The world of voice over is growing in ways that can’t be calculated. Think about the markets. For example: Commercials, industrials, corporate videos, Internet videos, animation, anime, narrations, audio books, announcers, theme park rides, political endorsements, toys, video games, and as technology progresses, imagine how much longer the list will grow.
Now look at sub-genres of a market like video games: First-person shooters, role-playing games, point-and-click adventure, tower defense, interactive movie, survival horror, MMO (massive multiplayer online), just to name a mere few.
As video games continue to expand, again — thanks to technology — voice over talent must follow with what’s current. Reading lines isn’t enough anymore, because believability is in high demand. For those wanting to pursue voice over in video games it helps to learn from someone steadily working in them such as Dave Fennoy (http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0271965/).
Mr. Fennoy took time out of his busy schedule to travel to Dallas, Texas, and share his incredible wealth of knowledge in voicing video games, and the results were nothing less than impressive.
For example, when reading an audition, it helps to read the character bio if it’s provided. However, for times when one isn’t available, the imagination becomes a most important tool.
Ask yourself these six questions:
-Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?
Depending on what’s in the script, you might need to get more technical with the questions:
-Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I? When am I doing it? Why am I doing it? How did I get here?
Now consider answering those questions. If little to no background of the game or the character is supplied then create them.
Who am I? Leesa, a dinosaur expert and time travel hobbyist in my late 20s.
What am I doing? Protecting a group of travelers from man-eating beasts.
Where am I? A prehistoric jungle.
When am I doing it? Right here, right now.
Why am I doing it? A. Something went wrong and I’m responsible for everyone, B. It’s all about survival, I want to get back with or without the others, C. maybe both.
How did I get here? A time machine malfunctioned at a science convention sending me and a couple of unfortunate participants back to the Jurassic Period.
Although the information above probably isn’t in the script, it helps establish a character and a driven purpose for him/her being in the game. The more detailed backgrounds developed the more you train yourself to be creative with the mind when looking at a new script.
Beginners, intermediates and experts took away valuable insight from Mr. Fennoy’s workshop that will undoubtedly help them as they progress in their careers. The energy and encouragement shared by all over the course of two days proved to be an invigorating experience worthy of recommendation.
Please note the information above is only the tip of the iceberg. To learn more visit Dave Fennoy’s website to see if he’ll be in your city/state anytime soon!
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