Which is to say, one of the most interesting points to consider for audio production that this one raises is how real physical props can play a valuable role in voice acting. They really do make a difference, and can add new layers of texture to how the actor speaks.

It's most obvious when he's got it in his mouth--you can hear how clenching his teeth on it changes his speech, not to mention talking around the object. Less obvious is how he physically gestured with it--but those gestures affect the vocal performance in pacing, emphasis, and intensity.

Felix made a really interesting choice here--at one point, he picked up a pen and used it to give his character a physical action of smoking a cigarette. You can hear it in the performance, and it brings such a wonderful new element to it.

That version uses Felix's dry run on the script. It's a beautiful, intimate take, demonstrating how instinctual a performer Felix is!

For version 2, we tried something deliberately performative--playing it as a One-Man Show, as would be performed live on stage. It has such a different feel to it!

Also, apologies for the weird doubling on James' directing notes at the top. James' recordings for the whole first half of the session got wiped somehow, so I had to use the backup Zoom meeting recording. I think it recorded from both his internal and external mic at once for some reason?

www.exercisesinsound.com/storytime-na...

www.exercisesinsound.com/bedtime-stor...

What I find interesting here is not just the play with who is in the physical realm, but also the strong contrast between too very similar, and yet strikingly different kinds of storytelling. You can hear the different intentions of these ways of storytelling in the narrators' cadences.

In both, we are exploring modes of storytelling to children. In the first, Storytime, Julia Morizawa takes on the role of a classroom teacher reading to kids. In the second, Bedtime Story, Richard Penner takes on the role of a father telling a bedtime story to an infant.