VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Deirdre

Mark Estdale lays out what the folks who do the casting hope to hear in a video games demo reel.

tl;dr: cut the crap and just have your voice.

Actors reels for video games - survey results
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Art · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:41 pm Post subject:

It's very interesting his main beef seems to be with music and effects. He says a "naked" demo is best. This flies in the face of everything I've ever read or heard -- yet I agree.

Not long ago I heard a top voice guy with a very long career in major studio films tout what he believed was the best animation demo he'd ever heard. It was about 1:30 of what sounded like a Broadway musical of voices, something new every three seconds, choruses of voice-upon-voice cascading over the listener in one long song.

I had to quietly disagree with the expert. If someone is trying to cast you from that, what are they going to say? "That eight milliseconds where you sang 'On Top of Old Smokey' in something like a Goofy voice. Can you give us some of that?"

I also cast a sideways glance at these very expensive demos that sound more like the producer's bid to get into action movie sound design than a demo of the voice talent. Laser guns, squealing tires and speedboat engines zooming from speaker to speaker sound impressive, but the talent gets buried. It sort of comes across as an elaborate table setting to distract from the dry, flavorless turkey at center.

So it's interesting to hear this guy say what I thought all along.

Edited for a typo. I can't stand typos!
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Deirdre · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:04 pm Post subject:

Over-produced game demos are pathetic and do more harm to the actor than good.

If I hear a ton of garbage that is clearly not from an actual game, it's far more likely to get the buzzer. It tells me straight away that the actor has either zero confidence or zero experience.
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2279 Location: Atlanta

This was a great piece. Thanks for sharing it here.

I'm definitely going to go with three demos to have on call. One with just voice, one with actual game clips or 'recreated' without too much SFX, and one that mixes actual game clips with raw audio from actual sessions.
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Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 965

I did a lil experiment. I asked 7 of the top vo agents who rep game actors what they prefer in a game demo. They all said the same thing, less produced is better. I then asked them to send me the last 10 game demos of the last 10 actors they signed. All 10 were fully produced. I also asked them to send me the last 10 they rejected. All 10 had little to no production. I then asked each agent why they signed the actors whose demos conflicted with their preference. All of the agents admitted that they prefer no production, but it was what sounded like fully produced contemporary games on the demos that swayed them to sign the actors. Confused????

Rick Riley · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:51 pm Post subject:

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:40 am Post subject:

Job on Friday. My agent contacted me about it earlier last week. All went as swimmingly as a swimmy thing.

Hiring process. Someone heard my voice on agent reels and hired me.

No one involved in the "creative" process wanted my voice. NOT ONE PERSON!

CEO of company wanted my voice.

Everyone involved in the "creative" process was reminded by the CEO

"This is not a ****ing democracy!"

Many people earn a very good living trying to teach VO people how to second guess the people who hire Voices. Some things presented as evidence, like the survey referenced in this thread, are used to support specious, albeit well intentioned, arguments. The important thing is that this information keeps us informed and all information we can apply to our daily lives is useful.

Demos and everything else we use to get work and get paid need to be monochrome. The lack of colour is the best way to describe the removal of any prejudice. As a business relationship evolves people may express an interest in the life and person behind the voice but for the most part they just need a voice to deliver a performance.

Here is the best case for "they'll know it when they hear it"

I do not sell myself for impersonations or character voices. I was asked by someone in the US if I could do something. ISDN audition followed. Ad agency paid me. We did several tests/auditions, all paid at the proper rate. When the campaign went live I was paid the proper rate for use around the world, on Mars and just outside Weiser Idaho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcL0uHY8lVs

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:26 am Post subject:

Tre M. · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:16 am Post subject:

Interesting enough, I've had an open dialogue with a company called 2K, and got in pretty good with one of their folks who reviews VO talent. Found him on LinkedIN. Instead of sending him a gaming demo, I sent him my corp narration, Elearning, and promo demo.

My strategy was to send him different samples of "real voices."

Nothing cartoony or over the top. He loved them. Kept my stuff on file and put me in their pool.

Will anything come of it? Who knows, but to have him say that it was good to hear a real voice versus what you'd actually hear in a game was refreshing, especially with more titles now having real life situations and less of the cartoony stuff, which there is still a place for, but not as much.
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Bish · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:35 am Post subject:

Not to be cynical (who, me!?) but I've generally found that the biggest supporters of highly-produced demos are the people who (highly) produce demos. As in all things... follow the money. Does a considered and honest opinion about what I should do result in a flow of money from my wallet to yours? If so, revisit the definitions of "considered" & "honest".
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Tre M. · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:41 am Post subject:

Bish is spot on!

I listened to 2 radio imaging demos. Both were liked by folks at Benztown, the mecca for radio imaging. Both demos together were 500.00. I asked around to some of the top producers and they started at 1500.00.
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ricevoice · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:15 am Post subject:

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2279 Location: Atlanta

An American game director I spoke with at VO Atlanta also doesn't care for produced clips. Music and SFX are fine if it's obvious that it's from actual game audio.

Agree that directors want to hear just you...but agents want the sizzle, baby! And that totally makes sense.

So I'll have raw and produced/actual clip demos for either group.
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Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 965

I've also found that buyers don't listen to demos. They listen to auditions. But as Deebs pointed out, for many opportunities you need an agent to get the auditions, and auditions are always raw/sans production. Butcha gotta wow the agent to get them interested in repping you, which is why the demos that sound produced are more impressive.

Tre M. · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:17 am Post subject:

Chris Rice...you "learned" me something today. I appreciate the insight.
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