Working remotely for years

Runaways Studio is a fully remote collective of devs, and this work mode affects voice-over as well.

The cast is called for the project periodically, but time passes from one session to another, and many changes occur within a game this complex to design (for many reasons I won't elaborate here). 

Important to highlight: this project is currently a side hustle for us members of the core team and our collaborators; this means that the process you're going to read about was the outcome of workflow management, effective communication, wonderful professionalism, and some drops of sweat on our paperback agendas.

I know they know

One thing I deeply care about is keeping my actors in the loop. Building the collaboration throughout the years allows me to trust them not only in not disclosing information, but also in understanding the changes on a deep level. This ultimately improves their work and commitment. Voice actors are your ultimate writing buddies, the sound of your story: you want them fully invested in the characters and their world, which comes from feeling listened to and getting involved soon. 

The narrative round table

Due to time limitations, I had to finish the draft right after our meeting. In this occasion, the actors' feedback was acknowledged: some of those characters' traits were well-understood and memorable, others were lacking. 

The design of the characters and their psychology is directly affected by their actors' perspective on them. This saves me - writer, narrative designer, communication team member, co-founder - a lot of time, optimising the resources and enjoying beautiful exchanges.

During the meeting, a lot of considerations were brought up. One actress enjoyed how her character had a "way more sassy" outlook. This confirmed to me that the feeling of artificiality in the previous script was successfully avoided this time around and the characters were better represented.

On the other hand, the actor playing our player-character struggled to grasp his soul, feeling like he'd express the thoughts too linearly. His uncertainty was expected, because I'd been struggling too - this is exactly why these conversations are golden: feedback aligning with your personal sensations, regardless of its content, proves you're in the right track. It's finally become fundamental to convey and embrace the PC's complex nature fully, with all his BIG flaws that, apparently, I was holding back from. 

Edits and polishing

Few edits were possible before the deadline: they were all decided based on the way the actors either struggled or instinctively understood the subtext in each line. Listening to the characters' actual voices is the best method to flee from the self-centered cage of writers, believing their own interpretation of the content shall be the exact same for the rest of the world.

Takes and takeaways

The actors were instructed to send different takes of each line in a .wav format. While waiting for them, I prepared the tracker in a Google Sheet with the nomenclature and all notes related to the implementation in the engine (I use Articy:Draft X).

Based on the main actor's feedback on the PC, the direction worked to stress a cold, superior attitude, and display fake calm. Nerian's character was spared the posh subtone for a more open sense of wonder. Penelope was painted with new darker nuances, still keeping her typical sense of humor.

The script format is essential, especially when working remotely. I wrote a specific legenda and designed a little diagram to show the sequences of the scenes; I used multiple columns when branching popped up consistently, and illustrated the gameplay that led to one line or the other. Each scene has a short introduction that gives more context. As the actors had been already presented with a format that broke the linearity of a standard script, these notes were just further support.

Even VO direction deserves a post-mortem

Finally, I collected the actors' feedback about the process. The main actor and I will work on the character's personality and right voice in one-on-one sessions, technical tools for recording will be explored to simplify the remote collaboration process, and more real-time rehearsals will be scheduled. This is a list of useful feedback I received in this phase:

• The actors felt a part of the team and the project. The meeting was a great moment for them and all subsequent organizational choices were considered great to compensate the distance and busy schedules (e.g. setting up priorities to have multiple deadlines and focus on less content altogether).

• The additional notes were extremely useful, though seeing the game directly and working closely in a studio would have better suited their needs.

Therefore, the following improved pipeline will be followed in the next future:

1. A sample scene will be sent to each actor to underline the performance style and narrative needs. Their performance shall be the first blueprint for the writing, editing and directing process ahead.

2. The final draft of the script with the nomenclature will be provided to the actors. 

3. In the meantime, a meeting will laser-focus on all feedback collected, questions and next deadlines. This also implies updates on the project.

4. A real-time reading will be scheduled with the final version, already transcribed in the tracker for post-production and implementation. 

5. Recording and direction for each line.