(Newswire.net — November 25, 2014) Thomson, Illinois — The solution to awakening a child’s imagination isn’t television or even videos games, but a medium rarely used – audio theater.
So says filmmaker Colin Gunn, who discussed the power of audio theater in an interview with audio theater producer Bill Heid for the latest edition of the Colin Gunn Show.
Heid’s latest audio theater project, In Freedom’s Cause, recounts the true story of 14th-century Scottish hero William Wallace, spotlighting his Christian faith in a way that modern-day renditions such as Braveheart do not.
“The benefit of the audio movie is that you engage the kid,” Gunn said. “… They’re not just slack-jawed in front of a screen with content being thrown at them. That’s the power of radio. You have to fill in the gaps, and it gets another part of your mind working.”
Heid agreed, and said that in some parts of his audio dramas, 100 or more audio tracks are “stacked.”
“What we’re trying to do is get the child to imagine what is going on,” Heid said. “ … Kids today have far too much screen time. It shuts their brain down. We’re trying to give them a way to play the story in the theater of the mind, and grow their mind and their character.”
Gunn called In Freedom’s Cause an “unbelievable product,” saying his kids “listened to the whole thing and loved it.”
“This is not just your run-of-the-mill radio drama,” Gunn said. “This is something that is cinema quality, high-level stuff.”
Gunn, who is Scottish, said before listening to it, he had concerns that the accents wouldn’t be authentic. But his concerns were quickly erased.
“[These are] some of the best actors you could get,” he said.
To listen to the entire Colin Gunn Show podcast, click here.
In Freedom’s Cause features Skandar Keynes (Edmund of The Chronicles of Narnia series), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates of Downton Abbey), Billy Boyd (Pippin of The Lord Of The Rings) and James Cosmo (Campbell, Father Christmas of Braveheart and The Chronicles of Narnia, respectively), as well as a score by composer John Campbell (Lamplighter Theatre, Focus on the Family Radio Theatre, Adventures in Odyssey).
Heid’s first audio movie, Under Drake’s Flag, told the story of 16th-century English hero Sir Francis Drake, who was the first Englishman to circle the globe and whose strong Christian faith is rarely mentioned in textbooks. Under Drake’s Flag was named Favorite Audio Drama of 2014 by SchoolhouseReviewCrew.com, a major homeschooling website comprised of 200 families who review products. For more information, visit UnderDrakesFlag.com.
For more information about In Freedom’s Cause, visit InFreedomsCause.com.