The Making of a (Grounded) game + a VO Workflow

What goes into making a GREAT game?

The Last of Us has gone from video game to cultural phenomenon over the last decade. The original game, its sequel and the TV series it spawned have all won numerous awards and been critically lauded. As a voice actor, the series is a short hand for the grounded, gritty type of storytelling that has become so popular in the industry.

So a two hour documentary charting its sequel’s development was pretty essential viewing…

Grounded II is the doc in question, which developer Naughty Dog posted for free on Youtube last week to celebrate the remastered release of TLOU Part II.

It offers an amazing insight into the creative process, exploring the developer’s company culture and the huge number of obstacles that need to be overcome to deliver a title at such scale.

The game’s development cycle crossed into Covid and also involved leaks and a social media backlash which was incredibly toxic at the time. As a real insight into the sacrifice and passion involved in making games, it’s hard to beat.

Voice Acting tip of the week:

Consciously experiment with your feedback volume.

Some voice actors like to wear headphones while recording and some don’t. Hearing your voice back as you record can be great for catching mistakes as well as taking on board live direction - but it can sometimes make the talent feel overly self conscious too.

I certainly find that with really ‘conversational’ reads, ditching the headphones can prove a really useful way of contenting with WHAT you’re saying rather than HOW you’re saying it.

But with directed sessions, ditching your headphones entirely isn’t an option. Because you need to hear the feedback.

A solution?

Take the time to experiment with your headphone volume. Test ‘how low you can go’ so you’re not self-conscious about your delivery but can hear direction. You might find you have different volume settings depending on the read you’re aiming for. I often whack the volume up when doing whispered reads for example!

Behind The Scenes project of the week:

The Voiceover Workflow.

In this video, I walk through my step by step process of recording a voiceover job, from discussing direction with a client all the way through to final delivery of the files.

Media Recommendations:

Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…

1. Tiktok and Universal fallout

   The failure of Tiktok and Universal Music Group (UMG) to renew their licensing agreement has led to millions of music tracks being removed from the platform. As Tiktok has become a major tool for artists to build an audience and exploit the potential to go viral, this has major implications for the artists involved, demonstrating the dangers of building your online presence on just one platform.

2. A podcast appearance from yours truly 

   I was invited onto the podcast Freelance Thrive to talk with the lovely Yurii Lazaruk about my professional journey so far, the challenges I’ve faced as a creative freelancer and how I’ve developed and adapted my approach over the years.

3. The shadow of 50 Shades…

   Actors have to be mindful of the public response their performances can trigger. This article details how actor Jamie Dornan went into hiding after the reception of Fifty Shades of Grey’s film adaptation. Cases such as this, plus the online toxicity directed at Laura Bailey during the launch of TLOU II mentioned in the Grounded documentary, raise the questions of whether producers need to be more proactive in offering performers support in high profile projects.

Favourite Writing of the week:

I recently posted a collection of speeches taken from George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire. Most of these didn’t make it into the Game of Thrones TV series, so were been a particular delight to discover!

I hope you found something of interest in this newsletter and thank you again for subscribing.

If you have any suggestions on future content or voice related questions, don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected].

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I’ve made three video courses covering practising the craft of voice over, marketing and how to harness the two. It’s about 6 hours of content in total and would help anyone with their public speaking and presentation skills.

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