My presentation is aimed at raising awareness around the damage many voice-over actors are incurring when called upon to perform in video games. It is also intended to initiate problem-solving strategies. By demonstrating the typical range of video game voice-over (VO) categories, e.g. attacking, dying, taunting, laughing, re-spawning, etc., this talk should help to shed more light on the issues VO talents, their teachers, their agents, and their health professionals grapple with.
Video games grossed more than movies did in 2016. Western Washington is known as a hub of video game development. Actors will always want to make money and grow their resumes when they can, as so many new opportunities can stem from them. For example, I was recently on “The Business of Voice-Over” panel at Emerald City Comicon with several other video game talents; one of them is the voice of Cortana from the video game Halo. You might also know her as the voice who is basically now on every English-Speaking PC with Windows 10 on the planet.
What is mentioned far less often, until the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, is how often VO talents are hurting or losing their voices due to poor planning on the part of
Many of these actors experience not only vocal damage, but also loss of work because they are unable to use their voices for auditions or performances after these extreme VO sessions.
Demand for video game VO will only continue to grow, as will the number of people who want to create voices for them. Since the problem is not going away, let us put our heads together to figure out as many strategies as we can for helping VO performers maintain healthy bodies and paychecks.
Learning Objectives:
