Voicing Complaints

Hey there,

I have to say that I take issue with your complaint. That we, in this lovely industry of ours, suffer long hours and often disproportionate pay or benefits is our own issue to iron out with our employers. I would not say other professionals should suffer along with us simply because we do. Hollick’s situation is clearly unjust just as our having to work incredibly long hours without fair return is.

Moreover, I’d argue that your complaint is more with the author of the article and not Hollick himself, as the majority of the quotes coming from him were nothing but praise for the opportunity to portray Niko.

“Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity… But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it. I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”

That statement to me is bang on. It spotlights issues that we all deal with and I think if anything should be changed it’s how we’re all treated when breathing life into the games we work on.

You’re certainly right about not bringing others down with us into the raw deal we get with work-vs-pay. The post I wrote three years back is more in line with that, and is something I still feel strongly about to this day.

Hollick’s own statement “Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to” is also true in part. However, what I take issue with in this post is that the performances he refers to, unlike those created in films, television and radio are in no way the result of his effort alone.

We don’t simply point a camera at and actor and say “go!”, there are decades of man-years that go into bringing those characters to life before and after the VO is captured. On Mass Effect, the promotional character of Commander Shepard was certainly something of a Frankenstein’s monster. Sure, his voice was provided by one actor throughout, but his body was scanned from one model, his head from another, (Mark Vanderloo, the original male supermodel), his ingame movements from 4 separate motion-capture actors and his cutscene performance from the same number again.

Now, if we’re going to argue that a character’s performance does not exist outside of him talking, then of course the VO actor has it all wrapped up, but I like to think that Hollywood’s finest can bring life to a character in more than just their lilt as they read the lines, but in their looks, the way their face behaves during pauses, the manner in which they hold their head and in the gait of their walk.

All of the above are the result of a sustained effort and decision-making by animators, artists, designers, writers, audio engineers and programmers regarding the overall creation and feel of the characters we play and interact with. To use a less thespian example, I’m just finishing God of War right now and the overall impression I get is that Kratos is one seriously BAD ASS videogame character. This doesn’t just come from the grunts he makes during combat, or the dialogue espoused during the numerous cutscenes, but the holistic nature of the way he feels and behaves under my control.

The “human element” is grossly underused in our industry, but it certainly does not lie at the door of the VO actor to take credit.

Hi Alsoran and Paolo,

I think you both make good points.

@alsoran – I appreciate hearing your side of the argument. I believe all creative people who work behind the scenes, whether they be designers, animators, developers, script writers, or voice actors long to see their work recognized and be paid an adequate fee for the end use of their efforts. All elements in the process are important and add their own significant contributions. I respect the fact that these games are years in the making before a voice actor enters on the scene and that the core team of developers has a lot invested in the fulfillment and success of their project. Perhaps if voice actors were perceived as members of that team as opposed to four-hour contractors there wouldn’t be hard feelings and detrimental battles over whose voice or whose creative team is at the heart of the project.

@paolo – Paolo, I’m with you on many of the points you made, however, the way that some voice actors are acting or I should say reacting to what is going on with regard to pay or residuals is giving the profession a reputation that won’t easily be shaken. That’s something that I am saddened by and wish to see resolved. While the human voice is the most powerful, persuasive and distinctly human aspect of the game itself, don’t discredit the pre-fabricated attributes that gave voice actors the material to base their interpretation of the character upon. Good characters are effective because they are exceptional on many levels, not just in how they sound.

If there is ever to be equity or a sense of fairness, developers, their crew, and voice actors need to act as a team working together, not against each other. Synergy is the answer here and the more it is sought out, the better the relationships will be between those who work together on a project resulting in better games and better PR, period.

I wrote an article on this very topic yesterday. Here’s a link to read it from the perspective of the voice over industry if you are interested:

http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2008/05/grand_theft_auto.html

Best wishes,

Stephanie Ciccarelli
Co-founder of Voices.com

I suggest you take the time to listen to Hollick’s radio interview for further insight into the amount of work he poured into this role before making up your mind on this issue. I have a feeling that Hollick’s work will likely be the future of how actors contribute to bringing life to a character.

More importantly, you’ll hear how he didn’t simply sit in a sound booth and read his lines with feeling. It was much, much more than that.

http://immutablyme.tumblr.com/post/36094936/the-work-that-michael-hollick-put-into-portraying

Also, look into the work that Andy Serkis (Gollum) put into playing King Bohan for Heavenly Sword. Or even his work for Gollum! These are not actors who are paid to simply sit in a booth and deliver lines. They delve into the character and bring them to life with voice and motion. While animators still play a big part of aiding in that process, it is the actors (in these more modern cases) that guide us away from the Uncanny Valley that so often impedes an audience’s immersion.

This debate isn’t new, that’s for sure. Consider just two of the most famous characters from Star Wars: Darth Vader and Yoda. Both characters were so much more than their voices and yet without those voices they never would have been memorable enough to cement their characters into the minds of millions.

Sadly, people don’t remember the incredible efforts of costume designers. They remember the actors who wear the lovely clothes.

How about the animator that spent 60 hours a week for 2 months in front of a computer screen putting in every blink, smirk, smile, head nod, hand gesture and shrug of the shoulder to scratch audio months before the voice actor took a look at the performance and was inspired to add some emotion to their line read?

Sound effects and Voice-over are responsible for half of the final product, but you’ll find it easier to find team members that can handle voicework than replace your artists.