Today I decided to finish off all my paper work, so as to be ready for the deadline.
Alongside making sure I had all my work included in the folders I will be handing in, I also asked my lecturer if my partner and I should hand in our work together or separately. He said that he would like them separate so as to make it clearer who has done what and therefore allow the lecturer to grade us individually. Therefore, I will make sure to push forward the work I have done on the art, narrative and voice acting.
I also completed the crew diary designs and made sure that the font was the same, as I had been struggling with that at home.
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Redesigning the Crew Diary (17/5/2014)
Having finally completed all the frames for the story reel yesterday, today I worked on redesigning the crew diary so as to make it look more sci-fi and professional.
You can see my process below...
* Looking at the examples I found, I noticed that they tend to include borders usually of the metal variety. Therefore, I did just that and added some lights in the corners for good effect.
However, I felt the colours clashed and the border didn't look quite right. Therefore, I added the 'Stroke' effect to them so as to add the yellow outline, thus making it stand out more because it looks layered.
Liking the above, I then included the border on the other pages. Due to the edges however, I had to move around some of the text, some onto other pages.
* Note to self: I will need to change the text again as my older version of Photoshop at home doesn't have the same font as the one I use for the crew diary. Therefore, I will need to go back and make sure they are all the same for the final hand in.
You can see my process below...
* Looking at the examples I found, I noticed that they tend to include borders usually of the metal variety. Therefore, I did just that and added some lights in the corners for good effect.
However, I felt the colours clashed and the border didn't look quite right. Therefore, I added the 'Stroke' effect to them so as to add the yellow outline, thus making it stand out more because it looks layered.
* Note to self: I will need to change the text again as my older version of Photoshop at home doesn't have the same font as the one I use for the crew diary. Therefore, I will need to go back and make sure they are all the same for the final hand in.
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Final recording session (13/5/2014)
As we were unable to record our lines on the day we planned, today my partner and I decided to continue recording. In addition to finishing the captain's lines far more quickly than expected, thanks to reading the script in advance, I was also able to complete the rest of the voices.
You can read my notes on the session below.
* I suggested to Ed today that when I voice the narrator I should speak slowly like Mr.Smith from 'The Matrix' as, when reading the narrator's lines last I found that by reading the introduction more slowly that the voice was not only more distinct than my captain's voice for being slow, but also added drama and mystery to the opening of the cut scene. The other advantage to this voice would be that I can add a bit of my own bass voice to it without it seeming forced, whilst also giving it an air of 'The Twilight Zone'.
* I also recommended that I try a slightly posh / air host voice for the ship, thus being slower than the captain's enthusiastic self as well as being able to show a calm and panicked self. Admittedly, I got this inspiration from C3PO's style of talking from 'Star Wars' which was a style of voice I was trying to avoid, but feel may be easier on the throat and be easier to filter, preferably so that it is its own thing.
* Sadly I gave into dropping my intended voice for the mechanic as despite my love for it, my vocal cords still being in tact was greater. Instead I suggested that I replace it with the cockney accent I had been working on, or my slight 'Captain Barbossa' inspiration from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films which has also improved. Both being inspirations and the style for my original 'disgusting man' voice, as well as both being easily filtered so as to make them sound like my original intended voice.
All of the above suggestions made it into the final recording session and came out rather well. Overall, I look forward to hearing them alongside the frames I have almost finished (six left) and handed the current ones to my partner.
You can read my notes on the session below.
* I suggested to Ed today that when I voice the narrator I should speak slowly like Mr.Smith from 'The Matrix' as, when reading the narrator's lines last I found that by reading the introduction more slowly that the voice was not only more distinct than my captain's voice for being slow, but also added drama and mystery to the opening of the cut scene. The other advantage to this voice would be that I can add a bit of my own bass voice to it without it seeming forced, whilst also giving it an air of 'The Twilight Zone'.
* I also recommended that I try a slightly posh / air host voice for the ship, thus being slower than the captain's enthusiastic self as well as being able to show a calm and panicked self. Admittedly, I got this inspiration from C3PO's style of talking from 'Star Wars' which was a style of voice I was trying to avoid, but feel may be easier on the throat and be easier to filter, preferably so that it is its own thing.
* Sadly I gave into dropping my intended voice for the mechanic as despite my love for it, my vocal cords still being in tact was greater. Instead I suggested that I replace it with the cockney accent I had been working on, or my slight 'Captain Barbossa' inspiration from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films which has also improved. Both being inspirations and the style for my original 'disgusting man' voice, as well as both being easily filtered so as to make them sound like my original intended voice.
All of the above suggestions made it into the final recording session and came out rather well. Overall, I look forward to hearing them alongside the frames I have almost finished (six left) and handed the current ones to my partner.
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Editing the crew diary (8/5/2014)
* Today I looked back on the crew diary, I had written to go alongside our work and decided to make it look more interesting on Photoshop. I did this by making it look like the sort of tablets / logs people hold in sci-fi (see examples below).
At the moment they look very basic as I wanted to first get the simple layout done. However, this is something I will look further into. Also, they are meant to be blue, not purple.
Thanks to doing this I was also able to fit each character's background on one whole page each instead of a page and a half or two half pages. The number of pages has also been reduced to 14 rather than 17.
* My partner also looked over some typology and found a number of possible fonts for our story reel. In the end we both agreed that the font 'Saucer BB' was the best fit, though he will continue to experiment with it further and a few others.
Harvard Referencing:
At the moment they look very basic as I wanted to first get the simple layout done. However, this is something I will look further into. Also, they are meant to be blue, not purple.
Thanks to doing this I was also able to fit each character's background on one whole page each instead of a page and a half or two half pages. The number of pages has also been reduced to 14 rather than 17.
* My partner also looked over some typology and found a number of possible fonts for our story reel. In the end we both agreed that the font 'Saucer BB' was the best fit, though he will continue to experiment with it further and a few others.
Harvard Referencing:
- Degard, A (2012) Why do science fiction tablets have such awful screens? [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.pocketables.com/2012/03/why-do-imagined-futuristic-tablets-have-transparent-awful-screens.html (Accessed: 8/5/2014).
- Fonts (2013) Saucer BB Font [Online Image]. Available
at: http://www.1001fonts.com/saucer-bb-font.html (Accessed: 8/5/2014).
- [H]ard|Forum (2011) Steve Jobs Dead - Page 18 [Online Image]. Available at: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1641343&page=18 (Accessed: 8/5/2014).
Recording our lines (7/5/2014)
* Today my partner and I recorded our voices for the story reel. We were able to do half of the captain's lines and all of the pilots and dock bot's.
During recording we would stand up and act our lines so as to project them better, sometimes getting the other to read the line in between the actor's lines or before it, so that they had someone else to bounce off.
We would record our lines multiple times so as to get the best take, and cut them where necessary, so as to combine the best of two separate takes.
We found halfway through however, that we needed to print off the script instead of using the screen as reading paper was easier. During which we also re-wrote certain lines when the voices we used couldn't pronounce certain words or letters quite right.
Overall, I felt that the recording went incredibly well today and we are already one third through. However, I will make sure to eat more next time, as I ate less today so as to not build up saliva, only to end up feeling weak later during the recording, thus explaining why I only got halfway through the captain. Though this is also because the captain went through at least two to three different takes per line as we wanted to make sure the captain stood out and gave off a friendly demeanor, despite losing his patience at points.
* Recently a friend of mine linked me to a YouTube video that explained how they did the robotic voice for the character Legion from Mass Effect. Realising that all it would involve is putting a filter over the person's ordinary voice I shared this video with Ed who agreed with the idea and decided to play around with the lines recorded today.
Afterwards, I then listened to the edited versions of the lines my partner was working on, commenting on what worked and what could be used for the characters yet to be recorded. It may be better to simply use our regular voices and then filter them afterwards, as he was doing for the dock bot today.
Making it sound more bassy and therefore not the same to his regular voice, we decided to look at possibly using this tactic for the ship, golem and possibly even the mechanic, as I have noted that, despite the chosen voice being one of my favorites, it hurts my throat.
* Finally, in the evening I decided to read my lines in advance for tomorrow as I felt recording my lines today took the longest. However, this was due to not printing my script in advance and having to balance a friendly captain with a stressed one.
It was also during this time that I looked over the lines and found that some could be done in the same take instead of separately, thus saving us time.
During recording we would stand up and act our lines so as to project them better, sometimes getting the other to read the line in between the actor's lines or before it, so that they had someone else to bounce off.
We would record our lines multiple times so as to get the best take, and cut them where necessary, so as to combine the best of two separate takes.
We found halfway through however, that we needed to print off the script instead of using the screen as reading paper was easier. During which we also re-wrote certain lines when the voices we used couldn't pronounce certain words or letters quite right.
Overall, I felt that the recording went incredibly well today and we are already one third through. However, I will make sure to eat more next time, as I ate less today so as to not build up saliva, only to end up feeling weak later during the recording, thus explaining why I only got halfway through the captain. Though this is also because the captain went through at least two to three different takes per line as we wanted to make sure the captain stood out and gave off a friendly demeanor, despite losing his patience at points.
* Recently a friend of mine linked me to a YouTube video that explained how they did the robotic voice for the character Legion from Mass Effect. Realising that all it would involve is putting a filter over the person's ordinary voice I shared this video with Ed who agreed with the idea and decided to play around with the lines recorded today.
Afterwards, I then listened to the edited versions of the lines my partner was working on, commenting on what worked and what could be used for the characters yet to be recorded. It may be better to simply use our regular voices and then filter them afterwards, as he was doing for the dock bot today.
Making it sound more bassy and therefore not the same to his regular voice, we decided to look at possibly using this tactic for the ship, golem and possibly even the mechanic, as I have noted that, despite the chosen voice being one of my favorites, it hurts my throat.
* Finally, in the evening I decided to read my lines in advance for tomorrow as I felt recording my lines today took the longest. However, this was due to not printing my script in advance and having to balance a friendly captain with a stressed one.
It was also during this time that I looked over the lines and found that some could be done in the same take instead of separately, thus saving us time.
Displaying work (1/5/2014)
* Having explained to my partner the voice work I had done on Tuesday and the problems I resolved yesterday, we decided that the 'high crazy' and bass voices could be appropriate for the ship and narrator. However, we plan to go over some lines when we actually record, so as to figure out which ones would be best.
We also discussed what possible effects could go over them.
* I also showed my partner the backgrounds I had come up with for each of the characters so as to make sure he was ok with them. Overall, he was really pleased with them and felt that I couldn't have done a better job with the pilot's background. I was relived to hear this since it is effectively him and therefore I wanted him to be happy with it.
* We also decided to think more about our display at the summer show and measured out the screen's size and listed what we definitely wanted on display.As you can see below we decided to try and put a display board behind the monitor instead of covering the screen with a board. After all, if we did the latter and had it extend higher we risk it dropping. Thus, having a display board is for the better as it is still big enough to be eye catching.
My partner Ed will be in charge of putting it together and getting hold of the other aspects such as the headphones.
Our initial ideas for the board around the screen can be seen below.
As for the rest of the display, we decided that realistically we should drop the War Hammer figures due to cost and time it would take to put them together. Also, the crew diary will still be made, but my partner suggested that we make it leather bound and stain it so as to give it character. I thought this ideas was great and will look into printing shops as soon as possible.
Speaking to our lecturer about the possible display board, he said that due to them being costly and the resource department not owning any it wouldn't be possible. Thus my partner Ed will get hold of some cardboard and play around with some possible ideas and designs.
* I was also able to show off and print the story board after getting Ed's approval. We then went over the script and where the events come into the story board, thus making it easier for him to make and edit the story reel accordingly.
You can see our work on the wall so far below.
* I then continued to work on the story reel.
* For next week I plan to try and finish the crew diary by Thursday. We also decided to meet up next Wednesday so as to start recording our lines, since we forgot next Monday is a bank holiday. Thus Ed will be able to start messing around with the audio and get started on the story reel using the frames I have created so far. Speaking of which, I plan to try and finish these by the end of next week.
Ed also shared a site that listed types of effects you could put over your voice and how to do so. Thus we will try and use these for when we produce the dialogue.
Harvard Referencing:
We also discussed what possible effects could go over them.
* I also showed my partner the backgrounds I had come up with for each of the characters so as to make sure he was ok with them. Overall, he was really pleased with them and felt that I couldn't have done a better job with the pilot's background. I was relived to hear this since it is effectively him and therefore I wanted him to be happy with it.
* We also decided to think more about our display at the summer show and measured out the screen's size and listed what we definitely wanted on display.As you can see below we decided to try and put a display board behind the monitor instead of covering the screen with a board. After all, if we did the latter and had it extend higher we risk it dropping. Thus, having a display board is for the better as it is still big enough to be eye catching.
My partner Ed will be in charge of putting it together and getting hold of the other aspects such as the headphones.
Our initial ideas for the board around the screen can be seen below.
As for the rest of the display, we decided that realistically we should drop the War Hammer figures due to cost and time it would take to put them together. Also, the crew diary will still be made, but my partner suggested that we make it leather bound and stain it so as to give it character. I thought this ideas was great and will look into printing shops as soon as possible.
Speaking to our lecturer about the possible display board, he said that due to them being costly and the resource department not owning any it wouldn't be possible. Thus my partner Ed will get hold of some cardboard and play around with some possible ideas and designs.
* I was also able to show off and print the story board after getting Ed's approval. We then went over the script and where the events come into the story board, thus making it easier for him to make and edit the story reel accordingly.
You can see our work on the wall so far below.
* I then continued to work on the story reel.
* For next week I plan to try and finish the crew diary by Thursday. We also decided to meet up next Wednesday so as to start recording our lines, since we forgot next Monday is a bank holiday. Thus Ed will be able to start messing around with the audio and get started on the story reel using the frames I have created so far. Speaking of which, I plan to try and finish these by the end of next week.
Ed also shared a site that listed types of effects you could put over your voice and how to do so. Thus we will try and use these for when we produce the dialogue.
Harvard Referencing:
- Voice Acting Club (2008) Effects/audio enhancements in Audition. Available at: http://voiceacting.proboards.com/thread/16441/effects-audio-enhancement-audition (Accessed: 1/5/2014).
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Voice fixing (30/4/2014)
* Today I decided to re-listen to my voices from yesterday, since I realised afterwards that I never recorded them, only listened to them by ear which I was reminded was a bad thing since we all hear our own voices differently. Thus when hearing the same voices from yesterday out loud, I confirmed that I they were good, but most weren't good for a sci-fi setting.
However, if push comes to shove I could do my 'high crazy' voice since that stands out and could perhaps have some sort of filter over it. The same goes for the 'David Bowie' voice since it also stands out, but because I make his voice similar to a musical jingle, I would have to figure out from the lines where to do my pauses and where to go higher.
I also decided during today to look over other well known voices from both my voice acting book and media and see if I could match or alter one into my own as seen below. Some even being examples mentioned in the book to practice with.
As I had mixed results with some of my recordings (most likely due to recording so many in one go), I decided to give myself a break and come back to the weaker ones.
Doing so I still couldn't get the Beatles' voice right and the nerd seemed to get worse, instead sounding more like a chipmunk. However, my old man voice came out clearer and Captain Barbossa was less Scottish, but still not quite right.
Looking at the results it would appear that either my attempt at Patrick Warburton's voice or my 'high crazy' voice could be included as both are distinct and different to the existing two that we have chosen. If need be the Patrick Warburton impersonation could be used for the narrator as its deep, but not the same as the characters more relaxed and in control voice. Whereas, despite my initial thoughts on the 'high crazy' one not being right for the genre, I now feel that it could be used for the ship as, on higher lines it sounds more like a easily panicked character.
Granted, I need to go over these thoughts with my partner tomorrow so as to make sure he is ok with them and find out how we can edit our voices for the better.
However, if push comes to shove I could do my 'high crazy' voice since that stands out and could perhaps have some sort of filter over it. The same goes for the 'David Bowie' voice since it also stands out, but because I make his voice similar to a musical jingle, I would have to figure out from the lines where to do my pauses and where to go higher.
I also decided during today to look over other well known voices from both my voice acting book and media and see if I could match or alter one into my own as seen below. Some even being examples mentioned in the book to practice with.
- Squidward: Managed to come out slightly more nasily than my 'high crazy' voice but, during the higher lines reverted to that one.
- Patrick Warburton: When trying to do his unique deep voice by going higher rather than just super deep with my bass, I found that it made a commercial esk voice almost similar to the heroic voice, only more controllable.
- Jock/cool kid: A very simple voice that, although sounds fine recorded, seems somewhat forced to me and maybe not right for sci-fi. But, I will continue to play around with it none the less.
- Beatles voice: An odd result to say the least, when doing short sentences with this voice it's fine. But, when doing extended ones it comes across as a Beatles' voice mixed with a slight Asian accent (despite not even intending this). Thus clearly being one I need to work on.
- Nerd: A voice that I have always wanted to pull off as my friends can, but I can't. It ended up like the Squidward one, only it was both nasily and similar to my 'high crazy' voice.
- Old man: A voice you would mess around with alongside your friends, not for a real performance. It just sadly came across as too raspy and not nearly clear enough.
- Captain Barbossa: Although I can often do this voice in my role play sessions, today it came out Scottish which was a surprise to me since I am poor at accents. But at least I now know I can do Scottish, in a way...
- Surfer dude: Very 'Bill and Ted', it's as simple and effective as it gets.
- Mickey Mouse: I am rather pleased with this impersonation, since you have to make your voice high to do so, and then keep that with any sentence you say.
- Stewie Griffin: Somehow I managed to completely butcher this characters voice as, although it is meant to be incredibly British, it came across as forced, though I wasn't expecting to do a good job since I have always been terrible with this voice.
- Shawn Connery: Not the worse interpretation in the world but, the Scottish parts come out deeper.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger: What's the voice you tend to hear when people are impersonating / mocking Arnold? Yea, pretty much the same, if not weaker than most.
- Christopher Walken / William Shatner : Despite how hard I try, I always end up mixing these two voices together. Thus, it wouldn't work as the voice would be so disjointed that the audience wouldn't know what to think of it.
As I had mixed results with some of my recordings (most likely due to recording so many in one go), I decided to give myself a break and come back to the weaker ones.
Doing so I still couldn't get the Beatles' voice right and the nerd seemed to get worse, instead sounding more like a chipmunk. However, my old man voice came out clearer and Captain Barbossa was less Scottish, but still not quite right.
Looking at the results it would appear that either my attempt at Patrick Warburton's voice or my 'high crazy' voice could be included as both are distinct and different to the existing two that we have chosen. If need be the Patrick Warburton impersonation could be used for the narrator as its deep, but not the same as the characters more relaxed and in control voice. Whereas, despite my initial thoughts on the 'high crazy' one not being right for the genre, I now feel that it could be used for the ship as, on higher lines it sounds more like a easily panicked character.
Granted, I need to go over these thoughts with my partner tomorrow so as to make sure he is ok with them and find out how we can edit our voices for the better.
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