Week 6 - Steps to Voice Acting

11.03.2019

Before hurling myself into the choice of voice actors and defining their required scripts, I decided it would be beneficial to make some research in regards to the branch and its specific approach in the gaming industry. That would give me an insight into how to approach the matter and provide me with any tips I could possibly need in my pursuit of directing it.

At first, it seems like a lot of information to take in, and it certainly seems like more work than I thought voice acting actually entailed. Shifting through the various material, I've started marking down the generalised points that come with voice acting and its handling, and I have yet to research the post-production editing that come along.

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15.03.2019

1. When and why should we go with voice acting over simple text: - When it helps us connect to characters and can make settings feel more dynamic; - The voices should enhance - not get in the way of the gameplay; - The game feels more professional.

2. Finding the right cast for your game: - Start with a casting call; - Actors should be able to see everything they need in one place and not have to jump through hoops to submit for consideration; - An audition side should include a description of the character and lines that you would like your actor to perform (one-to-two sentences), the vocal pitch (high, medium, low), the vocal quality (nasal, bassy, feminine, tomboy, etc.) and vocal age (young, old, middle-aged, teenager); - Side lines should be 3-5 lines to encapsulate everything this character is going to do.

3. How do you choose the right person for the right role: - Look at overall vocal quality per character; - Consider fitting a voice actor to a different character if the initial choice is not working out; - Play the top choices next to each other in order to define the concrete choice.

4. How do you direct voice actors: -Par all suitable information down into something easily usalbe (Stanislovski, Hagen, Spolin - acting methods); - Provide enough background of the character and the scene in order to set the tone; - For each scene you can provide additional info as you go, instead of unloading all of the information onto the actor at once; - Withhold information where needed for a natural reaction from the voice actors; - Narrate the actor through the scene; - Section out a scene to go back to and tweak; - This shouldn't be a guessing game - know what you want and how you want your voice actor to portray it; - Expect multiple takes, considering that voice actors do not work off another actors, but, rather, on their own with their particular set of lines.

5. What are some problematic habits to avoid as a game creator: - Don't make an actor wait for yet-to-be-developed scripts; - Be upfront; - Be explicit about the nature of the content; - Conduct yourself into the work.