How exactly does the voice acting work?

[inkbrush]

When your actors aren't in person and they can't hear and react to what the other actors are saying, how exactly would you go about putting it all together?

It seems complicated to complete voice acting when all the actors can't gather together in person and recite lines. So, would you perhaps gather your actors over a Skype call and do like . . . "practice recordings" so the actors know how to react and say certain lines?

I have no idea if I'm making any sense right now. Hopefully I am.

[kitsubasa]

While I know some groups get together and record some/all dialogue together (on Skype or otherwise), generally VAing is done solo. I can't speak for the pro side of things, but I'm in a few amateur VAing groups, and what we normally do for our productions is record a few takes of every line with different intonation, and then the director/editor has to pull together the takes that flow best (or ask for more). If you've got the whole script in front of you with some tone notes (or someone helping direct), it's normally pretty easy to interpret what's asked for.

The best thing you can do to help VAs and make recording flow from line-to-line when actors aren't recording together is, as above, to write notes on the script if something specific is needed with a line that might not be interpreted from the content (ie. Bob: (aggressively) Go get the door) or to ask your actors if they can record lines over Skype with you (or another director) so you can tell them what's needed from the conversation.

If you're using amateurs/unpaid actors, you can try and encourage VAs to run lines together, but it isn't their responsibility to do so. If you're using pros/paid actors and you want them to do lines together, that's probably a reasonable thing to ask for, but mention it when you're holding auditions, since 'need to be on Skype, able to record, at the same time as people potentially in other timezones' can be a time requirement that's tricky to meet in the online world.

[trooper6]

Most of the time voice actors don't act together. They act alone in a sound booth. When I was doing that work, both as an actor and as a sound engineer, the actor would be in a booth with the script and they would spend a few hours saying all of their lines imagining the other parts of the conversation. This is why it is important to have a) skilled voice actors who know how to emote in the absence of a scene partner and b) a voice director who can get the right performances out of the actors, has a good sense of what will work, and who will make sure to get a good variety of readings for each line and who can communicate well with c) your sound engineer who is able to edits the recordings and splice if necessary to make everything sound good.

I started doing voice acting, but I worked as a sound engineer in between graduating from undergrad with my degree in electronic music composition and starting my PhD in Musicology. I Remember those moments when one of the lines of the audio we got from one particular Disney voice actor wasn't right. The actor rad swallowed their "T" and it made the audio not work. Because it was an expensive Disney actor, we couldn't get them to come back in to do pick up lines, so I had to find an instance where there was a good "T" and then splice that sound into all the lines where the T was dropped and make it sound natural. That took time...but I did it! But that was an example of why you need good actors, good directors, and good recording and editing people.

Anyhow, there are a few more other models.

Bioware has a lot of money...a lot. So I believe they were able to do actors in individual booths that could see each other and record their scene simultaneously... I Personally only had the privilege of voice acting that way only once and voice recording that way never. You can often get great performances from people who have more traditional acting experience than voice acting experience that way, but it requires a lot of equipment and sound people and a director who can multitask. But I enjoyed my experience doing it.

Another thing Bioware did (less money, but still not insignificant), was to do all of Shephard's lines all at once, then do all of the editing and choosing of those voice files and setting them up into scenes and then inviting all the other actors in one by one. So the Liara actor would do their lines in response the the recorded and edited Shephard lines, and then do any lines with other actors without their audio. Then the sound editors would do all the work processing the Liara dialogue. Then the next actor comes in and you go again.

The plus is that if your anchor is good (as Jennifer Hale is) you get a good base and you subsequent actors get something to play off of. Of course your have to process and edit in between each actor.

The standard where you get your actors all done one at a time and then process everything all at once, allows you to get what you want done efficiently and with fewer personnel...plus you can get into a nice editing groove without having to start and stop....and there is a consistency to it all. But you need people who can actually voice act...including in that standard in isolation sort of way...and your voice director also needs to be able to do their job.

Hope that helped.

[Rosstin]

I think I missed this topic when I made mind. Marked to keep up with this.

[LMoore]

From an actor's point of view:
It seems that you want to know how to get what you need out of a performer when you don't have the luxury of essentially recording a live performance.

If you have trained actors, it boils down to painting a picture for them. Make sure they understand the environment and where they are in a story (i.e. what just happened? who are they talking to, if anyone? how do they feel at this moment?). This sort of work gets easier as you go on as they get a feel for their role in the story and what your expectations are.

For example, when I was fresh out of school I got a part in 2 different projects. Both directors wanted my character to cry. One sat down with me and talked about where I was emotionally. She helped me build the moment she wanted. She had asked me to create a backstory and used it to help me connect with the moment:
Her: You are really lost and scared right now and there isn't anyone for you to talk to about this. Suddenly you feel like your brother is with you (I had invented an older brother who had passed away for my character) and you can't act tough anymore. You don't want to be tough. He's the only person that ever made you feel safe and you can feel that he's here but you also know that he's gone.
By the end, I had the crew crying with me.

By contrast, the other guy didn't seem (to me) to have much vision. Or, if he did, it wasn't communicated to me:
Him: "Ok, we're going to improv this. Your sister is pregnant and you're going to cry."
Me: "Oh, am I that happy?"
Him: "No, you're sad."
Me: "Really? Why would I be sad?"
Him: "Because she's pregnant."
I still have no idea what that scene was about.

So it's really just a matter of knowing your vision and trusting it. If a character doesn't have a complete backstory, encourage your actor to help you build one. It invests them in the process and also gives you a glimpse at how they think. It helps to be specific if you aren't getting exactly what you want. For example, instead of "be angry" try "your neighbors' dog woke you up at 4AM and you couldn't back to sleep so you really need this cup of coffee but the bimbo in front of you just asked the cashier to "wait a second, I have to take this call ohmygawd no way! I can't even! Hey,do you know if soymilk can make you fat because I really want a frappe . . . etc. oh! and she has her little designer rat dog here. They asked her to leave it outside but she said it was a 'service animal.' Well, that 'service animal' just lifted it's leg and took a hot leak on your favorite pair of shoes . . ." Be ready to play.