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Voice Acting quality

RedEyedAbyssRedEyedAbyss
edited 2011-10-14 13:57:34 in Media

(yes, this can extend to live-action acting as well, but there's a difference between someone moving, speaking, and interacting as a character and someone standing still in a room speaking to match lip flaps)

It often feels like you can put the Buddy Bears in a room together to critique a voice performance and even they won't be able to agree whether it is good or not. Yeah, we all know what a great voice performance sounds like and what a terrible voice performance sounds like. The trouble is everything in between.

So I guess parameters used to judge voice acting quality include emotion, realism, "in-character"-ness, etc. Unfortunately, most, if not all of these tend to have a huge degree of subjectivity and if you're basing the quality on how people sound like and behave in real life, the trouble is that not everyone acts, reacts, or sounds the same. What if you're supposed to be dealing with a more emotionally composed character? What if the character isn't supposed to be a fluent public speaker? What if the voice is technically in-character, but people find it annoying anyways? It seems the only time one can truly recognize a bad performance is if it is really bad and sticks out like a sore thumb.

Comments

  • SaigyoujiSaigyouji
    But you never had any to begin with.
  • ShichibukaiShichibukai
    edited 2011-10-14 14:29:29
    Thane of rum-guzzling and necromancy

    That's what you get when you recruit another voice acting company's rejects.

    Voice acting quality like that makes me want to scream. No attention to making it sound convincing. Seriously, what part of voice acting don't they get? You're being chased, try to sound like it!

  • RedEyedAbyssRedEyedAbyss
    edited 2011-10-14 14:22:44

    (did anyone actually read the opening post?)

    V Remove the period and you should be fine.

  • ShichibukaiShichibukai
    edited 2011-10-14 14:20:18
    Thane of rum-guzzling and necromancy

    Yes, I did. It helps to have examples :P

    Also, how do you embed videos?

  • SaigyoujiSaigyouji
    But you never had any to begin with.
    Just post the link.

  • ShichibukaiShichibukai
    edited 2011-10-14 14:36:44
    Thane of rum-guzzling and necromancy

    Doesn't seem to be working. Derp.  Okay, now it does. Thanks.

    Back to the topic, studios should consider the voice actor an intricate part of the experience, whether it's in the original language version or a localised one. You can tell when they've really done their work recruiting the right voice actors and the right tone of voice, and when they just add a lazy, terrible dub with unsuitable actors across the board.

    The voice actor is a part of characterisation, I like it when they make it a more personal thing with an interest in how the character should say something. Good, dedicated voice actors don't get enough credit.

  • PonicalicaPonicalica
    (void)
    «That's what you get when you recruit another voice acting company's rejects.»
    Actually, I'm pretty sure the voice actors for Chaos Wars were the family members of the executives of the company that localized the game.
  • GelzoGelzo
    Pony Sleuth
    How do bad voice actors manage to find work? I wouldn't mind getting a job where I don't have to be at all competent.
  • PonicalicaPonicalica
    (void)
    Well, a lot of the time, as I said, companies grab family members and the like as a cost-cutting measure.
  • SaigyoujiSaigyouji
    But you never had any to begin with.
    I always assumed that the voice actors for the HotD series were golems made out of wood.
  • StormtroperStormtroper


    Also, I'd much rather have a pleasant sounding voice than a realistic or in-character one.

    Related.
  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.
    How you prefer acting in media is subjective, but like every other thing, there are some objective criteria you can assign to it. 

    Basically, it's all around what the author and actor want to convey convicingly. In other words, acting in a way in which I don't immediately think "This guy's acting and being directed by so and so, as such, he's not suffering so I can't sympathize"

    so, in other words. All that acting has to do is not make my suspension of disbelief go away. Admittedly, suspension of disbelief is also a subjective concept as some people's are thinner than others, but it's normally easier to catch on it when you pay attention.

    it's one of those "Can't properly describe it, but you know it when you see it" things. 
  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    Acting is like special effects. If you aren't thinking about it, it's doing it's job.
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