Caitlin is also known for her work writing scripts and being the ADR director for numerous anime series.

We discuss the unique way she got into voice acting as a career, differences between voicing anime and video games, why Winry is such a fan favourite character and what it’s like being on the other side of the booth and working as a director.

This Caitlin Glass interview episode was recorded live at OzComic-Con Sydney 2019.

Audio Version

About Talent Talk

Talent Talk is a show where I sit down and talk to various people from the anime and video games industry to learn a bit more about them, the projects they’ve been involved with and the characters they’ve brought to life.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/anigame_Au
And feel free to send me suggestions on who I should interview in future episodes of Talent Talk.

Follow Caitlin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/caitlinsvoice

Follow Joel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoelGralton

The post Talent Talk Episode 10 | Caitlin Glass Interview appeared first on Ani-Game News & Reviews.

We talked about how he came up with the voices for Yugi’s 2 persona’s, what it was like coming back to voice him for the Dark Side Of Dimensions movie after so many years, why we thought the Yu-Gi-Oh anime was a success and wasn’t a series made just to push a product like other shows that aired at the same time and then we went into detail about his new project Crossing the G.O.D.S.

Yu-Gi-Oh was one of my favourite series growing up so it was great to talk to Dan and learn more about the character and about himself and his projects. I had a great time conducting this interview and I hope you enjoy it too.

Joel: So finding things out nowadays about an anime can take seconds but back in 2002-2003 it wasn’t as much the case. I was convinced for years afterwards that Yugi and Yami were voiced by 2 different people. Was it more the direction from Eric (Stuart) that allowed you to find the places for those voices? Because he mentioned yesterday that his Kaiba is mainly in his register but he had to find the attitude of Kaiba. Both of the Yugi’s aren’t in your regular register, it’s a voice you put on for both of them. How did you come to find those places?

Dan: Right. So that’s largely creative decisions that are determined by the producers, and finding what they want is a process of discovery for them too. And you know, you might have an idea, and you express that to the person who’s doing the role. And then they do their version of what they think you mean. So there’s some trial and error or discovery process involved with that.

And obviously, the pharaoh is treated vocally very differently in the original series from Japan. And I completely understand when, you know, somebody’s watching this show, it’s like, okay, he says Yu-Gi-Oh! grows about two inches, and now he talks like a man, it’s a little strange, right. But, you know, obviously, I think what people are responding to is, well, that deeper voice creates more of a father/son relationship, maybe he sounds older, because he’s an ancient spirit. You know, that sense of more refined diction suggests reality, which we would associate with a pharaoh, you know, so for those reasons, those choices, I think, connect.

But yeah, it’s a discovery process. And also, Yugi being a boy, well, obviously, you know, I don’t have a high voice, but in finding out what sounded high enough, but not too high and fake and stupid. You know, that’s a fine line, and I haven’t watched through the whole series, but, there definitely were seasons where whoever was directing me was encouraging me to raise up the pitch. And I’m like, ‘this is what we did before’, but I’m just here to do what I’m told. And so those kind of things affect what the audience is actually being provided. But back to the sense of your original question, is that initial process, it’s mainly controlled by the producers. And you know Eric has input too, but he’s serving their vision as well.

Joel: So when you first got the sides for the character, were you a little bit freaked out once you realised you were a guy addicted to playing a card game, who has a split personality, where one believes he is a pharaoh?

Dan: Hahaha you think that would freak me out. But I have a cousin who’s just like that. No haha. When you’re auditioning for anything, as an actor, you’re putting yourself in a better position, if you just say yes, to what you’re being given. And not ‘Why the hell would they do that?’ And even more generally, I don’t judge the stories that I perform. My job is to perform them as best I can. I mean, that’s the ethical ideal, right? Of course, you have your own opinion. But a professional needs to put that aside, and, and do their job. Or at least that’s what I was taught.

Joel: Did you think when you first started the series, that it would still be iconic, and so touching to so many 15 years later?

Dan: No. And in the context of how this occurs in the American entertainment culture at the time, there was Pokemon, you might have heard of it right. And, and then this thing Yu-Gi-Oh! comes along, which seemed to be sort of like, ‘okay, now the original Pokemon fans are ageing, and they need a series similar, but it’s a little darker, because they’re getting a little bit more complex’. And so, is it really possible to, if you will catch lightning in a bottle twice? So there was a lot of scepticism as to whether or not that would catch, but also, as you know, as any actor would tell you, you have a job, you just do it, and you never know what’s going to happen. So no anticipation that it would have been popular when it initially was premiering in the United States. And, by multitudes greater, certainly no anticipation that 15 years later, since it’s been off air, that anybody would care about it.

Joel: What was it like coming back to those characters for the Dark Side of Dimensions? Eric touched on it yesterday that it was good to be able to come back and do a more traditional adaptation of it. With the darker storyline and characters.

Dan: Yes. Because now the fans are more mature. Right? We don’t have to apologise or cover for that.

Joel: So what was it like coming back to be Yugi again?

Dan: Like seeing an old friend. And I really enjoyed being able to have Yugi have matured a bit. His innocence is is really wonderful in the original series, but yeah, I think we’re ready to see now. Let’s see him grow up.

He’s not going to grow up to become the Pharaoh. Right? Just like Nightwing’s, not gonna grow up to become Batman. But, yeah, so it was a pleasure. And I’m working with people that I’ve known for years, really admire and really care about. So that’s fun. And you know, it’s just a huge gift to be a part of something that is meaningful to people in any way. And I don’t take any personal responsibility for that. I just feel like I’m a part of something. Not it’s not special because of me.

Joel: Right, you just did the best thing you could for the character.

Dan: Right. And hopefully, I didn’t screw up.

Joel: So I was also talking to Eric yesterday that both of you guys were involved in Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Things that we discussed as kind of like a ‘gateway series’. At the time, a lot of people watching this and they didn’t realise they were watching anime, and now a lot of the stuff coming out these days has a lot to do with how popular your series like Dragon Ball Z, your Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! were. So what’s it like being involved in what’s such a big phenomenon now, like, being involved in a series that opened the gateway to the anime phenomenon?

Dan: I’ve never thought it that way. But I guess it feels like a privilege. One of the things that continues to really be relevant to me, is the experience of meeting fans of the show. And, you know, some fans are just, super excited, and, and they’ll say great things like, ‘thanks for making my childhood amazing’, or something along those lines. And that’s wonderful to hear and under any situation.

And very often, there are fans who will share things like ‘I was going through a really hard time in my life, and there was Yu-Gi-Oh!, and that helped me get through this or that or what have you’. And of course that’s not something that you’re foreseeing when you’re recording but I understand what it’s like to go through hard times. I suffered from depression when I was in my adolescence and I was even institutionalised for it. And for me, the entertainments and the go-to’s that provided me comfort, that provided me hope were things like Star Wars and the music of Peter Gabriel and stuff like that. We all have those things that become companions in our hardest times. And you know, and again, I don’t I don’t take any personal responsibility for it. I just feel privileged that something that I did was useful and helpful to somebody in some way.

Joel: So you obviously very known for the Yugi character. Are you okay, if there was no more Yu-Gi-Oh!, if there was no more movies? Is there closure for you where the character ended up?

Dan: Oh, for sure. Yeah. It’s interesting that we were just talking to a young man who was, you know, speculating about ‘what if they came back?’ or ‘how could they come back?’ And you know, ‘some fans are much more attached to the original series’. But for me, it’s all just been a gift. So I have no expectations of well, ‘it really should be more’ and, ‘what you should have done with these characters is this or that?’

Joel: If there was more it would just be a bonus for you?

Dan: Exactly, exactly. And I’m also very grateful that they aren’t just churning out stuff and it’s meaningless.

Joel: Well, that’s another thing as well, quite a few of the anime of that era, they were kind of 30 minute cartoon ads for the product they were trying to push. And I think, why Yu-Gi-Oh! is still such a special thing is because it had a story, like you said with a complex, beginning, middle and end. And it could stand on its own? Obviously it encouraged a lot of people to get into the card game. But do you think that the actual story, the characters and everything it setup is what has driven the passion in the fan base?

Dan: Yeah, I mean, I know for a fact that I don’t know. But my guess is that it is those human relationships that anybody understands, that helps somebody attach to what they’re seeing. If Yu-Gi-Oh! were merely an excited recitation of card rules, it would only go so far, right? But you have the themes of friendship, and you have, like the father son relationship, or, or the avuncular relationship, or whatever you want to call it, between Yugi and Atem, you know, everybody understands that, even if they haven’t had it in their life, they wanted it. Or maybe it’s a reflection of something that they did have, you know, and maybe no longer have, right.

I’ve definitely had fans relate through Yu-Gi-Oh! to their experience of their father figures. And for me personally, I’m not interested in stories that I can’t connect to. So they need to have a human element.

Joel: So unlike a lot of voice actors in the business, you’ve actually got something special. A lot of times the voice actor, you’re kind of like the end product. It’s gone through localisation, it’s been written, you do the voices, and then it goes out. You’ve now come full circle and something we saw at the panel on Friday is Crossing the G.O.D.S. So you’ve gone from being the end to now being on the creating side. What’s that like and can you explain the Crossing the G.O.D.S. project?

Dan: Yeah, for sure. I liked the way you just phrased that. I’m going to steal that haha.

Joel: You’ve now gone full circle on the creative side of things.

Dan: Right! Well, what fans of Dan Green probably don’t know, is that I was thinking of story ideas since I was in my teens. And again, that was another thing that helped me get through the stuff that I had to get through. I’m sure so many people who might be listening to this interview, have story ideas of their own or a world of fantasy that they go to to help them deal with stuff. And so Crossing the G.O.D.S is one of several ideas that I had come up with, before I even got to Yu-Gi-Oh! as a performer. And I knew when I was in college, studying to be an actor, that acting was the thing that I was maybe most suited at, naturally talented, or whatever. But that I never wanted to be just an actor. So not that there’s anything wrong with that. So for me, I feel like with Crossing the G.O.D.S, I’m finally paying attention to those parts of myself that are like, ‘hey, okay, with the acting stuff already, but what about us’. It’s time to get those things in gear. And when you have those things inside of you, I think you should listen to those voices. And if you don’t, then this is true for me anyway, there’s a part of me that has this feeling like I’m letting myself down, it’s like, ‘come on you, this is relevant to you said, you’re gonna give this a shot’.

And now I’m just so fortunate that, because there are some people that care about what Dan Green does, that maybe some people will listen to a story, I have to tell.

And a couple of years ago, Eric and I were doing an appearance in England, and I don’t do very many appearances. And we were there. And on a break, he said, ‘you know, we should do something of our own’. And I kind of had this catalogue of stories, and I’m like, ‘well, let’s see’. But another thing that he said was ‘we should, you know, really take advantage of the fact that we know all these talented actors’, and, ‘how do we kind of bring the band back together’, and it just happened that Crossing the G.O.D.S was a concept that was that was more of an ensemble piece. And that seemed to be a better fit for what Eric was talking about, this wonderful cast that we could bring into place. So that’s kind of the sequence of how that happened.

And also, another thing is, as a kid, the first thing that I did, that I was recognised for being a little bit better than average, was drawing. My mom was very talented at drawing and visual arts, and she taught me and, then I went on further from there. So Crossing the G.O.D.S is a great opportunity for me to write and draw and direct actors. I’m not writing the music, but I’m helping to direct where the music should be.

Joel: Directing the tone?

Dan: Right, right. This is how the music should sound, I’ll give you a sample track, and then I’ll give them feedback. Even the sound design, I’m doing the sound design for the first episode, probably the rest of the episodes now, and it’s not like I’m a control freak. It’s just that I happen to be the one who’s willing to do those things at this point. And I certainly will need help doing those things. If we want to see the show in the next 50 years.

Joel: You said it’s kind of concepted as an idea a couple of years back. You’ve got to draw the pieces, obviously there’s a lot of parts involved. Roughly how long does it take for an episode to be made? I know you mentioned the idea was to have them each be about three to five minutes?

Dan: Well, they’re five to seven minutes or so. I think three minutes will be a little too brief. But so keep in mind that in that roughly two year period, that went from a conversation, to writing a script, and it’s written as a series, not a movie, right? Movies, a very different structure.

But if you if you put the 26 episodes that we have together, the running time would probably be a little over two hours. But if you go online, and like say, ‘how long does it take to write a movie script’, they’ll tell you, it takes at least six months, usually, I mean, it’s not that people can’t do it faster, you draft, you rewrite your rewrite. So there’s let’s say, appropriately, six months to develop the writing. There’s the recording process. And also, with the visual approach that we’re using, it’s not straight up animation, and so we had to develop a unique visual style that told the story clearly and in something that we were excited about. So, you know, it’s really a process of trial and error and discovery.

Initially, the visuals were going to be much more simple, like not even bothering with backgrounds just maybe having some sort of graphic abstract brushstroke. Or have a rough sketch of the character, just so you know, who’s talking or that sort of thing, much, much more simplistic.

Joel: Like more of a storyboard than an animatic?

Dan: Way more like a storyboard. Exactly. And sort of, like, you know, what I mean by a Ken Burns effect? Like, we’re just panning over an image. But as you saw, it’s not as simplistic as that, there’s camera moves, I’m creating a 3D set, in which it’s kind of like a pop up book, you know, we’re using two dimensional imagery, but the camera moves around. And so you get parallax views, when something in the foreground moves faster than the background, which really provides a sense of motion, that’s not really there but also depth. And the characters are written three dimensionally. And so and I think the artwork should reflect that, the visual style is not cartoon-y, it’s more realistically oriented. And leaving the shading on the characters. When somebody gets angry, they don’t have an icon blinking over their head. Again, nothing wrong with that. But that’s just not the sensibility of this. That’s right.

Joel: And its pitched to be a bit more of a mature series from what you said?

Dan: Absolutely.

Joel: I mentioned this to Eric, but it reminded me when I saw it of a bit more of a grounded X-Men?

Dan: Yeah, very similar. Or like, the Marvel series on Netflix without the vulgarity.

But yeah, you know those are written, obviously, for adults. And what matters in those stories are human level things. I have had seven year olds and like, my kids are seven year olds, and they watched the first episode, and they’re into it. But that’s not necessarily the thrust.

Joel: So, obviously, the people that were here at the panel were lucky enough to see it. Do you have any kind of schedule, when you may put Crossing the G.O.D.S out into the public for a little bit of initial feedback?

Dan: Yeah, yeah. So that’s the next step. And we’re getting a lot of information from the fans’ reactions in terms of, ‘what are they responding to’ and the second episode was almost complete for me to share here as well. But I literally had a movie come up, and a couple of audio books, and an animated series. It was like, ‘wait a minute, I gotta finish the second episode for Australia’. ‘I only need a month of time to get this work done’. And then other things eat up some of that time, but anyway. We want to get three episodes done. And get some feedback from people within the industry. We also definitely wanna get feedback from fans, any audience that would like it. And not only anime fans might be interested in it, it’s not anime, this style is not anime. But that’s sort of the idea.

And currently, maybe in six months or so we could have three episodes up on Facebook or our website. And people could at least get a sense of what the series’ flavour is, what the idea is, and hopefully we can find a way to get enough funding so that I am not the only artist working on getting the images done. I mean, I would still be art director, it would still look very much like the first three episodes.

Joel: Well, if you’re planning it for 26 episodes, it could take a long time.

Dan: Heck, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can’t imagine creating an episode, even with support artists, and the music we’re creating is original music, you know, we’re not just doing rights free stuff. It’s work, and it’s being scored to what’s going on. So that composer needs a month, you know, for that.

So if we could do an episode a month, I think that’s probably the fastest we could go. But everything’s been recorded. The cast sounds great. From the writing part of it, you have a scene in your mind and you create the dialogue. And there were many moments with each actor, where they were hitting the line in just the way that I was imagining it without me directing them there. It was like chills.

Joel: Well that’s when you know you’ve got a good group of people together for this.

Dan: Definitely a good group of people. Yes, for sure. And also, all these actors that are familiar to these to his fan base, are doing things that this fan base has never heard them do before. Eric’s not doing anything similar with Blacksmyth.

Joel: Yeah he surprised me. It kind of sounded like he was going for an Australian/British mix?

Dan: Yeah. It’s modelled after the accent that you might associate with Billy Idol.

With me doing Cross, I’m in a very familiar territory. But it’s not exactly anything that you’ve heard before. Veronica Taylor’s doing something, I won’t say she’s never done before. So on and so forth. Yeah, so I’m really excited to be able to share those wonderful performances as fast as I can.

Joel: Before we wrap up where can fans follow your work online? Or what do you have in the works at the moment that they can look forward to in the near future and things that you can talk about? Where can they follow you and Crossing the G.O.D.S?

Dan: Well, the some things to look forward to, I’ll be in doing some role in the series, Emma. And I also recently recorded something that I think fans will enjoy that I can’t discuss with specificity. And I regularly do audiobooks.

And you can find those at audible.com. I am so bad at self promoting. I don’t have a website, I don’t promote myself. And it’s not because I feel like I’m above that. It just doesn’t enter my mind to promote myself in that way. But for the Crossing the G.O.D.S, you can find us on Facebook. We also have a website. But Facebook is probably the best place to track whatever’s going on with that.

Joel: Awesome! Thanks so much for your time.

Dan: Well, thank you for asking all these questions. It was a great interview. Thank you.

The post Talent Talk Episode 7 | Dan Green Interview appeared first on Ani-Game News & Reviews.

We discuss how he finds the voices and attitudes for his characters, why anime is localised, what it was like working on phenomenon anime series like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, How his music career has helped his voice acting and we also discuss his new project Crossing the G.O.D.S. A series he’s working on with Dan Green and has many voice actors from Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic and Ninja Turtles involved.

Throughout the episode we talk about his roles as Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Brock and James from Pokemon, and how the Crossing the G.O.D.S project started and what we can expect from it.

This Eric Stuart interview took place live on location at Supanova Sydney 2019.

Audio Version

Joel: So you mentioned yesterday at the panel that Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!) kind of took you a little bit to get the voice right, so he didn’t come off too villainous and didn’t come off too friendly a character. How long did the process take to nail that down? Especially with you being the director of the series as well. Did you kind of just say it’s going to be this? Or did you have someone to kind of bounce ideas off as well?

Eric: So it wasn’t finding the voice. It was finding the attitude. So the voice wasn’t a hard thing to come by, because it’s not that far away from my regular voice. But it’s the attitude that I needed to balance. So I did have a producer that that produced the entire show. Lloyd Goldfine is a brilliant guy. But it was more of as an actor myself to make sure that I didn’t cross that line. Because the script was written a certain way. And you could easily fall into just being a villain. So it didn’t take me a long time. But I couldn’t dial it in, or phone it in as they like to say, I had to basically be focused each session whereas if I have to do Brock or James on Pokemon, I’m on autopilot. I don’t have to think about those characters as much as I do with every nuance of Kaiba.

Joel: Brock is almost in your natural register as well. But yeah, James is way out there. How did you come up with the concept for James (Pokemon)?

Eric: So James, to me is like he’s related to Frasier. Right? Kelsey Grammer. So the brothers would be Frasier, Niles and James. So I went to a very sort of hippy dippy private school, where we all dress like vagabonds. But we played sports against a lot of very uptight, snooty blazers and khaki pants schools. So I just channelled those guys, for James.

Also, as the actor, I wanted to make sure that the two characters who obviously talked to each other a lot were their own, and not, it’s Eric Stuart playing characters. Most of the fans that grew up watching the show had no idea that the same person was both of those characters. I wanted you to listen to Brock and James. Not, “well, Brock kind of sounds like James. So it’s obvious It’s the same guy doing it”. So it’s all about the placement, Brock is in my upper register. I’m totally channelling Casey Kasem, who was my voiceover hero growing up, played Shaggy on Scooby Doo. And of course, my favourite anime of all time ‘Battle of the Planets’, he was Mark on G-Force. So that’s where that voice comes from. And then I wanted to do something in a different placement. So James is a totally rounded sound, lower register. That way they could stay away from each other.

Joel: Obviously, in the business things happen that are out of your control. Was it a little bit sad, saying goodbye to Brock and James? Especially with James still being such a prominent character in Pokemon to this day? Or is it a bit of a relief, you haven’t had to record the 1200+ episodes?

Eric: No, I’m very proud of the work that I did on the show, working on it for 10 years, of course, helping the launch that, you know, property, still being a pop culture phenomenon that if you’re six years old, or 60 years old, you know what Pokemon is right?

It was a great experience. I would love to still do it. But you know, the fact that they moved on and have a new cast. That’s all great. I still get to play Kaiba, which is fun whenever we do that stuff. But, you know, I helped develop those characters. So if anyone’s out there doing their version of it, they’re imitating me. So you know, that’s, that’s fine, too.

Joel: There are still a lot of fans out there that only consider the the Brock/Misty/Ash era of Pokemon to be the only series that matters to them.

Eric: Well, I can’t argue with that.

Joel: But like you said, they are a phenomenon. And you can’t argue that anime is bigger now than it ever has been. But in the early 2000’s, lots of people that were watching it didn’t realise that it was an ‘anime’. And you were involved in quite a lot of those ‘phenomenon series’ like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! What was it like being a part of those?

Eric: Well, good question. Because here’s the thing, there are those that blame us for changing too many things in the show, which of course came from the network’s. Not from us. The broadcast standards and practices made us change things to be on Saturday morning cartoons. There are strict rules.

Joel: Is that how we ended up with ‘Jelly filled donuts’?

Eric: Right. Well, actually, the jelly filled donut stuff was this. We wanted the show to not come across as Japanese.

Joel: So localise it.

Eric: Right, localise it. If we pick food products that other places could have, rather than just sushi, right? So if it aired in France, if it aired in Australia, wherever, you could relate to the food product as your own.

The localisation was huge. And making it approachable to all the kids that are watching it. They felt like it was their country’s show now. Any country that speaks English, of course, grew up watching our dub. You know, so we weren’t doing it with the Australian accent. But the French version, the German version, that’s other actors, but using our dialogue or our script, because it was more universal. We adapt that script, and we change things that don’t make sense, globally, right. But the other thing is a show like Pokemon took anime from the back area of a video store.

Joel: Yeah it really did.

Eric: And now that’s why there are conventions like this. That’s why there are fans that love all of this stuff. Because it has become, thanks to shows like Pokemon, universal. So you might be blame us for watering down the original. But then we also helped create this fandom.

Joel: It was kind of a gateway to opening people up to more anime.

Eric: Yeah, and you can go back and watch original things. I mean, The Dark Side of Dimensions, the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie, we stuck to the original storyline very closely, which worked.

Joel: I really appreciated that because a lot of the fans that would have been fans of the original series are 15 years older now as well. So that darker storyline and themes suited them.

Eric: And it worked. You know, a lot of times production companies don’t trust the fans will understand, right? With that movie, we made sure that we said ‘you’re older now. We can tell the story the way it’s supposed to be told or more closer to the original’. With a couple of little jokes in there and things that would make it you know, relateble.

Joel: Yeah and fans like me, really appreciate that.
But getting on to thing else. You’re also well into your music. And you were performing your music before you were a voice actor. A lot of the arts go hand in hand. Is there anything from the music side of things that has helped you as a voice actor, whether it be like breathing etc?

Eric: Right, good question. So inflection is pitch. So being a singer, and being musical is very helpful, in how to read. If an actor is doing a line and someone says, ‘Can you go for that word’, or ‘can you stress that word’, you’re changing the pitch? And so it’s very helpful. Also, with a lot of the dubbing, I watch the pacing of lip flaps. What I say to fans is ‘okay, imagine you hear a song for the first time on the radio. By the second chorus, you should be able to sing along with it if the words are the same, because you’ve heard the first chorus. You’ve you’ve memorised the timing of it. You might not sing the notes great, but you got the phrasing’. It’s the same thing with lip flap. The musicality of it. The rhythm of it. I can watch lip flap one time. If the line is written correctly, I will get it to fit because I’ve memorised the timing. So this the the music side of my life has helped me that way. You know, and I do more speaking like me in voiceovers than I do in funny voices. So timing, pace, things like that, it’s very close to my singing voice.

Joel: Also, another side project that you seem to be involved in and one of the most interesting things I saw yesterday is Crossing the G.O.D.S. Working with Dan Green, as well as some of the other people from the original Pokemon series and things like that. Can you talk a little bit about how that project came to be?

Eric: Yes, I can. So Crossing the G.O.D.S, we call it an illustrated audio drama. So if you imagine an audio book, where you’re following it by reading a comic book alongside it. The artwork is all black and white. There’s no lip flap. It’s not animation. It’s like a what we call an animatic. So it’s a shifting of camera moves, facial shifts, but no articulation with the arms. It’s not like people are swinging weapons.

Joel: I thought of it as like a really high fidelity storyboard.

Eric: Yes, exactly. Because what we wanted to do was not compete with that genre. That’s not what we do. But we’re all comic book nerds. And we’re voice actors. So it stars a lot of the people from Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh and Turtles and all of that. But in the 30 years of being in this business, we have learned a lot about storytelling, what not to do and what to do. And we thought, we should do something on our own, it would be neat to create. Dan and I were sitting together at a convention. And I finally said, ‘Hey, I’m sure you’ve got an idea, we should just do it’. And he had some ideas, he’d be kicking around and said, ‘let’s do something, let’s set up a weekly conference call. And let’s just do it’. So every Tuesday morning, we get online together, and we talk about the project. He wrote the script, we did 26 episodes of recording already, and he’s hand drawing it. And it’s really cool. I mean, to me, it’s like the format of all of the old serial shows.

So it’s five to seven minute episodes, just enough to make you want to watch the next one. And hopefully the fans enjoy the fact that we’re not holding their hand through it.

Joel: I really liked that.

Eric: And what we don’t really go into, we didn’t talk about it as much in our in our presentation. But the characters themselves are presented with we call tortures. The villain stirs up their baggage, their issues. And throughout the show, it doesn’t define them, but they have to deal with their own issues before they can help others. And so there’s a human side of this, because the things that they’re going through, we think people will be able to relate to, there’s something for everyone that way.

And it also shows people that if you are going through something that’s tough, you’re not the only one. Without being preachy about it, we thought it was a good underlying message to the show mixed in with sci-fi and superheroes.

Joel: Just based off that first episode I got a kind of grounded X-Men feeling. Is that what you were going for?

Eric: Right! It is, it is. There’s definitely that. A lot of the characters though, they don’t have special powers. Because we believe that everyone can be a hero. If you help one person, you’re a hero. Right? So there’s really very few ‘special’ like, you know, maybe a couple of cool things like that. But it’s really more about their soul, their moral.

Joel: So you kind of touched on it earlier. But with your dubbing side of things, you’re kind of the end process. It’s been localised, written, translated and then you do the voices last. This is kind of going to the start of the circle where you guys get to create.

Eric: Exactly. It’s fun to do that. And what I really enjoy about this project is, I do get to play a character and it which is fun. But I build the show, all of the voices are recorded individually. I assemble the dialogue, I’m mixing the music and the sound effects in there. So while Dan is drawing, I’m doing all the audio production. And that’s fun to do. It’s fun to sort of be behind the scenes.

Joel: So working on a prelay rather than a dub.

Eric: That’s exactly what it is. That’s right, because I also directed Viva Piñata, which was a prelay show.

Joel: How many God cards can we expect to see in Crossing the G.O.D.S haha?

Eric: You know, that’s a good question. I’ll have to ask Dan about that.

Joel: So before we wrap up, where can fans on follow you online or follow your work?

Eric: So for me personally, Ericstuart.com, you can follow my music career, where I’m appearing with conventions, all sorts of stuff like that. I try to answer as much fan mail as possible. With Crossing the G.O.D.S we got a Facebook page, it’s Crossing the G.O.D.S, like our page, and you can follow what we’re doing with the show. We like fan feedback as well. We’d love to be able to tell people when the show is finally out there. And the only way that they can keep up with us is to like the page.

Joel: So we saw the first episode here yesterday at Supanova, is there any time that will become public?

Eric: Yeah, we want to finish three episodes, which we’ve already recorded, but Dan is drawing them. And then we’re going to do some presentations to some of the industry folks that we know, to get some feedback from them before we continue. Because there are some people that we really respect their opinions. And we want to get that before we dive into much further.

Joel: Awesome! Thanks for your time Eric.

Eric: Yeah. Good questions. I Appreciate it.

The post Talent Talk Episode 6 | Eric Stuart Interview appeared first on Ani-Game News & Reviews.

Throughout the episode we talk about his roles as Kirito in Sword Art Online, Eren Yeager in Attack On Titan, Makoto Naegi and Nagito Komaeda in the Danganronpa series as well as mentions of various other characters he’s brought to life.

This interview took place live on location at Supanova Sydney 2019.

Audio Version

Joel: So I know you’ve probably gotten this question thousands of times before, but how did you get into voice acting?

Bryce: Yeah, I actually grew up in a family of actors. My dad was working on a show called Power Rangers.

Joel: A little known show haha.

Bryce: Yeah, little known show. And he played Rito Revolto the skeleton dude in the show. And I used to go into the studio, I used to love watching him work. I was about eight and they needed a kid’s voice. And my dad said, “he’s a kid, throw him in the booth”, and I got thrown in there and became a voice actor.

Joel: So you got the experience kind of behind the scenes first? And then were able to into things with a bit more experience and a leg up?

Bryce: Yeah.

Joel: So when it comes to voice acting, most voice actors are pretty lucky in their time if they get to voice the lead in a show. You’ve been pretty lucky in your time, especially since like 2012 to currently, you play the lead in most of the currently simulcasting shows. You’re Kirito (Sword Art Online), Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan) and you’re also the lead character in one of my favourite franchises Danganronpa.

Bryce: Awesome! Naegi and Nagito, I’m the only actor that’s in every iteration of Danganronpa.

Joel: You voice all the games also right?

Bryce: Yep, All the games and the anime.

Joel: So what was it like getting those roles? Did you have to audition and you just lucked out? Or was it one of the cases where the director kind of contacting you? Or thinking you were perfect for the role?

Bryce: No, I feel like I’ve won the anime lottery. All of the roles I’ve auditioned for, and for different casting directors. And I guess there’s this aspect to my voice that just works very well with that kind of character. I think it’s because my voice hasn’t changed since middle school. Like, that’s probably what does it. Eternally the young hero. And I’m not complaining, I mean, it’s just been so much fun, and to be part of so many great franchises that just keep continuing on and on. It’s been great, it’s been really amazing. I feel extremely fortunate for my sort of lot in the voice acting world.

Joel: So you’ve been a voice actor for quite a few years now. You’ve had the experience in the traditional DVD dubbing? Can you compare that to what it’s like doing the Simuldubs that you’re involved with as well?

Bryce: Yeah, Simuldubs are really stressful. It’s one episode per week, it has to be written extremely quickly and has to be recorded on time. Versus when you’re recording for a DVD, you go in and record as a batch, you’ll go in for an extended number of hours and record four or five episodes, depending on how many have been set in that batch.

But it’s just kind of stressful. So, for example, to come out here to Australia, I had to record ahead of everyone else in an episode, and then I’ll be the very last one in on the next episode, it’ll literally go straight to mixing right out, and they just barely made it work for me to continue and come out here. Yeah, and if the timing didn’t work, they would have had to put another actor in, which is like a nightmare, you know, to give up my role. So I’m really happy that the timing worked out. But it’s stressful, you can’t get sick, you have to record at a certain pace. And recording on Attack on Titan is not an easy thing. I mean, Eren goes through some really emotional moments. A lot of blends of emotions that are very hard to get to in the booth. So it’s difficult to do that.

Joel: So that’s a lot of pressure on you, if you did happen to get sick, and they replaced you, do often come back to do the dubbing for the home release.

Bryce: Yeah, actually, that that happened to a friend of mine, Robbie Daymond, he got so sick that his doctor said he couldn’t speak for a month. And he was the lead in Tales of Zestiria. And they actually reached out to me to come in and replace him for the Simuldub. And then he came and dubbed back over what I did for the DVD. But I had to get tagged in because he just could not talk. So it’s a lot of pressure, versus the DVD where we wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.

Joel: So I know that sometimes it’s like picking your favourite child, but do you have a favourite or at least a couple of favourite roles that you’ve had in your stint as a voice actor?

Bryce: I mean, they really do become like your kids. And a lot of my kids are angry and scream a lot. So I don’t want to make them mad. They live inside my head. It’s really hard to pick, I always answer that question with just like everything on my Wikipedia.

Joel: Now you’re clearly very busy with your voice acting, but you’re very busy separately too, because you’re also the co-founder of the platform Unlocked. Can you talk a little bit about the app and how that venture came to be?

Bryce: I am yeah, absolutely. So Unlocked is a mobile app that is our digital iteration of a anime or comic convention. And we started the company I say we my my co founder, David Vincent and I, we both go to these conventions. And they’re truly inspiring. As a voice actor, we’re in a box by ourselves and we pour our hearts and souls into the microphone. And all we get is the director hitting a button on and saying, “Yeah, that was great. Moving on”, there’s no laugh, there’s no applause and going to a convention for a voice actor especially is like their applause. So it’s truly inspiring. And we go to these cons and then just getting lit up on social media with things like “I didn’t get to ask my question at your panel”, or “I missed your autographs”. Or “when are you coming to my city”, insert some city somewhere in the world here. And we didn’t have a good solution to reach those people and connect with those people. And that’s why we started Unlocked.

And I’m really excited that Unlock is now on iOS and Android, just recently, we’ve rolled out a new feature that is so so cool. It’s a way to sign an autograph. Exactly how it happens at a convention for anyone anywhere in the world. And for the actor, the most exciting experience is having a conversation with the person coming up to get my autograph. And being able to talk to them and share stories with them and interact with them and Unlocked gives that opportunity to people who can’t make it to the convention or who meet costars, but never get to interact with me. So it’s incredible opportunity to open the world up to new people, new fans and fans that weren’t able to connect with their favourite actors. So it’s very exciting.

Joel: You mentioned that Eren causes quite a bit of strain on you. What is the hardest thing you’ve had to do in the booth to pull off an effect or scene?

Bryce: I mean, in Attack on Titan, Eren bites his hand. I pick my hand so hard, I left the bruise. Rin Okumura, during one of the scenes this monster is kind of crushing his throat. So I choked myself a little bit. But it sounds fantastic. Actually, just last week, I recorded the last episode of the newest season of Sword Art Online, the first half of the season. And I could barely speak after because it was so emotionally draining and physically draining to go through that battle and that experience with him. It was a really difficult session. But I’m so incredibly proud of what we were able to get. And I cannot wait for people to see it. Alicization has really really been an awesome arc of the show. And I can’t wait for people to see it.

Joel: So from when you record it, how long is it until you see the final product?

Bryce: You know, it depends on the show. For Attack on Titan it’s really quick. Alicization now it’s just a few weeks. In the states it’s coming out on Cartoon Network only a few weeks after we record. And sometimes it’s a lot longer, like for Seven Deadly Sins. We had everything in the can and then Netflix, held it for a little while and then just released it all. And by the end of the next day, people are already writing me saying “when is the next season?” So it’s interesting to get all these different types of releases.

Joel: Yeah, I’ve spoken to a number of other actors from Funimation and sometimes they say it’s over a year if they’re doing a home release before they’re allowed to talk about it, or tell people they’re in it.

Bryce: Yeah, NDA’s are tricky. They really are.

Joel: Wrapping up. Where can fans follow your work online and keep up to date with what you’re in and what you’re doing?

Bryce: Yeah, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Bryce Papenbrook, on Facebook at Actor Bryce Papenbrook and on Unlocked on iOS or Android at Bryce Papenbrook. And I’ve been talking a lot, lots of season three’s, lots of things kind of coming out and lots of new projects. So check me out on social and can’t wait for you guys to see this work.

Joel: Awesome, man. Thank you so much for your time.

The post Talent Talk Episode 5 | Bryce Papenbrook Interview appeared first on Ani-Game News & Reviews.

Throughout the episode we talk about his roles as Washington in Red vs Blue, Professor Ozpin from RWBY and Quartermaster from Camp Camp.

This interview took place live on location at Supanova Sydney 2019.

Audio Version

Joel: So, how did you get started as a voice actor and what was your first role? Because you also have a traditional acting, right?

Shannon: Yeah, I do. So my first role as a voice actor specifically was I did some minor voices for an old no longer exactly around anime dubbing studio called ADV. They restructured and became a different company and then were bought and then like, bought themselves back and I don’t know haha. But I’m also a stage actor and I do improv and there was an Austin satellite studio of ADV which was based in Houston. And the director, the sound mixer and the translator at that studio were all Austin theatre people. So what happened was, they would cast all of the Austin local theatre folks, as dub actors. And I was in that community and so I started getting cast. The first big role that I got, as a voice actor was Akabane in GetBackers back in like 2002-03 and then they went bankrupt, or they started having problems, they closed this awesome studio and there was no anime work for a long time in Austin. And it was probably like three or four years but I had done some voice acting, so I got called into to work with Rooster Teeth. And I thought that was just going to be a one off little small role. And it’s turned into 12 years of work with those guys.

Joel: So is there any big differences between working with a American based animation studio compared to working on some more traditional anime dubbing studios?

Shannon: Well, so the biggest difference performance wise, is if it’s an original American production or original production from wherever. We just come in, and basically the animators are working off of us.

Joel: So it’s a prelay production?

Shannon: Yeah, so we read the script. Maybe there’s storyboards. But we often aren’t seeing those, they’ve maybe beat-ed it out in storyboards, but the timing of the performance dictates the timing of the animation.

Whereas for dubbing, you’ve got to match the flaps, all of that’s already baked in. So the performance is a lot more technically specific in that you’ve got to, you know, get the emotions, right, but you’re also watching usually the animation, as it’s happening. You might have the Japanese in your ear, as you’re saying the English lines. So it’s a little tricky. The dub is technically a little bit more tricky to pull off, to make it work.

Whereas if you’re doing the animation for an original show, you can just do what you want, the director will tell you if it’s not right or not, but it’s all up to you, you get to set the tone.

Joel: So I’ve spoken to a lot of voice actors and a lot of them say the most important part of the title is the ‘acting’ part. So coming from a traditional acting background, what has that allowed you to bring to a voice acting role? Has it granted any experience that has made you a better voice actor?

Shannon: Um, you know, it’s two things. One, it’s not just reading the lines, you need to tap into the emotion that the characters are feeling and try to understand what those emotions might need so that you can portray them well. But then I think the other thing that comes and that’s helpful coming from, like a stage acting background, well really, this true for any actor, is the ability to take direction. So if that’s not working, if the thing that I’m trying isn’t coming across, or it’s not what the director wants, the ability to quickly understand what a director is saying. ‘Can you make him sound like that, but more disappointed?’ Okay, well, how do I translate that into what I’m doing with my voice? So things like that is really helpful.

Joel: One thing I like to ask voice actors, which is sometimes a bit hard for them, rather than naming your favourite role. Do you have a top three favourite roles that you’ve done in your time as a voice actor?

Shannon: Yeah, so I love doing Quartermaster from Camp Camp because he’s ridiculous. And more than any other character like when I get in the booth, I’m just in character and I just stay in character between takes as I’m talking to people in the booth just trying to crack people up.

It’s going to be the three that I’m most known for. Its Quartermaster, Washington and then Ozpin, would probably my top three. Now I’m trying to think of like obscure voices that maybe I can add to that list. I loved that I got cast as the voice of Constantine in DC Universe Online. Because it almost always happens that British actors play American characters but it was pretty rare for an American actor to get a chance to play a character who’s iconically English. I don’t know how great my accent was, but I got cast in the role and that was pretty fun to do.

So It’s really funny. At the time I was cast, they were I was told, specifically not to play him like the Keanu Reeves Constantine. But now, it’s kind of come back around. Everybody loves Keanu right now. He’s like, he’s a beloved icon right now. And I have a hard time imagining that this day they would say, ‘No, no, no, don’t do it like Keanu did’.

So that movies probably up for a reassessment at some point.

Joel: When approaching a new role, do you tend to come into it with a voice in mind? Or do you take direction from the director to kind of guide the path?

Shannon: That’s a really great question, I usually have cooked something up but usually when I get an audition you’re given a character description, maybe some notes of comparison of like, ‘Oh, this is like such and such a character that you’re familiar with’, or, ‘don’t do it like Keanu’ or whatever. I usually come in with a voice. If I get the role, I’ve almost never gotten that, conception go all the way through to the final product, because the director will have tweaks and spins or different takes on the character than how I imagined it. And then it’s kind of a combination of my original voice and then how it gets shaped by working with the director.

And so like the Quartermaster, I played him a lot more like a yokel, like some sort of a hick, and Jordan really helped, like, ‘No, no, take any kind of inflexion out of his voice and just making like really deadpan’. I was like Oh, okay, that makes sense. So that happens a lot.

Joel: Is there anything fans can look forward to the you’re working on now? And where can they follow your work online?

Shannon: Okay, so the best place to check me out online as I’m pretty active on Twitter right now. @SadOgre

And then, you know, I’ve got voice stuff in the works, that people know about, I have maybe a thing or two that people don’t know about. And then right now I’m kind of writing my own stuff. And then who knows when that will see the light of day, but hopefully someday.

Joel: Thanks so much for your time.

Shannon: Thanks, Joel. Appreciate it.

The post Talent Talk Episode 4 | Shannon McCormick appeared first on Ani-Game News & Reviews.