Spend a day in the ABC recording studio with Emily Prior

By Emily Prior

For the last ten months I have been working for ABC TV on a really awesome children’s television show called The Wonder Gang. My character Quest is an adventurous, fun, and curious Quokka explorer, who just happens to be a wheelchair user like me! 

Covid-19 has meant that I haven’t been able to fly to and from Sydney for the blocks of filming, so I have been recording my ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) or voice over work, here at ABC in Perth.

On the day I record I am normally up before 7am. I have breakfast, get showered and dressed and then we are in the car and on our way. We have a quick stop at Mum’s favourite coffee shop for a coffee for her and a hot chocolate for me.

In the car on the way, I start with voice warmups that my Vocal Coaches taught me to do and then I rehearse the script one last time.

When we get to ABC Kim, one of the Sound Engineers, meets us at the door and lets us in. We sign in and head upstairs to the recording studio where Ben (the other sound engineer) is waiting for us.

I set myself up in front of the microphone, and on Zoom is one of the Producers, who sits it on my session to direct the scenes I am recording.

In front of me is a large TV screen which has the scenes that have already been recorded. It is my job to record the voice for my character Quest, who is a Quokka puppet. I have to use my voice and sounds to match the mouth movements and physical gestures I see onscreen.

Sometimes this is really tricky to do. Other times it is really easy. I also sometimes get to record “wild”. This means that the scenes haven’t been recorded yet and when it is recorded in studio with the actors, the puppeteers will match the puppet work to my voice.

After I have finished at ABC, I go back to school. My school is really supportive. This is so important because it means I can continue to work.

Being able to be the voice of Quest has been a dream come true. I love that my character is disabled like me and that I get to bring her to life.  

All Pictures: Emily Prior (@emilyjprior_) 

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• Awesome Humans