Welcome to Night Vale
Upon deciding the topic of this article, I was a little surprised that I hadn’t previously written about this outstandingly popular podcast. ‘Welcome to Night Vale’, created by writers Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, has now been in existence for approximately three and a half years, and it has never been more popular. With television and film, and visual story telling through websites such as YouTube and Vine, it’s impressive that the medium of radio has not held back ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ (colloquially known as ‘Night Vale’, or WTNV), a true testament to the quality of the serial story. Airing on the first and fifteenth of every month, ‘Welcome to Night Vale’’s eighty-ish episodes have gained a large following, as proven by it’s highly successful tours to Europe, Canada, and throughout the U.S.
According to one of WTNV’s creators, Joseph Fink, the original idea for the show was as follows; ‘A radio show from town in that desert where all the conspiracy theories were real, and we just went from there.’ Indeed, in the town of Night Vale, every conspiracy theory seems to exits - from the helicopters belonging to a vague-yet-menacing government agency, and the sheriff’s secret police, to the strange lights floating above the Arby’s (no-one seems to know what they are). Each episodes begins with a greeting from the show’s protagonist, Cecil Palmer, host of the Night Vale community radio station, and an introduction of what’s in `”today’s” news (featuring, for example, a strange glowing cloud which drops dead animals wherever it goes, or a waterfront pier, which doesn’t actually exist). Then, it’s off to traffic (where the cars are disappearing on the highway), before we have an update on this episode’s news story. Occasionally, we’re blessed with a ‘Children’s fun fact science corner” (Alligators, can they kill your children? Yes. Yes they can). Then, there’s the weather - otherwise known as a two to four minute’s original song by unsigned artists. Instead of, you know, the actual weather, before the news story is resolved, and Cecil signs off with a ‘Good Night, Night Vale. Good Night.’
Of course, like any good series, it has overarching storylines that regular listeners can pick up on. For example, what is Carlos, the scientist, and the newcomer to Night Vale up to? Why are his hair, teeth, and jawline so perfect? What’s with the neighbouring town, Desert Bluffs, and their scarily overbearing owners? Why won’t anyone in Night Vale acknowledge the existence of mountains? These questions will all be answered if you decided to listen to the series - except the mountain one. I’m still curious about that. Nevertheless, if you indulge in ‘WTNV’ all these questionable queries, and more, will be answered.
‘Welcome to Night Vale’ is a free webseries. In order to continue, and pay for its actors, equipment, and production of merchandise, it relies on the donations of its listeners. As well as show tickets, and merchandise. This show has survived for three years, whilst releasing its content for free. If that isn’t the mark of a well done show, then I don’t know what is.
N.B. If you don’t like creepy things, I wouldn’t recommend the show. It’s adorable, and funny, and clever, but may occasionally make you question your existence relative to the entire universe. So, be careful.
Image: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/51e7119ae4b01c2e6a200e01/t/54eb9f23e4b03ce768b59926/1424727845212/
0 Comment:
Be the first one to comment on this article.