How lucky I am to have been born in a time where I can explore worlds, sail seas, and live excruciatingly interesting lives, all without having to risk anything those real adventurous souls in the past had to risk. But that, I suppose, is in the playing of games..
Voicing them is just another discipline in the long line of theatre that goes back eras, ages, and eons.
Some of my favourite performances haven’t been in the Uncharted series, or indeed any release that normally gets brought up. Rather the Narrator in Thomas Was Alone (Danny Wallace, who also provided a wonderful performance in my favourite Assassin’s Creed games), and Geralt in the Witcher 3 (Doug Cockle).
Perhaps Geralt does often get more than a mention actually, but the point is I love a grounded performance. All voice acting is acting, and I think most people are impressed more with the intense, emotional performances, but I can’t get enough of someone just speaking, almost to themself, in a believable way.
Videogame Voiceover
This section is for game marketing materials and promotional media that exist to sell or show off a game, rather than for the in-game voicework showcased above. Trailers. Showcases. Presentations.
I’ve ran out of synonyms now, but you get the picture.
It’s a section almost wholly for the marketing department within any videogame publisher/studio that may come across this page.
I wasn’t commissioned for all of them, but I wanted a good range so I filled in the gaps with some of my favourite gaming promo pieces.
“I got in touch with George about a voice role for my game, and before the end of the day he provided me a great recording of the lines. Highly recommended. George was great to work with, and most importantly, the final audio he delivered was better than I hoped for.”
“George is without a doubt one of the most talented voice-over artists I’ve worked with. Very professional, in both demeanor and work quality, and also very prompt in product delivery. I would highly recommend him to anyone in search of a professional voice artist.”
Chaun Landers
Like what you hear?
You’re welcome to ask for a quote, or pick my brains about the industry. I know some things.
Playing characters in the greatest entertainment and creative medium ever conceived, naturally.
I could try to get more specific and say things like “often in a more energetic and animated tone than something grounded like a Radio Drama, but not as over-the-top as Cartoon Animation”, but really.. Videogames are such a vast and varied universe that require absolutely every kind of voice acting imaginable, there’s not much point.
Something worth mentioning I suppose, is that (perhaps obviously) there are no physical movements from the actor, no facial expressions to convey any extra bits and bobs. Although in most games these will be added in the animation of the character (or motion captured), it still means that our job has to output a full voice performance, without having anything else to lean on.
A meaningless separation perhaps, but a separation I like to make, as it means I can split this page off into nice, easy to navigate, sections.
In my head, it’s all videogame material where you’re not playing a character in-game. For example gamedev showcases, tutorials, or first looks. Confusingly, I would also put game trailers here, even if a character was being played in one.
It means if I’m talking to a videogame casting director, I can point them to the Voice Acting part. If I’m talking to a marketing or brand manager, I can point them to the Voiceover part. It’s simpler in my brain, and hopefully not prohibitively confusing to other peoples’ brains.
Passion.
The voice stuff is by the by. The world is filled with incredible actors who would jump at the chance to play any character that came across their agent’s desk. You can hear my demos, and perhaps you either like my voice, or think there’s something in the rhythm of my speech that’d work with one of your creations. If so, cracking!
But really, the value of working with me lies in the enthusiasm and care that I feel towards the production of a good videogame. I love being involved in the whole process.
Scripts can always be perfected post-signoff and tuned to someone’s voice. Options are willingly and bountifully provided, so that later down the line you’ve as much choice as to how your scenes come out as possible. Casting can be helped with, as it’s can be a bit like the Towers of Hanoi puzzle. Each prior casting decision affects all the ones in the future.
The creation of videogames is something so dear to me, as (for better or for worse), I have experienced thousands of hours of them over my life, and each one has brought me something either very profound, or very fun.
