First real recording session! The first episode was officially all recorded. Because of scheduling conflicts with the voice actors, we could only record the first episode, but it went amazingly well! Due to fantastic casting, all the voice actors are amazingly responsible, and read over and rehearsed the script before we met. Which was awesome. It made the whole thing totally easy to do.
The first step was to read it all together. We worked out problems and made it sound a little bit more like real life. Once everyone was comfortable (and had somewhat settled into their characters), we started the first recording.
Ten minutes later, the final line was uttered, and we all breathed again. There were some mistakes: everyone admitted it. Everyone agreed to redo it. Surprise number one. I would have thought they were all tired of it.
“Wait,” Wyatt (David's actor) had said, “shouldn’t we listen to it first? So we know what mistakes we have to fix?”
Everyone else winced at the thought of listening to their own voices for ten minutes, but they all agreed. Surprise number two.
After the recording played, there was a discussion of mistakes and the intonation of certain lines. The actors all discussed what they thought it should sound like, and compromises were made. I pointed out a few other problems. It was all very serious and business-like.
I started recording again. It went even more smoothly, and most of the mistakes were ironed out. A few persisted, but because the actors were doing what I’d asked and just pushed through (ad-libbing like professionals) it didn’t sound bad at all.
Once that reading was over, everyone looked really pleased with themselves. Then Gala left, leaving us Skyler-less. The rest of us talked about the characters, and the writing. I got a few more ideas, and was really surprised and happy that everyone seemed so interested in continuing the recording. They happily agreed to work as much as I needed them.
Which was surprising, actually, because if there was something that this session wasn’t, it’s fun. It was relaxed, sure, but everyone approached the recording with a very serious attitude. That made everything work really well, and there was no fooling around whatsoever, but I admit I was kind of looking forward to having a bit of fun while still getting everything done.
So, next in the agenda is to edit the first recorded episode, and then record the others. Scripts are still in the process of being edited, but things are chugging along well. I’m, again, incredibly happy the actors are buying into the script so much.
Also on the to-do list is to make the recording sessions a little more fun and lighthearted. I really think that’s important. I want this whole process to be fun, although mostly it’s been hectic and stressful.. So it’s high time for a change, I think.
The first step was to read it all together. We worked out problems and made it sound a little bit more like real life. Once everyone was comfortable (and had somewhat settled into their characters), we started the first recording.
Ten minutes later, the final line was uttered, and we all breathed again. There were some mistakes: everyone admitted it. Everyone agreed to redo it. Surprise number one. I would have thought they were all tired of it.
“Wait,” Wyatt (David's actor) had said, “shouldn’t we listen to it first? So we know what mistakes we have to fix?”
Everyone else winced at the thought of listening to their own voices for ten minutes, but they all agreed. Surprise number two.
After the recording played, there was a discussion of mistakes and the intonation of certain lines. The actors all discussed what they thought it should sound like, and compromises were made. I pointed out a few other problems. It was all very serious and business-like.
I started recording again. It went even more smoothly, and most of the mistakes were ironed out. A few persisted, but because the actors were doing what I’d asked and just pushed through (ad-libbing like professionals) it didn’t sound bad at all.
Once that reading was over, everyone looked really pleased with themselves. Then Gala left, leaving us Skyler-less. The rest of us talked about the characters, and the writing. I got a few more ideas, and was really surprised and happy that everyone seemed so interested in continuing the recording. They happily agreed to work as much as I needed them.
Which was surprising, actually, because if there was something that this session wasn’t, it’s fun. It was relaxed, sure, but everyone approached the recording with a very serious attitude. That made everything work really well, and there was no fooling around whatsoever, but I admit I was kind of looking forward to having a bit of fun while still getting everything done.
So, next in the agenda is to edit the first recorded episode, and then record the others. Scripts are still in the process of being edited, but things are chugging along well. I’m, again, incredibly happy the actors are buying into the script so much.
Also on the to-do list is to make the recording sessions a little more fun and lighthearted. I really think that’s important. I want this whole process to be fun, although mostly it’s been hectic and stressful.. So it’s high time for a change, I think.