Wing Commander - Defiant Few (New Audio Series)

Plywood Fiend

Rear Admiral
Hello all, and Happy New Year. A lot of you have seen or are aware of the Audio production ‘From the Jaws of Defeat’ which me and some fellow wingnuts recently made. I’d now like to announce my next and considerably more ambitious project: Wing Commander: Defiant Few – An Episodic Audio Series, and say that I am now accepting auditions from anyone who’s interested in doing some voice acting.

(It may well be the case that I’ll need to look beyond the CIC for some of these roles. If you know anyone who’s not on the forum who you think might be interested in auditioning, please pass this along)


Premise: The series covers a devastating Nephilim attack on the Gemini Sector, and the attempts of Admiral Sandra Goodin and her piecemeal fleet to safeguard the civilian population and fight back against the ever growing Nephilim armada.


There are five major roles and seven minor roles to audition for. I’m going to be casting new characters as needed with each new episode, just to keep people whose characters don’t appear in episode 4 for example from having to wait months for me to get to that point.


Episode 1 Casting Call


Major Roles


Admiral Sandra Goodin: Commander of Perry Naval Station and Confederate Naval operations throughout Gemini Sector. She is a calm, confident professional but the on-going destruction brought to her sector takes its toll on her as the series progresses.



Audition Lines:


1. Inform the Falchion, the Nyx and the Owain Glendower that they are now the Gallant's escorts.
2. Divert emergency power to the shields at the estimated points of impact.



Captain David Wilkinson: Attaché to Admiral Goodin. Formerly a pilot until suffering a debilitating injury whilst ejecting during the Border World’s conflict. He is her right hand, voice of reason and confidant when required.


Audition Lines:


1. The grass is always greener everywhere except where you happen to be standing.


2. Maybe they know something about this new Nephilim build-up that we don't.



Colonel Patrick ‘Pharaoh’ Webber: The carrier TCS Charlemagne’s Wing Commander. Stern but likable, Pryce’s expectations of his/her pilots are always high.


Audition Lines:


1. Yes, we know! They're going to try their luck anyway. There isn't time for interruptions people.


2. Sundew, Goblet, Block, Beasty, Leech, Wizard and Bard are Beta wing in the Excaliburs with me as wing-leader.


Brian Ganesan: A young, retired privateer who had planned to settle down with his wife Amanda on New Detroit. Unfortunately for him, Confed’s emergency decree 394 compels him to leave in his fighter to help resist the Nephilim advance.


Audition Lines:


1. You need to get out of the system, take the first transport you can find that’s heading for Earth and stay with your mother until Gemini's bug free.


2. I can't just leave you, not now.


Amanda Ganesan: A militia pilot on maternity leave. She convinces Brian that he has to fight for the sake of their home and family.


Audition Lines:


1. I'm a pilot too Brian, remember? I know what can happen out there.


2. We’re at war, nothing is right.



Minor Roles (Can all be male or female)



Bridge Officer 1: Radar operator on Perry Naval Base


Audition Line: Admiral Goodin, I’m detecting a ship coming through the Tingerhoff jump point, a big one.


Bridge Officer 2: Communications Officer on PNB


Audition Line: Admiral, TCS Gallant reports that it has cleared the hanger.


Bridge Officer 3: Weapons officer on PNB


Audition Line: Shields are up and at full strength Admiral, all laser and tachyon turrets are online.


Newscaster: A person who reports the news.


Audition Line: As yet the number of Confederation warships in the system remains unchanged at three carriers plus fifteen escort vessels' giving Confed the numerical advantage for the moment.


Bard: A pilot from the TCS Charlemagne. In this episode they have only one line.


Audition Line: Colonel, we know the Nephilim can see through cloaking devices,


(To avoid giving away spoilers, I’m going to have to be a little vague for these next two.)


Commodore Pryce: Commander of another Confederation flagship. His/Her voice should sound slightly automatic or ‘off’.


Audition Line: I am not at liberty to explain anything over the com, save of course that we are here to assist in the defence of this system.


Com Officer: Pryce’s communications officer, Only one line. They should sound slightly automatic/off as well.


Audition Line: we are preparing our fighters for a magnum launch and heading for a position between the base and the Ragnarok jump point.
 
For the final, it might be a good idea to record some key scenes together, so people feed off each other's lines.
 
In practice that doesn't typically prove feasible, individual recordings tend to be easier for the actors and they twist together surprisingly well more often than not. If they don't, I'll just have to ask for redo's.
 
A recent script tweak means there's a new role of sorts to audition for if anyone's interested. Specifically a narrator for a few lines at the start of the episode.

Audition Lines:

'The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.' (NOTE: This is a biblical quotation. It'll make more sense with the rest of the passage.)

'We shall be bathed in our own blood and rotted flesh shall be our fare.' (Kilrathi voice optional)

Thanks to everyone who's auditioned so far; plenty of time left to do so for anyone who's interested.

P.S. If you know of anyone who you think might want to lend their voice to this project, would you mind directing them to this thread? I've posted casting calls in other voice acting web sites but I'd like to present it to as many interested persons as possible. Even if I can't use someone for this episode, there'll almost certainly be a place for them in future ones. (Also, at the moment the two female roles are in particular need of auditions).

P.P.S. The script for episode 2 is already in the works. I'll almost certainly be posting a new casting call for that before episode 1 is released.
 
So, if we've put in auditions already, do you want aditional recordings for hte narrator lines? Also for the kilrathi one, I assume you need more than just extracting the existing lines from the Prophecy intro?
 
So, if we've put in auditions already, do you want aditional recordings for hte narrator lines? Also for the kilrathi one, I assume you need more than just extracting the existing lines from the Prophecy intro?

Feel free to send additional lines if you'd like. Anything is fine this side of the deadline.

For the Kilrathi one, I think extracting audio from prophecy would sound a bit jarring next to the other recording. Ultimately I'm looking to have the two narrator passages fit well side by side. (Also if anyone can do a goodly Kilrathi voice for the latter line then that would be a plus.)


Whilst I'm here, I just wanted to thank everyone who's auditioned so far. I've had some great sounding lines sent to me and it's encouraging to see people's enthusiasm for the project. There's one week left for anyone still looking to audition. Below are the roles that, as yet, have had little to no auditions.

Admiral Sandra Goodin
Amanda Ganeson
Commodore Pryce
Pryce's Com Officer

That said, feel free to audition for any role you want. If all goes according to plan then as soon as the deadline for episode 1 passes, I'll be posting a new casting call for episode 2.
 
Would love to audition but I know I'm a wee bit late. I'll record some pieces and get them to you tomorrow if you like in whatever format. Just a great chance to help the community and get some work going. (My pregnant wife is sleeping at the moment or I'd instantly record some bits for you).
 
Would love to audition but I know I'm a wee bit late. I'll record some pieces and get them to you tomorrow if you like in whatever format. Just a great chance to help the community and get some work going. (My pregnant wife is sleeping at the moment or I'd instantly record some bits for you).

No worries, the deadline for auditions is today at midnight (GMT) and anything sent before then is fine. If you don't make that one however I should be posting the casting call for new roles in episode 2 either tomorrow or the day after.
 
And we're done... sort of. All roles are now cast with the sole exception of the lead, Admiral Goodin. Though we should be able to get something sorted on that front soon enough. In the meantime the scripts have been sent and now comes the recording stage.

Thanks again to everyone who auditioned. I think I've gotten back to everyone now but if I've missed you, let me know.

I also have four new roles available for episode 2, two Human, one Kilrathi and one Firekkan. All will appear in at least 2 episodes. If you've already auditioned for episode one or recieved roles, feel free to audition again if you'd like.


Kritharg – Male. A Kilrathi privateer and commander of his three-strong mercenary wing. He is irritable and largely contemptuous of aliens, though strangely philosophical.

(Notes for auditions: If you can make your voice sound as feline as possible in your normal tone of voice, I should be able to make it Kilrathi-esque by reducing the pitch.)


Audition Line 1: Be silent Morgan, this monkey is of no use to us in battle, so I might as well profit from his atoms.

Audition Line 2: They threaten you, they challenge you, you should feel impatient to meet their challenge, and nothing else.

Ekrik – Male. Firekkan privateer, son of Captain Larrhi from SM2. Following the Nephilim attack on Firekka he is hungry for vengeance but outwardly appears calm and friendly(ish). He is also a keen gambler.

(Notes for auditions: If you can send two versions of each line, one in your normal voice, the other in as high a pitch as you can comfortably manage, I should be able to en-firekaanificate accordingly from those... I think. If that doesn’t work we’ll just go with a normal sounding voice.)

Audition Line 1: Have you ever fought before? You have the look of a fledgling.

Audition Line 2: It won’t be over quickly. Every news report I’ve heard brings revised enemy ship numbers. There is a swarm of them.

Morgan – Can be male or female. A human privateer, the calmer, moderating voice of reason for the three.

Audition Line 1: Ignore him, he always gets cranky when he skips his morning saucer of milk.

Audition Line 2: Careful, if you challenge him directly, he’ll kill you. Kilrathi ethics, they don’t back down from challenges.

Sergeant McLaren: Can be male of female. Head of Perry Naval Base’s marine detachment, experienced, professional and calm in the face of adversity.

Audition Line 1: Get suited up and into the shuttles, move it!

Audition Line 2: Don’t worry ma’am. Me and my marines have done this plenty of times.

The deadline this time is the 15th of February.
 
Just a reminder for anyone looking to audition for episode 2's roles. There's one week left till the deadline.

Alas I have to say that I still can't cast the accursed lead role. I'm hoping I can sort something out soon enough but needless to say the project's effectively stuck until I do.
 
To be honest, i lack the patience to listen to audiobooks. Just sitting (or lying) and listening makes me sleepy, so whenever i did try one i always did something else simultaneously, and in the end i couldn't remember what was happening anyway.
That said, nice to see this facette of "modding" explored for Wing Commander as well, so please keep up the work.
 
To be honest, i lack the patience to listen to audiobooks. Just sitting (or lying) and listening makes me sleepy, so whenever i did try one i always did something else simultaneously, and in the end i couldn't remember what was happening anyway.
That said, nice to see this facette of "modding" explored for Wing Commander as well, so please keep up the work.

Try them on your daily commute if you use public transport.
 
Try them on your daily commute if you use public transport.

Indeed. It's easy to get distracted if you're listening to an audio drama in the background whilst doing something else. However if you have a situation such as a commute to work where you have nothing better to do then they can help immensely with the tedium.

Anyway, for anyone still looking to audition, the deadline for episode 2's roles is midnight tonight. I'll get back to people with casting choices on Saturday.
 
Good news; at last we have someone to play the role of Admiral Goodin. That was the last major obstacle halting progress and now Defiant Few is moving again, so to speak.

I don't want to make any predictions as to when episode 1 may be finished, so I won't. However I have almost everyone's lines in and I think I have what I need in terms of music and sound effects for the editing stage, so there's cause for cautious optimism I think
 
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