In the Recording Studio with Disney PLANES: Vocal Tracks ~ #DisneyPlanesEvent

While I attended an expense paid trip by Disney to the Monsters University Premiere and other events, all opinions are 100% my own.

I’m sure you’ve seen me mention once or twice (or many times) how I recently visited California for the Monsters University Premiere. While out on the West Coast, Disney offered me the oh-so-amazing opportunity to experience their latest summer film, PLANES! I spent the most fun-filled day at the Disney Toon Studios to experience all things PLANES. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my Animation Session with Disney Animator Ethan Hurd, and my Drawing Demonstration with Story Artist Art Hernandez.

In today’s post I’m going to tell you what I learned about vocal tracks and voice overs in the recording studio! Sound engineer George Thompson and Casting Director Jason Henkel generously took time out of their busy schedules to meet with my fellow bloggers and I to discuss the recording process.

It was really interesting and insightful to learn about the casting, testing, and recording process. Often casting directors will bring in multiple actors to “test” for the role via recording a vocal track. This way they can see which “voice” they feel best matches the character they visually see.

An aspect of the process I found surprising was that the actors record alone in these studios! Usually in a film, actors can play off of one another in a scene. In the recording booth, it’s a different story. The voice actor is alone with just the other actor’s vocal tracks. Very often, these actors will just say the same line over and over again, but in different tones for the casting director or sound engineer to choose which version they prefer. The engineers ending up taking the lines recorded and manipulate them via a sound mixer to give the dialogue a more conversational feel.

I Voiced Dottie!

So now after learning about the voice recording process, I had the chance to step into the booth! It was kind of surreal to step into the booth and put those headphones on. I watched a scene played out between Dusty (Dane Cook) and Dottie (Teri Hatcher). Then I was given the script for Dottie to record! I admit, I was nervous when I first found out I had to record a vocal track. However, it ended up being a lot of fun! Below is the scene with my voice recording for Dottie:

Want a quick look at what it’s like to record in the booth? Here’s a peak at my session:

Be sure to follow the hashtag #DisneyPlanesEvent to learn more about all the fun my fellow bloggers and I had while out in California learning more about this film. Don’t forget to connect with PLANES on Facebook and Twitter! In all the excitement of the release, be sure to also follow the #DisneyPlanes hashtag for the latest information and news on the film.

Don’t forget to watch the teaser trailer below to hear the characters voiced by stars such as Dane Cook, Teri Hatcher, and Brad Garrett! This film hits theaters on August 9th.