Voice Acting tip of the month:

Where are you NOT?

In the last decade, there has been a greater appreciation of the importance of context in a voice actors work.

If we know who we are, where we are and who we're talking to - 𝘚𝘜𝘙𝘗𝘙𝘐𝘚𝘌 - you tend to get better results.

The more detailed these questions are answered, the more an actor's imagination has to respond to, and the richer that response is more likely to be.  It provides the necessary boundaries to our creative response.

But a lot of games can sometimes involve pretty generic environments.

Where are you?

A battlefield.  Fighting. Again.

And this is when you can fall prey to churning out more generic reads rather than responding in the moment.

𝗜𝗙 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱.

In real life we do this all the time.

I'm typing at my computer right now, but my mind is constantly flitting to the various locations I've got to visit today.

With the Shakespeare speech below, I felt something unlock once I moved beyond the horror of the immediate circumstance.  Picturing the room I would kill Julius Caesar's killers in (and how I'd do it) activated something different for me.

This doesn't make it 'right'.  But it makes it more 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

And so, if an actor is ever feeling a little flat in their response to a scenario, maybe try investigating where the characters 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 is rather than their physical body.

Rather than on a battlefield, maybe their thoughts are rooted in the family room they left behind, the lover's bed they're no longer lying in, the town hall that was once filled by their (now dead) comrades.

All of these 'internal' landscapes might trigger something different to the purely external one.

It might give a take something new and unexpected.

And while that's not what's always needed from a voice actor - it's a damn more interesting approach to a second of third take than just doing it louder or faster.

Behind The Scenes:

It’s clobbering time!

Last week, I had the pleasure of recording a few sessions at OMUK, one of the UK's leading providers of voice and performance capture.

Working there on a few projects over the last 12 months has been a real personal achievement, as it was one of my first dreams when starting out in voice acting in 2017.

I'm not playing any major parts or leading any franchises.  But I'm getting the opportunity to do my stuff.

So to mark that, I thought I'd point out three things they do really well and how that's helpful to a performer.

𝟭) 𝗜𝗻-𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

The 'wonders' of the internet mean that anyone can submit an audition within the space if a few hours, allowing voice providers to offer clients a vast range of options.  But after an initial shortlisting process, being able to work in a room together for a recall audition has become a luxury rather than the norm.

There's still nothing like sharing a studio with the rest of the team, getting live feedback and being able to adjust and play to see if the fit is right.  You have far more room to show what you're capable of and there's less guessing in the dark.

I'd love it if more games casting even held remote live auditions to ensure the fit was perfect.

𝟮) 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀.

The studio have long been famed for their use of head-mounted mics.  This means that rather than having to be constantly mindful of mic proximity while performing, an actor is almost totally free to use their entire body in the space.  They can even use props readily available to help them embody the character.

This unquestionably helps get a better, more realistic end result and places the focus purely on play by removing a significant technical limitation.  It still boggles my mind other studios haven't pursued this more.

𝟯) 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀

An increasing number of studios are doing this, but it begs repeating just because of the difference it makes.  Getting directors who have first hand experience of performing (or directing in different mediums as well as games) is almost guaranteed to make a recording session run smoother.

There is an immediate shorthand that can be drawn upon, they're more likely to understand how an actor may be feeling prior to a session and what information they need quickly to give their best.

So yeah.  In short - more in person auditions, greater use of tech to facilitate rather than replace + more directors with a proper performance background would be lovely.

My wonderful director Thomas Mitchells half joked about me making a LinkedIn post during our session, so I didn't want to disappoint! 😉

Favourite Writing of the Month:

The Emperor Protects

I'm honoured to have voiced my third book for Games Workshop Group PLC's Black Library.

It's always a 'pinch-me' moment to work within a universe you grew up with, and narrating 'Kingsblade' by Andy Clark was certainly no exception.

Planetary Annihilation... ✅
Demonic Possession... ✅
Giant War Machines... ✅

What's not to love?

In all seriousness, the level of preparation offered to narrators by the Black Library makes it second to none.

One of the biggest challenges of any fantasy/sci-fi project is understanding the world, its rules and (often) its language in a limited window of time.  This team have got it down to a fine art.

A huge thank you to my director Tom Bayliss for navigating me through the recording sessions so assuredly.

The title is now available on the BL website and Audible.

chrisnaturallyrp

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Thanks again for reading, and until next time, Honey and I wish you a wonderful month!