Showdown
FUTBINThis week FUTBIN sat down with former Arsenal and England forward Alan Smith and asked him about his time commentating of the FIFA / EA FC video game series.
What was the process of recording commentary for the FIFA/EAFC games? Were you given lines or did you have to commentate while a game was being played? Would love to know more about it?
“You’d turn up in the morning and the producer would give you a script which outlines what you’re commentating on. One morning it could be free kicks and what happens with a range of set prices and free kicks.”
“You’re given a scenario which you then out into your own words. You have to think of six different versions of the same thing. It’s all in our imagination. It tests your vocabulary when you have to describe one piece of action.”
“Me and Martin Tyler used to be in the same commentary booth and you can bounce off each other. They always wanted us to make it as close to the real life commentary as possible. If you’re together it helps.”
“Sometimes you have situations where one of you is in America and one of you are in the UK. The UK person lays down their comments and the other does the same and i don’t think it works as well.”
“When you’re next to each other you can have a laugh and make jokes. Doing it alone is much harder work.”
Have you ever had anyone come up to you/speak to you who remembers you more for commentary in the game rather than real life commentary/footballing career?
"Lots of people. I was at Spurs and was getting in the lift to go up to the gantry and the lad who worked the lift, he just heard me say one or two things and he went - 'are you the guy from FIFA?' And I was like yeah."
"And that happens so often because people have listened over the years to my voice without really knowing what I look like. Those that maybe aren't old enough to remember my playing career or maybe some that don't watch Sky or listen to Sky."
"So yeah you do come across those people. It's a totally different audience quite often and it's quite funny."
