lysander Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 If your voice direction/casting is good enough you may not need to give your VAs a picture/name/background combo. It's not like the name itself is super helpful, pictures can be detrimental and any of the background information pertaining to how the voice should sound or lines should be read will be delivered on-site via the voice direction. It's less a company to company thing and more a voice director to voice director thing--dunno if treehouse even had their own from in-house or if they just left it to somebody from Cup of Tea or wherever they recorded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giga Man Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I'm happy for Rena Strober. It was a complete turn-around for me between the initial reveal and the version in Smash Bros. I absolutely love her voice now. And yeah, it's pretty common for video game directors to not show its actors and actresses the game when they record for lines. It's a real shame, and it's probably why Effie's voice is so wrong. -_- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The DanMan Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 This doesn't happen with anime most of the time. And video games either. Basically treehouse once again shows it's bullshit colors. What a fucking debacle. They should be completely ashamed of how they handled this game, and I hope enough fans speak out so they know exactly how they were shitty caretakers of this ip. This actually happens fairly often; heck, if you bothered paying attention to the VA strike that nearly happened, that was one of their demands: to have more info on the character they're playing. But nope, gotta beat that "shit on NOA" drum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angienessyo Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 For people super confused or surprised by VAs not being told much, it seems to be pretty common in the entertainment industry. I work on comics and even with NDAs I'm often given very very little information on anything I work on and I work on the visual stuff! haha I often have to google references or pray that the company will give me a style guide closer to the deadline, otherwise it's a bunch of guessing if it's for something that hasn't been released at all yet. Companies can be super tight lipped about stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawaiiPersona Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 so even a high school play script tells info about a character, but a director can't give info? I feel bad for for Rena. Does the voice acting situation happens in other areas like Japan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuffPuff Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 After watching this...it's actually disrespectful the way that all the negative feedback went to this game. Hooray for another Xenoblade Chronicles fan. Shulk is life. Shulk is love. Riki is life. Riki is champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avalanche Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) It's almost like basing entire opinions of a voice cast on one video (which has maybe 1 line per character, at worst just a grunt) is kind of unjustified. I think Rena had it the worst (as songs are ludicrously hard to translate from Japanese to English). I'm sorry to sound like a jerk, but some of the reactions to this games voice acting have been ridiculous. Edited February 16, 2016 by Avalanche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuky Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) For as long as I have known Fire Emblem to be a thing, it has had a larger-than-normal problem with its fanbase. I mean, it's not on the same level as Sonic, but its definitely considered to be one of the more hostile and pretentious ones out there, and I believe the fan reaction would've been a lot milder if this were a different series. I'm definitely a newcomer since I only got into the series thanks to Awakening, so I don't have much experience with the fanbase. But after following FE14 closely since its announcement, I have to say that the localization effort has had to go through way too much salt. I mean, some frustration is understandable, but making sweeping statements like "oh all the dubbed voices suck so much" is pretty unnecessary. Edited February 16, 2016 by Tsuky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time the Crestfallen Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Not gonna lie, I cracked up when she said 'weebling'. But seriously, she really didn't deserve any of the backlash she got. Precious cinnamon role, protect at all costs! As for VA work, this isn't really anything new. I remember reading somewhere that John DiMaggio (who voices Jake for Adventure Time) wasn't told what the plot of an episode was and was given scripts containing only his lines and nobody else's (which made it pretty awkward when he has to read lines like 'but it in my butt' with no context provided). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentinel07 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Funny enough, Antony Del Rio actually said something similar when he was auditioning for Pit in Kid Icarus Uprising. Boy...thank goodness that Uprising's voice acting turned out as good as it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Laufeyson Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Gods, the embarrassment is so real right now. How unfair that she got shat on and saw it and felt terrible. I mean, why do people even do that? Miss Strober there, seems to be a really big sweetheart and LOOK AT HER TALES FROM THE CRYPT THING IN THE BACK! I also like how she admitted to spilling the beans and that was so cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aestury Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) I really want to know where most of the negative feedback came from. I honestly feel bad for her, it makes me feel embarrassed to be apart of a fandom that is actually good in some areas. Hopefully this doesn't lead to really bad shit later on for the series, because honestly shes really awesome and I'm pretty sad that she gained this kind of feedback. Seriously though, I understand people might dislike the voice acting but to bash the actual voice actor is a little too harsh in my eyes seeing their circumstances. Edited February 17, 2016 by Aestury Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lann La Mirah Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Aw, she seems really sweet. I'm surprised people gave her so much crap for her singing; I thought that the song was fine, even if I wasn't big on the English voice acting in general. I feel bad for being so harsh to the English voice acting--the voice actors are trying their best. Kinda surprised that they're not given much information on their characters though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glyth Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 This new information does explain some of voices I don't like. I don't follow va work so I didn't know. I guess they were given these basics. Effie: she's strong and likes food (deep af) Nyx: little girl (mouse) Felicia: award and clumsy (I don't even know) And so on.. I expected that much, but at the same time I didn't think they would be so restrictive in the information they give. It seems stupid. At the same time, the basics may be enough if you direct it well, so the director could be at fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaze Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) To my knowledge, the amount of information you're given about anime or video game characters vary depending on who the recording studio is. Like Elieson, I had the opportunity to talk to Kyle Hebert about the voice direction for Validar and he did say that they initially told him to try it with a Spanish accent, but that ended up sounding a lot like Puss in Boots, so they changed it. The very vague information about characters for Fates' dubbing may have been due to Kris Zimmerman being the voice director opposed to Patrick Seitz. Their directing methods might be different and it might also depend on the recording studio since I've read that Awakening and Fates were recorded at different studios. Edit: Also, if the Treehouse was actually as shitty as people keep saying, then they wouldn't have been as forgiving towards Rena when she accidentally revealed she was Azura after the first English trailer was released. Edited February 17, 2016 by KazeNinja17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRob Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I have to wonder what's preventing the VAs from simply looking up stuff from the original version of the source material. I mean we fans are able to find out stuff online about the characters and the story before the game is ever localized. Though that's not possible for stuff like Adventure time, and I think someone said they weren't even given the name of the characters, so that would explain it. Still, they could do research possibly. On side note, I don't know if I can ever criticize VAs ever again knowing they are given almost nothing about what they are supposed to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaze Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I have to wonder what's preventing the VAs from simply looking up stuff from the original version of the source material. I mean we fans are able to find out stuff online about the characters and the story before the game is ever localized. Though that's not possible for stuff like Adventure time, and I think someone said they weren't even given the name of the characters, so that would explain it. Still, they could do research possibly. On side note, I don't know if I can ever criticize VAs ever again knowing they are given almost nothing about what they are supposed to say. Like Rena said, they don't tell the voice actors what game they are actually auditioning and sometimes voicing for until they finish. So it would be difficult for them to look up said title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viberum Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 For people super confused or surprised by VAs not being told much, it seems to be pretty common in the entertainment industry. I work on comics and even with NDAs I'm often given very very little information on anything I work on and I work on the visual stuff! haha I often have to google references or pray that the company will give me a style guide closer to the deadline, otherwise it's a bunch of guessing if it's for something that hasn't been released at all yet. Companies can be super tight lipped about stuff. Yes! This is very true! You are given a short description of the character and the voice actors must audition for the role! This is the same process that all voice actors have to do! This includes other video games as well, like Persona and whatnot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaze Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Yes! This is very true! You are given a short description of the character and the voice actors must audition for the role! This is the same process that all voice actors have to do! This includes other video games as well, like Persona and whatnot. Yeah. A lot of voice actors who guest at conventions will often hold panels that go over the audition process and sometimes they'll even take volunteers to do a mock audition for characters whose names aren't revealed, they are just given a brief description of their personality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Yep this is quite common in terms of character auditions and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiddon Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Since we're all sharing VO artist stories, here's mine: A few months ago I met Richard Epcar (who voiced Walhart in Awakening and to Kingdom Hearts fans would recognize as Ansem from KHII onward) at Anime Central. He said the exact same thing in regards to auditions as the norm is little to no context thus facilitating a cold run. It's not fair to the actors, but that's how the entertainment industry works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRob Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Like Rena said, they don't tell the voice actors what game they are actually auditioning and sometimes voicing for until they finish. So it would be difficult for them to look up said title. One wonder what it must be like to do an audition like that. For all you know, you might end up voicing something weird and creepy, and the exact opposite of what you expected. I actually find it surprising they would do a job like that where you have no actual idea on what you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysander Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) One wonder what it must be like to do an audition like that. For all you know, you might end up voicing something weird and creepy, and the exact opposite of what you expected. I actually find it surprising they would do a job like that where you have no actual idea on what you're doing. Usually it's as simple as them not auditioning for any given part, like actors would--they're simply auditioning to work on something and during the auditions the voice director is seeing how well they respond to their direction. This is because it's rare to only be voicing one character anyway, so there's no point in auditioning the perfect, say, Ryoma if that's all they'd be capable of voicing with their range. At the end of the day, the only person who absolutely needs to know details about each character, how they should sound, what their intonation should be, etc. is the voice director. It may (or may not) speed up the process if the actor has an inkling to start, but by the end they'll know what the director wanted them to know at least enough to produce what the director wanted. Or the director just didn't care or didn't do their job well and you'll end up with a bad product--this is how the same VA can give performances of varying quality across a variety of products. That would be unfair if they were being hired by the end consumer, who is only judging the voices/VA for what they hear without any thoughts of what their work conditions/direction was like, but they're being hired by people who understand how it all works so it's not quite as unfair to them as it would seem. Guess I should also mention that "voice director" is just my go-to generalised position name--sometimes there are multiple people with other titles involved, but point is they are the people directing and work above the actors. Edited February 17, 2016 by lysander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Geargia Gateway Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I just hate how Voice actors are in la-la land with all their money and animators are just struggling to get a dime.Anime industry, game industry. I just puts me off my motivation to be an animator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avalanche Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 You sir, have a very warped perception of voice acting's pay. Most will attest to most gigs not paying much at all (many anime VA's get more from 1 commercial than they do a 26 episode series). Trust me, very few VA's that aren't industry legends or also actors in films are "in la la land with their money". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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