't Mind is a new mystery, and we greatly enjoy sharing our varieties of scares and stories with you all.Don't Mind Riku Cave premieres in October, so we better get back to it! Cheers and happy listening!Travis, Kaitlin, and Eezo