Oblivion Voice Acting Not As Good As We First Thought

[Bolgo The Madd]

Why is it that decent voice-acting is hard to come by in games? Of the recent games I've played only OB and HL2 have decent speech throughout - the people who decided on the British voice-acting for COD2 should be shot.

 

 

I did the voice direction for the soon to be released Rise and Fall from midway.

Well, I did the ORIGINAL voice direction when it was being done at Stainless Steel...

who knows what the finished product will be.

 

I'm also a card carrying AEA actor, and have a BA for acting and playwriting from MMC.

So let me answer this question.

 

Voice acting in games is largely lacking because most publishers don't want to spend money on it.

The reason they don't want to spend money on it is becuase there is no official policy.

Unions don't exist. And the groups that have banded together don't have clout in the industry.

It is cheaper to get inexperienced actors - so that is what most often happens.

It is cheaper to record everything as quickly as possible - so that is what most often happens.

It is cheaper to record everyone isolated from each other - so that is what most often happens.

Unfortunately, if you want quality you need to spend the time and money on it.

Good quality comes from professional actors, because they have a larger range and can take direction MUCH faster then an inexperienced voice actor. You get more BANG for our buck with a professional.

Good quality also comes from a rehearsal schedule. A simple read through and giving that casted actors time to think about their characters can work wonders! You will be cultivating voice talent that is INVESTED in their roles. That is time well spent.

Good quility comes from NOT being isolated. If the voice actors have the oppertunity to work together and interact with one another thier ability to make the script sound like a single entity is greatly enhanced.

 

Sadly it's mostly uneducated and uncultered desk jockies who get to decide what is 'Good acting'.

Publishers have final say over the developers, and in the end it's their money.

 

 

AFTRA had a strike about voice acting pay in games last year. During that time I was not allowed to do ANYTHING related to acting in a video game, because my union AEA supported AFTRAs strike. Luckily for me, I was also a scenario designer... and no one said I couldn't do THAT during the strike ( $$$ :D ).

 

 

Bethesda is making HUGE steps forward with thier voice acting. The interest in marketing names, like Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart, shows that they are willing to attempt the cult of personality in their marketing. And at the very least, this is an INDICATION that they believe there is a correlation between QUALITY and PROFESSIONALS. Simply put, "You get what you pay for" is very true, and Bethesda is realizing that.

Most promising is Bethesdas use of characters in the 3d environment relative to the acting they have.

Characters move in the 3D space, interact with each other, talk to the player, move their eyes, animate their faces - This is all VERY progressive, and it shows an appreciation for the relationship between game content and the vehicle for which they use to convey it, the voice acting.

 

Surely all this was an investment in both time and money. I say it was worth it.

 

 

The game industry needs to hire good voice directors and use union actors.

They need an education in cinema and how to communicate effectivly with actors.

They need to develop an appreciation for what is 'good' and what is 'bad' acting.

They need to make the investment in both time and money on scripts, direction, and producing schedules.

They need to take actors seriously, treat them professionally, and pay a better wage.

Publishers need to produce their voice acting in a different manner.

 

 

 

Thanks

glut glut

 

 

Bolgo the Madd