Jim: Alright, now
I'll flip the script and ask you questions. Talk a little bit about your
background in radio dramas, even though your only experience with radio
was that unproduced series at UCR's station. What was that like?
Necip: Working
with the Shards radio program at UCR was one of the best media
experiences that I had. Even though it was a simple college radio program,
it gave me a taste of real television/radio production. All the elements
of the entertainment industry were there: pre-production (fleshing out
a good story, finding out who should do what kind of voice), actual production
(rewriting a script, recording and re-recording lines) and post-production
(putting in the sound effects and prepping for the radio).
I also realized
the importance of actors. Prior to my involvement, I figured that as long
as there is a good story, actors don't matter too much and that all an
actor needs to do is be convincing. Basically, I thought you were either
a good actor or a bad actor. But as it turned out, a radio drama got an
entirely different edge based on who performed what part. My radio play
was about a group of professional thieves heisting a voodoo priestess.
I intended it to be kind of campy horror, but after the actors added so
much character to the roles, it became really hilarious. It looked better
than what was on paper. I was really impressed by what a person's personality
can bring to a script.
Jim: You did
all the hands-on producing for the 1999 Halloween special because I didn't
know anything about the Premiere software yet. Before that show, had you
ever done editing on Premiere like that before?
Necip: Not
really. I played around with it before, when I was just having fun editing
video clips. I used to download movie trailers from the Internet and then
edit them for fun. I would make collages of scenes from movies and things
like that. But video editing (especially a couple of years ago) required
way too much technical experience and computer power and I got bored with
it pretty fast.
But after
you mentioned your radio special, I remembered how easy the audio editing
was in Premiere. When it's just audio, you don't require as much computer
processing (although some of our sketches would stress even the most leviathan-sized
harddrives) and it was easier to edit. I was pretty amazed with how well
Premiere worked with audio that year.
Jim: Which
of the holiday specials did you have the most fun doing?
Necip: It's
hard to say because they have all been a real blast and I have unique
memories from each one. I think I'd have to say that belting out Christmas
songs like drunken-ass mall Santas was pretty fun. And the first Halloween
special we did together was great because we discovered so much about
how to go about making those sketches.
Jim: Was there
anything tough or challenging about doing the voice acting on these holiday
specials? You seem to be more comfortable speaking in other characters'
voices than in your own voice.
Necip: It
always takes a little while to get the hang of the voices. I know what
you mean about me being more comfortable in another voice. It's strange
because I am really self-conscious that I'm acting terribly when I'm speaking
in my regular voice. I feel that I can sort of hide the bad acting better
with a corny accent. Also, I've always enjoyed using silly voices and
making my buddies laugh with imitations of teachers and professors. (As
you might remember from high school.) I guess I just have so much fun
when I'm another character that I get that sense of comfort.
Most of the
voices that I come up with are "blends." By that, I mean I like
to mix together familiar voices (either celebrity voices or people I know),
like the frantic caller who reported the zombies in the '99 Halloween
special. He was just Chris Farley's Matt Foley ("In a van down by
the river!") mixed with Bill "Game over, man!" Paxton from
Aliens.
Jim: You asked
me about some of my favorite thriller scores. Which thriller scores do
you like?
Necip: I know
it's lame to mention Danny Elfman because everyone and their mom digs
the Elfman scores. Still, the score from Beetlejuice has always
been a personal Halloween favorite of mine. A guilty favorite would probably
be Gremlins, although that borders on a Christmastime score. Just
the memory of the gremlins chanting along with the score dressed as Christmas
carolers was great: "Na-na-na-naaaa na na! Na-na-na-naaaa na na!"
In terms of
something more recent, I like the James Newton Howard stuff. Namely, The
Sixth Sense and more recently, Unbreakable.
Jim: Was there
anything absurd that happened in the news besides Survivor and
Big Brother that cried out for parody in the 2000 Halloween special?
You know, if Election Day happened in early October instead of early November,
I would have jumped onto that whole election crisis faster than Drew Carey
on a stripper.
Necip: Not
really. The Olympics were going on, but I don't think anyone watched or
cared enough to find even a reference to it funny. Also, it's a shame
that all these sitcoms premiered late because of the Olympics. It would
have been nice to give a few jabs to The Michael Richards Show.
And other than "lockbox" and "fuzzy math" jokes (which
Saturday Night Live pretty much covered), there wasn't much election
material for us to work with.
Jim: Do you
have any ideas for next year's Halloween show? What do you think I should
do for 2001?
Necip: Well,
like you said, we should probably wait to see what big thrillers are hip
that year. Not to mention what news items are hot. But, if the vampire
fever this fall carries over to next year, vampires would be a good choice.
Well, it'll be the year 2001, so we should throw in a HAL parody somewhere:
"I'm sorry, Jimmy, I'm afraid I can't do that right now."
Jim: Which
holiday tunes should the Chorus of Department Store Santas sing in the
next holiday special?
Necip: "Hark!
The Herald Angels Sing" (in classic Charlie Brown style).
"The
12 Days of Christmas" (we didn't do that one yet, did we? We can
sing, "12 pints of Guinness, 11 kegs o' Miller, etc."). Maybe
just the final chorus with all 12 days though —
otherwise it'll be a long song and my voice will die.
"Oh Holy
Night" (Just because it's got plenty of ways to be demolished. Lots
of high Pavarotti notes).
And maybe
"Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo," just for shits and giggles (pun
intended).
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