12 réponses à ce sujet

[David Gaider]

I think what people need to realize is that we're unlikely ever to get a big star to voice a PC character. The amount of VO a PC has is 10x any other character in the game-- and the amount that a star charges per recording session is pretty astronomical. The cost to have them voice a PC would thus be prohibitive.
Not that you guys really care about cost, I suppose, as it's the same price tag to you in the end-- but we certainly do.

[David Gaider]

Lorianno wrote...
Wasn't Claudia Black considered a star? Pardon me if I'm being naive about her successes, but Morrigan has done quite a bit throughout origins, and even had her own DLC?

Claudia Black did not voice a PC. She voiced a follower-- which is still pretty expensive, but again nowhere near the number of sessions as a PC character.

[David Gaider]

nightcobra8928 wrote...
that can be true in DA2, but in the DAO where the warden was silent, wouldn't it be the other way around?

Yes, you're correct. Hiring a voice actor for the DAO PC would have been a remarkably inexpensive proposition. We could have hired whoever we liked to do the PC soundsets... but who would have noticed?

Modifié par David Gaider, 15 décembre 2010 - 03:47 .

[David Gaider]

Beerfish wrote...
David, just curious. How do you go about getting your voice actors? I know that you have people who do the voice directing and you have mentioned that as writers you get to help with the direction.

How does BioWare choose who to go after? Do you have brainstorming meetings and wish lists of actors you think would be good for your parts? (For example, did some in a meeting say, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get Tim Curry to play Howe?" Or "I'd love it if we could get Martin Sheen for the Illusive man.")

Our VO department (which is part of ALE -- Audio/Localization/External Resources) would handle the casting of any voice talent. Our VO producer, Caroline Livingstone, would look at our list of character requirements (for every voiced character in the game, from major right down to minor ambients) and see the gender, age range, accent, etc... and from that she would either go through the auditions/talent list she already has or start contacting voice agents to find the people she needs.

For major characters she would work with us (the writing team, I mean) and they often need approval from the Powers That Be (like Mike Laidlaw). For those ones we might do up an audition script specifically for that character and get actors to audition for the role. Or Caroline might have some suggestions, and we'll listen to the auditions as a group-- sometimes the ones we pick don't pan out and we need to re-cast. Happens more than you think.

Celebrity casting is a bit different. Marketing might get involved, but not always. We might have some ideas to throw out, but quite often they're either just not available or not interested (some agents don't want their actors "slumming" -- perhaps they think it makes their client look desperate for work?) ...or they're asking way too much, demanding movie-budget type salaries when video games simply don't pay THAT much. Occasionally we'll get an actor approaching us. Sometimes we'll luck out and an actor is willing, or between gigs and able to fit a few sessions into their schedule. There's a lot of back and forth.

But there it is in a nutshell.

Modifié par David Gaider, 15 décembre 2010 - 04:05 .

[David Gaider]

Brockololly wrote...
Thats one of my concerns with DA2, if ME is anything to go by. That the cost of having a VO'd PC eats up so much of the dialogue/VO budget that the other characters/companions/NPCs come across much shallower.  Like Garrus and his calibrations.

Those things don't have anything to do with each other (well, not much anyhow).

If we know we're going to record a PC, we adjust the budget accordingly. We don't have the same VO budget and just say "well I guess the PC is taking up more of it-- less for everything else! Oh well!" All I'm saying is there's a limit as to how high the budget can go.

That was one of the things I loved in Origins was how much the companions had to say and I'd worry that with the expense of the voiced PC, the companions won't be as reactive, whether thats less dialogue or less unique dialogue or having the dialogue system designed in such a way to sort of mask the lack of dialogue, like Awakening's dialogue points.

The overall word budget is a separate consideration. I recall people saying that full VO recording for DAO would naturally mean that it would be a shallow experience. After all, who would spend money to record all that VO and still have lots of responses and paths for dialogue? Nobody! So yeah... things are not as simple as you make it out to be.

Modifié par David Gaider, 15 décembre 2010 - 04:04 .

[David Gaider]

ErichHartmann wrote...
You should have hired yourself.

I tried my hand at VO back in the day-- trust me, you wouldn't want that. VO is a lot harder than anyone thinks it is. Having a voice doesn't make you good at VO any more than being able to write a sentence makes you a good writer.

[David Gaider]

hangmans tree wrote...
Do you think thatwith games these days actors are more keen playing VO for games? Gaming is more and more popular, and if its popular there is money...do you think that these factor might affect the paygrade of said "stars"?

I think it's becoming seen as a legitimate thing for established actors to do. There was once a stigma against movie actors working in television, for instance, but that has passed-- and video games are slowly going the same way. Whether that will ever mean actors getting bigger salaries I have no idea. The time commitment is much less, so it's not the same as a movie role, but who knows? I suspect it'll always be less lucrative than a film or television role, and thus we'll always be in competition against those things when it comes to successful (and thus very busy) actors.

[David Gaider]

Dalira Montanti wrote...
Have you ever taught about using some of the fans on the forum to help voice act for the game to save money?

I'm sure that SAG would have an issue with that.

Plus I suspect that we'd get what we paid for, more often than not.

[David Gaider]

nightcobra8928 wrote...
any performances you personally liked in origins mr.gaider?

I know there are people who mock Isolde, but I thought the actress did an excellent job-- especially in the scene where she kills Connor herself. Loghain's VA was one of those cases where you see why some actors make more money than others. Seasoned pro, there, who actually made the lines better and generally didn't require re-takes. Claudia Black was fun to work with-- she teased me mercilessly; she has such a wicked laugh.

[David Gaider]

Gemaphrodite wrote...
DAVID GAIDER! You are bursting my little bubble here. Can't you let a girl dream? =(

Very well. You are permitted to dream. But only because Tom Hardy is hot enough to melt peanut butter.

[David Gaider]

Eli-da-Mage wrote...
Other than the excuse that he can just pick someone else because he can :/

There have been exactly three occasions where I have gone to Caroline and said "I want this actor, please" and my first choice was both available and interested.

Amusingly, the infamous "MEG" is one of those occasions.

[David Gaider]

Gemaphrodite wrote...
Meeeeow!

"or companion"

If I were to have Tom Hardy do a character, it'd have to be like his Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.



Buttery evil goodness.