Carrie-Anne Moss, costar of the big-screen adaptation of the video game “Silent Hill: Revelation,” told IFC that she was inundated with information by the filmmakers in preparation for her role as Claudia Wolf, although she avoided playing the actual video game. “They sent me all of this stuff,” Moss said Friday in a telephone interview for her new film “Fireflies in the Garden.” “It was of what her image sort of looked like and what she felt like, and that was interesting. [But] I didn’t go in and play the game to really see, because I’m not really into that so much.”

In “Silent Hill: Revelation,” Wolf an ostentatious priestess who serves as the main antagonist against Heather Mason, played by Adelaide Clemens. Although she didn’t spend time playing the game to get into character, Moss said that footage from the game was among the materials she used to get into character. “It definitely was part of the conversation with the director, looking at a lot of different footage. And then ultimately this crazy wig and this crazy costume helped me go, there I was!”

Moss previously appeared in the “Matrix” films, playing the ass-kicking, leather clad heroine Trinity. She explained that the costume and make-up is a crucial part of transforming herself into the character. “Oh, totally, right? It’s like you wouldn’t even know it was me,” Moss said. “And the dialogue, too. This woman was powerful and slightly insane, but a zealot who totally believed in what she was doing. So it was pretty intense.”

“Silent Hill: Revelation” also marked Moss’ first foray into 3D filmmaking, which she admitted was a bit of an adjustment from what she was familiar with. “That was a little bit tricky, because they had this 3D camera where you have to shoot things a few times,” Moss explained. “But it wasn’t that it was difficult, it was that it was something I hadn’t done before. Like, every director is a little different, but I know that there’s a way to do it technically. And then all of a sudden there’s this new technique added to it, which is a camera with X, Y and Z.”

“I can’t even remember if we had to be super still or whatever it was, but it was, oh wow, okay, it’s a whole new world of making movies.”

“Fireflies in the Garden” is being released on October 14, 2011.

Not much has changed since we last heard from the actors side of this fiasco, but we do know now that Monica Taylor Horgan (voice actress for Mary/Maria) has been in contact with Konami and working things out amicably. I contacted David Schaufele to ask him a few questions about voice acting and his perspective on the HD Collection controversy. He gave some interesting stuff on residuals… Enjoy!

Silent Haven: Hello Dave, It’s a thrill to able to talk with you today about Silent Hill 2. Many fans have questions about your memorable performance as Eddie in Silent Hill 2, for example what it was like to work with Team Silent and the other cast members. I hope you don’t mind if I also slip in a few questions about the current controversy regarding new voice actors Konami has paid to replace the originals.

First of all, can you tell me how and when you got started in voice acting?

David Schaufele: Well, first of all thanks for your kind words and for all the support from you loyal fans. It’s truly amazing the way the game has taken on a life of its own. Voice acting can be tough with a lot of disappointments along the way so it’s sure nice to get a little recognition once in a while.

How and when did I start… I guess back in elementary school my grade 5 homeroom teacher Mr. Morley was also in charge of the drama program and whenever he forgot to prepare a lesson he would make us do little improvisational skits to fill the time. My influences then where Cheech and Chong, Monty Python and of course Disney characters were also fun to imitate in polite company. In the school play that year my computer robot voice landed me a part inside a cardboard box.

I saved up in my late teens, bought a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder and tried to write songs. In my early 20s I moved into radio jingles without much financial success. But I do recommend volunteering at local theater, radio and TV stations as a great way to get your foot in the door and meet some cool people who will inspire you.

Professionally I guess things really started to take off in Tokyo after I was selected by a heavyweight New York producer to narrate a United Nations documentary. He said that my Canadian accent was more neutral than American, with a bit of British clarity and the UN wanted one version that could be used worldwide. I started doing radio at the national broadcaster NHK at around the same time, 1990, so the voice agents could use these two selling points with clients.

I improved a lot over the next few years by working with a hard-nosed old American director overdubbing numerous Japanese 35mm movies and cartoon animations. Imagine 10 actors standing side-by-side in a dark movie theater. The microphones and scripts were on stands with small lights and we recorded an entire scene in one take. Suddenly this booming Wizard of Oz voice would scream and swear and fire the actor standing beside you. Then add his part to your list of characters. Talk about motivation to get it right every time or starve in the unemployment line.

SH: Have you performed in any games other than Silent Hill 2?

DS: couple dozen over the years and about half registered my credits on IMDbPro. But most never become big hits like Silent Hill 2. That’s perhaps why they usually don’t bother with any written contracts because the odds of getting past the first version are slim.

As computer graphic technology developed in the 90s the top group of voice actors in Tokyo added games to the list of annual work. It was a chance to see old friends in a big studio and do the same style of complete take recordings of scenes like with 35mm. Gone was the big movie screen with 20 foot high talking faces, in comes a TV and it was much tougher try to catch the lip movement on your character.

But when you see the finished product it’s easy to forget how many hours of production went into making it from a script. You older gamers might remember Sega’s Dreamcast machine that came out well before Playstation and had great features but lacked cool software. I mention this because it made an impression on me watching the size of the production required to create Shenmue with like 300 characters. It cost a small fortune and took several years to complete. So even with a one-year console lead, Sega lost out to Sony because of a better selection of software available.

SH: Have you been keeping up with any of the newer installments of the Silent Hill series?

DS: My nephew is a big gamer and he checked them out and kept telling me that SH2 was still the best so that sort of satisfied my curiosity. To be honest my three children were still small when SH2 came out and they were into Nintendo mainly because everyone could play together. Family changes your priorities.

SH: Can you tell us a little about the auditions. What were they like, and how did you nail the part of Eddie?

DS: Funny story actually because I didn’t hear about it from the casting agency. I took my daughter to the audition because her school friend told her about it. After she was finished they asked me if I was interested in auditioning and I thought it might be fun to work with my daughter if she got the part so I agreed. Since I had no time to prepare I just winged it. It was just a typical audition, stand in the middle of an empty room and pretend this is here and that is over there and you are crazy, now read this. They had already seen all the top theater guys in town so I figured the odds were slim. I think maybe it was my vomiting that clinched the deal. I traveled around Asia in my early 20s and got sick from bad water and food poisoning numerous times.

SH: Eddie comes through as very believably insane. How did you develop your performance?

DS: I guess that was also from some old traveling experiences. I spent a year and a half backpacking through jungles, mountains and deserts in Asia and the Middle East. I had more near-death experiences than I care to count and I met a few crazy characters along the way.

SH: Can you tell us a positive memory you have from working with the cast on Silent Hill 2?

DS: The cast and crew were all great people. That’s the nice thing about working with artistic-minded folks in general. The Japanese writer and director were really cool and let us kind of go with an idea if it was working. Sometimes they had a very specific request that you had to follow and other times they just said go for it and let’s see how it turns out. It was nice getting applause from the director and crew after finishing some of the intense scenes.

Sometimes you have to deal with producers and directors with big egos who are trying to justify their existence and put on a performance for the client. Having too many company reps on hand often means they’ll want you to try it a dozen different ways until lightening strikes and they finally figure out what they actually want. Then the arguing dies down and they ask you which one you like best and go with that. Typically whenever the business side gets involved the art suffers. But the SH2 creative guys were really cool and seemed to be calling all the shots. I could sense that there was a kind of raw genius at work.

SH: Guy Cihi and Monica Taylor Horgan claim there were no written contracts or rights releases ever signed with Konami. What do you say?

DS: Nope, I didn’t see any either. But that’s not unusual because most games never succeed in a big way and survive long enough to make it to a new platform or have a sequel made that uses some of the old material. Keep in mind that a project has to make a lot of profit before management decides to risk a big chunk on a sequel or moving to a new platform.

SH: Based on your experience in the industry, would you say it is common or uncommon for games to be produced without signed releases and contracts?

DS: It’s common in Japan but largely because written contracts were traditionally not the norm for many business activities between Japanese companies. I heard that written contracts were first required by foreign companies because they wanted things spelled out in black and white to avoid misunderstandings due to language etc. Occasionally I am asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep things secret during production.

SH: Has Konami ever contacted you for any reason since the original release of the game? If so, what did they have to say and how did you respond?

DS: No contact until last year when I guess someone in Konami’s legal department must have realized that they hadn’t paid us for additional use and had no signed waivers. So they sent all the actors a form letter asking us to sign away our rights to all past and future additional uses of our performances. I replied asking for more information about the past and future uses they were referring to, but never heard anything after that. I work with Donna Burke and she mentioned the same situation where Konami failed to respond to her reply for more information.

SH: Some Konami people have been blaming Guy Cihi for forcing them to hire new actors for all the voices. Konami said that additional payments such as residuals are not paid to actors in the games industry. They said that games are done on a buyout basis and actors don’t keep any rights to future re-uses. It seems pretty logical. Isn’t that how it really is?

DS: Well I’ve received additional use payments from Namco for Tekken every time they bring out a new version that contains one of my voices. Each residual was roughly equal to the original payment. When the game was released for PS3 and X-box I got twice the usual amount. My agent just calls me up like clockwork.

SH: Are you saying that each time the Tekken game was re-released on a new generation console, the publisher came to you in advance and paid you an additional fee, I mean that hardly seems possible after what the Konami people said?

DS: It’s usually after the fact, when production is completed and the actors in the latest version are confirmed then the paperwork moves upstairs to the accounting department. There’s typically no, hey let’s send out a waiver letter instead and see if the actors will sign away all their rights so we can save the company money and get an Xmas bonus. Actually, I recently heard that Thessaly Learner, the main actor in SH1, said when they used her voice for SH3 without permission, her agent threatened to sue, and she got four times the original amount. So that kind of blows a big hole in Konami’s story that no residuals are ever paid for their games.

SH: Why do you think Konami went to the huge expense of hiring new voice actors rather than negotiating global releases from you and the other original actors? Did you and the others demand a really high price or something?

DS: Not that I’m not aware of. But maybe the accountants at Konami added up what they owe us for additional use and it was cheaper to ignore us and go into the recording studio for a few hours with new actors. Remember, we spent a lot of time doing motion capture. The final dialogue replacement in a recording studio was relatively quick and easy. So I guess the accountants didn’t want to share with the artists and maybe management figured you gamers would like the new voices better or not notice the difference.

The casting agent on the SH2 job was a company called VOICEBOX, I think, or something like that. Two partners as I remember, Harry Inaba and Jeremy Blaustein. Normally they should have gone to bat for us when the game was re-released. If Konami had wanted to get written releases from the actors way back when, then those guys would have been responsible for giving us a pen.

SH: There has been a lot of controversy on internet forums about the quality of the voice actors – both old and new. Some people don’t seem to mind, but others are vehemently upset about new voices. From your perspective as an industry pro, what’s going on here? Why the big outcry over new voices?

DS: Fans respect original art, whether it’s music, film or video games. I think that fans connect with the characters, then imitate a favorite line or two when playing the game or among friends. So if you suddenly change the voice it’s like an invasion of the body snatchers and you start messing with sacred memories and breaking links to personal experiences. Joe public may not notice when stuff goes down the memory hole but gamers know how to keep score.

SH: By the way, have you heard the new voice actor Konami picked to play Eddie? What do you think?

DS: He’s got a nice smokey Hollywood voice. My natural voice is closer to that so it would have been much more comfortable for me to do it that way. But the Japanese director specifically wanted a younger sounding Eddie, who was more edgy and insane.

SH: There’s been so much vitriol on both sides of this issue, battle lines drawn etc. If you were Konami what would you do at this point?

DS: It’s time for some face-to-face talks, and preferably over beers and pizza!

Here is the rundown of the conversation I had with Jeremy Blaustein who was awesome enough to give me his attention during his busy week of TGS. We covered the importance of VO/MoCap Directing as well as touched on Jeremy’s insight on the HD Collection Controversy (As it has come to be known) Enjoy!

Since Konami announced Silent Hill HD Collection was going to be released with all new voice actors there has been a big buzz and controversy on the issue. Many fans are heartbroken because they wont be able to hear their beloved voice actors that they remember from way back when. Well, what most people fail to realize with the voice performances in both SH2 and SH3 is that the VO/MoCap Director makes a big difference in tone and emotion of the game. I got to talk to Jeremy Blaustein, who was a key figure in Team Silent as the VO/MoCap Director for SH2-SH4, while also writing dialogue for the characters, “When I wrote the lines, I was always imagining in my mind, precisely how I wanted them to be read so when I directed the ADR sessions, it was easy to get the performances I wanted even from some of the inexperienced actors like Guy Cihi.”

A VO/MoCap Director like Jeremy deserves more credit for a VA’s performance. I like to look at VO Director as a sound operator for a touring band- they can either make a good band sound bad or make a horrible band sound great. The VO functions in a similar way they really mold the VA’s they way they envision it can really make something great from something that might not have been so natural to begin with.

For the production of SH2 Jeremy contributed a little more than just directing VOs and MoCaps, he also contributed to suggestions on early story development, “I was involved in throwing around game ideas with Mr. Owaku when they called me in to have a big conference and meeting about what I thought would be acceptable themes in America, even before there was a script.” Jeremy even went so far as to fill in for Guy Cihi on his MoCap during my favorite scene where James is on the burning hotel stairs.

When talking Jeremy about the differences in the Silent Hill game’s dramatic scenes, I asked Jeremy what might have made things so different as a VO/MoCap Director between SH2, 3 and 4. “Scenes in sh3 were generally longer (than SH2 or SH4), so it was easier to approach in terms of doing a cohesive scene like a movie.” Jeremy went on to say that in terms of story, he felt that “SH4 and even SH3 lacked the incredible depth and subtlety that were so abundant in SH2.” He attributed this depth to the incredible work of Mr. Owaku who he says wrote “the greatest script/screenplay in ANY video game before and since”. I should also note that Jeremy also contributed MoCap again that most people didnt know about in SH4, “I was also the FAT enemy [motion capture for the Andrew DeSalvo enemy in Silent Hill 4: The Room] and almost broke the back of my skull being overzealous in going down to a shotgun blast.” -Alchemilla Hospital

“In my opinion the best actors in silent hill were Monica Horgan in SH2 and heather Morris in SH3, they were both great.” Jeremy and I have a similar taste here in VA quality. While VO Directors are important he also knows that Acting is a talent that few have and I, personally, think few have in the franchise. But as we all know voice acting has a higher standard today, “These days the standards, the budgets are all higher and yes, mocap has advanced a lot too.” and apparently so has VO/MoCap Directing as well. When asking Jeremy if he felt his job has a higher standard today he said, “Well yes, I think it does because in general games themselves are more respected as an entertainment firm than they were years ago.”

Jeremy told me that He keeps in touch with Mr. Yamaoka and Owaku and even saw them both at the recent Tokyo Game Show. and that he does “still work with Konami.” He also said we “will hear some news soon…” This has me interested on what news he might be referring to. Jeremy is a great VO/MoCap Director and it would be something special to see his work again in the Silent Hill universe, his work speaks for itself in both Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 specifically, both being my personal favorites of Jeremy’s.

So bottom line: What most don’t realized is VO/MoCap directors like Jeremy are a crucial part of a video game’s pacing, tone and emotion and can make or break a game. Jeremy’s work on SH2-SH4 was remarkable and because of him through the VA’s it is forever memorable. While we will still be able to enjoy Jeremy’s MoCap direction on the HD Collection, his VO Directing will be replaced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. So just remember, the lines, tones and inflections you come to love and know through Jame’s, or Mary/Maria, or Heather, or Eddie it is because of the direction of one man, Jeremy Blaustein.

[UPDATE:] After viewing a video of some criticisms of the voice work in SH2 by Mary Elizabeth MCGlynn, Jeremy wanted to point out that “the pacing problems in the game dialog were NOT simply the result of the way they were recorded in the booth but were also affected by the hardware at the time and the way the dialog was called up by the program. It resulted in some awkward pauses between speaking characters.” Jeremy also defended the voice work of Donna who voiced Angela saying “What Mary failed to understand is that the voice actors were also constrained in their timing because they had to match the pace and tempo of their movements from the mocap session. Essentially the actors were doing the voice-overs to picture and it could not be altered so the pacing of the delivery was circumscribed by that. Donna also did one of the best performances in SH3 as the leader of the cult, Claudia. She also happens to be a fantastic singer.”

With regards to the controversy in general, Jeremy says it is very regretful to him that “some of the better performances like the characters of Mary/Maria, Eddie, Heather and the other characters from SH3 could not be saved because of the lawsuit threats by one of the actors on SH2.” He feels that those threats were ultimately a disservice to the hard work put in by everyone involved at the time. “It’s kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face, if you ask me,” Jeremy said. “It is my recollection that all of the actors in SH2~4 were paid well and releases were signed (as they always are) when actors agree to give up their rights to their work. It’s the way it is done and I have never worked with any actor who demanded residuals and in fact no one else from any of the other games made any such demands.”

Silent Haven: Hello Monica, since Silent Hill 2 I never heard your name brought up in any other productions or games where you voice acted. Did you continue voice acting after Silent Hill 2?

Monica Taylor Horgan: Hi there. Yes, I did a lot of work after SH2. That aside, at the time it was being made, I was in the process of moving to London where (among other things including getting pregnant with my now nearly 10 year old daughter) I took my MA in Performance Studies and English from Kings College (Univ. of London) and RADA. Moved to Hawaii after that and was back and forth to Japan for work…hosted a program in Japanese about Hawaiian culture, commercials, etc. I just moved back to Mainland US and am in the LA area…..I have been approached for voice work here but frankly I’m not sure I feel inspired by the “scene” here. Who knows though….maybe SH fans will inspire me to put it out there….

Silent Haven: I want to ask you your thoughts on this whole Guy Cihi situation. Is he alone in this whole not wanting to sign over mocap and voice rights or were you and David and Donna not willing to sign any documents either? Also what is this business about no contracts?

Monica Taylor Horgan: Well… yes they contacted me within the last year asking for a waiver release for any and all future releases of the game. No there were no contracts at the time. I don’t think anyone realized what was going to come of the game…the genre was relatively new (horror) and Japan does things differently than the US with on camera and voice talent. Konami was *very* shady about the work we did. It was ONLY to be released in the US and ONLY for one game… it has gone on to be released in a dozen countries, and several re-release versions including one that contains a “making of” which actually contains our likenesses… This is a BIG no-no… We have little or no recourse since the game was created in Japan…out of jurisdiction here…which is why they wanted releases from us—because the new HD version is from Konami USA. MUCH stricter laws protecting talent of course here. So they just recast it…I don’t think they realized what a hailstorm they were creating. It’s a shame really—because it’s the fans who miss out most. I never did sign the waiver and I think it’s great that Guy is standing up and shouting. I hope he (and fans) are successful protecting the original at least. And if Konami can clean up their act in the process and treat those who make them their fortunes better, then it’s a great thing.

Silent Haven: I find it a bummer that Konami doesnt pay voice actors residuals for re-releases. How do you feel about Konami’s ethics? Do you feel there is some kind of hidden agenda here?

Monica Taylor Horgan: As for Konami’s ethics, it’s not entirely cut and dry. We were all paid well for a smallish job at the time… Surely no one complained back then! The fact that it took off as it did was something we all should have included in our agreements (mostly verbal at the time). It’s the continued, global releases and MORE IMPORTANTLY the formation of the Making Of release that includes our actual likenesses that is a bummer. THAT was unethical. And probably in some laws, illegal.

The experience was great though really. I will tell you a fun little fact….the letter reading from Mary that we did….was a very rare “one take”. This means, I read it one time only….we recorded it…and it was a perfect take the first time. I remember distinctly everyone taking a Loooooong moment afterward. We nailed it. Great material. And a solid read. Probably the best I ever did.

Silent Haven: How do you feel about the Silent Hill fans?

Monica Taylor Horgan: Ahh and as far as fans? I’m mostly confused! Seems like most of them are in their 20’s which means they were my daughter’s age when the game was made…. I guess that speaks volumes about the material and game and (on some small level) performances. How fun to know it’s all still so vital. Thank you to all of them (you).

Thanks for taking time!

Monica