In the past I’ve talked about recording remotely. In some cases, the show will do the recording “live” together as a cast via Zoom or Discord or one of the myriad of other services that offer the ability for group online chats. Then there’s the remote recordings where the voice actor receives the script and will record the role on their own, sending the finished files to the creator. I do the latter for “Madison.” I’ve mentioned before that I, personally, am not a fan of recording together for a number of reasons. Mostly it has to be do with performance, audio quality and, truly, cast availability! (I have cast around the globe and trying to find a time when everyone is available is very difficult) So I thought I’d talk about one aspect that makes a good recording when you’re recording by yourself: multiple takes.
I ask my cast to send 2-3 takes (performances) per line. I like the takes done one right after the other. It is described in “poetry rhyming” terms as A, A, A, then B, B, B. So if the line is “Hi, Madison, how are you? Did you just get here?” It would be that performed 3 times in a row before moving to the next line.
It should be mentioned here the definition of a “line” of dialogue. I have discovered some people, especially those new to acting, confuse the term “line” with “sentence.” No. A line of dialogue is the entire speech a character says in between the other character’s dialogue. Could be one sentence. Could be a monologue of many sentences. (I was on set with Octavia Spencer who called her monologue a “big chunk of words” and since that time, Jeremy and I only refer to monologues that way!) Why is it important to do the entire line together? Because if you are trying to give a natural delivery, those two sentences, “Hi, Madison, how are you? Did you just get here?” won’t sound connected. They won’t sound like a real person saying them, if you chop up that line. In fact, more often than not, the take I prefer from an actor is with the two lines almost right on top of each other. Rather than a long pause at the period. Again, I feel that sounds more natural.
Okay, so why more than one take? Well, a couple of reasons. Firstly, we aren’t recording together. So each actor doesn’t know while they are recording, how the other actors in the scene are delivering their lines. Now for me, I give extensive “parentheticals.” These are the indicators to the actor on how to say a line such as “anxious,” “excited,” “angry,” etc. Even though it’s not proper script format in TV, film or stage scripts, I write longer descriptors. It’s my way of directing the actor when I can’t be there with them in the booth. So, it is unique to an audio drama platform with remote recording. Hopefully, as each actor reads and prepares a scene, they read those parentheticals for each character to get an idea of the tone from that character. But in the end, it is up to the dialogue editor (me) to pick the best take that works in the scene with the other actors. I have had VAs in the past say, “Oh, I thought for sure you’d choose this take, not the one you used.” But I am world building. So maybe by itself, that line was the best. But next to the other actor’s performances, there was a take that was a better fit.
And when I say 2-3 takes, what also should be noted is that each take is still the exact same voice of the character. Early on I had VAs who thought they were being helpful by doing their performance as one take in a gruff gravely voice, and then the second take in a light upbeat voice. NO! No, no, no and absolutely NOT! The VAs thought they were giving me “options.” They were actually doing the exact opposite. As the dialogue editor, I have to pick either the gruff voice or the upbeat voice for the character. He or she can’t be gruff while saying “Hi, Madison, how are you? Did you just get here?” and then all of a sudden in an upbeat voice say their next line, “Is it raining?” Yes, it’s the same actor, but the character will sound like they have multiple personalities! I ask my actors if they aren’t sure which voice to use for a role, to send me some quick sample audio and I will choose one. But if I pick gruff voice guy and only one take of each line is done in the gruff voice, I only have one take per line to choose from. Please don’t do that!
Also, the multiple takes allow for a term I would like to take credit for in audio drama shows, the “Frankenline.” As in I sew together two different takes to make one. Since the VAs are performing their 2-3 takes as the same character, just with slight variations, sometimes I prefer the first part of one line, and the second part of another. So I will splice them together. I have done this for every actor, including myself. I am looking for the best performance of the line in the scene, and if that means putting two different takes together into one to achieve that, I absolutely will!
One last request to the VAs. Multiple takes mean multiple usable takes. If you flub a line, that absolutely does not count as your take! I can’t use that! Give me 2-3 takes that are your best performance. Not 2 takes where one is you stumbling on a word and then laughing! (it has happened!)
The important take away of multiple takes is to stay true to your character in the scene. This isn’t a place to invent a second character, nor is it a place to do huge changes in performing the line that don’t make sense to the moment. It’s subtle, but it’s vital for capturing just the right delivery. And it’s not exclusive to audio drama. I have been on professional TV and film sets. Of course they get multiple takes! And, just like with audio drama, the story is ultimately told in editing.
-Chrisi (aka Madison)
