Chapter 7
Jade and I kept talking, the girl is really talented when it comes to music.
"You wrote all this. "
"It's obvious, but it's not that good, I was inspired by a lot of other songs, but soon I should be able to make something totally original."
She spoke with a confident smile, but looking at the sheet music, everything had been done with great care.
"Jade, do you know any AI that can help me create some soundtracks, I've been researching for a while but most of them don't seem very good."
Over the last few days, I've been researching AI to make the soundtrack for the movie, but they're all quite annoying to work with, you need to have some practice with this stuff, I could learn over time, but I want to finish the movie by Melissa's birthday.
"There's a really good one, Classics XY, it's really easy to use, it's great for beginners."
"Great, let me see."
I looked up my holographic bracelet, and the price is scary, but I don't have to worry about that, after all I'll be able to get Dad's ID.
(But if I buy it he might try to break my legs)
"So what exactly are you going to do?"
"Hmm?! I'm creating a movie for my sister, I've got a lot of it ready, but now I need the music and voice actors."
"A movie? Incredible, can I see it?
"Only when it's ready."
"Don't be stingy... Hey, what if I help you make the songs?"
"Huh?! Are you sure you weren't going to prepare for the duel?"
"It's just a few songs, it shouldn't take too long."
I'd already intended to ask for help, now that she's offered it better for me, Mom and Melissa should be almost finished, I'd better go and see.
"All right then, I've got a creative table at home, I'll buy this AI and wait for you to help me."
"Great, here's my link, send me your address, I'll come to your house tomorrow."
We exchanged contact, after a few more conversations she said she had to go home, I also went back to check how the mother was doing, poor Aline ran past pulling her son.
(From the look on her face, it was a traumatizing experience.)
"Ah, Alex, let's go home"
She and Melissa walked away from a group of women, and just by looking at the big smile on her face, I knew how much of a struggle it had been.
"Brother, you saw, I took his arm and twisted it back, she kept crying, hehe, now he won't bother me anymore"
"....."
"Yes, brother is very proud."
"Hehehe"
She smiled happily at the compliment, if I'm not mistaken she didn't like that boy, because he took a potato chip from the packet she was eating... I think he deserved it.
"Mom, I met a girl in the musical dueling area, she promised to help me with Melissa's present, so you should let me know tomorrow."
"Ohoh!!! You're already inviting girls home, my little boy is growing up."
"Yes"
"....."
"I think he's too young to be embarrassed, I'll wait a few more years."
I can hear her whispering softly, (you want to make this old gentleman ashamed, you're going to have to try very hard).
As soon as we got home, Mom and Melissa went to wash up, I went to Dad's to get my reward, he seems happier than I thought he would be, maybe that's normal since no one was beaten.
Anyway, I'm back in my room, I've got 30 minutes of animation ready, after a week of gathering data the AI is making the animation with small errors, but I no longer need to spend an hour correcting it frame by frame.
I started researching voice actors, and I have to admit, it all became very convenient, the way voice actors work a lot.
There is an official website, where all voice actors can create a profile, and there they can put all their specializations, work done, media preference and various other things.
The media's preference would be the type of project they prefer to take part in, movies, animations, games and even music, I've found that some people who are pretty but have a bad voice end up hiring voice actors.
Basically, the voice actors with a good voice sing the song, and the 'singer' gives the lyrics, beats, and obviously the image, so a person who is just pretty, but has no talent for anything, ends up becoming a 'singer'.
This practice is highly repudiated by the public, but there are still people who defend it, saying that everything is done within the law, there is a huge discussion on this subject, but it's not important to me.
What really interests me is the form of the work, there are packages for hiring a voice actor, basically there are three, in the basic package, an AI will do the voice of the voice actor, this package is very cheap and extremely popular in low budget projects, since you pay per phrase dubbed.
The problem is that the AI is unlikely to be able to convey the right emotions with just a script, but as the producers of these projects are spending little, knowing that the profit won't be high, this type of dubbing is already acceptable.
There's also the medium package, in which you'll have some phrases made by AI and others by the voice actor himself. Usually movies use this package, so they can ask the voice actor to make the lines that need acting and convey feelings to the audience, and the normal lines are made by AI so the project can be completed much faster.
The price will depend on how many lines the voice actor has to do in person, or you can decide on a price that you both agree on.
As for the Premium package, it's the most expensive and usually only high-budget productions would go for it, in which the voice actors do all the work without using AI.
Technically, the Premium package is ideal but the price doesn't fit in my pocket, the basic package would just destroy the movie.
"Let's see, if I take the Premium package per line, it shouldn't be so expensive, after all the movie has few lines, plus I can look for some new voice actors, which are cheaper. "
The script has been written for a long time, so I sent it to about 50 different voice actors asking for a quote, now I'm going to wait, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.
......
The next morning, just after breakfast, Jade arrived, and as soon as I opened the door I saw her and a woman in a military uniform standing behind her.
"I've arrived, now you can go back."
"Your grandfather asked me to accompany you."
"Nonsense, I'm just going to help a friend, I don't need you here."
It seems that this woman is the coast guard, she has a great presence, military uniform, short brown hair, black eyes and no interest.
"Hmm?! Monica, what are you doing in my house?
I looked back and saw Mom behind me, and Melissa watching from afar.
"C... Catherine, is that your son?"
"Yes, that little girl must be the friend my Alex was talking about."
"Hello ma'am, my name is Jadelyn West, it's a pleasure."
"What a polite little girl, it's my pleasure, you can come in, you too Monica."
"No, I'm coming back."
"Nonsense, I heard you insisting on staying with Jade, you can come in."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I remembered I have some appointments, miss, I'll be back to pick you up in the afternoon."
Without wasting a second, Monica turned and left without looking back.
"...."
"...."
"All right, kids, you go play, I'm going to talk to an old friend."
Saying that, she ran after Monica with a not-so-innocent smile.
"Hummm, Jade, come on, I'll show you the creation table."
"I'll come along."
Melissa, who was watching from afar, ran into my room.
"Hehe, that's your sister, she's really cute.
"Yes, the movie I'm making is for her, come on, I'll show you."
We went to my room, before I could show her the part of the animation I had ready, she just went to the creation table, with a bit of research she found an AI and bought it directly.
"All right, come here and I'll show you how to use it."
"It's okay to spend it all like this, I'll tell you I can't afford it, hahaha."
"You... I'm not going to ask you to pay, it's not even that much money."
It's not that much money? Only a very rich little girl could say that, here a credit is equivalent to a dollar, this program with advanced musical AI costs 350 credits, it's not something a normal person would spend without thinking, and also who gives all that to a child?
"Now, when you're going to create a soundtrack, you need to use the right tools, and know which instrument is going to be the main one, and what the accompaniments would be, plus..."
After that I was given a long lesson in how music should be created, and even though I said I only needed to know about the background tracks, she just gave me a look and carried on talking.
(She must love her own voice, poor Melissa, she even fell asleep).