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# Recording Session 03
- URL: https://nakedfella.com/recording-session-03/
- Published: 2007-02-14T14:05:05.000Z
- Updated: 2007-02-14T14:05:05.000Z
- Author: David Blumenstein
- Tags: Animation, Development, Recording Sessions, The Precinct, #Migrated-1792107978996, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-16 10:46

This voice recording session (which took place last Thursday) went really well. I decided it was important that all the actors attending liquor up before going into the booth. While the bourbon I brought along may not have made that much of a difference to the actors' performances, I think its presence changed the room's atmosphere somewhat (it smelled of bourbon).

I completely rewrote a pivotal scene a few days beforehand, which I imagine is always reassuring for actors. Nevertheless it was carried off well by Katrina, Thomas and [Dr Justin Heazlewood](http://www.bedroomphilosopher.com/?ref=nakedfella.com), joining us for the first time. In this session we took our first shot at recording whole scenes with two actors reacting off each other. I was happy with the results, enough to stay up late redrawing the animatic to reflect the changes.

I was super happy with what we got, feeling that the new version of the scene (basically two guys sitting in a car) shot a lot more fun and action in than the original. Then today [Adam](http://adamwajnberg.blogspot.com/?ref=nakedfella.com) dropped by and checked out the animatic as it stands, and told me he found the dialogue readings in the whole thing flat. This bothered me because I felt we had something pretty nice going. I mean, sure, a lot of the joy will be injected when the animation's actually done (the animatic is mostly still frames, after all), and nobody looking at the animatic is seeing what I have in my head, exactly, but...

Having discussed the thing further, I learned that Adam feels animation always needs "characterised" line readings. He feels that my earlier animated film, [*Herman, The Legal Labrador*](http://www.herman.nakedfella.com/?ref=nakedfella.com), suffered for my desire to keep some readings "naturalistic". I agree with him to a point, but what *Herman* may have suffered from equally was my inability/unwillingness to "keep things moving" with more active animation and faster editing.  
So basically, I tend to err on the side of "dry" or "subtle", and risk ending up with "boring" as a result.

However, Adam considers the animated shows [*Daria*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daria?ref=nakedfella.com) and [*King of the Hill*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fhill?ref=nakedfella.com) "boring". So we diverge there. I think both these shows are very funny, and are pretty good examples of how animation does NOT have to restrict itself to characters braying like jackasses to get a laugh (or *not* get a laugh, in the case of *Family Guy*). I feel that fast, stupid cop action and slow, quiet, "naturalistic" bits can coexist in one five minute episode, and I think through working on the structure and editing of the episode, I'll prove myself right.

What do you think? What other animated shows/shorts/films have managed to keep their characters "low key" and still funny?