My cough is trolling me.
Whenever I think I'm healthy enough to record 4-5 simple lines, I pull up my mic to get to work, then... I cough like crazy and my chords tighten up, ruining lots of takes because I'm holding back further fits of coughing. A coughing fit PER TAKE. UGH. What'd usually take me 15 minutes to half an hour takes up to an hour and might not even be my best performance, so you bet this is lame.
Fortunately, my "sickness" is more stress influenced than sickness influenced (no more phlegm or snot; just dry coughs) at the moment. That's right--University. But I only have, what, 4 more weeks left of this semester until my 5-week Winter Break, so my voice acting hiatus should be up soon.
So What ARE You Doing Instead of Voice Acting?
My homework. Really. But my classes regarding research, diversity in the media, and media literacy, gave us the awesome opportunity to explore stuff we are interested in~!
The topics I chose were:
Anime - "Is the anime industry adapting fast enough to keep up with the demand of its consumers?"
The anime industry is suffering hardcore financially and yet, the number of fans just keep counting. There're TONS of reasons why beyond piracy, that range from shifting target demographics and more outsourcing for in-betweening. And yet... Let's face it, there's certainly some evidence that the anime industry will be fine too... That is, if it adapts fast enough.
Video Games - (initial research question) "How can video games be designed to appeal to both genders rather than alienate the other?"
Basically, there is statistical evidence that more and more girls are playing video games (40% of all gamers are female)... But where are they? Before you throw 'em at "pink games" and casual stuff, why not think, "Why aren't more of them playing the better, cooler games out there?" I initially thought character designs played the biggest factor in getting girls interested in video games... But... I was wrong! And I hope that others will be as surprised/"Yeah, that makes sense" when I share my findings~
The absolute coolest aspects of these projects beyond the research is that (1) my teachers understand that video games and anime and their effect on its audiences are worth checking out and (2) we're kinda forced to "get out there". That means directly interviewing industry professionals, like voice actors, producers, game developers, and so on. I've already interviewed a few, so it's pretty exciting~
My absolute favorite sources:
Video Game Project
Shaylyn Hamm's "The Aesthetics of Unique Video Game Characters"
The Game Overthinker's "I Heart Bayonetta"
Tilo Hartmann & Christoph Klimmt's "Gender and Computer Games: Exploring Female's Dislikes"
Anime Project
SBS Dateline's "Suspended Animation"
Anime Expo 2008's "The Death of Anime"
(You can watch the videos or read the transcript/breakdowns for these.)
Dudes, THIS is how you make your college education fun.
All Work and No Play!
I'm suicidal. Even my hobby-stuffs/"leisure time" is work. You know my "game project"? My "produce stuff when you can't voice act" project? I was shooting for a pre-Halloween release, but life happened to me and my cast, so have a proof of progress instead.
- Yes, this is Motly's sexy-beautiful voice.
- This'd probably be a MILLION times easier to do in Flash, but I want my odds of getting sued to be a bit smaller
- This is clearly made for the HD/widescreen of YouTube
- Still need to work on the audio some more
- Adjust the timing of the visuals to said audio when it's done being re-worked ('cause hell no am I only giving you 5 seconds to pick a route outta 8 characters; the video as a whole needs to be lengthened)
- Cursed jaggy background...
Other signs of progress:
- A lot of the folks I already cast got their lines squared away
- May ask for redos ONLY if issues come up in mixing/syncing
Casting Progress?
- STILL waiting on Ecarte redos
- Scouting/scared of relistening to Cordis auditions again/may re-open auditions with new info-instructions
...I wonder how much I page-stretched this time!
Duke676
Play Fallout.
Hnilmik
You're SPECIAL!
"S is for Strength, and that means I am strong! I can carry lots of toys and swing stuff all day long!"
"P is for Perception, a long funny word! It means what I tasted, smell, saw and heard!"
"E is for Endurance, and that's how long I can play! I'm always really healthy, and have energy all day!"
"C is for Charisma, it's why people think I'm great! I make my friends all laugh and smile, and never want to hate!"
"I is for Intelligence, it means I'm really smart! I use my brain for lots of stuff, like science, math and art!"
"A is for Agility, that's how I get around! I move real fast and easy, and I never make a sound!"
"L is for Luck, and it's simple, you see! It means that good things always happen to me!"