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Casting your indie animated feature online

I'm going to share my process for casting my new film I AM NIGHTMARE

The way I did it was like this...
  1. I searched youtube for voice over demo reels
  2. I found a few that I thought were really good
  3. I contacted the voice actors and gave them some background on the project
  4. If they replied with interest then I sent them pieces of the script with dialog by the characters I was interested in casting them as 
I also sent them these character sheets as reference


I also sent them two songs from the temp soundtrack to give them an idea of the films intended vibe so they could record a few screen tests of the characters I intended them to play...

Once I received their screen tests I cast the film- that's where I am now- here is one of the characters screen tests- the animation/lip sync is temp crap so don't hate playa


I'll tell you more about the voice actors as the project goes forward BUT I'm super excited as I got some REALLY talented people that are going to be awesome! ^_^

I'm paying the actors via paypal with the funds from sales of my films and the I AM NIGHTMARE pre-order- I'm giving them half their fee once they start recording and the other half when their done. I'm also going to bring them into my affiliate program wherein they'll make %50 of every sale of the film due to their own sales link.

So since the films main characters are now cast I have to prepare the files that I will send the voice actors so they can do their thang. Here are the files I send each actor.
So what they get is

  1. the full script
  2. their character script sides
  3. the images of the characters
  4. all the tracks from the spec soundtrack in progress
So I'll send this with their first payment and hopefully receive their complete recordings in about 30 days. Once I receive the recording I'll make notes for any retakes and hopefully get those done. Once its all sewn up its on to animation!

I'll be sending the files out to them on Monday the its GO I AM NIGHTMARE TEAM! ^_^

Comments

  1. TaheenJanuary 11, 2013 at 1:01 AM

    Cheers man, things seem to go fast and smooth!
    I absolutely love that you're sharing more of your work in progress this time around.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TimTheScarecrowJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:16 AM

    awesomesauce man.
    with me its just "hey neighbor, wanna be in my movie? sure? ok meet me in my closet at 3am this saturday" ;)
    your casting is much more sophisticated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Francisco Lanca animationJanuary 14, 2013 at 5:50 AM

    Humm...I tried this with the film I´m working now but my mistake probably was that I only send the script with no model sheets or images. Some of the answers were kind of "I can do it, but you have to get the studio" meaning actors alone, with no technical skills.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rochelle KrauseJanuary 15, 2013 at 11:55 AM

    Could I get a clarification? Am I correct that with the method you described above, the cast makes their own recordings then sends the file to you? I was curious about this because the American animation mantra is that voices are always recorded before the animation is done, animating to the voice. But the Japanese do the animation first then match the voice to it which is what I'm assuming you're doing. BTW, acting trainer Ed Hooks prefers the Japanese method in his book "Acting for Animators". If you are matching the voices to the animation instead of the other way around, I'd be curious to know why you chose that method. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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