This American Life LIVE
May 1st, 2008 | Published in Home | 2 Comments
Tonight I had the pleasure of viewing a This American Life live broadcast on the big screen. The one night event was broadcast from NYC in HD and Cinema Surround Sound via satellite to select movie theaters across the U.S. The approximately two-hour broadcast featured stories from season II of the Showtime series as well as out takes and q&a. One of my favorite segments was when Ira glass produced a live audio mix synced to an animated short story..
The whole production was incredibly candid with all the humanizing imperfections and glitches you might expect from a live event. It was the first time I’d heard a theater audience applaud.
It gave great insight into the process behind TAM’s production and story selection and it was interesting to hear Glass explain the way in which a story that works well for the radio format can become much more difficult to tell when the visual layer is added.
This new season will experiment with new forms of storytelling including shows with no narration and animation.
I’m looking forward to the second season and would love to see more live events for subsequent seasons.
May 2nd, 2008at 6:19 am(#)
i saw it in buffalo, new york. it was a fabulous feeling of the universality of TAM. it was a great experience–the live-ness, the together-ness in the theatre, and the broader together-ness of being live all across america.
May 2nd, 2008at 9:59 am(#)
My wife and I saw it in Oklahoma City. I was not sure how much we’d enjoy it..we’re huge fans of the radio show but haven’t watched the TV show. It turned out to be an awesome experience…like being at a live performance but more intimate in some ways because of the camera work. I’m excited not only for Ira and TAL, but also about the potential of this new presentation format.