| | Spotlight:Corsi and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Voice
"Perhaps you wonder why the world's greatest director has gathered you here today. Stupid actors. For today, I make come-back with Kung Fu Chaos! Start acting!"
—Shao Ting, famous lover and '70s film director
Who's the man behind the voice of Shao Ting? Well, his name is Gio Corsi … and he's the bomb! This sharp-dressed 30-year-old was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. He comes from a family of restaurateurs, but he, being the self-professed black sheep of the family, went into the entertainment industry instead. He is a producer of animation at Mainframe Entertainment and does voice acting on the side.
Gio roared into Microsoft Games Studios and blew away the competition during interviews for the part of Shao Ting in the Xbox game Kung Fu Chaos. This is his story.
Leigh: We know Gio the superstar. Now, tell us about the man behind the megaphone. What's the real Gio like?
Corsi: Hmm, I like making fun of people when they fall down, and I hate spiders. They make me scream like a four-year-old girl!
Leigh: More …
Corsi: Mira Sorvino, hot sauces, Kurt Russell, Monty Python, The Incredible Hulk, red wine, Escape From New York, Dean Martin, The Blues Brothers, Goodfellas, Porkchops, and Raiders of the Lost Ark are favorites. I write and act as well as collect comics and hot sauces. I am a rabid DVD fan and love watching movies. I am also one hell of a chef.
Leigh: Gio? Is that an Italian name? How does a nice Italian guy like you get a gig doing the voice for a film director from Hong Kong?
Corsi: Yes, Gio is an Italian name, and it's short for Giovanni Francesco, which in Italian means "damn good looking." Actually, I'm named after both my grandfathers, and who said I was nice? To voice Shao Ting you must be like Shao Ting. Actually, I auditioned and was lucky enough to get the part.
Leigh: What were your thoughts the first time you walked into a recording studio?
Corsi: My first thought was, "Cool, this is something I really want to do, and now I'm doing it." I took radio broadcasting at BCIT [British Columbia Institute of Technology], so I was familiar with a recording studio. I also worked at Electronic Arts for four years and had some experience with recording then. But, this time was different; it was a big job, and it was on my shoulders to voice one of the main characters of the game. I hope I didn't let you all down!
Leigh: How did you find the "voice" for Shao Ting? Do you really sound like that?
Corsi: When I auditioned for the role, I tried about six drastically different styles. Some low, some high, some serious, some ludicrous. I thought to myself, what's the most annoying voice in the world, then added some Benny Hill and a dash of Jerry Lewis to the mix, and voila… Shao Ting was created. It was a spur of the moment thing. I have a lot of improvisation experience in my past (I was part of an improv group called 43 Lbs. of Wasted Space for seven years), so I just called upon that and said to myself, "I don't know if I'll get the part, but if I make the director laugh, that's good enough for me."
Leigh: Did you do any warm-ups for your voice before recording?
Corsi: Of course… laughter. Each night before a recording session, I'd watch a couple of old stand-by comedies like "Airplane" or "Top Secret" just to warm up the ol' vocal cords by laughing my butt off. They always say that "laughter is the best medicine." It's also the best warm-up.
Leigh: What was the recording booth like? Can you describe it for us?
Corsi: It was small, dank, and full of spiders. Actually, it was nice and roomy. I like to flail my arms when I do voices, and I always had water on stand-by. We recorded at Microsoft Game Studios in downtown Vancouver, and the guys there were great.
Leigh: Did they let you ad-lib, or was it all scripted?
Corsi: The majority of it was scripted, but I would sometimes throw in tidbits, and then the dialogue would grow from there. But, once in a while, when I knew all the lines in a certain section were done, I'd go off on a major tangent just to make the other guys crack up. Needless to say, I think we all had a good time, and I think some of those ad-libs made it into the final game.
Leigh: How did you keep from laughing during the recording?
Corsi: I didn't. I laughed when I wanted to, and sometimes it worked for the record. The voice director, the tech guys, and the Xbox team were all great. They egged me on to keep going; then, they would just plain egg me to get me to shut up. Kidding… The recordings were great fun, and laughter was a big part of it all.
Leigh: How long did it take to record everything for Kung Fu Chaos?
Corsi: I think, when all was said and done, I recorded a little under 3000 different lines. Shao Ting has something to say in every area of the game. I'm sure not all of the lines will be used in the final game, but that's part of the creative process. As a game designer, you create so many different modes for a game and not all of them make the final cut, but at the voice recording stage, you record for all of them. It's better to have some lines ready to plug into a possible game mode than not have anything at all. I think I went in for about nine different sessions altogether, and they ranged from one hour to six. By the end of most sessions, my voice was shot.
I think there is a major misconception about the voice recording industry. It's very tiring. Sure, you're just talking into a microphone, but at the same time, you are pouring all of your heart and energy into this microphone to make this character come alive with only a voice. That takes a lot of effort. When you see the final product, and your voice comes alive with these amazing in-game characters, the effort is all worth it. Just seeing Shao Ting running around on the game made me want to record more dialogue for him. It's a vicious cycle.
Leigh: Did you work with any other voice actors, or was it all solo?
Corsi: Solo. Shao Ting always works alone.
Leigh: Can I have a funny story about recordingKung Fu Chaos?
Corsi: One time, the voice director bought me some energy gel to get me jazzed up as we were embarking on a tough day. That put me through the roof. I'm a big guy who drinks a lot of coffee, so I thought nothing of it, but that energy gel took Shao to a whole new level of "off the wall." I think some of the craziest stuff came out on that day. I know that I was laughing a lot, and that night, I slept like the dead. (Stupid health food store energy gel…)
Leigh: What's this I hear about answering machine messages?
Corsi: At the very last recording, I did some phone messages for some of the Microsoft staff. I had no idea who I was talking about, so I just made some stuff up on the fly. The Xbox guys seemed to like it, so I just kept going. In the end, we were all gutting ourselves with laughter.
Leigh: Can you give any advice to people who would like to get into voice acting?
Corsi: Train your voice. Sing, act, talk, chew, do as much as you can to get your jaw and throat trained because once you're standing in front of a microphone for a few hours, giving it your all, if you are unprepared, you will lose your voice faster than you think. Also, remember to warm up; going in there cold will do more damage than good. Watch lots of comedies, remember to laugh, and above all else, have fun. It really shows in your performance whether or not you are into the recording session.
Leigh: What do you need to become a voice actor?
Corsi: Ham. Every good action movie director, or voice-over actor for that matter, needs ham.
Leigh: Would you do it again?
Corsi: In a heartbeat! It was a great experience, and I hope to work with these people again. There were about three months between two of the sessions. When we hooked up again, I got to play the unfinished game. When I heard all the different characters and then me yelling at myself to do things properly, I had to put down the controller. I was laughing so hard. The game has great fighting and loads of laughs. I think people are really going to enjoy it! To work with these people again on a great game of this caliber would be fantastic!
Leigh: Do you have another project lined up? If so, can you tell us about it?
Corsi: Nothing at the moment, but I wait daily by the phone for the call for Kung Fu Chaos 2: Shao Ting Strikes Back or Kung-Fu Chaos 3: The Good, The Bad, and the Shao or Kung Fu Chaos 4: Crouching Shao, Hidden Director or the family game Kung Fu Chaos: Three Men and a Little Shao.
Leigh: Ha! Funny ideas. Maybe you should be developing games, not acting in them. Okay, I just have one last question. What is up with Shao Ting calling his actors "Donkey!" when they screw up?
Corsi: Shao Ting's father was eaten by a donkey just outside of Hong Kong, and he never caught it. So whenever someone screws up, they get the dishonorable title of "Donkey." This beast brought shame to Shao's family in the past, and now these screw-ups bring shame to Shao in the present. Face it, this guy just doesn't like donkeys!
Leigh: Well, I don't know about donkeys, but I sure do like Gio. And, Shao Ting cracks me up! It's clear to me that you need a special kind of personality to play a role like Shao Ting. Thanks, Gio, for being special. By Violet Leigh |
