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Voice Actors Protest at E3
Thought it wasn't really covered by any of the news sites, there were apparently several protests by voice actors at this year's E3. ShackNews has a piece on the under-reported event. From the article: "To deny working-class performers their fair share of the tremendous profits their labor helps to generate is illogical, unreasonable and unjust...It is simply shortsighted to believe that consumers don't care about the artistic quality of the characters."
At $375 an hour, you'd think every videogame out there would have top-notch voice acting. Hell, pay me in pizza and I'll easily match the quality of acting in most games today. ^_^
Voice synthesis is getting better all the time. One day there won't be a need for "voice actors" just as CGI is replacing actors and 'muppets' (eg Yoda)
Trolling is a art,
So many games fall short in the audio department because they decide that its resonible to skimp on the VO work . Now I am not suggesting they pay the outrageous union prices (Alot of us who do VO work and are non union will do it for a hell of alot less) , but they need to properly audition and not just throw the janitor on at the last minute(though some games luck out with asigning staff parts , DMA(now rock star north) infact used their marketing manager for one of the DJs on GTA3.
;) ).
They need to take care not to taint their work with shoody poorly acted cheese ala Anime Dubbings.
A game can be a work of art , but if you just shove on bob from marketing who sounds like a squeaking rabbit as the all Macho one man army charichter then it can really blow the immersion.
So please please if your making a game that requires acting then please atleast audition properly and take care , there are plenty of younger actors and non union folks willing to work and hard just for the love of it (but we do prefer cash
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Look no further than the Legacy of Kain series of games for phenominal voice acting. I swear, those guys that do the voices for Kain and Raziel could make someone speechless and pale by just answering a phone with "Hello". One of the reasons I've kept up with every one of those games has been, in addition to the quality of the story, the insanely great voice acting which really does bring the characters to life (so to speak).
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
The difference is that "computer" people are stupid, and refuse to organize.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
I mean how much work do programmers, artists, musicians, designers, game testers, directors, and producers do anyway? Surely not as much as the voice actors!
Seriously if you're doing one day's worth of work for a project that takes a large team several months to over a year to complete, sit down and shut up.
Just before the first video game crash in the 80's, Mattel Electronics agreed to pay programmers a small fee for each cartridge sold. Alas, they were out of business before they paid out any (much?) money.
Do the programmers, concept artists, QAT leads and everyone else get a bonus if a game sells xxx copies?
A few hours in a studio vs months in a cubicle - tell me, who deserves the bonus?
What about the developers and artists, who's jobs actually involve months and months of WORK, and not just 10 minutes in front of a microphone? If the voice actors complain enough, we may start seeing more games with the voices of the developers themselves.
Nope I'm not.... b/c they only get paid that 200/hour for like one or two days...then they're back on the search for another job.
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
Y'know what? I almost got into a shouting match with one of them while I was standing in line to get my badgeholder (which is another absurdity; I already have my goddamn badge but I have to stand in line two hours for the lanyard? but I digress.)
If the job doesn't pay enough, you're free to quit. Somebody else will be glad to do it for what the companies WILL pay, and you can go back to waiting tables until you land that BIG job in pornography or whatever it is people in Los Angeles consider relevant.
When you chucklefucks petition to raise the wage you get from voice-over work, it isn't like the guys at the top are going to take a pay cut; they're going to justify hiking the price of games because production (i.e. YOU) just got more expensive. So knock it off. You could easily be replaced by a game fan who would be delighted to work for free, or in exchange for a promo copy of the final product.
There are plenty of voice actors who aren't in AFTRA or SAG willing to scab (and probably a few willing to scab who do have their union cards). Just change your credited name and take your $300 an hour. Many anime voice projects are non-union, and you see union members working on those all the time.
It is fairly harsh actualy ,(though if you get a good gig you can make a fair few grand ) unless you get a role like that of a long time actor on the simpsons (100,000 per eppisode) . ;) blooper reels are not acidental btw , its overtime
Actualy im lying , most of us have other jobs and getting a couple of grand for 2 days work is really rather sweet , though if its all you do then you may have a fair few problems making ends meet.
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
I was at one of these seminars, and I've got to say, I was quite offended that someone which worked a total of eight hours on a game wants profit sharing when developers who work thousands of hours aren't getting it.
These guys are getting hundreds of dollars an hour to talk into a mic. Grow up. The people who put the building together aren't getting a share either.
StoneCypher is Full of BS