Key Takeaways:
– Warren Ellis, the series creator, confessed to never having played any of the Castlevania games before developing the animated series.
– Ellis sourced most of his Castlevania knowledge from Wikipedia and fan pages.
– Ellis was highly impressed by the voice cast, prompting him to rewrite his scripts multiple times to accommodate their performances.
– Despite being considered a nightmare by most writers, Ellis willingly embraced the task of rewriting scripts to enhance the series further.
– Ellis, Kelvin Kolde, and Meredith Layne were actively involved in the selection and recruitment of the Castlevania voice actors.
– Ellis enjoyed working on the Castlevania series so much that he jokingly considered his lack of initial knowledge as “major progress.”
Summary:
Warren Ellis, the phenomenal writer responsible for the creation of numerous original comics, novels, and animation series, recently shared some interesting facets of his work on the Netflix hit series, “Castlevania”. Even though Ellis never played the game that the series is based on, the animated series was an instant success, escaping the so-called “video game curse”.
Ellis’s Approach to Animation Series Adaptations
According to an interview with Bleeding Cool, Ellis confessed he has never played any of the games that he adapted into animations, “Castlevania” included. Ellis relied heavily on Wikipedia and fan-created content to obtain a solid grasp of Castlevania’s world. Consequently, this unconventional knowledge source may have helped Ellis breathe fresh life into the animated series, thus adding an extra layer of intrigue for new viewers.
Voice Cast: The Real Game Changer
In the same interview, Ellis expressed his profound admiration for the voice cast of Castlevania. He recounted the profound influences on his writing triggered by the voice actors’ remarkable performances. Ellis was such a fan of his cast that he found himself doing what most writers dread – rewriting his script multiple times to enhance the vocal performances and capture the nuances of each character.
Enhancing the Voice Actor’s Performances
Ellis took great care to craft his revisions, ensuring they didn’t overshadow the performers’ natural charm. His love for the franchise and its vocal talents was so great that he joyfully reshaped his script countless times to retain the performers’ unique contribution. This, Ellis implied, enriches the project, keeping the actors engaged and excited by their roles.
Behind the Cast of “Castlevania”
Selecting the ideal voice artists for the Castlevania characters required intensive discussions with executive producer Kelvin Kolde and casting director Meredith Layne. Ellis credits Layne with recruiting people they couldn’t even think of. It appears that this careful consideration and collaboration were key ingredients in crafting the highly praised Castlevania cast.
Warren Ellis’s Involvement in Castlevania: A Labour of Love
Despite his notable career shift from a solitary writer to a collaborative member of the animation production team, Ellis loved being involved in the many facets of the show, including communicating with the composer, Trevor Morris. This involvement signaled a significant progress for Ellis who, humorously said he had almost no idea about what he was doing initially but later viewed this as a major step forward.
The success of “Castlevania”, as reflected in its rave reviews and enduring fandom, substantiates that the dedication and creative freedom invested by Ellis in the project was not in vain. The series, available on Netflix, continues to enthrall audiences worldwide, ensuring that Warren Ellis’s distinctive approach to animation adaptation will be remembered for decades to come.
