Did You Know A Company Based In War-Torn Ukraine Made The Voice Of Darth Vader?
Image Source: Barraganespada2
Star Wars has always had a rebellious heart beating at its core. It’s a story about average people standing up to oppression and injustice. A point that is illustrated perfectly by the latest Star Wars TV show, Andor, which is literally about one man standing up to and fighting the evil empire and the ramifications of doing that. So, it seems only natural that one of the most important studios working on the franchise is experiencing the kind of oppression and injustice the franchise is best known for. But, like the heroes they work on, they do not tolerate oppression and will keep working even in the face of war.
Respeecher is a Ukrainian start-up company that uses archival recordings and a proprietary A.I. algorithm to create a new dialogue with the voices of performers from times past. For example, they worked with Lucasfilm to generate the voice of a young Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett and Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
RELATED:
For anyone unaware, Ukraine has been at war with Russia since February of this year (2022). A war that many in the west have condemned. Russia’s military vastly dwarfs Ukraine’s armed forces, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been viewed dictatorial tyrant, trying to push the regime on people that don’t want it.
But when war came to their country, and bombs and troops entered Kyiv, the employees at Respeecher didn’t flee. So instead, they kept working.
Dmytro Bielievtsov, the company’s co-founder and CTO, got online in a theater where tabletops, desks, and more had been stacked in front of windows to protect against bomb blasts. Programmers “training” the A.I. to replicate vocal patterns, and editors piecing together the output worked from corridors in the interior of their apartments. Anything that could be turned into a makeshift office with an internet connection, which was also relatively safe from the perils of war, was utilized.
The work was important to them: They were all Star Wars fans, and people on the other side of the world were relying on them to get the job done. Matthew Wood was the supervising sound editor on the receiving end of the transmissions from Ukraine. A Lucasfilm veteran of 30 years, he says Respeecher were hired because they are the best in their field.
“Certainly my main concern was their well-being…there are always alternatives that we could pursue that wouldn’t be as good as what they would give us. We never wanted to put them in any kind of additional danger to stay in the office to do something.”
Before the invasion, there was a near-constant volley of information between Wood, Obi-Wan Kenobi showrunner Deborah Chow, and the Respeecher team. Wood says, “For a character such as Darth Vader, who might have 50 lines on a show, I might have a back-and-forth of almost over 10,000 files.” Much of that was changes in dialogue and the subsequent fine-tuning.
Image Source: BBC
James Earl-Jones’ Darth Vader voice is iconic. It’s doubtful any human could deliver a vocal performance resembling that of the Hollywood superstar. Jones has also recently retired from acting, making the work Respeecher is doing all the more relevant.
When Wood presented Jones with Respeecher’s work, the actor signed off on using his archival voice recordings to keep Vader alive, albeit by artificial means. Jones is credited for guiding the performance on Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Wood describes his contribution as “a benevolent godfather.” They inform the actor about their plans for Vader and heed his advice on how to stay on the right course.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine loomed large, Wood recalls pulling back on the requests to the studio. “I don’t need to go back to them under an air raid siren to communicate this one particular part is a little different.” But the Respeecher team’s attitude, he says, was: “Let’s work, let’s work in the face of this adversity, let’s persevere.”
Alex Serdiuk, the CEO and co-founder of Respeecher knows that creating the voices of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker for a TV show is not a life-or-death endeavor. But he takes pride in their contribution to Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett. He wants the world to know that Ukrainians helped make that trip to the galaxy far, far away possible, albeit from a war-torn country.
“We create places to work for people, we create jobs, we pay them money, we contribute to the Ukrainian economy, and that’s quite meaningful,” he says. “But also, hopefully, more people will hear about Ukraine—about our tech community, about our start-ups—because of it.”
Image Source: BBC
Obi-Wan Kenobi provided a rare moment of Celebration for the employees of Respeecher, who were still residing in Kyiv and gathered to watch Vader’s first appearance on the show. Viewers loved Vader’s terrifying return, praising his intimidating presence. Jones’s family told Wood how pleased they were with the result of all the work, a tribute to the actor that honors his many years giving voice to the Lord of the Sith.
After completing work on Vader, most Respeecher employees focused on the War effort. Their daily routine now consists of helping refugees find food and shelter. However, Bogdan Belyaev, an employee for Respeecher, has no regrets:
“Why did I do it? It’s a big honor to work with Lucasfilm, and I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since I was a kid. Even if it’s war, there’s no excuse for you to be the troublemaker of what you loved from childhood.”
There might be an argument that Respeecher should have closed its doors as soon as Russia declared war on Ukraine; that would have been a sensible and safe thing to do. But if being a Star Wars fan has taught me anything, it is to not bow down to oppression and to fight back against tyrants and evil empires. I think the employees at Respeecher would agree.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): Vanity Fair
