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Alex Weitzman
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:57 am Reply with quote
Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA
I'm not even one iota of the gamer I used to be in high school, but given the voice acting in the Arkham series, I couldn't help but pick up and play to completion both titles. And, of course, front and center in the second game is our good Mr. CB as Hugo Strange. I have a few questions about your work in this project:

1. How did you decide on this take for the character of Strange? It does sound like there's at least a little Christopher Lee in there.

2. It's a video game, so I doubt you recorded with anyone else (although please correct me if otherwise). Given that, this put you in the unique position to share scenes with both established and brand-new characterizations. On one hand, you have Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, deservedly famous old hats at the characters. On the other, there's folks like Dee Baker and Grey Delisle, whom you undoubtedly know well from other projects but have not yet had the chance to hear them play these specific characters. Does your performance differ when you're able to "hear" the performance in your head by established performers-of-the-role like Conroy and Hamill, versus when you presumably can't like with the latter group?

3. The story in Arkham City is quite extant and complex, much of which comes back to Strange. And, in addition to that, there is a fair amount of before-the-story material in the various interview tapes Strange has with all the various Arkham nutzoids. Were you recorded in chronological order of the story? Do you feel, as many actors do, that it's actually better to start somewhere in the middle and then return to the first moments with the character later on when you feel you have a better handle on it, so that the audience's first impression of the character is stronger?

4. Strange has some excellently sinister moments in the game. Do any stand out to you as being particularly satisfying to perform?

5. Finally, while I suspect you lack any interest in picking up a game controller, did you get the chance to watch any of the finished product's cutscenes or the like? And if so, did it live up to your expectations?
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CB
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:24 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!
http://collider.com/batman-arkham-city-final-trailer/120556/
Alex Weitzman wrote:
1. How did you decide on this take for the character of Strange? ...at least a little Christopher Lee in there.
Correct - it is built on his basic vocal placement, with a touch of his theatrical style woven in. But as per instructions, it was implied that Hugo is a British-educated Germanic/European mind-control scientist; and I wanted to keep the voice within a very calm, trance-inducing range of delivery - for an arresting "hole in the doughnut" kind of impact. Much more effective than a typical bombastic "cosmetic" characterization you'd expect to hear in "average" videogame character voice auditions, I believe.
Quote:
2. It's a video game, so I doubt you recorded with anyone else (although please correct me if otherwise). Given that...Does your performance differ when you're able to "hear" the performance in your head by established performers-of-the-role like Conroy and Hamill, versus when you presumably can't...?
Yes - most of the sessions were recorded solo. There was at least one early on with Kevin Conroy I clearly recall; maybe another one with Dee? Just don't remember now. Either way, it is easier and more fun to work in harmony with the actual scene-mates than relying on imagined takes as described by the director. But other than "spinning" off of specific bits of improvisation from the other actors, a good director knows how the performances will "marry" when mixed together, and should be able to achieve virtually the same results with or without all players present. Just requires more conjecture and fiddling around with alternate possibilities when working solo.
Quote:
3. The story in Arkham City is quite extant and complex...Were you recorded in chronological order of the story? Do you feel, as many actors do, that it's actually better to start somewhere in the middle and then return to the first moments...?
His role was actually expanded from what was initially a 2-scene "cameo" appearance that ties the story together within the Arkham Asylum setting. So what began as 2 sessions plus ADR work multiplied to a series of widely-spaced added scenes with their multitude of alternate scenarios, making it a patchwork of assorted full dialog and pickup line recording events, jumping all over the fictional calendar. But I do find it best to establish a characterization in mid-plot, to have it fully "fixed" before recording the introductory scene, for most characters. In fact, it's pretty common to go back and redo a character's first appearance once the main body of it has been explored and performed to everyone's satisfaction.
Quote:
4. Strange has some excellently sinister moments in the game. Do any stand out to you as being particularly satisfying to perform?
The quietest "cat & mouse" moments with his "subjects", one-on-one, are most personally appealing for me to perform. At least the first versions. Alternate scripting of the same basic scene, however, can become tiresome (as in: "Haven't I already read these same lines 3 or 5 times? What's different? Oh never mind - I see now...").
Quote:
5. ...did you get the chance to watch any of the finished product's cutscenes or the like? And if so, did it live up to your expectations?
I am a little to dyslexic to move past most videogames' first challenge to even get to my particular roles. But I have been able to view what's been posted as clips, trailers and ancillary pieces on YouTube and such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4UK-F0i_84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-G_qPnYko4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLKV25zhWzQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uvPww-yscg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v16yqH1Df5M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qonc2fzsDYA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMLR1Ewd6u8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lquMIcAyW8

Some of the animation I've seen is more action-packed and "intense" than what the character's more subtly expressed vocal tracks sound, making dialog feel somewhat disconnected here and there; but overall, I think it succeeds well.
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Lucien
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:04 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Los Angeles
Was there a performance you happened upon in passing which you were particularly taken by? Off the top of my head based on the clips you referenced I believe we have a number of familiar voices including Mark Hamil, Maurice Lamarche (Mr. Freeze), Grey Delisle (Catwoman), Wally Wingert (Riddler), Nolan North (Penguin), and rising star Troy Baker as Two-Face. I believe we also have Danny Jacobs as Zsasz, and Peter MacNicol as the Mad Hatter.

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Alex Weitzman
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:17 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA
CB wrote:
Correct - it is built on his basic vocal placement, with a touch of his theatrical style woven in. But as per instructions, it was implied that Hugo is a British-educated Germanic/European mind-control scientist; and I wanted to keep the voice within a very calm, trance-inducing range of delivery - for an arresting "hole in the doughnut" kind of impact. Much more effective than a typical bombastic "cosmetic" characterization you'd expect to hear in "average" videogame character voice auditions, I believe.
Agreed. I think what most came across for me was the incredibly smug self-satisfaction that Strange has in himself, especially when needling Batman with what he knows. Strange seems to be an extreme example of one of those guys who knows a secret and can't help but brag incessantly that he knows a secret. I can't think of a character Strange talks to where he's not talking down to them.
Quote:
Yes - most of the sessions were recorded solo. There was at least one early on with Kevin Conroy I clearly recall...
Was he geographically present, or done over ISDN? Last I recall, Kevin lives in New York.
Quote:
His role was actually expanded from what was initially a 2-scene "cameo" appearance that ties the story together within the Arkham Asylum setting. So what began as 2 sessions plus ADR work multiplied to a series of widely-spaced added scenes with their multitude of alternate scenarios, making it a patchwork of assorted full dialog and pickup line recording events, jumping all over the fictional calendar.
That IS fascinating, because it would seem to imply that you were cast very early on in the project's production, well before they solidified the story and its structure. Is the casting and incorporation of voice talent that early in a game's production lifespan a rarity?
Quote:
But I do find it best to establish a characterization in mid-plot, to have it fully "fixed" before recording the introductory scene, for most characters. In fact, it's pretty common to go back and redo a character's first appearance once the main body of it has been explored and performed to everyone's satisfaction.
On the topic of establishing characterization, do you get the opportunity on any occasion to read and/or live with the script for any significant time before recording the performance? And if so, what kind of preparation do you employ in breaking down the text?
Quote:
The quietest "cat & mouse" moments with his "subjects", one-on-one, are most personally appealing for me to perform. At least the first versions. Alternate scripting of the same basic scene, however, can become tiresome (as in: "Haven't I already read these same lines 3 or 5 times? What's different? Oh never mind - I see now...").
Having done a shouted line that consisted of three words for over fifty takes, I can vastly sympathize. (After a while, it doesn't even feel like actual language anymore.)

I'm also rather fond of the first trailer where we heard Strange:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muCtJsy-d9w&ob=av3e

Do you happen to know who your scene partner in that trailer was, playing the tortured soldier?
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CB
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:38 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!
Lucien wrote:
Was there a performance you happened upon in passing which you were particularly taken by?
Some are really superb; others not s'much (I'd rather not 'bash' the few I'd consider mediocre). But the real standout in these pieces is Mark Hamill's fully ripened Joker characterization. A symphony of madness and rage, that sounds authentically grounded as a whole singular being, and not just a tour-de-force of vocal scenery-chewing.
Alex Weitzman wrote:
CB wrote:
There was at least one early on with Kevin Conroy I clearly recall...
Was he geographically present, or done over ISDN?
We were both there at WB's historic Burbank studio. I hung out with Mark in the ADR room lobby before my first session, but he only had a few lines that day, and we were called in separately. Odd that we've known each other for over a quarter century, worked on many same shows and episodes, yet never really performed together in the same room at the same time. Like some kind of a curse!
Quote:
...it would seem to imply that you were cast very early on in the project's production, well before they solidified the story and its structure. Is the casting and incorporation of voice talent that early in a game's production lifespan a rarity?
Not at all. The scripting is so massive for these games, that characters may come and go, are re-written, even re-designed over the course of production. LucasArts' "Knights of the Old Republic" has been recording dialogue for two YEARS now (though we must be done by now, since the release has been announced already).
Quote:
On the topic of establishing characterization, do you get the opportunity on any occasion to read and/or live with the script for any significant time before recording the performance? And if so, what kind of preparation do you employ in breaking down the text?
Not usually. Just depends on the project, and whether or not the production coordinator thinks you'll need to prepare/rehearse your lines for the particular session. Being a traditionally schooled Radio Actor, I generally avoid actual rehearsal; rather, I tend to merely skim through my characters' scenes to get a sense of how it might play, perhaps make a few notations on lines that don't feel quite right and scribble possible alternate ideas for particularly "problematic" words and phrasing; knowing that it will all be worked out with the director at the session itself, regardless. But it is nice to have an opportunity to especially "fix" writing that may be "off-model", or just plain dumb to be coming out of certain characters' mouths, in advance.
Quote:
I'm also rather fond of the first trailer where we heard Strange:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muCtJsy-d9w&ob=av3e

Do you happen to know who your scene partner in that trailer was, playing the tortured soldier?
Not a voice instantly recognizable to me; and with so many actors I don't often encounter to consider, your guess would be as good as mine. Whoever it is, he did a fine job!
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