Would There Ever Be a Possibility...?

[Macalaure]

An important prerequisite for our voice-actors (for the main roles, at least), apart from a fitting voice and some acting ability, is long-term availability. Losing, for example, our Frodo at some point in the middle would be a problem. Looking over this thread, there seems to be a shortage of elder posters, but for characters such as Gandalf, Saruman, Treebeard, Theoden, Denethor etc. we need voices that have an older sound. But I'm sure that, once we actually managed to record a scene or two, we can warm up some of them.

Originally Posted by Matthew

What's Skype?

It's an Internet service that allows you to phone other people via the computer. From one registered (free) user to another, it's for free. Several people can join in one conversation. I've never tried it, so I don't know how the quality of it is, but there exists the possibility to record calls.

Originally Posted by Matthew

Maybe somebody could also, if they have the skill, do more than one voice.

Given the huge amount of minor characters, we will probably have to do that.

Originally Posted by Matthew

Any other parts people would like to attempt?

Take five different people and you'll get five different answers. Personally, I'd like to hear some of the long dialogues, like between Frodo and Gandalf in "The Shadow of the Past" or the ones between Denethor, Faramir and Gandalf in "The Siege of Gondor". But I'm fine to start with Book II.

Originally Posted by Gwath

It would be cool just to do certain parts of the story that we felt needed improvement, or that we particularly liked - such as the Bombadil episode.

I'd say let us just pick one scene now (preferably one that requires little re-writing, for the beginning) and go ahead. It needn't be perfect (I'm sure we'll end up re-doing some early scenes later anyway), just a sample to see whether we really have a shot at making it work.

[Rikae]

The mention of Wikipedia was just referring to their decision-making process for controversial edits - they insist that it is *not* a democracy, and that decisions must be made through discussion and consensus.

I'd second the nomination of "The Shadow of the Past"... or, actually, I think starting from the very beginning, different as it may be from the usual M.O. of Hollywood, might be reasonable for us. Films, after all, are usually made out of order for practical reasons which don't really apply to us, and I think that at least writing from beginning to end will help us establish the tone and get "into" the world we're re-creating. Still, doing book II first could work just fine.

I have no acting experience whatsoever, but if you're short a rather young-sounding female voice (unlikely) I'm willing to try (I may well be one of our oldest participants so far, but telemarketers frequently ask me if my "mommy" is home). Actually, I would enjoy being the narrator - but I don't think I have the right voice.
I'd certainly be happy to help with the writing, and in any other way I can.

I wonder how far accents will be an issue. I think most of us are Americans, right?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

One note concerning the male/female voices. I think it's going to become soon obvious that there are far more female voice actors than there are female characters in LotR (not very surprising, as there are only two or maybe three who have more than a few lines). It would probably sound strange for a female to dub Gandalf (although if she were good, even that would be possible), but I think the Hobbits' voices and some Elves could be spoken by female voices with no problem. As well as the narrator, eventually.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

Looking over this thread, there seems to be a shortage of elder posters, but for characters such as Gandalf, Saruman, Treebeard, Theoden, Denethor etc. we need voices that have an older sound.

Seeing that you're the oldest person to show interest in the project, are we to assume you volunteer?

We seem to be short on everything, actually, except women. I wonder if actively recruiting people would be helpful, or counter-productive (bringing in people who weren't that committed to the project).

As it is, we have 2 men and 1 (2 with me) woman willing to act. A scene between Frodo and Galadriel, perhaps, or Frodo (or Bilbo) and Gandalf is a possibility, but all four hobbits plus Treebeard, Goldberry and Bombadil is definitely out. (Ah! I want to play Goldberry if I turn out to have latent acting talent!)

We can just get started, though - record one scene (Shadow of the Past again comes to mind) for which we already have enough actors and hope more come on board after seeing what is possible.

How about music? Are there any composers lurking around who are interested in lending their skills to this project? *nudge, nudge*
I'm an ex-music major and play a few instruments badly, but I know there are far more qualified people in the 'downs...

[Nerwen]

Re: Skype– good for cheap long distance calls, but not for recording. You get weird delays and distortion.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Re: Skype– good for cheap long distance calls, but not for recording. You get weird delays and distortion.

I'm not sure if I understand this correctly, but apparently you get better quality by recording from the user's computer (?) - perhaps the Skype add-on doesn't record that way. Skype itself, in my experience, usually has good sound quality but tends to have delays/skipping on weekends. If it were possible to record from the computer of one of the users, it shouldn't sound different than the call itself, I suppose... right?

http://www.nch.com.au/phone/voip/recordingcompared.html

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Rikae

We seem to be short on everything, actually, except women. I wonder if actively recruiting people would be helpful, or counter-productive (bringing in people who weren't that committed to the project).

I know what you mean, yet perhaps we just need to look around more. I'm sure there are more people (men in specific) who would be committed and interested in this. I know one of my friends who is a big LotR fan who would love to participate, and he could do more than 1 voice, I believe. This is still a brand new idea...I'm sure we'll attract more eventually. I hope!

Originally Posted by Rikae

We can just get started, though - record one scene (Shadow of the Past again comes to mind) for which we already have enough actors and hope more come on board after seeing what is possible.

Not a bad idea, but I'd rather do a part of Book II and just wait until we get enough people. After all, everything that goes along with this (writing, music, sounds, etc.) is going to have to be taken care of before we start acting and recording. So all in all it's going to take some time as is.

Originally Posted by Rikae

How about music? Are there any composers lurking around who are interested in lending their skills to this project? *nudge, nudge*
I'm an ex-music major and play a few instruments badly, but I know there are far more qualified people in the 'downs...

I am not much of a composer, although I do play bass/guitar...I would think classical riffs are where it's at for this though, and I'm not too good at scales and such...I suppose we can see what the scene calls for?

Also, I was thinking this - if we go with the green light on a chapter/scene, should we take Tolkien's words, word for word, and not change any dialogue? I am for this, as we all as die hard's know the Book shouldn't be changed. It wouldn't be hard to not change it, if we only did a section at a time, if that is what we did.

One more question, for now - How are we going to incorporate the "Frodo said.", etc. into the dialogue? Do you know what I mean? For example Frodo speaks, and then in the book it says "Frodo said" to let the audience know who just spoke to avoid confusion. I suppose with actual voices it may not be hard to tell but to some it may.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by MatthewM

I am not much of a composer, although I do play bass/guitar...I would think classical riffs are where it's at for this though, and I'm not too good at scales and such...I suppose we can see what the scene calls for?

I think classical (or similar) is probably the way to go as well - and wouldn't it be fabulous if someone/a few someones could contribute original compositions to the project... if that's possible?

Also, I was thinking this - if we go with the green light on a chapter/scene, should we take Tolkien's words, word for word, and not change any dialogue? I am for this, as we all as die hard's know the Book shouldn't be changed. It wouldn't be hard to not change it, if we only did a section at a time, if that is what we did.

One more question, for now - How are we going to incorporate the "Frodo said.", etc. into the dialogue? Do you know what I mean? For example Frodo speaks, and then in the book it says "Frodo said" to let the audience know who just spoke to avoid confusion. I suppose with actual voices it may not be hard to tell but to some it may.

Certainly I would prefer to stay as close to the original as possible, changing only those things (like "Frodo said") which would be awkward or redundant in this format. I would much rather see each character given a recognisable enough voice, than to hear "Frodo said"'s all over the place. The only other instance I can think of where deviation from the text would be the most sensible route is where sounds are described, as it would be far more intuitive and make the best use of the medium if we provided the sound itself. Other than this, why not stick to the text?

[Macalaure]

Originally Posted by Rikae

We can just get started, though - record one scene (Shadow of the Past again comes to mind) for which we already have enough actors and hope more come on board after seeing what is possible.

I'm all for that (the starting point being out for debate). If we already start out being perfectionist, I fear we won't ever arrive somewhere. I don't see a problem with re-recording some scenes if we come to the conclusion that a change made elsewhere requires a change in recorded material.

Originally Posted by Rikae

Seeing that you're the oldest person to show interest in the project, are we to assume you volunteer?

I'll take everything that Gwath leaves for me.

Originally Posted by Rikae

How about music? Are there any composers lurking around who are interested in lending their skills to this project? *nudge, nudge*

Hmmm, but composing is one thing, recording another. I'm not sure I like the idea of computer-generated background music. [/wetblanket]
Do we really actually need so much background music? I mean, won't it distract from the dialogue too much?

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Re: Skype– good for cheap long distance calls, but not for recording. You get weird delays and distortion.

Hmm, that's what I was concerned about. We should just try it, and if it doesn't work, we'll have to figure out something else.

Originally Posted by Matthew

Also, I was thinking this - if we go with the green light on a chapter/scene, should we take Tolkien's words, word for word, and not change any dialogue? I am for this, as we all as die hard's know the Book shouldn't be changed. It wouldn't be hard to not change it, if we only did a section at a time, if that is what we did.

Originally Posted by Rikae

Certainly I would prefer to stay as close to the original as possible, changing only those things (like "Frodo said") which would be awkward or redundant in this format. I would much rather see each character given a recognisable enough voice, than to hear "Frodo said"'s all over the place. The only other instance I can think of where deviation from the text would be the most sensible route is where sounds are described, as it would be far more intuitive and make the best use of the medium if we provided the sound itself. Other than this, why not stick to the text?

I, too, think we should only change something when it's necessary. Where there is dialogue provided, I see no general reason to change a thing. But what about the narrative sections? I don't think it's a good idea to leave them as they are - we'd have the narrator talking half of the time! I think we should use the narrator sparingly, and instead try to work the narrative sections into dialogue. If we do this, however, the writing will become a serious and probably exhausting task.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

Hmmm, but composing is one thing, recording another. I'm not sure I like the idea of computer-generated background music. [/wetblanket]
Do we really actually need so much background music? I mean, won't it distract from the dialogue too much?

I don't think it will detract if we use it wisely, but enhance. You're right - computer generated music sucks - but we could possibly get together a small band of musicians among us to lay down tracks on top of one another, which could work out nicely.

If we do this, however, the writing will become a serious and probably exhausting task.

You have my keyboard!
However, I favor primarily focusing on keeping the narrative scenes largely intact, or shortening them, rather than working them into the dialogue. The latter technique tends to sound cheesy if it's overused, at least to my ear...

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Rikae

However, I think primarily focusing on keeping the narrative scenes largely intact, or shortening them, rather than working them into the dialogue. The latter technique tends to sound cheesy if it's overused, at least to my ear...

I agree, I would like to keep most of the narration where it is and only cut it down when necessary.

About the background music, I meant mainly for in between scenes, not over dialogue, really...if we use it wisely (and sparingly), like Rikae said, it could be nice...for example, a transition into another scene could be cued up with some bg music for a couple of seconds, maybe with the narrator speaking over it.

The only words we would have to change, as mentioned, would be words that signify sounds, in which we have to try and produce that sound - saying it would be quite bad for this medium, and I'm sure all would agree on that!

[Nogrod]

Aha! Don't forget me!

I hadn't noticed the whole thread. We had some similar thoughts two years ago with Farael but it never kind of materialised... So I'm definitively interested.

I try to read this through tomorrow and will thron in my five cents.

Great.