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specializing in games and animation. And we're good at it, too.

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In this second episode in our sit down with voice over actor Nolan North, we find out how voice acting for video games may differ from other projects. His response? It doesn’t! Nolan shares that he believes the medium is irrelevant. Acting, any acting is all about brining life and truth to a fictional character. Whether that is on camera or through voice over recording for many different genres of projects, the production challenge is the same.

How simple can voice acting be? North compares it to a childhood game. “It’s really not as complicated as a lot of actors want to make it out to be. It’s pretty much the same thing that any 4 or 5-year-old child does. It’s just playing make believe. “ Nolan has gone above and beyond a childhood game and turned playing make believe into a living.

North is no stranger to both the voice over and on camera acting world. Most notably known for his portrayal of Drake in the recently released Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Nolan has an extensive resume to his name. Having worked on Batman: Arkham and Assassin’s Creed, to his on camera work for Pretty Little Liars & General Hospital, Nolan’s range of characters and abilities continue to take the acting world by storm.

Do you approach voice acting different from on camera acting? Share you thoughts below!

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tagged in interview, nolan north, uncharted 3: drake's deception, video games, voice over, voice over acting, voice over production, voice over talent

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By Deb

What?! I thought I was getting into a fun industry?!

If you have ventured into the world of animation and video games, you know exactly what I’m referring to. The wonderful thing about make believe, is that anything can happen. I’ll never forget my time on DragonBall – I played a character named ‘Mai’ and she died in what seemed like 50% of the episodes. You have to get very creative in your death scenes. You can only die so many times and in the world of video games, you can die over and over again. The interesting thing about a death scene is that this isnt’ something we can truly relate to ourselves. And the way we die in animations isn’t realistic to most deaths we know. So we have to become very creative and think outside the box.

While you start practicing and developing your characters – add another layer to them that you may not have thought through – how many ways can your character die? What would it sound like if you are falling out of an airplane as opposed to falling from the top of the building? What does it sound like when you get stabbed to death? When you are being slain by a demon? When you catch on fire? Falling into a dark hole? Melting? …..there is no end to the options of a dying character.

Something I suppose you didn’t give much thought to….. until now. Why don’t you YouTube animated death scenes or Google and rent some animations with characters that are similar to your range and see what other greats before you have done. Record your findings in the studio so you will be able to mimic them again in the future. Just listen and watch the animation or create your own death scene in your head. See it all happening and try and feel and physically act out the scene with as many human sfx as you can add to it. Don’t forget your sound of struggle (if there is one) before and after the death. Add the proximity affect (for example are you falling; change your vocal sounds to give the sound of distance – and don’t forget to land with impact.)

The point is, our vocal instruments guide the scene and it’s our job to vocally assist it along and create the scene using only our imaginations and our human sounds and words.

The true key to this technique, is that your character gets brought back to life….that’s the true art to dying. Coming back for another episode or season, until next time everyone.

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tagged in Tips & Tricks, video games, voice over, voice over practice

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In this episode we sit down with Nolan North, one of the great voice over actors we have had the fortune to work with. In this first video of the series we find out about the many games where you can hear his voice including the recently released Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The gaming industry is creating its own stars as they come even closer to motion pictures. Most notably known for his portrayal of Drake in the Uncharted franchise, North is the closest the gaming industry can come to a leading man. His resume is extensive having appeared in Batman: Arkham City as The Penguin, Assassin’s Creed as Desmond Miles, Prince Of Persia (as The Prince), & And Then There Were None as Patrick Narracott.

His most recent venture, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, blurs the lines between games and film with quotable dialogue and an epic narrative carried by a cast of some of the most talented voice actors in the industry. With the rising demand for more fluid video game animation, North now finds himself blending his voice and acting skills to make a character truly come to life.

Next in our series of videos we will talk to Nolan about other elements in voice over production including how voice over for games differs from other projects and the drawback of voice over acting.

Leave a comment below and let us know: What is your favorite character voiced by Nolan North?

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tagged in interview, nolan north, uncharted 3: drake's deception, video games, voice over production, voice over talent

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As a growing voice over casting company, we recently moved our office as well as decided to downsize our collection of games, so we began to look for a charity where we could donate our duplicate copies. We reached out to Child’s Play, a gamer favorite charitable organization founded by the creators of the Penny Arcade web-comic. They, in turn, put us in touch with the good folks at Donate Games, who also accept game donations.

If you’re a game publisher or developer, you may have some surplus video games sitting around your office that could use a better home. And if you’re a gamer, you may have some used games and consoles gathering dust somewhere in a closet. Below is more information about both organizations if you’re interested in giving back.

Child’s Play

Child’s Play is an eight-year-old charity that provides toys, games, books, and other items to sick children in hospitals across the US, Canada, and other locations worldwide. They can accept new games that are rated E or E10+. You can also purchase items through Amazon that will be shipped directly to the hospital of your choice. For more info, visit the Child’s Play website.

Donate Games

Donate Games helps children with rare diseases through the collection and re-purposing of video games and gear. They can accept new (packaged) PC games and all new or used console games (all ESRB ratings) as well as consoles. Visit the Donate Games website to learn more.

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More of our voice over casting efforts can be found in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm patch 4.2, Rage of the Firelands.

This marks our second round of World of Warcraft voice over, having cast some of the actors for patch 4.1, Rise of the Zandalari.

From the deadly bosses in the new Firelands raid to the majestic dragons of the blue and bronze dragonflight, we had a great time imagining what these fearsome creatures would sound like. And now that 4.2 is finally here, we can’t wait to hear the final results.

Also, if you’re a fan of The Deadmines, Vanessa Van Cleef finally has a voice, making the Heroic version that much more awesome.

Time to get patching!

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tagged in casting, video games, World of Warcraft