(Blogtober Day 7)
Generally speaking voice over is recorded in sessions ranging from 2 to 4 hours in length. Typically the aim is to record somewhere in the ballpark of 200+ lines in 4 hours, although depending on the complexity of the lines that number could go down, or even up as high as 400+ lines in 4 hours. But I digress. Something I have instigated in the projects I have worked on is, if time permits, getting a series of generic short lines for a number of various generic situations with as many of the cast as possible. These range from simple lines of agreement, or victory, or panic, and so one. Usually somewhere between 5 to 10 lines of each is plenty. But I cannot tell you the amount of times lines like these have come in clutch in so many situations. Everything from filling in for a player feedback line whose request came in after all the recording had finished for the project, to being used in the most important story beat in a cinematic. And the best part is, if you plan for these before localization, then you even have all the localized versions to use as well.
Here’s a short list of some of the lines I will try to grab whenever I have a chance…
| Line Type | Examples |
| Generis Positive | “Alright!” “Yes!” “Yeah!” |
| Generic Negative | “No!” “Damn it!” “F*ck!” |
| Generic Understanding | “Understood.” “I got it.” “Okay.” |
| Generic Surprise | “What the-?!” “Hey!” “Is that-?!” |
Lines like these will not solve everything, but they can save certain situations, and a clever use of more lines like this can often sound more natural than being overtly specific in the dialog as to what it pertains to. But that’s a topic for a future blog post. You will also have to be somewhat aware of the performance style of the lines, but usually the context of the lines lends itself to a common style of performance as well.