OUAN603 - Finding Voice Actors & Recording

The method for finding voice actors suitable to voice the two characters Takahiro and Hachirō in my short animation was to look through the available voice acting services online. There are a few notable organisations that market voice talent online and some in particular have voice actors from various countries.

I used two different websites after gathering several quotes based on the length and voice actor I was looking to hire. In the end, VoiceBunny and VoiceRealm were the two I used. The process was very easy with a good level of communicated between myself and the voice actors. I was able to get several takes or have something recorded again if I wanted to make a small alteration. I tried to be as thorough as possible with directions regarding tone of voice and the actions that were taking place, also indicating things like 'laughing' or 'sighs'. Furthermore, it was important that the voices matches the context of the animation. For example, the story in the animation takes place early in the morning soon after Takahiro wakes up from an exhausting dream, so the tiredness had to be audible in the voice actors voice to make this apparent and reinforce the context of the character's mood and actions.

Having the voice acting recorded professionally was important for this project because of the language used and the ages of the characters. Despite this it has reinforced what I learnt from having voices recorded for the COP3 module in that acting, voice and sound overall has a large impact on the quality of a project and story, even more so when coupled well with visuals that have a complimentary affect on each other.