INTRODUCTION
Hey there! This is a casting call for an animated fanfilm that is a direct adaptation of the 1995 Marvel/DC crossover comic Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds. If you're familiar with my channel (Immortal Dream Entertainment) and it's non-profit fanmade series (Arby 'n' the Chief: Next Gen), you may notice that this project in particular isn't exactly like my previous ones. This project is going to be a lot more serious, so unlike Next Gen, I'll be a lot stricter about how casting goes here.
For those of you unfamiliar with my channel, I primarily did a Halo fanmade machinima (movies made with video game footage) based off of another machinima called Arby 'n' the Chief. It was a very crude and irreverent comedy show where a lot of logic was thrown out the window.
This project will not be like that. I'm aiming for this to be a lot more serious in a tone similar to the live action Spider-Man movies (namely the Raimi ones) and the Batman the Animated Series cartoon, as well as some parts of the Arkhamverse Batman games and the Insomniac's Spider-Man games.
What is this project?
As you can obviously tell from the title, this is an animated fanfilm about Spider-Man and Batman meeting for the first time while going after The Joker and Carnage. Now, you are probably assuming that this is going to be a short fanmade animation, similar to that of what Death Battle does or the animations that MightyRaccoon puts out often. This is a fanFILM, and will likely be feature length.
This fanfilm will give more motivations to why the characters are acting the way they are, adding more context for some scenes, and improving the storytelling in some areas so that it doesn't feel extremely rushed like some parts of the comic did. But for the most part, this will follow the basic plot of the comic's story.
The film will be animated in SFM (Source Filmmaker), using assets from different games (such as Batman from Injustice 2), and some assets may be characters from other games but are a different character in this story (for example, a modified Joker model from MK11 is being used for Cletus Kasady due to similar appearances). Just to clear up any confusion. I am doing everything except voice acting and soundtrack.
All character portraits next to the auditions represent the characters as they will look in the animation, and all of the thumbnails were done by me in SFM.
The Casting Process
Unlike Arby 'n' the Chief: Next Gen, where a majority of the characters speak through Xbox Live microphones, this does not take place in a virtual world, so good audio quality is a must here. That means turn off any fans and air conditioners, and make sure that nobody is home who'll talk in the background. I can edit small things like slight background noise and pitch if need be, but make sure that there isn't a lot of reverb (or no reverb at all if you can). For those of you unaware of what reverb is, it's the echoes in the background of your recording when you speak. Also, keep an eye on your audio levels so they aren't peaking. If you aren't sure what peaking is, its when that audio level on your recording software gets too high, and it makes the audio sound worse as a result. If you need to yell in your audition, consider turning your microphone input down in your audio device settings (if you aren't sure, you can probably figure it out on Google).
In terms of the casting process and what I want and don't want to hear, paying attention to the descriptions is key here. Some characters I may be looking for a good impression, while others I am looking for a good interpretation. That means for characters like Batman, I'm not expecting you to do a perfect imitation of Kevin Conroy's Batman. If you want to, you can, but I don't want you to feel pressured to do so. I'm looking for people who can get the personality, attitude, and tone of the character down and sound like they aren't reading off of a script. Also, while it isn't required, I'd like it if you told me what your inspiration was for a voice so I get an idea of what you're going for.
In terms of submitting your audition, send in as many takes/variations as you'd like. More variations and takes on a character's voice always helps your chances. Also recommend exporting the file as a mono channel, 16-bit depth, 44100 Hz sample rate .wav file. This is so I don't have to edit it to work in SFM later. Most audio programs on the PC should let you pick the sample rate and bit depth before you record. If you NEED to send your audition in as an MP3 because of the file size, that's fine, I'm just making a recommendation.
Things to Know if You Land a Role
- If you want to do live directing sessions to make sure you get the lines right, then feel free to ask and we can discuss a time to do it on Discord or another app. Discord would be preferred as I will be making a server to keep everyone updated on the project and keep track of everyone.
- If you prefer not to do a live directing session with me, that's fine too, but in that case I'd like you to do at least 3 takes or more with your lines so that I have more to choose from.
- If you don't have discord and/or don't want to use it, email is perfectly fine, but I'll be checking up more often to make sure you're still on track.
- I am very lenient about deadlines here. While it helps to get the lines sent in as soon as possible, I understand some people have busy lives and need more time to get things done or need to work on paid projects first. That being said, please don't take half of a year to send in your lines. This project will already be long enough to work on, and I don't want any unnecessary holds on scenes because one person didn't send in lines.
- Some people prefer to be credited by their real names, and some people prefer nicknames. Let me know what you want to be credited as and if you want me to put any handles/links in the description of the video when it is released.
- If this does well, it is possible I may bring you back for future projects with said character if I have any in mind. Keep this in mind when auditioning.
If you have any lingering questions, do feel free to send me a message on here and I will answer what I can!
