Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
studio, then copies of the scripts should be sent out to the actors for
familiarisation. When you arrive at the studio, do not assume that the actor
will remember to bring along his or her script - ensure you have enough
spare copies for all the actors to use in the studio.
When recording with an ensemble cast, it is a little more difficult to
organise the schedule and minimise the time that actors are waiting around.
Filtering the exported scripts by character/actor is even more important here
as it can help you identify actors who overlap with one another.You should
always identify your important characters and actors and filter for their scenes
first, followed by any characters that overlap with them.
It could be that Character A is not in any scenes with Character B, but
both are in scenes with Character C.This could mean that the actor playing
Character A does a morning session and the actor playing Character B could
come in for the afternoon session. The actor playing Character C would be
in all day. However, if the number of lines is not very great for any of them,
it may well be that all three are finished within an hour. Sometimes it is best
to have some of the other actors doubling up on the minor characters to
maximise efficiency, but where possible try to keep them to different areas of
the game.
If a script is very complex it can mean that you get other actors also
overlapping with the three above and planning is an essential part of this. I
have had days in the studio where there were eight actors rotating with each
other to cover all their overlapping scenes. The session passed incredibly
smoothly because of good preparation and the professionalism of the actors
involved.
The voice director and actors
The advantage of a development studio hiring a dedicated voice director or
using a recording studio that offers this facility is one of quality. Good
directors will be able to get that little bit more out of the actors, but only if
they have prepared well and appreciate what you want from the recording.
The voice director and studio must understand the requirements of inter-
active dialogue scripts.
It is important that you work with the director when preparing the scripts
and the schedule so that he is fully aware of how you are breaking down the
recording sessions. It may well be that he has his own ideas for organisation
that needs to be taken into account, particularly if the actors involved have
limited availability.
