GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Game Narrative Summit: Prepare Recording Scripts like a Pro
Ayesha Khan (Lead Narrative Designer, Ubisoft Reflections)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Game Narrative
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Make Actors Yell Good
When the script sounds right in your head, but you aren't getting what you wanted from the voiceover performance, the culprit might be what you included or didn't on the page.
Industry veteran Khan offers a deep dive into how recording scripts can enable or derail getting voiceover performances which match your vision. She covers what information to include or not and why, which grammar or formatting decisions matter and which don't, and how to avoid accidentally confusing your actors while giving them space to surprise and delight you.
(A genteel rant about written-out dialects is included free of charge.)
Takeaway
This talk should provide an understanding of what actors actually need from your scripts and what they don't, why those elements help or hinder, and how to leave room for co-creation with the talent while still getting the performance you need, even when you're not personally directing the recording sessions.
Intended Audience
All levels of game writers, narrative designers and producers, voice or dialogue or audio designers, cinematics directors and designers, and anyone else who might need to someday put a script in front of a voice actor and hope they get what they need out of the experience.
