Community Event / Creation Elite voiceover demo

[Majere]

Well there you go. I thought there would be a back-story to Stephen. (I was waiting to see how you spelt it before I used it.. )

It worked. Rather than going for the obvious 'kid' I was thinking, 'Hey, this guy is green, but sounds like he has been around' and immediately became more interesting, wondering how he got to this point. I hope that came across in my comments.

I will see you your Spectrum and raise you the BBC Micro from whence Elite was born. You can't get more British than the BBC !

re: 'Jesus', it is especially interesting as it was not used in a religious context at all but as an expletive, probably why it stood out more than 'hell'
In a way I suppose it is a bit like our days and months being named after polytheismic Gods that have passed from popular worship.
Not to say Christianity would not still be around in a thousand years of course but you would have to think that ubiquitous space travel would widen our belief system a great deal.

Anyway, an interesting topic that should be in it's own thread - would be interesting to know if any of the writers are dealing with religion.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I agree - however it would have to be very closely moderated as it's one of those subjects that lends itself to a great deal of emotion and VERY strong opinion. I think it would be difficult to keep the thread on a level ground without it becoming very opinionated.

 

[Majere]

I agree - however it would have to be very closely moderated as it's one of those subjects that lends itself to a great deal of emotion and VERY strong opinion. I think it would be difficult to keep the thread on a level ground without it becoming very opinionated.

Yes, you are probably right. I am certainly not brave enough to start one by Toutatis

 

[Voyager_NL]

Yes, you are probably right. I am certainly not brave enough to start one by Toutatis

Owh in Valens' name... stop it

 

[Sir.Tj]

On the subject of religion I propose Brabenisim as the dominant religion in the ED Universe.

 

[bitsixteen]

Steve O B Have, thanks for the comments. You've put me in mind of the famous/infamous Orson Welles take on War of the Worlds, which fooled listeners in America into thinking it was a factual broadcast. I don't think I have any such worries.

I liked the way the recent Battlestar Galactica handled religion and just reverted back to the old polytheistic ways. And without getting too deep, who knows, within this century we may discover that ETs and religion are all one and the same thing. Now *there's* a discussion. And just maybe, T.j, it'll be Brabenism. Given that that's a few letters away from Barbarianism, we might be in for a lot more intergalactic strife. ;-)

@Majere, glad you liked the brief backstory. And as for the BBC Micro, we had them in school. It was the first 'home computer' I heard of on which you could 'copy' a line in a program. Seemed so revolutionary at the time. A friend of mine had Elite on his Acorn something-or-other. I know the Beeb was made by Acorn, but were the two machines compatible?

OK, I'm off to book the actors in for the next demo.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Selezen]

On the subject of religion I propose Brabenisim as the dominant religion in the ED Universe.

Braben and the Sweaterites.

 

[bitsixteen]

:-D At the church of M&S (yes, I saw that Dev Diary). ;-)

 

[Majere]

Brabenism in action

It is a sign! We must all descend unto M&S and get chunky jumpers!

No, cast away the jumper, follow the t-shirt, only that will lead us to true enlightenment.

Forget the t-shirt, the logo is too big and clunky, we must be chunky, that is the true path!

The t-shirt is the truth, follow the t-shirt.

etc etc etc

I'll stop now

 

[bitsixteen]

I think I saw him wearing a shirt once. Perhaps *that* is the way forward! Cue scene with (Life of) Brian followers picking up his shoe.

 

[Brodie]

Oh my god(s) that was brilliant, I mean it, brilliant, the tone, the timing, the script, all of it!

A few people have pointed out the American accents as a negative aspect, but I actually really liked that, in fact I thought whomever the male actor is he had an instantly engaging voice, and there is "lore" supporting an American accent in the game, the Federation faction is loosely based on the States after all. (source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6z5OK8J5pg).

As for the script, wow, you sir have a natural talent for writing dialogue, it was natural and interesting and lacked that dreaded exposition feel that you often get with some audio stories.

The problem is now I need more, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Have a word with Michael Brookes about producing an "Official" series of short audio stories, you could compile them and sell them together on Audible to re-coup costs or sell them individually.
Hello create a Kickstarter project and i'd back you straight away!

But seriously, what happens next, please continue that story.

 

[bitsixteen]

Brodie, you do know you've made my day, yeah? ;-) Seriously, thanks very much for your comments. The comments naturally died off, so I was surprised to see another comment and I'm delighted you like the demo.

This demo 'happens' to use two American VOs because those happened to be the two VOs who I knew would nail this for me. I have a lot of VOs on my books so I'll be using talent from other nationalities in subsequent demos. I have two more in production and both use US and UK (specifically English) voiceovers. I think the Elite world is multicultural enough in terms of ETs, never mind just humans, so although I completely recognise the game as a wholly English development, its universe is bound to be choc full of people from all backgrounds, including American.

You know, I genuinely wasn't out to promote script writing in any shape or form. I just needed something that was copyright free and I knew it could take me ages to find something suitable, so I just decided to write something myself. I've been a fan of Elite since I was 16 (27 years) so I felt close enough to write something reasonably appropriate. So I'm genuinely, pleasantly surprised that the script has received any positive feedback at all.

Also, as this was just a demo of how voiceover might sound, the script was merely a vehicle for the demo. I had never intended for there to be a sequel, but maybe when I finish the next two demos (which are related to Elite, but not this story), I'll do a part 2. I'm not sure I could live up to it, but who knows.

Other people have made suggestions about official audio books relating to Michael Brookes, but I'm not that sure it would float his boat? Are you suggesting I write official Elite fiction and then make audio book versions? If so, I'd love to do that, but I'm just not sure he'd go for it with everything else he must have going on. However, I'm willing to give it a punt. This pitch has certainly gone in a different direction to the one I was aiming for, but that's great as I'd never have thought of some of the things you guys are suggesting. So thanks for that. And thanks again for the comments.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Darren Grey]

I doubt you could do anything official, but more unofficial work would be good to hear. If you need amateur volunteers for a first pass then let us know

 

[Brodie]

Brodie, you do know you've made my day, yeah? ;-) Seriously, thanks very much for your comments. The comments naturally died off, so I was surprised to see another comment and I'm delighted you like the demo.

This demo 'happens' to use two American VOs because those happened to be the two VOs who I knew would nail this for me. I have a lot of VOs on my books so I'll be using talent from other nationalities in subsequent demos. I have two more in production and both use US and UK (specifically English) voiceovers. I think the Elite world is multicultural enough in terms of ETs, never mind just humans, so although I completely recognise the game as a wholly English development, its universe is bound to be choc full of people from all backgrounds, including American.

You know, I genuinely wasn't out to promote script writing in any shape or form. I just needed something that was copyright free and I knew it could take me ages to find something suitable, so I just decided to write something myself. I've been a fan of Elite since I was 16 (27 years) so I felt close enough to write something reasonably appropriate. So I'm genuinely, pleasantly surprised that the script has received any positive feedback at all.

Also, as this was just a demo of how voiceover might sound, the script was merely a vehicle for the demo. I had never intended for there to be a sequel, but maybe when I finish the next two demos (which are related to Elite, but not this story), I'll do a part 2. I'm not sure I could live up to it, but who knows.

Other people have made suggestions about official audio books relating to Michael Brookes, but I'm not that sure it would float his boat? Are you suggesting I write official Elite fiction and then make audio book versions? If so, I'd love to do that, but I'm just not sure he'd go for it with everything else he must have going on. However, I'm willing to give it a punt. This pitch has certainly gone in a different direction to the one I was aiming for, but that's great as I'd never have thought of some of the things you guys are suggesting. So thanks for that. And thanks again for the comments.

Cheers,
Paul

All the Official Writer Packs have now been sold, but you never know they may make an acception in your case.
Write an private message to him via these forums asking if it where possible contribute anything in an official capacity, provide a link to the audio demo on this thread in the message as a sample and see what he comes back with.
All it would cost you is 5 mins of your time to enquire.
You certainly have the talent and on this forum you have the audience.

If no "new" official work is allowed then as others have suggested contact each of the Official Writers and give them a rough estimate of how much you would be willing to charge to do an audio version of they're book.
An average length book with an average number of voices etc.

Here are the various books and they're authors: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5186

Just click on the authors name and select send private message.

As a long time subscriber to audible.co.uk and the proud owner over well over 100 audio books I'd say whilst i'm not an expert, I am certainly quite experienced at listening to them. So bearing that in mind please believe me when I say that your demo, although though brief, was better production than many of those that i've listened too over the years, and as such I beg you to please continue with it.
I for one would certainly be willing to pay money to hear more of your work sir.
/salute

 

[drew]

Very impressed, bitsixteen. An excellent story and some strong dialogue. Not a fan of the American accents, but they did a great job. Looking forward to what else you come up with!

Cheers,

Drew.

 

[Thargoid]

Whats all this anti american stuff? Meh, coming from NZ, we get more american stuff than UK stuff, despite being part of the commonwealth so maybe its just that I'm used to it, but I don't think that little piece would have worked with a brit.

No offence intended of course.

 

[bitsixteen]

I doubt you could do anything official, but more unofficial work would be good to hear. If you need amateur volunteers for a first pass then let us know

Thanks, Darren. A fair deal of work involved, but if I do go down this route, it's nice to know I'll have some material. Thanks

 

[bitsixteen]

All the Official Writer Packs have now been sold, but you never know they may make an acception in your case.
Write an private message to him via these forums asking if it where possible contribute anything in an official capacity, provide a link to the audio demo on this thread in the message as a sample and see what he comes back with.
All it would cost you is 5 mins of your time to enquire.
You certainly have the talent and on this forum you have the audience.

If no "new" official work is allowed then as others have suggested contact each of the Official Writers and give them a rough estimate of how much you would be willing to charge to do an audio version of they're book.
An average length book with an average number of voices etc.

Here are the various books and they're authors: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5186

Just click on the authors name and select send private message.

As a long time subscriber to audible.co.uk and the proud owner over well over 100 audio books I'd say whilst i'm not an expert, I am certainly quite experienced at listening to them. So bearing that in mind please believe me when I say that your demo, although though brief, was better production than many of those that i've listened too over the years, and as such I beg you to please continue with it.
I for one would certainly be willing to pay money to hear more of your work sir.
/salute

Thanks again, Brodie, I am definitely going to follow this up. Not exactly sure what authors might expect from an audio book (some books are just a single voiceover and no effects; some have effects, multiple VOs and even music, etc.) but contacting them would obviously be a good place to start. Thanks for the link and not least of all, the encouragement.

Paul

 

[bitsixteen]

Very impressed, bitsixteen. An excellent story and some strong dialogue. Not a fan of the American accents, but they did a great job. Looking forward to what else you come up with!

Cheers,

Drew.

Thanks, Drew. As I said, this was just a studio/voiceover demo, originally, but my head's now spinning with unforeseen, potential opportunities. I'm actually recording my first audio book at the moment for a self-published author in Bristol, so I'll also let you all know when that's finished. It's a fantasy-fiction (a la 'Lord of the Rings') style book employing just one female voiceover and no sound-effects. That said, I have 4 out of 6 VOs recorded for my next two Elite-based demos so I would like to finish those before I become too distracted by other projects.
Thanks again,
Paul

 

[bitsixteen]

Whats all this anti american stuff? Meh, coming from NZ, we get more american stuff than UK stuff, despite being part of the commonwealth so maybe its just that I'm used to it, but I don't think that little piece would have worked with a brit.

No offence intended of course.

Hi John, I don't think it's overly anti-American. I myself am from (and am still living in) Ireland, but I always 'got' that Elite was an English entity. That said, this is just one sample 'cut scene' from what could be something much bigger in the game itself. If Frontier were ever to employ voice acting in Elite, I would see it as being as diverse as possible, using English (North and South), Scottish, Welsh, Scandinavian, German, French, US, Asian, Australasian, etc., etc. voices, all speaking English, of course (unless there were plans to localise it). If anyone's played Skyrim, they'll hear a range of accents throughout and although I see fantasy-fiction worlds such as Middle Earth, or indeed, Skyrim, as being more Northern European, I didn't think any of the North American accents took anything away from that game. Elite is so inherently multi-cultural that you could employ actors from anywhere in the world, so long as they had good English and could act.

This demo is the first and happens to use two great US VOs, Susan and Mark, but I think it could have been replicated using British accents. It'd be the job of the voiceovers and the director to make it work and sound convincing.

Thanks for your comments, though.

Cheers,
Paul