SFOCAST THEATER: Casting Thread

[DZComposer]

Casting for Gorgon story. Note: If you want the part of a major character, please try to be available for the entire Gorgon story (six episodes?). Things will move much faster if I don't have to completely recast each episode.

The script is still coming. I hope to have it finished this weekend. I have decided to start casting for what I am sure is in the story at this point.

Here is how this works: I will post the characters, and some lines. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE LINES I GIVE YOU IN THE STATED STYLE. You may submit additional material if you want, but it won't have much weight.

Things you will need for this:

1. a microphone

2. a sound card

3. some way to get the sound files to me

4. a pop filter of some kind. If you don't have one, you can make one out of panty hose and a wire coat hanger. Don't want to do that? Hold a piece of cloth between you and the mic. This prevents ugly noises on Ps, Rs, Ts, etc.

5. Minimize background and hardware noise. It doesn't have to be pro-quality, but overly noisy auditions will be rejected.

I recommend all voice actors have a copy of Audacity (Win/Mac/Lin). That way you can edit your clips, remove noise, pops, excess silence, and unintended sound before and after the line.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

Audacity is open source, so it is free and absolutely safe to download.

Major Characters:

Narrator - Male or Female

1. { STORY INTRO } "It's been three years since the Aparoid Invasion. Much of Lylat is still recovering. Decades of war have left the system a little worse for wear, but none were as brutal as the Aparoid Invasion. "

2. { BETWEEN SCENES } "Oikonny has a team of men searching the planet for one of the three remaining Gorgons. Oikonny knew the power of his uncle's greatest weapon."

3. { ACTION ASSISTANCE } "The men grudgingly resumed their work cleaning the object."

4. { ACTION ASSISTANCE } "Under Richter's eye, the diggers dug the new hole. Deeper than the first. All the way until they found the door to the structure."

Fox McCloud - Male

1. { HARSH AND CONCERNED } "But it almost didn't happen that way. If that enemy gunship didn't jam, both you and Falco would be dead right now."

2. { RESPECTFUL } "Thank you, General. Not only for what you did for us, but for all of Lylat. "

3. { ANGRY (You may shout ) } "Don't you get it?! This is to protect you!"

4. { HEARTBROKEN } "I don't think she's coming back... She said she... she said... she never wanted to see me again..."

Falco Lombardi- Male

1. { COMPLAINING } "Fox, I thought you were going to order different food every now and then. To be honest, I'm getting tired of these damn noodles. "

2. { CONCERNED } "Geez, Fox, calm down. I'd feel pretty shitty, too, if I was in charge of the ships and that happened."

3. { ANNOYED } "I think you're upset because Krystal was involved."

4. { AFTER SEEING FOX BEAT UP ON ROB } "Calm down, man!"

5. { GLOATING } "Burned to the ground."

Slippy Toad- Male, with high pitch

1. { CONCERNED GUILT } "Sure thing, Fox. I won't rest until I find out why her engine quit. I will also consult with my father about it. I... I feel like this is my fault... I'm in charge of maintenance and something went wrong..."

2. { NORMAL CONVERSATION } "And you deserve all the peace you want. I know I couldn't do your job. I don't take to stress very well..."

3. { ANNOYED } "But we can't afford that. We'd have to compensate him for having to stay on board these long-hauls."

4. { AFTER SEEING FOX BEAT UP ON ROB } "Fox! Stop! You'll damage him! Falco! Help me get him off of ROB!"

Krystal - Female

1. { COMFORTING } "Slippy, don't kill yourself over it. It was just a glitch. I'm fine, and you all are OK as well. That is the important part."

2. { CONCERNED } "Are you OK, general? You look very tired."

3. { ANGRY } "Put me back on the crew list, now!"

4. { HEARTBROKEN, CRYING } "You've changed... You're not the Fox I fell in love with... Over the past two months, you've become a total asshole... You want me off the team? Fine... I'm gone. "

ROB64 - Male

1. { ROBOTIC } "Incoming message from General Pepper. Normal priority."

2. { ROBOTIC } "Transmission terminated on remote end."

3. { ROBOTIC } "You will damage my circuits and joints if you continue."

General Lupus - Male - Interim replacement for General Pepper * these lines may not appear in final script

1. { INTRODUCING HIMSELF } "Star Fox, my name is Genral Lupus. I am the interim commander-in-chief of the CDF until a final replacement for General Pepper is selected.

2. { CONCERNED } "It seems that despite the truce, Oikonny is operating outside of Fortuna. He has sent a fleet for Titania. We are senging our own fleet to meet it. I want your team to investigate why he is making this move."

3. { RELIEVED } "Great work, Star Fox. I now see why Pepper trusted you so much. You have now earned my trust, as well."

Andrew Oikonny- Male - Leader of Venomian Empire* these lines may not appear in final script

1. { ANNOYED } "Don't disturb me with priority-one calls unless you know for sure that you've found it. There were six Gorgon bases under construction at the end of the war in addition to the hiding places."

2. { SHOCKED AND ANGRY } "WHAT?! They were attacked?! Was it the Cornerians?"

3. { ANGRY } "You stole from me, Latrans! If you want a war, then congratulations, you now have one!"

4. { ANGRY } "You violated the truce when your ships attacked mine. I was merely protecting an interest of mine from pirates."

General Latrans- Male - Leader of New Venom Empire (NVE), Main Villain * these lines may not appear in final script

1. { DOUBTFUL } "Are you absolutely sure he has one? We have had false reports before. I only wish to be contacted when one is found!"

2. { ANGRY } "You have FAILED ME, O'Donnell. I am warning you that you are very lucky. I normally do not tolerate failure."

3. { VICTORIOUS } "Look at the fools run. They had no idea what they were up against. You know? I almost feel sorry for them. Not really..."

4. { ANNOYED } "You are worthy of possessing a Gorgon as much as you are worthy of being emperor: COMPLETELY UNWORTHY, AND A DISGRACE TO YOUR UNCLE'S EMPIRE! And if you really want war with me, fine! You will be crushed!"

Minor Characters:

General Pepper- Male - Retiring CDF General

1. { Normal Conversation } "I've always wanted to have a home on Lake Miyamoto. The fishing there is excellent. There is a very nice secluded lakeside property for sale right now. I'm going to cash-out my investments, pay cash for it, and spend the remainder of my days catching fish and living off of my well-deserved pension. "

2. { Relief } "Excellent. I am glad that I could always count on you."

Baggins- Male - An archaeologist hired by Oikonny

1. { Annoyed } " You can get a break when you completely expose this object. Keep Digging."

2. { Giving Orders } " Men! Sorry to interrupt your break, but Lieutenant Richter is coming. I want that object dusted off and washed before he gets here. You can then resume your break when he arrives in 15 minutes."

Diggers - Male or Female -  Men working for Baggins, 4 total

1. { Annoyed } "Yeah, we needs a break! I'm dyin' a-thirst ovah here!"

2. { Complaining } " This sucks, man. It's total B.S.!"

Guards- Male or Female - Venomian Guards at various places. Several, not sure of final number.

1. { Informative }  "Lieutenant Richter is coming. He ordered me to inform you that he will be here in 15 minutes."

2. { Authoritative } "Halt! This is a restricted area! I need to see some ID before you can pass."

Lieutenant Richter- Male – A sarcastic Lieutenant in Oikonny's army. In charge of Titania search.

1. { annoyed, ending in sarcasm } " Ugh... Why did the emperor hire you? Anyhow, this is clearly the top portion of a corner column for a large ship hangar. You actually found something."

2. { ANGRY } "Listen, chump. If you don't bring that backhoe over here, you're a dead man."

Herbert Porkins/NVE Spy- Male - Oikonny's personal assistant, who also happens to be a spy for the NVE... Pigs and treachery go hand-in-hand in Star Fox. lol. (Yes, his name is an Itoh Comic reference )

1. { Butler-like } "Is there anything I can get you sir? A glass of wine? Something to eat?"

2. { quietly, as if avoiding detection } "I overhead him talking with an officer named Richter. Somewhere on Titania, they have found a Gorgon. I didn't actually see it on the screen, but what Richter said definitely means they have one."

I will add more minor characters as the script continues.

[DZComposer]

There will be several guards. I'd say chances are you'll get a few lines.

A couple of things, though: 1. There is some weird crackling noise on your mic. It isn't bad, but if possible see if you can get rid of it. It kind of sounds like you're on a radio. 2. Record at a consistent, full toned, volume. Things will be less noisy if I don't have to bump the gain on the clips.

EVERYONE:

The diggers: The accent is optional. I do have one digger with that accent, but not all four of them have it. (sans-accent: Yeah, we need a break! I'm dying of thirst over here! )

You CAN audition for multiple parts.

Remember: YOU are in the situation described! Don't make it obvious you are reading lines!

Watch out for clipping (distortion caused by too loud). Not only does it sound extremely bad, it is also hard on my equipment. If you give me a file that clips noticeably, I will reject it. Even if you've been accepted to the part. Ways to fix clipping: 1. turn down record volume 2: don't eat the mic 3: face slightly away from the mic. Be careful with shouting/angry lines. They'll be the ones that are most likely to clip.

Here is a spoken list of characters to help with pronunciation. That way there is consistency.

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/chars_1.mp3

EDIT:

Some examples:

Latrans lines:

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/latrans1.wav

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/latrans2.wav

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/latrans3.wav (make sure to pause between "sorry for them" and "not really," else it kills it. Not Really is the punch line.)

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/latrans4.wav

Digger w/ Accent:

http://www.corneriasound.com/voiceacting/sfocast/diggeraccent.wav

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Good luck...wish I had a mic and a sound card and stuff...oh well, I can't wait to hear and see all of these stories when they're done

[Star Fox Runner]

I'll try and get one up tomorrow, everyone is asleep right now, and I don't want them up.

[Star Fox Runner]

Double Post

I got em' up and ready.

Slippy I just really enjoy doing Slippy's voice.

ROB I went ahead and robotized my voice myself, if you don't want that I will change it.

Narrator

Falco I dropped my voice a little using garageband for him.

[Rapidfire]

Alas, I lack the technology for voice recording, but I did want to throw in my lone observation. Runner, your Slippy voice is quite awesome. I can only stay in that vocal range for so long before my eyes start to water. 

Also, I'll see what I can do about banging out the rest of my script by the end of the weekend as well.

[Sylum]

This will be for Baggins

http://www.sendspace.com/file/quxvyl

and heres the other

http://www.sendspace.com/file/x6njmi

[Asper Sarnoff]

Slippy I just really enjoy doing Slippy's voice.

You ENJOY doing Slippy's voice?!? Got to give you credit though, you sound really good as him.

[DZComposer]

This will be for Baggins

http://www.sendspace.com/file/quxvyl

and heres the other

http://www.sendspace.com/file/x6njmi

Those are a little bit too noisy. Try to eliminate the clicks and do what you can to reduce the white noise. If you need to, download Audacity and use it's noise removal function.

I went ahead and de-noised them, but I do not have time to de-noise everybody's lines. Please do that yourself if at all possible.

I recommend all voice actors have a copy of Audacity (Win/Mac/Lin). That way you can edit your clips, remove noise, pops, excess silence, and unintended sound before and after the line.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

Audacity is open source, so it is free and absolutely safe to download.

Of course if you have another program, you may use it. Though if your software doesn't have a de-noise function, Audacity is still worth downloading.

FYI, this will be assembled in Cubase and finalized in Wavelab (NOT free):

http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/musicproduction.html (though I use version 3...)

http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audioediting_product.html

[Sylum]

Ok. I was using Goldwave. I think it has a noise cancelling feature. Other than the noise, how were they?

[Star Fox Runner]

GarageBand has noise filters which I experimented with till I found the best one I could get, I did my best canceling out ambient noise from my computer's air vent and my house's air vents by covering them with blankets. (I didn't cover the computer completely because I know that could damage it.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Double Post

I got em' up and ready.

Slippy I just really enjoy doing Slippy's voice.

ROB I went ahead and robotized my voice myself, if you don't want that I will change it.

Narrator

Falco I dropped my voice a little using garageband for him.

you did those almost TOO WELL, dude, great job!

Damn, I'd kill for a good mic and sound card (and the know how to properly upload my voice onto here)...

Sylum, I saw the youtube like in your signature, that video you made...AWESOME!  I love the soundtrack, especially!

[Star Fox Runner]

you did those almost TOO WELL, dude, great job!

Thank You.

[DZComposer]

I will not be able to finish the script this weekend, as I did something stupid: I left the flash drive that it was on in a computer at work.

Unfortunately, I work for a university and the drive is in a machine in a computer lab. Now it is between semesters, so I am reasonably confident that the drive will be there when I return on Monday, but there is a chance someone could walk-off with it. I really hope that doesn't happen. I had other things on it, too, plus the only other copy I have is that PDF I posted earlier, which is neither current nor editable.

Yay for not making backups... I know better than that.

Sorry guys.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Sorry to hear that.

Remember: Errare humanum est.

But also: Sed perseverare diabolicum.

Let us hope you find it just like you left it.

[Andrew McCloud]

I must say, SF Runner, you do a great job of Slippy's voice.

I'll have some stuff up tonight or tomorrow night DZC.

Here we go:

Narrator- http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/8/16/2545107/Narrator.wav

Fox- http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/8/16/2545107/Fox%20McCloud.wav

GEN. Lupus- http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/8/16/2545107/General%20Lupus.wav

GEN. Latrans- http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/8/16/2545107/General%20Latrans.wav

[Sylum]

Hey DZ was your stuff still there today?

[DZComposer]

Yes. The flash drive is now in my possession.

My apologies for the delay.

[Star Fox Runner]

Yes. The flash drive is now in my possession.

My apologies for the delay.

No problem.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Yes. The flash drive is now in my possession.

My apologies for the delay.

That's good to hear, we know you're doing your best DZ.

[Rapidfire]

Alrighty then. My script is done. I'll be sending it to you straightaway, DZ, so you can take a look at it and approve it.

For the sake of making a tentative list of roles, pending DZ's final approval of the script, here they are (if there is no sex listed by the role, it can be filled by either):

Narrator

Fox McCloud (male)

Slippy Toad (male)

Falco Lombardi (male)

Weasel

Pirates #1, 2, and 3

Lance De Velanova (male)

Katt Monroe (female)

Bill Grey (male)

Peppy Hare (male)

[Sabre]

I made a pop screen out of card and tights. Haven't tried it out, but if you blow on it, the air comes out the other side hot. Friction?

Cut a squad out of some card, cut a square out in the middle of that. fold the sides 90 degrees for a bit of stregth. Pop tights over it, done. If you want, you clue the sides together.

The card bit should look like a shallow, square bowl witha hole in the bottom.

[Guest RedPhoenix32]

What parts are left? Because I can be Fox.

[DZComposer]

I haven't made any decisions yet. You may submit an audition if you wish.

[Guest RedPhoenix32]

I will tomorrow.