Darth Hater - Audio Interview with Darragh O'Farrell and Jake Neri
Transcription of the audio interview is after the jump.
Note: Just because the podcast team is on break doesn't mean the editorial staff is. ;)
Darragh O'Farrell: Hi, I am Darragh O'Farrell. I am the head of the audio department here at LucasArts. So, on the LucasArts side were doing all of the sound design and the casting and the directing of all the actors. With Knights of the Old Republic, we did the same thing, BioWare did the game, delivered all the scripts to us, we did all that work. And here we are doing it all again and its, I think LucasArts and BioWare have this sort of deranged...
Jake Neri: Desire.
Darragh O'Farrell: Desire and we are always biting off way more than should be reasonably, more than anyone could ever chew. And back in the days of Knights of the Old Republic, it was, I remember having conversations about doing this and everyone was like "Can we do this?" and I was like "Yeah, course we can do it, as long as we have the budget and the space on the disc, we can record over all of this stuff." And everyone got on board and we were all really excited and it was a great partnership and when this came along, obviously we have trumped that by, I don't know how many fold, but it's a lot.
Jake Neri: I have the perfect way to describe it. We were talking with Hall, who is a writer, he has written a ton of the game, and we were making the joke, in the George Foreman tone saying, "Do you like Empire Strike Back? We got 14 Empire Strike Back Do you like Return of the Jedi? We got 9 Return of the Jedi The most voice ever"
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah, and at times it's daunting in terms of what we are doing, but at the same time it's really the most exciting thing because it's insane and we are going to pull it off. We are recording in LA and New York and London, and in Canada, Toronto and in Chicago, I mean everywhere. And we are not done, I am not sure what I can say.
Jake Neri: Anyone famous in the game?
Darragh O'Farrell: Anyone famous, God...
Jake Neri: You're suppose to say we aren't talking about that yet.
Darragh O'Farrell: Okay, we aren't talking about that yet.
Jake Neri: Are you famous?
Darragh O'Farrell: Me? In some circles.
Dover: Are you in the game? How many BioWare or LucasArts employees donated their time and voices?
Darragh O'Farrell: So far, none. It's...
Jake Neri: It's on scratched track only.
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah, scratched track only. You know, we want to get the best talent. It is not me just spinning crap, we want to get the best talent available. That's why we go to LA, London. The actors that we got in LA are on-camera actors, not necessarily people who are celebrities, I am just talking great on-camera actors who have really great nuance performances, great animation people who, if you are a fan of animation or anime, you are going to see those same kind of names. In London, we got great stage-actors, you know people who have done their stint in the Royal Shakespeare Company, who are bringing, you know, the most amazing acting chops to the game. And that goes across every city, it's tough, this game is so big that it is hard to find that many great actors to bring into it, but were relentless in our pursuit and that is one of the things that LucasArts has always had from, I am a dinosaur here, I have been here for like 50 years.
Jake Neri: 50?
Darragh O'Farrell: No, 15. Yeah, it looks like 50, but it is 15. And we have always had a dedicated group to, we used to always be called the voice department, which were dedicated to doing all the casting and the directing for games like games like, you know, Full Throttle, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango. And now we are one big audio group, where it is voice, sound, music. And we are working, I mean, Bioware have their own sound guys on their end and we are working with those guys, creating the sort of classic Star Wars sounds that you guys are used to, but then trying to amp them up, so you know as you level up, your lightning gets bigger.
Jake Neri: Expands.
Darragh O'Farrell: Expands and across the board, it's just like a ridiculous game in terms of sound, you know voice recording and casting and sound design, music, we've got a huge Star Wars music library that were going to bring into the game. We've got an existing, you know, 9 hours of music and we are composing a lot more music to bring in. We will use stuff from the movies, but only where it is appropriate and you know, we aren't going to use Darth Vader's theme if, you know, Darth Vader isn't on the screen, which of course, he's not.
Jake Neri: Darth Vader is not in the game, don't know if I told you.
Darragh O'Farrell: No, no, I know, I am just saying.
Dover: That's confirmed, we have no Darth Vader confirmed.
Jake Neri: No Darth Vader, I promise.
Darragh O'Farrell: We have strict guidelines that we adhere to with regards to how we use things like music and stuff like that, so it is just a really exciting project and you know...
Jake Neri: Well, I would just like to thank you for all of your hard work.
Darragh O'Farrell: Well, thank you Jake, yes. laughs Clink
Jake Neri: I know you have been busting your ass.
Darragh O'Farrell: We've been.
Jake Neri: And thank you to your wife who is allowing continue to work.
Darragh O'Farrell: Continue to bust my ass, yes?
Jake Neri: I know you have just had a child.
Darragh O'Farrell: Yes, how long have we been working on this now?
Jake Neri: I don't know. It's been a while.
Darragh O'Farrell: It's been a while and everything that you have seen today from a sound, my personal world, sound design, music, and you know, the casting and the performances it's all, you know, a work in progress and you're not listening to music that we are writing for the game, your listening to some place hold stuff, stuff that might be used in the game in some places, but there is going to be a lot more new music and a lot of those performances are going to get, we are still going through our first pass, and it's going to get honed in.
Dover: If this is first pass, then good job. The Sith Inquisitor?
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah.
Dover: I chose the snarkiest response and I got very very snarky audio.
Darragh O'Farrell: Good, that's good. With the Sith Inquisitors it's kind of easy and I have to say that the one great thing with the actors is, often times it's hard for people to be mean-spirited, but after a few sessions...
Jake Neri: It's not that hard. After a few drinks.
Darragh O'Farrell: I only meant that after a few sessions the actors really get into it and I remember the, there are a number of performers who are playing those dark side characters and they are just nice people. After a couple of sessions, they will be like, "you know, I am loving this, I am loving it." Because they get to say the thing that everybody wants to say, you know. You can chose your light side response or you can just go crazy. They definitely have the most fun with the crazy, you know, the crazy dark side. But the performers are having a lot of fun with it and that's great.
Sado: Well, I am sure we are going to have a lot of fun with having it release this nicely.
Darragh O'Farrell: I hope so, you know. Yeah, we've.
Dover: I anticipate seeing all your music, remixed and put on Youtube to different videos.
Darragh O'Farrell: Oh, I am sure there will be all sorts of crazy.
Sado: Probably remixed to...
Unison: Rick rolled
Jake Neri: How do you dance?
Darragh O'Farrell: I am sure there will be all sorts of crazy stuff going on and that is the really fun part of MMOs. You know, Jake and I were big World of Warcraft players and I just had a baby, so I am not such a big World of Warcraft player right now, but...
Jake Neri: Dude you were Alliance dude, so...
Darragh O'Farrell: laughs Because I haven't mastered that art that you had where you would prop the baby up and you still play. She's still got the floppy head and stuff, you know, so...
Jake Neri: Now is the best time.
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah. laughs I think that is part of fun with MMOs, it just kinda the community that builds up around them and everybody kinda getting involved and doing stuff and fun videos and, you know, we're psyched. You know, now that I have a kid I just want to be pick up the phone and go "Hey BioWare, yeah I need my character all jacked up with all the best gear."
Unison: laughs
Jake Neri: You are a cheater.
Dover: BioWare power leveling.
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah, that's it exactly.
Dover: There has to be an employee perk in there somewhere, right?
Darragh O'Farrell: From my opinion, I am okay with doing the leveling, but it's once I get to...What's our level cap?
Jake Neri: silent I don't know.
Darragh O'Farrell: No? Okay, well I don't know. But once I get to that, then I don't have to work for the rest, I want to able to pick up the phone and just go, "Hey guys, give me all the stuff, would ya? Give me all the stuff, all the stuff, so I can just imitation of static sound."
Dover: Well, you will have to let no one know who your character is or else.
Jake Neri: They will beat you.
Dover: Or just go the other direction and make BioWare only guild, a LucasArts only guild and you guys could fight each other. I mean, come on, LucasArts on one side, BioWare on the other.
Darragh O'Farrell: That would be fun. That would be great fun.
Jake Neri: It would be like every day. laughs
Darragh O'Farrell: laughs
Jake Neri: So the question that I have for you, have you confirmed that we have Snoop Dog in the game?
Darragh O'Farrell: It is not confirmed that we have Snoop Dog in the game.
Jake Neri: Aw, damn.
Dover: Is it denied?
Darragh O'Farrell: laughs
Jake Neri: I want Snoop Dogg.
Darragh O'Farrell: You know, Jake wants Snoop Dogg.
Jake Neri: Aw, I want Snoop Dogg. You put Snoop on anything and it's golden, baby.
Darragh O'Farrell: Yeah, I suspect that when I make that call looking for all the good gear that they will be like, "No."
Jake Neri: No.
Darragh O'Farrell: I don't think there will be any...
Jake Neri: They won't ruin the integrity of your server.
Darragh O'Farrell: What time is it anyway?
Dover: Thank you very much.
Sado: Thank you.
Darragh O'Farrell: Thank you.
Dover: Appreciate you coming over talking to us for a little bit.
Darragh O'Farrell: Glad to have you guys here and I hope you guys enjoyed your day.
Dover: So when does the offical soundtrack come out?
Darragh O'Farrell: That's a good question. We'll see, it is still to be announced.
Dover: Alright, thank you.
Darragh O'Farrell: Thank you.
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