Listen / Download the podcast here: http://knightsoftheguild.com

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Knights of the Guild Ep 17 pt2


Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 17 part 2 of Knights of the Guild. We hope you enjoy it.

Today’s show features:

  • * First up we have a Classic Vorkism
  • * We are recording this weeks podcast live in our studio
  • * We discuss Behind the Scenes of Season 3 Episode 5 - Application’d
  • * We have another great fan interview with Michael Dougherty, creator, writer, director and producer of the upcoming “fan” made movie Browncoats: Redemption

MichaelD.jpg

  • * We have another installment of Guild Something with Sean Becker
  • * We announce the winner of our “I’m a Knight of the Guild because….” contest
  • * We thank our donors.
  • * Then Business Time (contest submissions, Thanks Megan Lynch, Jennifer Wong, Mike Morgan, NasDestiny, Mark Donica, David Mello, Higlet and The Boy Wonder, and Tightrope)
  • * Then our Good byes

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

  • Call Knights of the Guild 818-308-KOTG (5684) Let’s us know what you think of our show. Give your thoughts on the current season of The Guild or just say hi. US folks can use the widget on our websites to call for FREE.

Webseries and other show promo’s played during the show this week:

Podcast promo’s played during the show this week:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Knights of the Guild Ep 17 pt1


Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 17 part 1 of Knights of the Guild… Enjoy!!!

Today’s show features:

  • * First up a classic Vorkism
  • * Thanks to @ben_b55 & @kentela for commissioning @unmodisch to create a FANTASTIC KOTG song that we use for our opening Theme
  • * We are recording this weeks podcast live in our wonderful studio
  • * We discuss the latest Guild News
  • * We have the one and only Amy Okuda for our cast interview

AmyTink.jpg

  • * We read listener feedback
  • * We also announce winners of our end of month contest for May and talk about continuing contests
  • * Then Business Time (contest submissions, Thanks to Megan Lynch, Jennifer Wong, Jerod Bennett, Harry Amner, Mark Donica, David Mello, Adriene Holland, and Tightrope)
  • * Then our Good byes

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

  • Call Knights of the Guild 818-308-KOTG (5684) Let’s us know what you think of our show. Give your thoughts on the current season of The Guild or just say hi. US folks can use the widget on our websites to call for FREE.

Webseries and other show promo’s played during the show this week:

Podcast promo’s played during the show this week:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Editing KOTG Podcast

Tonight I finished editing Episode 17 parts 1 and 2 of Knights of the Guild podcast. Since we are going on vacation and I don't want to have to be editing on the road I manage to get both parts done before I left. Part 1 will be released on June 15th and part 2 will be released on June 29th. Both have really good interviews. Now I have to work on a few of the Companioncasts before I leave.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Browncoat Interview

Tonight I had a fantastic interview with the creator, director, writer and producer of the upcoming Firefly/Serenity "fan" made movie Browncoats: Redemption, Michael Dougherty. I interviewed him for a "fan" interview for my Knights of the Guild podcast, because not only is he a huge Browncoat but also a Guildie. Be sure to check out his movie website http://browncoatsmovie.com Also his interview will be on Knights of the Guild Episode 17 part 2, which will be released on June 29th http://knightsoftheguild.com

Friday, June 11, 2010

Contests Continue

NEW CONTEST:

Contest #1 : Blogger Comments

This is an easy contest, we love getting comments so for this contest all you have to do is leave a comment in one or more of our blog posts. For every comment left, I'll put your name into a drawing and will pull one name out for our winner. This means if you leave a comment for this blog post and then again in Ep. 17 pt1 blog post and once again in The Guild S4 Wrap party post, then you will get your name put in 3 times, which will better your chances. And when I ask for a comment I don't want a one word comment (or spam). I want a comment about the blog post.

Prizes: Knights of the Guild T-shirt

CONTEST ENDS: END OF JULY

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CONTINUING CONTEST!!!!!

Contest #2 : Guild Essay

Smart Pop Books (www.smartpopbooks.com) generously donated 3 books to Knights of the Guild podcast. These books are fresh, funny essays on the best of pop culture tv, books and film with particular focus on science fiction and fantasy television and literature. I was able to pick three that I felt would fit our fanbase. To win one of these books we are asking our listeners to write an essay on any facet of The Guild. We will have an impartial judge read them all and pick his three favorite. We will have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner. 1st place will get first choice on which book they want, then 2nd place will get the pick from the remaining 2 books and third place will get the remaining book.

Send all entries to Knightsoftheguild@gmail.com

Prizes: Finding Serenity, Serenity Found and Seven Seasons of Buffy

CONTEST ENDS: UNDETERMINED

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Contest #3 : End of Month Contest

We have this contest every month, you must follow us on twitter @knightsofguild, @geekyfanboy @jennipowell

For this contest if varies from RTing tweets, to answering Guild trivia. All those who enter all put into this End of Month drawing.

Prize: KOTG Merchandise, Autographed pictures, Number of winners varies on the amount of participation. There is at least 1 winner a month.

CONTEST ENDS: AT THE END OF EVERY MONTH

If you have any cool contest ideas please send us an email at KnightsoftheGuild@gmail.com

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Guild Season 4 Wrap Party

Today was The Guild's Season 4 wrap party. It was being held at a restaurant/bar called Barbarella Bar in Sliverlake. It started at 7pm.

Harry was sick and not really into parties, so I invited my friend Christopher to go with me. I picked him up around 6:30 and got to the party at 7pm. The place was very cool, kind of trendy/industrial. Soon the place was packed. It was fun mingling with the cast and crew. I got tons of pictures which you can see on Facebook or on my Flickr Account . Everyone chatted for a few hour and about 9:15 they gathered everyone in the main room, were there was a large TV screen. There were 3 things listed on the screen, PSA, Guild S3 Recap and Episode 1 of Season 4. I knew they were going to preview episode 1 of season 4 and I was very excited for that. I was excited to see the Recap again but I didn't have a clue what the PSA was.

Felicia and Kim got up and gave a nice speech and thanked everyone for all their hard work. Then they started the DVD. First was the PSA, Come to find out that it involves me and Wil Wheaton.. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen and it totally made this great night unforgettable.

Afterward people kept asking me if I knew about it, and I could honestly say that I didn't have a clue. I mean Brian mentioned something to me when I arrived but I never expected this. People also asked how it made me feel to know they went through all this work for me. It's hard to put into word how I felt. I love my Guild family and have enjoyed working on the past three seasons with them all. I have dedicated/volunteered alot of my free time to The Guild. I started the official podcast just to get the word out about The Guild and to bridge the cast and crew with the fans, who are some of the best fans around. So I was honored that they appreciated me so much that they went through the trouble to produce this piece. BTW this will be on the season 4 DVD as an Easter Egg.

After that shock they played the Auto-Tuned Guild Recap of Season 3 which was lot of fun to watch on a big screen and with a group of friends.

Then they aired the first episode of Season 4, Of course I can't give any details but it was AWESOME. A great way to start the season.. can't wait to see the rest.

After the screening they had one more video to show.. it was a gag reel for the entire season and it was hilarious.

After the video it was dance time. Everyone danced until midnight, then when the final song came on "Don't Stop Believing" the remaining party goers got into a circle on the dance floor with arms around shoulders and sang along with the song. It was the perfect way to end a unforgettable night.

Highlights from the night for me were, of course, the PSA with Wil Wheaton. Dancing with Felicia Day, Sandeep grinding me, hanging out with Maurissa Tancharoen (Whedon) (I've only met her a few times but she remembers me and my personal life, she asked about my new house.. I love that woman). Watching my friend Christopher mingle and blend right in to the Guild. Just hanging with my friends, that is one great thing about The Guild cast and crew, they are not co-workers.. they are friends. And some of them will be life long friends.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Guild Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-guild-season-3-recap-auto-tuned/y0d7ilb3?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned">Video: 'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned</a>

Sunday, June 6, 2010

BTS of Knights of the Guild Podcast

Many have asked how I go about making Knights of the Guild podcast so I thought it would be fun to explain how I do it step by step.

Pre-Production: Having a podcast isn't just recoding a show and posting it on itunes. It's managing and promoting a product. I manage Knights of the Guild's twitter account @knightsofguild, Facebook fan page, WatchtheGuild Group, KOTG forums threads at Treksf, Geekerdome and Anomaly. I maintain the KOTG blog and podbean website. I commission people to create music and logos for KOTG. I manage the donation, mail off autographed pictures, t-shirt and other KOTG Shwag, as well as purchase all KOTG shwag. I purchase the urls, the websites, podcasting equipments and other operating materials. I do most of this stuff on a daily bases.

Now to the podcasting part:

First thing I do is set up a date to record with Jenni, once we determine that I start creating show outlines for both parts.

This includes having to decide on where our location is going to be. Recording in the studio is the easiest as it doesn't require any sound effects. When I pick a location it requires me to find sound effect for that location, and sometimes it's tough to come up with what kind of SFX you would hear.

I also have to figure out who we are going to interview for our Cast or Crew interview, we alternate back and forth with each episode. I also have to find a fan to interview as well. Once I find these people I have to contact them and set up a time that we are all available and able to record on Skype.

I then determine which segments go where as our podcast has grown over the year and we have split it into two parts. It's important to me to see both parts balance and entertaining.

I send emails out to cast and crew and notify them of the upcoming podcast and if they wish to get any news out to the fans.

I manage all the contests, create spread sheets so I can pick random winners. Maintaining all the contest is a job unto it's self.

I manage all the listener comments, Sean Questions and Cast questions if we have any. I create word documents with all the questions to make it easier when we record.

I normally get all this done a few days before we record. On record day I started about two hours before Jenni arrives and go over everything again. Make sure the equipment is working correctly. Make sure our interviews are set (if we are doing them that day. Sometimes we do Cast, Crew and Fan interviews beforehand or after we record, just depends on everyones schedule).

Production: When Jenni arrives we go over notes for a few minutes, get comfortable and then we began. It normally takes between 2 to 3 hours to record an episode, both parts 1 & 2.

Post-Production: Once we are done recording the editing process starts. I normally go though the recordings with Audacity (it's what we use to record them) and I'll edit out long pauses, or stuff that isn't to air. I'll also edit out mistakes (especially when I'm reading listener feedback). Editing just 1 part can take up to three or four hour. And then I have to do the same to part 2. Once those are edited I then start Avid to assemble the pieces together to create the podcast.

In avid I have all the bumpers, promos and other podcast elements. I import the edited podcasts along with listener feedback audio and any other audio that is going to be used in the podcast. I start with a vorkism, cut in an opening then cut the edited podcast in. I then go in and cut in all the bumpers between segments. I also cut in promo during the commercial breaks and other elements. Once everything is roughly assembled I do another pass and make sure everything sound smooth. I'll add dissolves or fade in and such to make it sound good. Once that pass is done I do a SFX pass, if we are at a location I go through and add SFX here and there. Once that is done I do one more final pass to make sure I got everything. This editing process take about six to seven hours.

Once I'm happy with it, I export an AVI and import it into Levelator which levels out the audio. I then import the leveled AVI file into Audacity and do a quick check to make sure the levels sound good. Once I'm done with that I export it as an MP3 file. I then import it into Itunes and add the artwork. Now the file is done and ready to be uploaded to podbean. So I start to upload the file to podbean and as I'm doing that I create a blog post with all the show notes and pictures for that episode. This whole process take about three hours.

When a show goes live I have to post the show notes on the KOTG Blog, my personal blog, Twitter, Treks in Scifi Forums, Anomaly Forums, Geekerdome website and forums, Watch the Guild. com Group and the Facebook group.

By the time I get done with both parts I'm already planning the next episode. As you can see it's a big job creating, maintaining and promoting this podcast. I have said in the past that this has become a time consuming hobby. Folks ask me why I do it if I am not getting paid, I tell them I enjoy it, it's fun being part of the Guild family and I like spreading the Guildie love around.

Hopefully this gives you a little taste of the behind the scenes of Knights of the Guild Podcast

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Knights of the Guild Song

Two of our wonderful listeners Ben Brusell and Kent Elliott commissioned Matthew Gehrett http://www.matthewgehrett.com/ to write and sing a Knights of the Guild theme song.

Ben told me he was working on something but I had no idea it was going to be a song and a FANTASTIC song at that.

I've said it many times.. but The Guild and Knights of the Guild have some pretty cool fans.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Recording Ep. 17

Today Jenni came over and we recorded our next podcast Knights of the Guild Ep. 17 parts 1 & 2. The recording went well and was a lot of fun. My internet had a very slow connection and we were broadcasting live on Ustream. So I did not record it as I normally do as it causes buffering with the audio and we figured hearing us was more important then seeing us, seeing that we are a podcast :) Will have part 1 out on June 15th.