Autumn featured the voice talents of:
David Ault as Michael Collins
Rebecca McCarthy as Emma Mitchell
Mark Kalita as Carl Henshawe
Shane Harris as The Narrator
Elie Hirschman as Philip Evans
Clym Angus as Stuart Jeffries
Steve Anderson as Garner
Colin Snow as Ralph
Fiona Conn as The Teacher
Zack Fester as The Boy
Miles Reid as Jack Bynam
Joan Hovey as Sandra
Laura Post as Jenny and Kate
Audio production, written and directed by Paul Mannering.
Post-production by Matt Mclaren.
Original music by Devin Anderson http://www.devinanderson.com
Based on the book, Autumn, by David Moody.
Special thanks to Caven Scott for the opening monologue
This episode was produced and directed by Eric Busby
Post-production by Matt McLaren
A Word from the Composer
I have been a tremendous fan of Zombie “culture” ever since experiencing Romero’s Dead series. I can remember a friend’s reaction of horror when he learned I had not seen Dawn of the Dead – at the time I was a little cynical and naive about the whole thing – I didn’t understand what the big deal was. “You have to f***ing see it!” he exclaimed violently. That night we put on the film and around the point of the Monroeville Mall and that line “This was an important place in their lives. ” I was laughing with delight, but I also felt the abject horror creeping up on me. This WAS a delicious sort of existential nightmare emerging. There were (perhaps obvious in retrospect) wonderful societal commentaries as well – the idea of consumer culture, gobbling up everything and everyone in its path; our collective fear in discussing or really dealing with the idea of our own mortality, and unprepared and unable to let go of the ones we lose (you’re going to have to let go, or they’re going come and eat you!); I realized after the film that Dawn of the Dead was not a film for gore hounds, it was a film for intellectuals. Intellectuals are unafraid of facing a slightly more morbid subject matter. And, of course, intellectuals with a dark sense of humor.
David Moody’s ‘Autumn’ feels born from the same womb. It hearkens back to the intellectual horror old school – his book had me imagining in black and white movies (pictures like Night Tide, Carnival of Souls, and of course Night of the Living…) with atmosphere and subtext, less gore and more subtly building sensations of isolation and that skin-crawling, existential type of fear. I attempted to convey these qualities in the musical score, along with a few healthy doses of schlock horror music fun!
I must also mention the level of freedom and support provided by Paul Mannering and his Darker Projects team. It’s lovely to be involved in something so close to the (now virtually obsolete) genre of Radio Drama – Bernard Herrmann’s work for Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater productions are personal favorites of mine. And I just love hearing people being operatic and theatrical without any distracting images or CGI effects to get in the way.
Devin Anderson
March, 2007
Autumn was created by David Moody and was produced by Eric Busby. Art by Tom Davis.
The executive producer of Darker Projects is Eric Busby.