The Game Composer’s Blog

TSN… #5: TSN hire your friends as voice actors.

…hire your friends as voice actors.

Your friends I’m sure are very anxious to try their hand at voice acting. Maybe one of them does a decent movie trailer voice (“In a wooorlld…”). But unless you live in Hollywood and your friends are indeed actors, thank them for their offer and search elsewhere for voice talent. This of course isn’t a hard and fast rule. Maybe a couple of your friends have acting experience and can indeed bring a great performance to the table. But in general, recording your friends or relatives is a bad idea.

One of the signs that the game industry still has a lot of growing up to do is that the quality of voice acting is all over the place. We need to think professionally about voice acting and hire professionals. Don’t have money for voice? Well, why not??  Find some. Developers, don’t think of voice as an afterthought. Plan on hiring the best talent you can. If the entire game is unfunded, you can still search for new voice actors looking for work. They’re probably coming straight out of college looking to find some work and will do the job for royalties or simply credits. They’ll gain experience and you’ll record someone serious about voice acting who is familiar with the issues involved. Yes, inexperience can mean trouble so that’s why you should educate yourself about voice acting.

Also, keep in mind you may find a great voice actor, but that doesn’t mean he or she will be right for the role you are looking to fill. Most actors’ voices can only sound natural in a particular range. You need to find the right voice for the character. Be picky, there are many good professional actors to choose from and they know that they aren’t right for every role. It’s all just a part of casting. If you loved working with a particular actor in the past, don’t get caught trying to use him or her for a role they just can’t do. Their voice can only stretch so far. That’s no good for anyone.

A good book to check out is The Art of Voice Acting by James Alburger. The book is full of great advice about the actual craft of voice acting. Practice voice acting yourself. Get some scripts and read through them. Experiencing voice performance yourself is a wonderful way to gain an insight into how to communicate with the actors you will hire in the future. Also, practice recording voice. Find out how to create the best, most natural-sounding, voice you can. Mic types, mic placement, plug-in settings, etc. Get familiar with all of it so when the time comes to record that $300/hour performer, you can get straight to the good stuff.

And the bad stuff? I’ll leave you with a hilarious site that shows what can go horribly, horribly wrong when you hire amateurs to do a pro’s work: Audio Atrocities

September 9, 2008 - Posted by thegamecomposer | Thou Shalt Not, Voice Acting | voice