Major Project: Voicing the characters

During the project i had a problem with some of the dialogue. It didn't feel like it was working, and i was worried that i wouldn't be able to figure out why because the only way i had solved some of the dialogue with the pilot was hearing it during the table read. This got me thinking about maybe there was a way i could rework the script using friends i have that are actors as i knew the actors playing the roles wont be available.
I got together with a few of these friends and hosted a test table read to have them speak honestly about the dialogue and any problems they felt. I had someone time each scene in comparison to others and noticed some scenes were a little long while others were a little short and tried to expand. It was a really valuable experience and helped me to hear the problems rather than just see them as words on a paper.
I also did some research on testing characters voices.

http://nofilmschool.com/2012/05/tests-characters-voice-working-from-john

It has 5 questions, that i used to analyse each scene to try and make sure everyone who was required in each scene was there.

• Could you take the dialogue from one character in the script and have another character say it? 
• Is the character speaking for himself or is he speaking for the writer?
• Is the character expressing her own feeling in the moment, or is she expressing what needs to happen next [in the story]?
• What would a joke sound like from that character?
• Can you picture a given actor in the role, or at least preclude certain actors from the role because it doesn’t feel like they would say those things?

I feel that these 5 steps really helped me to develop some scenes, for example i had a scene where don's relatives were at Don's house trying to search for Don's wife. It felt as though there were far too many people in the scene especially for a show with already a high number of principal characters. In the end i found that some lines weren't needed and some lines could be said by Don's wife's friend and carer. I am a lot more satisfied with the scene now than it was before.