UNDERSTUDY [Visual Novel]
![UNDERSTUDY [Visual Novel]](https://d1m9vqlvl3fy94.cloudfront.net/project/attachment/237717/666922understudy_bloody_hands_shade.png)
Project Overview
How far will you go for the leading role?
Isabelle Stern is a senior theater major at a small but renowned arts college, and she knows she's the best actress there. For her senior production, she has her heart set on playing Lady Macbeth in the Shakespearan classic-- but to her shock, a sophomore beats her for the role, relegating her to an understudy. Furious, a dark desire for revenge grows in Isabelle's heart, and when a mysterious theater ghost offers her a chance to change her fate, she can't help but take it. But can she get what she wants without bloodying her hands?
Hello! I'm Luna Raydue, game developer and voice actor, casting for my upcoming visual novel "UNDERSTUDY" for the 2023 Spooktober Visual Novel Jam. You can check out my previously released games on my Itch page! UNDERSTUDY will be a psychological horror-drama visual novel of ~30k words with 3 routes, 2 main endings, and lots of ~Theatricality~.
- These roles are unpaid, as this game is being made for the Spooktober VN Jam on a volunteer basis. However, if any prizes are won for the game VAs will receive a portion of the winnings, and if any VA wins the best voice actor award, that prize money is fully theirs.
- The plan is for the game to be fully voice acted, with live-directed recording sessions. The script is mostly completed, and each character should have ~250-300 lines. Actors should be able to complete all lines within 3-6 hours (1-3 directed sessions). Because of the strict timeline for the Spooktober jam, please only audition if you are sure you are able to set aside up to 6 hours for live direction in the week after casting (September 17-23).
- Please submit 1-2 takes for each line in WAV or MP3 format. XLR mics are preferred, but well-treated USB mic setups are acceptable. Do not do any editing to your audio beyond basic cleanup (ie. background noise removal, normalization).
- Submit auditions via CCC or dm @lunaraydue on discord.
- LGBTQ+ and POC VAs highly encouraged to audition for every role! Representative casting would be preferred for noted characters.
- Have fun! :)
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A sophomore chemistry major cast as Lady MacBeth. Shy and naive offstage, but onstage she shines with talent and passion. She's kind, caring, and friendly to everyone, and is just discovering her love for acting. She admires Isabelle deeply.
Voice: Medium-high, soft and sweet with a nervous stutter, but capable of sounding regal and dramatic as Lady Macbeth.
Actor must be capable of performing Maya in both her normal speaking voice and in the role of Lady Macbeth, which requires reading Shakespearean dialogue. Must be capable of doing Really Bad Shakespeare as well as pretty good Shakespeare.
- english
- female young adult
- video game
- visualnovel
- shakespeare
(nervous, admiring, excited) "Um, you're... Isabelle, right? You were amazing as Carmilla last semester! I wanted to say something after the show, but I was too nervous... I hope it's okay to say it now."
(do two readings of this Act 1 Scene 5 passage in character as Lady Macbeth-- one "bad" reading (awkward, stuttering, poorly acted) and one "good" reading (confident, dramatic, in-character).) "The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty."
Transfem and POC VAs Encouraged
A senior theater production major, the director of the Macbeth play. Reasonable and level headed, but strict in her expectations. Practical but superstitious, and forgetful except when it comes to her play which she has a strong passion and artistic vision for.
Voice: Medium to low, serious and even with deadpan delivery and dry wit, but can be expressive and dramatic when needed.
- english
- female young adult
- video game
- visualnovel
- androgynous
- male young adult
(blunt, explaining to a friend she respects) "I know what you really want to ask, Isabelle. You want to know why I didn't cast YOU as Lady Macbeth. In truth, your act five monologue was lacking. There was pride, and some guilt, but I didn't get the grief I was looking for."
(directing a scene) "Alright, good start. Lords in the background- Half of you are just staring blankly, and half of you are gesticulating far too much. Find a middle ground."
(cold fury, growing angrier) [Isabelle: "I didn't mean to--"] "Didn't mean to what? Erode all the trust I had in you? All the years of what I thought was friendship? Even my temper has a limit, Isabelle. Get. The fuck. Out."
A junior theater minor, cast as Macbeth. Easygoing and friendly, but doesn't try very hard at anything because he comes from money and knows he'll have an easy ride in life. However, he has a vindictive side when betrayed.
Voice: Medium to medium-low, easygoing and friendly but capable of sounding serious and dramatic as Macbeth.
Actor must be capable of performing Tristan in both his normal speaking voice and in the role of Macbeth, which requires reading Shakespearean dialogue.
- english
- male young adult
- video game
- visualnovel
- shakespeare
(friendly, light flirtation) "Hey, what do you think? Wouldn't I make a great Macbeth? And you'd be a perfect Lady Mac. If we were both cast, we'd be, like, the ultimate power couple!"
(heartbroken, upset) "I liked you. I trusted you. And now I realize... From the very start, you've been manipulating me. Did you ever even have feelings for me? Has all of it been a lie?"
(acting as Macbeth- Act 2 Scene 1) "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?"
The ghost that haunts the theater and helps Isabelle in her quest for revenge. Dramatic, sinister, mysterious. Ambitious and obsessive, and latches onto Isabelle who has the same qualities.
Voice: Low masculine voice preferred, but open to alternative interpretations of pitch and gender. Sinister and theatrical, an actor even in death.
- english
- androgynous
- male adult
- female adult
- video game
- visualnovel
(enticing, sinister) "I have been watching you, Isabelle. In every rehearsal, you work the hardest. In every play, you perform the best. You deserve this role. I can help you take it."
(dramatic, proud) "Within my domain of power, this very theater, I am akin to a god. Reality itself is within my grasp."
(subtly angry, convincing) "You cannot concede. You must claim your destiny now. Can you truly stand by while Maya, that naive fool, takes your role?"
![higurashi: when they cry fandub [episode 1 & 2]](https://d1m9vqlvl3fy94.cloudfront.net/project/attachment/330201/default_1127198Thumbnail.png)
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