Writers in the Recording Studio - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 108

towards his performance, not push him. If you give him line readings or tell him
how to say it, all he'll do is mimic you. You want the performance to come from an
authentic and emotional place within the actor. Every writer hears a line a certain
way in his head when he writes it. As the director, you have to let that go. You have
to be open to a fresh approach. If that actor can do the line as you imagined it and
still be believable, then great. But prepare to be surprised and be flexible enough to
be okay with that.
Most voiceover actors use headphones, but a few prefer to avoid them. They'd
rather not hear their own voice in their heads. For some actors, hearing their own
voice as they perform can be a problem. When you hear radio broadcasters with
that deep studied and clearly phony announcer voice, you are hearing someone who
spends too much time listening to themselves annunciate. Sometimes simply asking
an actor remove the headphones can really bump up the performance.
George Burns said, “Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got
it made.� He was being funny, but facetious, because it's not hard to tell when actors
are faking it. You don't want them pretending to be afraid, you want them to literally
be out of their mind with terror, and it's your job to take them there.
A good voice actor will ask you a lot of questions. “Who am I talking to?� “What
do I want?� “What is my subtext?�
Don't panic if an actor asks you that last question. As the writer, you should
know the subtext better than anyone. Good dialog often has another level to it,
an underlying or implicit meaning. For example, a woman could ask a man to
come inside for some coffee after a date, when in reality she's asking him to come
inside for a reason that has nothing to do with hot caffeinated beverages. A scene
in Woody Allen's movie Annie Hall (United Artists, 1977) in which subtitles explain
the characters' inner thoughts during an apparently innocuous conversation is an
example of the subtext of a scene being made explicit. As the voice director, you
want to make sure that the subtext is coming through.
How to Direct Celebrities
Celebrities come in all shapes and sizes and temperaments. Some are just regular
folks who want to be treated like everybody else. They'll stay and work until the job's
done and will give you no attitude at all. Others are all attitude. It's always good
to be deferential without necessarily being an ass kisser, but always be prepared to
pucker up. Celebrities usually come with handlers or an entourage, so be prepared.
It's often helpful to befriend the handlers. If you get them on your side, they'll do
a better job of helping you out with their meal ticket. Some celebrities are a little
prickly about being directed. You need to handle celebrities with a large and cushy
pair of kid gloves. Often you may not be able to request many takes. Be prepared to
get what you need in one or two. A few celebrities regard video games with disdain,
like they're slumming. Don't take it personally. Stay professional. The more you can
get them excited about the game, the better their attitude will be. Show them videos,