That's the goal, I think, of a great storyteller or filmmaker. To draw you into a world of their construct and have you believe the story they tell you is plausible... within reason. When I think about it, I can break it down into 3 factors that are essential - imagery, sounds and plot.
One specific area of "sound" has been drawing my attention recently and that is of dialogue - the voice and the delivery. I'm not used to including dialogue into my works and as evidenced from my first film, if I must - I'd do it myself. Why? Again, probably my control freakish nature rearing it's ugly head but also because I felt there were factors about the voices that I needed to be able to control in order to maintain the illusion I constructed.
Now, when you open up the field to voiceactors, you gain diversity - yes. But you lose some control. This is where I am trying to find my balance. Trying to find a way not to control but effectively guide the performance of voiceactors of whom I can demand nothing. These people are friends and volunteers. All I have is the hope that they will try their best to perform the role for me and that I won't piss them off in the process.
I know how I am with my work - I'm nitpicky as all hell. Some things I can just let it go but when something bugs me because it's not the way I want and I know I can fix it if I just put in the time and effort - it BUGS me. And as such, my animations I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked some more. My voice overs I did over and over and over until I had it as close as I thought I could get. I can't do that to voiceactors! I'd drive 'em nuts.
So I've come to the realization that I just have to set myself up for as much success as possible by being particular not only of whom does the voiceover but for what character. Sometimes you may have wonderful voiceactors but when you hear them coming out of a particular character - something doesn't quite mesh. And I have to say for me - that jars me right out of the illusion and I start to 'believe' a little less. Doesn't ruin the production by any means but it just prevents me from enjoying it as best I could.
So in a roundabout way, I'm kinda going in reverse. I have a few people in mind already that I'd like to ask to help out. Once I get a feel of their voices I think I may try building their characters around THEM. Some personalities for this next film are fixed and I have to find the right voice to do them but others are more flexible. Maybe their character's personalities can be influenced by how the voiceactor sounds and the voiceactor's capabilities.
Again, these are all musings - thoughts playing in my head as I embark on this new film. Whether I'm being realistic in my approach - I don't know. I'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
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There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with being specific about asking for particular actors for certain roles; if you've seen something they're in and think "that voice is perfect for character XYZ", then ask away.
ReplyDeleteMost good VOs will want to see the whole script to see their part in context and be able to respond to the perceived emotion from other characters in the same scene (which is all but impossible to do if they only get their own lines sent out to them).
One thing I would say is that, if you want to get a line a particular way, don't be afraid to give as much "direction" to your actors as you feel necessary; in most cases, if you explain what it is that you're after, good VOs will be able to nail it without too much trouble.
Don't be afraid to ask for auditions and, if you're really not going to be sure if someone is right for the part, use a good line of dialogue that means they have to hold an emotion or phrase or accent for more than a few seconds; I've had situations where the audition was great, but when you're asking for 40+ lines, the performance CAN be a little patchy (especially if it's been done in more than one sitting).
On the whole, I've been very lucky with my stuff in that I've been blessed by the help of some of the best and most professional VO actors in the community and have had to ask for very little in the way of retakes or emotional resonance (long words for "the actors "got" what I was trying to convey without any extra direction) but, if you're not sure, it never hurts to add a little "direction".
If you've got awkward pronunciations, I'd recommend sending a phonetic breakdown of any words that might be a little awkward to pronounce along with the script.
Again, if you're not sure how the lines are going to come out, always ask for them back in a particular way (a bunch at a time is better than all at once, in case the actor is going down entirely the wrong track with the performance and ends up having to do an entire part all over again; good explanation of motivation, emotion and pacing to start off with will lessen the chance of this happening).
And, above all, always but ALWAYS speak to the best VO actors and ask THEIR thoughts on it; that way, you'll know exactly what they are looking for from a script and a director :)
As a novice voice actor, what I really want to see from my director, besides the script, is a good breakdown of my characters motivation and emotional state, any available back-story about the character's relationship to other characters in the scene, I like to get as much direction as possible. And if you're doing Sci-Fi with odd names and new words - a phonetic list is priceless! ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd no - I don't know why I put so many comma's in the above post.
ReplyDeleteIt's a give and take relationship. Most voiceactors are emotionally vested in helping you craft your movie into exactly what you want it to be. Most don't mind doing re-takes on lines. Most don't mind being directed. Most don't mind auditioning for a part and not getting it - they aren't going to take that personally.
ReplyDeleteBut on the other end of the spectrum, if you don't communicate to them upfront, it can be frustrating for them as well. Without good direction, imagine how many different variations of a line as simple as "I'd like to believe that" could be. If the VA takes one path with the role and all along you had something different in mind and just assumed they'd figured it out, that can be a little irritating.
VA's want perfectionist directors. I include emotional direction with every line I send VA's.
Oh, and one crucial thing is be upfront about timeframes. If you are hoping to release your movie a week after the VA receives his/her lines, that needs to be stated so they can figure out if that works with their schedule as well. Some of us are super quick and others (like me) are notoriously slow. I've had people send me lines and expect them to be turned around in a day or so, and that's just often not realistic.
VA's will get passionate on this subject. We aren't just sitting at our desks reading lines - most of us are getting into character, rehearsing our lines, memorizing them, doing multiple takes for you to choose from....If we didn't like voiceacting, we wouldn't be doing it, but like you said, it's voluntary - as long as respect goes both ways (director to VA and vice versa), it's a very satisfying experience. It's exciting to see a character you created come to life with the help of someone else's acting.
/end babble
Thanks guys for your inputs! I'll pay attention to them closely. :)
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