Project Future Radio Show: Announcement

[Jairus]

Project Future Radio Series
Based on the comic by J.P. Morris, aka "Tapewolf"
Organized by Jairus, Edited by Pagan

Most of you are probably aware of The DMFA Radio Series Project, which is basically organized and edited by Tapewolf. Well, this is going to be similar: an audio play adaptation of Project Future, also by Tapewolf. However, we'll be doing a few things differently, and what with Tape already balancing a whole bunch of other things at this point, he shall not be organizing or editing this show: those duties at this point will be fulfilled by myself and Pagan respectively. At this point, we're still basically just pulling the project together, so this is more an announcement of what we're up to and also a casting call, considering we have precisely five voices at this point (Tapewolf, Pagan, Keaton, brunhidden, and myself).

Current Cast of Players:
Tapewolf - Niall Jakobsohn/Nilson Ausmann
Jairus - Jakob Pettersohn
Pagan - miscellaneous background voices
Keaton - Kirian
Brunhidden - Oskar/Ashley
Tezkat - Daryil and the Panthers
Sofox
JamesCray - Farlane
llearch n'n'daCorna - Joshua/Mayor Tiandrial
Cogidubnus - Lord Page
James StarRunner

Current cast list and accent/dialect:
Narrator
Joshua Oswald - British dialect, a bit like James Bond
Kristofer Ausmann - possibly slight Scandinavian accent or German accent
Nilson Ausmann* - British dialect
Oskar van Erikson*
Jakob Pettersohn - slight Scandinavian accent
Lord Page - has a certain nobility to him, occasionally lapses and sounds like a hippy, except when he plays the Dark Master
Lord Ikaarion Daryil - bright and cheerful
Panther R-MAC - clean and human sounding
Panther L-TRK - more robotic
Farlane - a pilot
Kirian - female, likely high-pitched
Niall Jakobsohn* - British dialect
Dorcan Ja'Fell - British dialect
Ashley Daryil*

* Oskar/Ashley and Niall/Nilson will likely end up having the same voice actor for each pair.

[Brunhidden]

i know a swede who may be persuaded to do a role if we cajole him enough

[Tezkat]

JP isn't playing himself?


As I indicated earlier via PM, I'm game for helping out. Since they seem to be open, I guess I'll start by trying out for the panthers and Lord Daryil. Panthers are inherently awesome, and Daryil amuses me. Plus they don't have too many lines.

Daryil's got a British accent, right? It'd be a stretch to deliver lines like "Ta for the dream, mate!" with an American accent (except maybe Brahmin). How... um... "fabulous" do you want him?

Do the two panthers sound alike? By "more robotic", do you mean channeling Stephen Hawking's flat intonation, or is this more of an effect you hope to achieve in post-production?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Daryil's got a British accent, right? It'd be a stretch to deliver lines like "Ta for the dream, mate!" with an American accent (except maybe Brahmin). How... um... "fabulous" do you want him?

Oh, I say. Rather, old chap. Jolly good show, wot wot? ;-]

[Tapewolf]

JP isn't playing himself?

No.  Firstly he was originally supposed to have a Scandinavian accent, though honestly, I don't care about that so much these days.  Secondly, he's liable to have a different voice between Kris and Jakob.  The other form he uses (when that shows up) has a different voice again.
There is also another reason that I'd rather not go into here.  We may need the same actor for other work later on.

Daryil's got a British accent, right? It'd be a stretch to deliver lines like "Ta for the dream, mate!" with an American accent (except maybe Brahmin).

Daryil doesn't have to have a British accent.  I'd be quite happy with him sounding like the  guy in Lard or the B-52s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry0TyIJXgoU (The Power of Lard)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE_7PK6cPpQ (Channel Z: see around 1:11)

...both of those seem to have had the audio track compressed to crap, but I hope it make some kind of sense.

How... um... "fabulous" do you want him?

Vary it.  By default he doesn't 'sound gay'.  However, there are points where he should - one of which is upcoming in the next few weeks.

Do the two panthers sound alike? By "more robotic", do you mean channeling Stephen Hawking's flat intonation, or is this more of an effect you hope to achieve in post-production?

Mac sounds perfectly human.
L-TRK (I think no-one has worked out the easter egg there) and most of the others have a slightly more mechanical delivery, slightly Dalek-like, or like Xerxes in System Shock II.  ("The family, of the Many, grows.  With every, passing, moment.").  I suggested using pitch-manipulation in post like we did with Dark Pegasus.

Here's Xerxes: http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/xxrmsg09.aiff.mp3


One thing I would like to point out is that while Jakob and Kris should sound distinctly different, Oskar and Ashley, and Niall and Nilson aren't using such deep disguises, and arguably should have the same VA.  Personally I think it makes it more confusing, particularly for Nilson who suddenly turns into Niall with little warning or explanation, since it was already implied earlier.
Jay disagrees on this count, but in the end it's up to him
IMHO that approach will only really work if you do a video of it as well (And I can provide all the frames for that with the speech bubbles missing on request).


**EDIT**
Guys, you forgot the narrator.  There isn't much narration, but there is some.

Also, in my haste to define Page, I forgot to point out that while he has been exposed to the 1960s counterculture, he has also been an adventurer and the ruler of a city-state.  So it would be best if he had a certain nobility to him as well - don't go full-out Neil on him.

**EDIT EDIT**
Now that I think about it, the hippie talk is probably something he lapses into on occasion rather than doing it all the time.  There are a few serious moments when he should absolutely not do it.




At the risk of redundancy, I'll post the original descriptions of the accents that I sent to Jay:



Jakob was originally supposed to have a slightly Scandinavian accent (there are still wild wolves there, unlike the UK).  I'm not quite sure whether Kris has the same voice or not.  I'd imagined he does, but it probably helps a radio production if they're different... I played Shaman-Wildy in Warrior For Hire myself for this reason.
If they are different voices, Kristofer Ausmann would have a slight German accent.
Note that Jakob is likely to [redacted] in a few [redacted] - I'd prefer to have the same actor for him in both series.

Niall/Nilson had a different upbringing so he's likely to have a different accent again - I'd like to voice him myself if possible.  Joshua is the James Bond type so he should ideally have an BBC-style English accent and mannerisms.

Dorcan was written with a view to him having a British accent - I imagine him sounding a bit like Simon Jones (Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), though we also need him to go on a bender, much like Dan is at the moment.
I had my eye on Dorcan myself, but after trying a few of the upcoming lines, I wasn't quite convinced I could do it quite how I wanted.

For Kirian, you ideally want a higher-pitched female voice with the same kind of fairy-dust I use on Fi.  This is basically a large amount of phasing with some echo.  If you have access to a Zoom RFX-2000 I can send you the program data, or alternatively if you send me the recordings you want processed I can do that and send them back to you.

I realise that my vision of how the characters sound might not be practical, but that's how I imagined them.  I'm curious to see what you'll come up with.

....

Niall and Nilson have a fairly plain British accent.  Think Merlitz in the Radio Project.

Farlane sounds like a pilot.  If there is a certain amount of distortion in his voice, so much the better.  Think the military bots in System Shock 2.  (I can provide a sound sample, but not right now)

Page normally speaks like a hippie, except for when he's doing his Dark Master bit.  Think of Nigel Planer in The Young Ones (you'll probably need YouTube for that)
[edit: see disclaimer above]

Daryil, I honestly don't know.  He should sound bright and cheerful.

R-MAC has a clean, human-sounding voice, L-TRK is more robotic.  Might want to consider pitch-shifting like we did with Dark Pegasus.

[Sofox]

Hey, cool to see you're doing this.
I'd like to help out with the voicework. Little known fact about me: I took a lot of drama classes when I was in school and one of the think I specialised in was English accents.

[Tapewolf]

Hey, cool to see you're doing this.
I'd like to help out with the voicework. Little known fact about me: I took a lot of drama classes when I was in school and one of the think I specialised in was English accents.

Cool - most of the characters in the series I imagine as British-sounding (well, duh...)

[Tezkat]

Daryil doesn't have to have a British accent.  I'd be quite happy with him sounding like the  guy in Lard or the B-52s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry0TyIJXgoU (The Power of Lard)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE_7PK6cPpQ (Channel Z: see around 1:11)

...both of those seem to have had the audio track compressed to crap, but I hope it make some kind of sense.

[...]

By default he doesn't 'sound gay'.  However, there are points where he should - one of which is upcoming in the next few weeks.

Heh. I'd have trouble mimicking Fred Sneider without sounding really gay. Because he does, you know, sound really gay. Jello Biafra has a noticeable lisp, as well.

I suppose what you had in mind there was rather the energetic, punchy delivery of the spoken song?

Anyways... I'll play with it a bit and see what I come up with.

Mac sounds perfectly human.
L-TRK (I think no-one has worked out the easter egg there) and most of the others have a slightly more mechanical delivery, slightly Dalek-like, or like Xerxes in System Shock II.  ("The family, of the Many, grows.  With every, passing, moment.").  I suggested using pitch-manipulation in post like we did with Dark Pegasus.

Here's Xerxes: http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/xxrmsg09.aiff.mp3

When I asked whether they sounded alike, I wanted to know more if they should be recognizably the same VA. So I'd create a voice for Mac, for instance, and then just flatten the accent/emotions for his dumber brothers. Maybe add a flanger or something in post.

Or should the upgraded panthers be distinctive and unique?

One thing I would like to point out is that while Jakob and Kris should sound distinctly different, Oskar and Ashley, and Niall and Nilson aren't using such deep disguises, and arguably should have the same VA.  Personally I think it makes it more confusing, particularly for Nilson who suddenly turns into Niall with little warning or explanation, since it was already implied earlier.
Jay disagrees on this count, but in the end it's up to him
IMHO that approach will only really work if you do a video of it as well (And I can provide all the frames for that with the speech bubbles missing on request).

Well... I personally think it would be more confusing if they had different VAs. The first transition in Jakob's case is fairly obvious, at least (shapeshifting SFX + "ZOMG! CUBI!!!"). Changing the voice could damage the emotional investment listeners have built up, as voice is their only tie to the characters.

They don't even look all that different in Creature form...

[Tapewolf]

I suppose what you had in mind there was rather the energetic, punchy delivery of the spoken song?

Anyways... I'll play with it a bit and see what I come up with.

Pretty much, yes.  See what you can do.

When I asked whether they sounded alike, I wanted to know more if they should be recognizably the same VA. So I'd create a voice for Mac, for instance, and then just flatten the accent/emotions for his dumber brothers. Maybe add a flanger or something in post.
Or should the upgraded panthers be distinctive and unique?

Difficult to say.  There is actually a scene where someone is resurrected as a panther later on - for that it would be best if they kept the same VA as when they were alive, by the same reasoning as Niall/Nilson.  With that in mind, different VAs would help.

They don't even look all that different in Creature form...

Niall and Ashley certainly don't, though Ash is partly Ren's fault because he couldn't do a Caracal properly    Niall and Nilson was my fault because I thought he looked so awesome as a grey fox.
That I think, is one of the reasons we should keep the same VA for both forms.

As for Kris/Jakob, the transformation scene certainly brings out the similarities because I only had the 'Cubi line-art and had to convert that back into Kris myself.

[Jairus]

Ah, welcome aboard Tezkat! I don't recall getting the PM, but I might have just missed it!

One thing I would like to point out is that while Jakob and Kris should sound distinctly different, Oskar and Ashley, and Niall and Nilson aren't using such deep disguises, and arguably should have the same VA.  Personally I think it makes it more confusing, particularly for Nilson who suddenly turns into Niall with little warning or explanation, since it was already implied earlier.
Jay disagrees on this count, but in the end it's up to him

Well, it's more of a worry about not having many cast members. But, as I said, we'll see how things line up when we get there.

And welcome about to you too, Sofox!

And... I'll probably have more interesting things to say when I finish waking up. Suffice to say, it looks like this project is starting to move forward. Yay!

Daryil's got a British accent, right? It'd be a stretch to deliver lines like "Ta for the dream, mate!" with an American accent (except maybe Brahmin). How... um... "fabulous" do you want him?

Oh, I say. Rather, old chap. Jolly good show, wot wot? ;-]

*shudders* I only do that with the atrocious British dialect when I'm feeling silly. Do people over there actually talk like that?

[Tapewolf]

*shudders* I only do that with the atrocious British dialect when I'm feeling silly. Do people over there actually talk like that?

AFAIK I've only heard it in sitcoms. 

[Amber Williams]

If I wasnt such a fail-lord, I would totally go for Kirian. But sadly my failure is epic in its levels.

[Tapewolf]

If I wasnt such a fail-lord, I would totally go for Kirian. But sadly my failure is epic in its levels.

The warp-aci do have the advantage that their voices are very heavily processed.

[Jairus]

If I wasnt such a fail-lord, I would totally go for Kirian. But sadly my failure is epic in its levels.

Well, I was actually thinking "Narrator" as a sort of in-joke. But may I consider you aboard, Amber?

Also, armed with knowledge of the future, I know that Keaton does not wish to play herself when the time comes.

[Amber Williams]

I lack any decent recording device. Other than the headset I currently have...but I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to how to make the recording sound like it has quality or a professional feel. And I dont really have the time nor attention span to sit down and take a lot of time to learn how.

It's the main reason I never did anything for the DMFA radio project. That and I cant help but feel my voice is completely hideous.

[Jairus]

I lack any decent recording device. Other than the headset I currently have...but I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to how to make the recording sound like it has quality or a professional feel. And I dont really have the time nor attention span to sit down and take a lot of time to learn how.

Well, there are a few easy tricks that can be tried (turning off electronic items around you, making sure the heater or AC doesn't turn on suddenly), but if you don't really feel comfortable doing it then that's alright too. I'd love to sneak you in somehow, though.

It's the main reason I never did anything for the DMFA radio project. That and I cant help but feel my voice is completely hideous.

And now you know why one of the hardest things for anyone to do is to get me to watch or listen to anything I'm in. My voice is one of the most annoying things I can hear. Though if I want to play Jakob, I'll certainly have to get used to listening to it. *shudders and weeps*

[Tapewolf]

Am I going to have to post my 'how I got past hating my voice' pep talk again? 

[Jairus]

Am I going to have to post my 'how I got past hating my voice' pep talk again? 

Sure, why not? Actually, maybe it wouldn't hurt for all of us to hear it.

[Tapewolf]

Sure, why not? Actually, maybe it wouldn't hurt for all of us to hear it.

I may well have said this already, but there was a time when I was starting out with the music thing, around 2003.  I was only recording instrumentals because I hated the sound of my voice, it just sounded crappy.

What changed my mind was seeing the making of 'The Dark Side of the Moon'.  This was an interesting program where they took the original multitracks from the album and played them back in isolation.  Hearing Pink Floyd sing without any echo or reverb suddenly made me realise that Roger Waters had a crappy voice too, yet that album remained in the charts for eight years solid.

What I did then was I invested in a semi-decent microphone and an effects unit (the Zoom module I mentioned to Pagan).  I began to record songs after that, using a small amount of echo and reverb to thicken my voice.  In 2005 we started doing the DMFA radio project, and for the first time I was forced to record vocals without any effects.
I suddenly realised that my voice had either improved, or more likely, there was nothing wrong with it in the first place and it was all in my head.

[Sofox]

Yeah, what Tapewolf said.

I lack any decent recording device. Other than the headset I currently have...but I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to how to make the recording sound like it has quality or a professional feel. And I dont really have the time nor attention span to sit down and take a lot of time to learn how.

Really? Just open a sound recorder, press the red button, and speak into the mic. That's what I do, but if the quality comes out as bad I'm sure I could learn along the way. Still worth a shot.

It's the main reason I never did anything for the DMFA radio project. That and I cant help but feel my voice is completely hideous.

Don't worry, we can keep that a secret and no one listening will ever know.

[Brunhidden]

egads, i have no clue which role i would be good at.... obviously im not british so that limits half of the roles, and im not exactly scandinavian either....


so either fake accent, normal voice, or the in-joke is that someone has a wisconsin swampfolk accent of absurdity

[Tapewolf]

so either fake accent, normal voice, or the in-joke is that someone has a wisconsin swampfolk accent of absurdity

I never settled on an accent for Ashley.  Besides, he's a spotted feline like Abel, you'd fit right in 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

*shudders* I only do that with the atrocious British dialect when I'm feeling silly. Do people over there actually talk like that?

AFAIK I've only heard it in sitcoms. 

Or when people are extracting the urine, as it were. *cough*

[AmigaDragon]

Daryil's got a British accent, right? It'd be a stretch to deliver lines like "Ta for the dream, mate!" with an American accent (except maybe Brahmin).

Daryil doesn't have to have a British accent.  I'd be quite happy with him sounding like the  guy in Lard or the B-52s:

How... um... "fabulous" do you want him?

Vary it.  By default he doesn't 'sound gay'.  However, there are points where he should - one of which is upcoming in the next few weeks.

I was thinking perhaps something like Richard Simmons.

[JamesCray]

Being an aviation enthusiast, I could hardly pass up the chance to play a sentient F-16, now could I?

[Jairus]

Being an aviation enthusiast, I could hardly pass up the chance to play a sentient F-16, now could I?

Probably not. Welcome aboard! Let me just add you to the cast roster...

[Brunhidden]

i might be able to tackle lord page unless someone suggests a better role for me

i could have volunteered for daryil, but its better someone else already did. i just don't think i could be fabulous enough for that role even if i could ace the nutty power trip

[Tapewolf]

i might be able to tackle lord page unless someone suggests a better role for me

I imagined you as Oskar/Ashley myself.  Though it's really up to Jay.

[Jairus]

i might be able to tackle lord page unless someone suggests a better role for me

I imagined you as Oskar/Ashley myself.  Though it's really up to Jay.

Let me make this perfectly clear. I love advice. I love hearing ideas like that. I have no idea what I'm doing right now, and I am gradually figuring this out. In short, if you have advice Tape, speak up. Thank you.

And Pagan was thinking of doing Pageboy. But I suppose it's about time to start figuring out who's playing who. And I'm still waiting for Amber to get back to me on if she wants to have a part.

Also, Tape, I was wondering if you could play the narrator. You or Ren. I think it would be appropriate.

[GabrielsThoughts]

I volunteer just give me something and I'll do it... although something more accent-less would be my forte