Jump to content

Seeking Female Voice Actor for Skyrim/Aela the Huntress Mod

DreamKingMods

By DreamKingMods
in Skyrim LE

 Share

Recommended Posts

DreamKingMods Community Regular

DreamKingMods

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello! I am the author of two connected mods for Skyrim--Enhanced Skyrim Factions: The Companions Guild and Enhanced Skyrim Followers: Aela the Huntress--that significantly expand the role of one of the game's most iconic characters: Aela the Huntress. This has involved writing many lines of new dialogue, all of which--in the current releases of these mods--are silent and unvoiced, presented only through subtitles. I'm looking for someone to be the new voice of Aela, re-voicing the character's existing lines and voicing my additions to create a seamless experience for players.

 

Neither mod is finished, yet, but both mods are publicly available in their current unfinished state, and even in that state both have garnered a good amount of popularity. These are not projects that will disappear without ever seeing the light of day, and your vocal contributions can begin to be added relatively quickly. I have been advised by a voice actor that I have enough of a backlog of lines written (over 1100) that it would be better to begin voicing the projects now, rather than wait until they are complete.

 

The two mods together will require a significant volume of voice work, over an extended timeframe. In return, this is a "starring role" that will allow you to showcase a lot of dramatic range, while striving to offer intelligent dialogue and to avoid the negative cliches prevalent for female characters in video games.

 

The Role

 

(not made by me) gives a good overview of Aela's character, vocal style, and some of her default dialogue that will need to be re-voiced to match my additions. There's no need to watch the full thing, but the first 4 minutes or so would be useful--do note that after that, the video does include some Skyrim spoilers.

 

The basics of the role are:

 

Age: Aela's exact age is never specified in-game, but she seems within a few years on either side of 30--noticeably past teenage.

 

Desired Accent: In no particular order of preference, Scandinavian or Northern/Central/Eastern European, Canadian, Northern US. Aela is of a race that Skyrim calls "Nords," roughly equivalent to Scandinavian. However, in-game, many Nords sound to my tin American ear more Austrian for the men, and while some women sound truly Nordic, others sound American. Aela for example is voiced by an American, Claudia Christian (Babylon 5, etc.). Thus any of the above voice types would fit.

 

Speech traits: Aela usually speaks in short, direct sentences. Her tone is firm, confident.

 

Range: Aela is generally even-toned, but can slip into impatient anger or sharp sarcasm--or more rarely, into warmer tones. There will be a few emotionally-charged scenes of anger, sadness, wonder, and/or happiness, depending on the choices the player makes.

 

Personality:

 

Aela was raised hunting in the wild, and tends to see most situations in terms of the hunt. She's in tune with nature and with her senses: she enjoys the feel and freedom of outdoor living, and rejects manufactured luxury. Additionally, her family has a long connection to Skyrim's history, and she has read many books on the subject. She thus has a strong sense of honor, and a desire to live up to her family's glorious history as a protector of Skyrim. However she's also not afraid to go against the grain of society, especially when it comes to matters of religion. She is serious and seldom jokes. She is smart but not always a great planner, and she's somewhat antisocial, so she will sometimes make impulsive decisions without thinking about the consequences for those around her. While not in any way a theoretician, she's something of a proto-feminist, and in my mods she will offer up feminist critiques of some game events (as in one of the audition lines below).

 

Content/Triggers:

 

In case you have any triggers for the general content of the work you do, I should also note the following:

 

Rating: In American movie terms the mod would be rated PG-13 for mild racism (the Nords tend to be mild racists, which is something the mod won't treat uncritically), adult humor, sexual innuendo, and references to violence and gore.

 

Swearing: The only swearing in the mod is hightly idiomatic--e.g., "Shor's stones!"

 

Sex: Aela can be a romantic interest of the player's character, whether the player's character is male or female. There will be some flirtation and innuendo. There will likely be at least one fade-to-black scene, but you won't be asked to simulate sex, although there might be some murmured words of post-coital satisfaction (or sharp words of dissatisfaction!).

 

Violence: Aela can be rather violent, and will often advocate a violent solution--when she believes the cause is just--and some of her existing dialogue suggests that she's not above torture. While Aela may be injured or even killed in the normal course of the game (for which voice work will be needed) and may face some difficult emotional situations and realizations, she won't herself be subject to torture in this mod.

 

The Project

 

The project will involve:

 

1) Re-voicing all of Aela's existing game dialogue, of which there are about 500 lines. For a sampling, see

I linked to above.

 

2) Voicing the additional lines that I write. I've written over 1100 lines so far, and have been writing an additional 150-200 lines each month. The writing I've done has only touched on what I have planned, so I anticipate that I may be writing for the next year or more--the two mods together could easily encompass 4,000 lines when complete. (A "line" in Skyrim's game engine is limited to a maximum of 150 characters, around 15 seconds worth of speech; my lines probably average 10-11 seconds.)

 

While the ideal would be that you'd catch up with my writing before I've finished, that's not required. I'd prefer a steady, sustainable pace that we can agree on, versus trying to do too much too quickly, and getting burnt out. This is the kind of project that theoretically more can always be added to, depending on how interested we both remain. But understand that even if we just do the bare minimum, you're signing up for a long haul. When deciding whether to audition, factor in not just your free time now, but any planned life changes in the coming year--moving, going to school, starting a new job, getting married, etc.

 

Auditioning

 

If you've read this far and are interested in auditioning...thank you, first of all.

 

Previous voice acting experience is not required, although given the large scope of this project (and my inexperience working with VAs) it would be beneficial. If you don't have VA experience, demonstrated ability to stick to a lengthy project of some sort and/or a long-time enthusiasm for the Elder Scrolls games would be desirable. Likewise it is not a requirement to have played Skyrim, but it would be desirable as it would make communication about the project easier, and I think would contribute to your enjoyment of it.

 

Audition lines:

 

(a simple greeting of equals:)

"What do you need, Shield-Sister?"

 

(when asked what it means to be in the fighter's guild that she belongs to--first sentence proud, second perplexed, third contemptuous; reference 2:39 in

):

"It means waking up every day knowing that you could die, and having to earn your life by clawing for every breath. I don't know how those cozy lords manage to drag themselves out of bed every day. Why bother if you're not living?"

 

(lecturing, decisive:)

"You're not a Nord, I shouldn't expect you to understand. When we Nords disagree, we fight. Fighting doesn't mean that the best idea always wins. But what's important is that the argument gets settled."

 

(warmer, especially the words "my beast." Here her affection for the player's character makes her indulge the PC over her own instincts:)

"Ah, my beast, you are more trusting than I. Perhaps too trusting in this case. But, fair enough. Let us go then, and see what we shall see by this strange light ahead of us."

 

(incredulous, scornful, and angry toward the player's character:)

"You intend to invade the dwelling of a group of old women. You want to cut off the head of one of them, or all of them. And why? Because you decided you no longer want a blessing that you freely accepted before? Because an old man, driven to morbid delirium by illness, told you that it was the right thing to do? Was it Kodlak's gray hair that made his words sound righteous and wise? Or is it that he was a man, and those you're told to slay are 'only' women?"

 

Please e-mail your take on these lines in wav or mp3 format, or links for me to download the files, to [email protected]. Give me an idea of why you want the role; if you have links to a VA portfolio or any samples of your work, or other relevant information and experience, include those as well. I will e-mail you back a confirmation that I have received your audition within 24 hours.

 

The deadline for me to receive auditions is midnight Eastern time at the close of May 3rd, 2013 (three weeks from today). I won't be making any decisions until then. If I don't receive an audition that I deem suitable, I'll go on as I have been, and re-post this call at a later date. You can e-mail me at the address above, or post here, if you have any questions I haven't answered here.

 

Thank you; I look forward to hearing your auditions!

 

Note: This is my second casting call for this project. My first set of auditions, in fall 2012, yielded someone suitable, but they had to drop out of touch due to circumstances stemming from Hurricane Sandy. If you auditioned then and are interested in being considered again, you can either send me something new, or just let me know that you'd like me to re-consider your previous audition. Note that the project scope has changed somewhat--this is now casting for two separate but linked mods.

Edited by DreamKingMods
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DreamKingMods Community Regular

DreamKingMods

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Very interesting and entertaining to read, even if you're not interested in auditioning. :smile: But I really do hope that you will find a good voice actor!

Yes, there are a few lines there that haven't made it into either of the mods yet--a preview of what is to come. :)

Edited by DreamKingMods
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...