Articles by bonastre

Thesis defense of Anais Chanclu Date: Monday 11 December 2023 at 14:30  Location: Thesis room, Hannah Arendt campus. Title: Recognizing individuals by their voice: defining a scientific framework to ensure the reliability of voice comparison results in forensic contexts Jury: Abstract: In police investigations or criminal trials, voice recordings are often collected for comparison purposes with the voice of suspects. Typically, these recordings, referred to as ‘traces’, come from phone taps, emergency service calls, or voicemail messages. Recordings of suspects, known as ‘comparison pieces’, are usually obtained by law enforcement through voice sampling. Since the traces and comparison pieces were not recorded under the same conditions, and the recording conditions of the traces are often poorly known or entirely unknown, the variability between the recordings being compared cannot be quantified. Numerous factors come into play, including audio file characteristics, linguistic content, the recording environment, and the speaker(s). Voice comparison practices have evolved throughout history without conforming to a scientific framework. This has led to questioning the reliability of voice expertise (as in the Trayvon Martin case) and the use of fallacious practices (as in the Élodie Kulik case), potentially leading to judicial errors. Nowadays, the French Scientific Police (SNPS) and the Plus d'infos

Date: Tuesday, September 27th at 10:00 am in S5. Title: A first step towards characterizing the information conveyed by acted voices Abstract: Before being distributed in different countries, a work such as a video game or a film needs adaptation. Subtitling and dubbing are two options for adapting a work. While subtitling is less costly to produce, dubbing better suits certain viewers who prefer to listen to the dialogue, usually in their native language, rather than reading subtitles while listening to dialogue in another language. To dub a work, the first step is to select actors from a pool of candidates whose voices will replace the original ones. This selection process is called Voice Casting and is conducted by the Artistic Director (AD), sometimes referred to as the casting director. With the emergence of new streaming platforms such as Disney+ and Amazon Prime and the tremendous growth in the video game industry, the number of works to be distributed internationally is significantly increasing. In response to this demand, more and more actors are available in the voice market. The AD may miss out on talents that are unknown to them as it is impossible to audition all candidates. Tools for Plus d'infos

Thursday 6 February 2020 14:30 at CERI (Amphitheater Ada). Title: “The Art of Voice: Characterizing Vocal Information in Artistic Choices” Jury members: Mr. Emmanuel Vincent, Research Director at Inria-Nancy, LORIA, Reviewer Mr. Jean-Julien Aucouturier, Research Scientist at CNRS, IRCAM, Reviewer Ms. Julie Mauclair, Assistant Professor at the University of Toulouse, IRIT, Examiner Ms. Lori Lamel, Research Director at CNRS, LIMSI, Examiner Mr. Yannick Estève, Professor at the University of Avignon, LIA, Examiner Mr. Jean-François Bonastre, Professor at the University of Avignon, LIA, Thesis Supervisor Mr. Richard Dufour, Assistant Professor at the University of Avignon, LIA, Co-supervisor Mr. Vincent Labatut, Assistant Professor at the University of Avignon, LIA, Co-supervisor Abstract: To reach an international audience, audiovisual productions (films, series, video games) need to be translated into other languages. Often, the original language voices in the work are replaced by new voices in the target language. The vocal casting process aiming to choose a voice (an actor) in accordance with the original voice and the character played is manually performed by an artistic director (AD). Today, ADs have a tendency for new “talents” (less expensive and more available than experienced dubbers), but they cannot conduct large-scale auditions. Providing audiovisual industry professionals with Plus d'infos