- Time
- (Edited)
- Post link
I’m throwing all sorts of spanners in the works lately, but this idea came to me and it might be something to consider - especially if audio is the current focus of ESB:R.
The new look Emperor hologram for ESB:R is fantastic, and visually ties in well to ROTJ. But in ESB:SE, Ian McDiarmid’s line delivery is also wildly different compared to ROTJ. And it’s not really the delivery, so much as it is the register - his voice is far lower in ESB:SE, which is understandable given how much older he was at that point compared to his first appearance in 1983.
So I wondered if it would be effective to gently pitch McDiarmid’s dialogue up a notch. And perhaps some light EQing could bring him further in line with how he sounded in ROTJ. His voice is just so low and boomy in ESB:SE. Now sure, there might be an in-universe explanation for this discrepancy - the Emperor is chatting to Vader using an intergalactic communications device, and he’s been magnified (and amplified) to fill a large chamber. Those factors could definitely contribute to him sounding ‘boomier’ than in ROTJ, when we meet the Emperor in flesh.
But still - his voice is incredibly low by comparison. And so it might be worth considering a minimal re-pitch.
I’ve mocked this myself, by pitching the Emperor up by two semitones. I wasn’t working with an isolated dialogue track, so that meant pitching everything up by two semitones; background music and all. This makes it somewhat jenky - well, very jenky! But I think it’s fine as a proof-of-concept; just forgive any artefacts, and that slight ‘helium’ effect which creeps in!
To allow for comparison, I’ve included links below to the original, untouched ESB:SE Emperor audio; my pitched up Emperor audio; and audio from the Emperor’s first conversation with Vader in ROTJ. The aim was to try and achieve the closest match with the latter. Although it sounds somewhat wobbly - definitely wobbly! - I’d be hopeful that you could get a far closer result with an isolated dialogue track. “We have a new enemy: young Skywalker” and “He could destroy us” sound reasonably good, which gives me hope that a better result is possible.
EMPEROR DIALOGUE - ESB:SE - UNTOUCHED:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xzx86suesd9hbcs/Emperor Dialogue - ESB - Normal Pitch - Normal EQ.mp3?dl=0
EMPEROR DIALOGUE - ESB:SE - PITCHED UP TWO SEMITONES:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ho4mihxy5xii2mg/Emperor Dialogue - ESB - Pitched Up.mp3?dl=0
EMPEROR DIALOGUE - ROTJ - FIRST CONVERSATION WITH VADER:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fz3oszukhpf48g/Emperor Dialogue - ROTJ - First Convo with Vader.mp3?dl=0