Voice Casting Services
Voice Casting with Outsource
Media
The Casting Brief
Agent and Actor Evaluation
General Auditions
Voice Casting Services
We provide comprehensive voice casting services for the UK, US
and Europe. We cast each production as we would cast a film,
stage play or radio drama. We cast in the studio, recording to
script.
Advanced
video conferencing including any video chat (Skype/Messenger
etc) enables international customers, unable to attend
sessions in person, to participate fully in all casting
sessions.
Voice Casting with Outsource Media
The casting sessions
are either cold read or to a script sent out in advance.
Sessions are usually in a recording studio and are one to one
with the director.
Cold reading is used to see how quickly an actor can think on their feet and how
they create character straight off the page. Often during production,
lines are changed and new ones added without notice, so a cold read audition
gives us a good idea of how an actor works under pressure. Also production
scripts may not contain understandable context so taking direction is very
important.
Casting and production scripts are prepared in Excel. But in casting and production the script is a diiferent beast altogether. The script is usually a dynamic 'live'
feed using an advanced form of autocue that can emulate complex game behaviour and bring a wealth of audio and visual cues to the actors in the studio.
The script system has been designed to get extremely accurate and subtle performances that can be reviewed in context as the recording progresses.
The way we work and the commitment we expect from the actors
differs from what are the expected 'norms' of voice work in
games so please take note of the casting brief especially the
production expectations section.
The Casting Brief
The casting brief
usually follows the standard format below. It needs to
be followed. Part of our production evaluation and
review process concerns how well the brief is followed. (see 'Agent
and Actor Evaluation')
Title: Description of the type of casting
- computer game voice casting - radio
comedy casting - etc, etc
Production: Production name -
or working title
Genre: Type of production - computer game, radio
play etc
Casting
contact:
who to contact, how to contact them and when casting
applications are accepted.
Submission content:
This details how to apply. Often all we just want is an email
with the actor's name, the role(s) they are applying for and a
single sentence explaining why they are considered good for
the role(s). We don't want attachments, headshots, full
CV's or audio samples. Submissions must include a
contact name, telephone numbers (office, mobile/out of hours),
and contact email address, as text, in the body of the email.
Roles to be cast: Normally separated by gender and
giving a brief character/voice description
Casting date(s): When
Casting location:
Where
Casting director:
Who
Production date(s): Actual or
probable dates
Production location: Where the
production recordings will take place
Production expectations: This details the expected
commitment from the actor. Increasingly this will not be a
straight forward voice session but a long term commitment that
may span months, even years and may involve rehearsals and
script and character workshops and motion capture sessions. -
A simple example: A full day script workshop with the
writer, 2 half day rehearsals, 4 x 3 hour sessions between Jan
and August, 1/2 day ensemble recording Sept. pickup session
Oct etc.
Fee: The fee will normally be a fixed offer and
will include buyouts. Buyouts are product specific, worldwide,
all time.
Payment terms:
Normally 30 days month end from receipt of invoice but
sometimes payment will be dependent on receipt of payment from
our client. You will be kept informed as to progress and you
will be given a contact name and email for all accounts
enquiries.
Agent and Actor Evaluation
Every production we do is evaluated. One element
is the casting evaluation which records the performance of
both the actors at the audition and the agents during and
after submissions. Actor and agent alike are scored according
to various criterion. The below tables list the criterion and
scoring structure. The scores influence how the actor or
agent is prioritized for future voice casting.
|
Agents
|
|
Score
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
|
Actor's
actual audition score
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carpet
bomber (sends too many actors with too little detail)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Followed the submission brief
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Communicated as directed in the brief
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Submission included contact email and phone number
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Actors
sent for audition are available for production
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Easy
(concise, friendly & available) to communicate with
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Actors
|
|
Audition Performance Score |
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
|
Suitability for the role - Right for the role (Superb)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good
for the role (Excellent)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Possibly OK for the role (Passable)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Uninspired performance (Forgettable)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Awful
performance (Dreadful)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listens
to direction and modifies accordingly
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read
skill and character interpretation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mic and
script handling technique
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mouth/body noise/awareness
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
Audition Scores
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
|
On time
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prepared & knows what's expected
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Questions asked (pertinent or irrelevant)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is
polite and friendly with production staff
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accommodating/flexible - with delays etc
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional actual production scores/stats
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
|
Clean
takes vs. retakes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Personable
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Focussed vs. procrastinator
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recording speed measured against statistical averages
(words/lines per hour)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost
(£/line - actual statistic)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good
day/bad day
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The matrix
scoring and score interpretation
|
|
Score
|
Action
|
|
A =
Superb
|
A-List
- gets priority
|
|
B =
Excellent
|
B-List
(filter down)
|
|
C =
Passable
|
C-list
|
|
D =
Dreadful - Agent will be contacted to discuss score. -
Why was the actor submitted?
|
D-list
(last resort)
|
|
E =
Unforgivable - An E average should never happen.
|
Blacklist
|
|
If an actor or agent wants feedback
regarding their own audition and production scores
they are free to ask.
|
General Auditions
These auditions are via invitation only. They
enable us to get a clear view of what the actor can and cannot do. The
general auditions are specifically designed to stretch the actor to the
extremes of their performance ability. We will try to find the boundaries of
the actors range and their comfort zones.
The general audition is an hour-long workout. It is part
prepared, as the actor will get a script in advance, and part cold read.
The audition's focus is on character, age, archetypes and accents. The
session is recorded. Extracts from the session will be added to our actor
database to help with profiling and to provide clients and the casting team
with pre-casting sample
s
© Outsource Media 2010
