Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524863
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 59 not just about the script and all that, that's about how the gaming industry has changed. Before, you could only get so much into a game, and now they're endless. EM: In seeing you direct actors a little bit, I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently you moved through the script. You've talked about the speed. And your actors always seem eager to jump in, address notes, and move at your pace. KZS: It's play. It's vocal play. EM: For you in your career, how long did it take you to work up to that sort of pace, of being able to work and give notes that quickly? KZS: I'd say relatively early on because I sat next to Gordon Hunt for all those years, and I watched him and his pace, and how the actors responded to that. Sometimes I'd observe other directors that weren't as fast, how tedious it quickly became, and I think that the actors really enjoy the play. As do I. The play and the pacing. We still have to make sure we're getting what we need to get, and there's more people in the room than just myself. Usually there's a writer or two there, sometimes the creative director of the game comes to the sessions. If things aren't going well, the actors are definitely going to readjust. EM: In your experience, what's a typical number of takes for a line of dialogue in a game? KZS: I usually want at least two choices. Sometimes three. There are actors who take a lot more than that sometimes, but 2-3 I'd say is the average. Some lines are more difficult, some scenes are more difficult. Sometimes there's actors who are not used to the medium. For example, a film actor. I have a great story. I won't use the actor's name, but the actor was very good at gladiator drama and stuff like that, and this was for God of War, but I don't remember the character name. A film actor was hired to play a role, and everyone was all excited, right? He was stiff as a board. He was stiff as a board because we work differently. Movie actors, seven hours in the trailer to process everything, right? And he didn't click to what we were doing, voice-over-wise. It was tedious, and it was a long session, and it wasn't that great. He was a famous, on-camera actor, and we were thrilled to have him, and he was a super great guy, and the whole thing, but he just didn't get the connection to the page. At the very end, we needed to do some publicity with him, and the red Voice director Kris Zimmerman Salter and producer Ryan Payton at the studio recording dialogue for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots