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[Opening theme music plays]

ALEXANDER DANNER

You are listening to Exercises in Sound, an exploration of narrative sound design. 

JAMES OLIVA (Director)

Let's run it again and do it as, we'll say this is a a romantic relationship. You are, you guys are on the precipice of disaster, OK? And so you are a little annoyed with her, but also clingy. Like, I want that mainly to be the things that, that, that [to Jordan H] you are very dependent on her, and [to Jordan S] you're tired of this baby boy. 

[Theme music cuts out]

TELEVISION

How do you drink with such a nose? You must have had a cup made especially. 

[TV continues in background]

[Character A wakes up.]

CHARACTER A - JORDAN HIGGS

Oh, what? I guess I fell asleep. Hey, you let me fall asleep!

[No response. Character A shifts in his armchair. Picks up remote and turns off the television. Sets remote back down on coffee table.]

Hello?! Where’d you go?

[Keys in a lock. The front door opens. Character B enters, with the rustle of a paper bag.]

CHARACTER A

There you are.

CHARACTER B - JORDAN STILLMAN

Hey, you’re up. Have a good nap?

[Character B walks to the kitchen, through a swinging door, followed by Character A.]

CHARACTER A

You were here when I fell asleep, but then I woke up and couldn’t find you. You left me all alone.

CHARACTER B

I just ran to the store. I haven’t been gone long.

[Character B unpacks items and puts them away. Some into cabinets, some into the refrigerator.]

CHARACTER A

I wish you’d left a note.

CHARACTER B
I got you some ice cream.

CHARACTER A

What kind?

CHARACTER B

There was some kind of wild rush for ice cream before I got there. You wouldn’t even believe how emptied out they were.

CHARACTER A

So…?

[B pulls a carton from the paper bag and puts it on the counter.]

CHARACTER B

Rum raisin. It’s all they had.

CHARACTER A

Oh.

[Closing theme music]

CREDITS

ALEXANDER DANNER

Exercises in Sound is created, written, and sound designed by Alexander Danner and directed by James Oliva, featuring performances by Jordan Higgs and Jordan Stillman. 

Theme music by Catherine Seaton, tile art by Sam Twardy. 

Exercises in Sound is inspired by Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style and Matt Madden's 99 Ways to Tell a Story, which conducted similar experiments in the forms of prose fiction and comics respectively.

Funded in part by grants from HeartLife NFP and Emerson College. 

Find episode transcripts online at exercisessinsound.com. 

For access to an ad-free feed for exercises in sound, you can support the show at thirdSight.memberful.com. 

For news and updates, sign up for the Third Sight Media newsletter, link in the show notes. 

Exercises and Sound is a ThirdSight media production.