Tens of thousands of feet above the ocean, an aircraft traveled at supersonic speed.
Its destination was the Sakura Abode Country.
Most of the passengers in the plane at that mont were sleeping already, that was because it was already over midnight at the Kokoro Islands, the place where the plane was flying from.
But two girls in first class were an exception.
Kaori and Ryoko had their cabins closed to isolate the sound they were making as they were on a video call with their respective companies.
Ryoko was talking with her secretary Amber, "How's the studio this morning?"
"Boss, the ani production ca back without any problems. All the departnts are working in full force." Amber replied with a professional voice.
"Did anyone try to contact ?" Ryoko asked.
"Yes, so team leaders sent reports and projections for you to check. I already sent it to your e-mail address." Amber replied, "But the thing that demands your attention is the voice actors."
"Rio-san already started a eting with the voice actors, the sound engineers, and the others. But they are waiting for you so that they can start the table reading." Amber added.
"Oh, the table reading." Ryoko repeated with a smile.
So people might not know, but a table reading is an organized reading of a script in which the speaking parts, stage directions, voiceover, and scene headings are read out loud. A table reading also provides an opportunity for the cast mbers, screenwriters, and other mbers of the production team to hear the script aloud for the first ti.
Basically, the table read is an informal reading of a script.
A table reading is essential in an ani production for various reasons.
For example, a table read is often the first ti that the producers will hear the entire script read out loud by actors. In many cases, the producer will have already cast most, if not all, of your main roles. Listening to these actors inhabit their roles for the first ti can help the producer confirm whether they have been properly cast or if adjustnts need to be made. If there are roles that have not yet been cast, table reads can be a great way to allow an actor you are considering to read the role in question to determine if he or she might be right for it.
Another point is that even great scripts can have issues, and sotis it's hard to pinpoint a script's problems until the director hear the whole thing read out loud. Whether it's stiff dialogue, boring stretches, or plot moves that don't make sense, sotis it takes a table read to truly determine the places where a script needs work.
And finally, the table reads often serve as the first occasion in the production process in which the cast and production team are gathered under one roof. In this sense, table reads offer an opportunity for the entire ani production group to et each other, socialize, and discuss the script.
When Amber said that everyone in the eting was with the voice actors, she ant that the whole sound engineers team, art departnt team, editing team, and other teams were in the eting with them!
The only ones missing from this eting were Ryoko and Theo.
They had been talking for two hours already and they were not even close to finishing discussing everything necessary to discuss.
But they could do that at another ti, as the table read was more important.
Therefore, Ryoko didn't waste any more ti and connected her computer to the eting call.
Shortly later, everyone in the eting was warned that their boss was about to appear on the screen.
"Guys, the Head Director is about to co into the eting call." Amber warned them.I think you should take a look at
When everyone heard that, they imdiately forgot what they were talking about and just waited for the boss.
When Ryoko's pretty face appeared on the screen, everyone greeted her politely, "Good morning, boss!"
The employees in the two studios greeted her at the sa ti. And as they were talking through a video call, they didn't even suspect that Ryoko was talking with them from thousands of ters above the ground. They just thought that she was speaking from her office, as the cabin that she was at was fancy enough for them to mistake for her office.
"Good morning, everyone!" Ryoko greeted them with a gentle smile, "I do hope the eting going well so far."
"Yes, boss, the production was explaining the ani concepts to the actors." Rio replied promptly.
"That's great. But we can do that later. We should start the table read as it will be much easier to explain things to actors afterward." Ryoko comnted.
"Yes, we should start." Everyone agreed with the boss.
At that mont, all the actors had the script of the first episode of the [SAO] Ani in their hands. Each of their lines was highlighted to make it easier for them to know which part they should speak.
"Are you guys ready?" Rio asked the voice actors.
They all nodded in agreent as they tried to concentrate on aligning themselves with their characters. They all had read and studied the SAO Novel, so they had a basic idea of how they should act in their roles.
Even Nana tried to follow her seniors' instructions and tried to focus on the task. It was her first table reading, so she had to admit that she was a little nervous. But her character had minimal participation, so she only had to follow the others' leads.
"I'll start then." Rio declared as she picked up the script and started.
"The episode opens on November 6, 2022. A player puts on his NerveGear and boots up Sword Art Online."
...
Just like that, the voice actors started the table read with Rio as the narrator.
Ryoko trusted her enough with this responsibility.
Ryoko observed every detail of the voice actors during the table read and noted down so points she noticed as she watched the exercise.
Things like if the voice actor should force his voice a little lower, the details of their actings, their timing during their lines, the emotions they passed during their lines, and many other details.
The other animators also made notes related to their own areas.
For example, Nora noted down if any scenes were too rushed to see if she needed to edit them, but that was not the only thing she noted down.
The sound engineers observed the actors' voices to see if they need to adjust anything during the sound processing.
And the other animators also noted down their own views of the process so they could express when the table read was over.
They had a long day ahead of them as they needed to analyze and correct any mistakes that were shown during the table read.
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