24 réponses à ce sujet

[ExoGeniVI]

obviously minimum wage http://www.bbc.com/n...nology-34474234

[SomberXIII]

I heard somewhere that the average pay was 10000 per hour. I could be wrong.

[Panda]

There is different thread where people discuss about the voice actor strike. I really doubt BW is going to release information of what they pay people so idk if there is need for seperate thread ^^;

[ArabianIGoggles]

Oh no!  They have to work, "for hours".  Big deal.  No way should they be entitled to royalties.  They aren't singers or song writers or producers.  Try a real job cry babies.

[Remix-General Aetius]

Oh no!  They have to work, "for hours".  Big deal.  No way should they be entitled to royalties.  They aren't singers or song writers or producers.  Try a real job cry babies.

 

their voice is how they make money, Einstein. this is their trade. so they have to take care of their vocal chords. just like models are very careful of their physical appearance, or craftsmen consider their hands to be their most prized possession.

[KaiserShep]

Oh no!  They have to work, "for hours".  Big deal.  No way should they be entitled to royalties.  They aren't singers or song writers or producers.  Try a real job cry babies.

 

Is singing and songwriting really more of a "real job" than this though? 

[o Ventus]

their voice is how they make money, Einstein. this is their trade. so they have to take care of their vocal chords. just like models are very careful of their physical appearance, or craftsmen consider their hands to be their most prized possession.

 

Some voice actors have it especially bad with the strain on the vocal chords. If you've ever played Gears of War, for example, Robin Atkin Downes does the voices for all of the Locust characters, and the Kantus voices in particular had to be damaging on the chords. The inhaling scream at the end (around 2:00) would be downright painful if you make a mistake.

 

 

And when one injures their vocal chords, it's as painful and inconvenient as any other kind of injury. The damaged chords are not only sore, but they feel way more sensitive to things like temperature, and you can feel it when you swallow hot food or drinks. Prolonged speech or singing (especially when you have to play a false and unnatural voice for long periods of time) can also lead to polyps forming on your vocal chords, which can sting like a son of a b****.

[kathic]

I'm willing to wait for MEA if it means the voice actors are paid fairly. I am not really sure that it is a large factor in production cost atm. Hopefully it won't mean a reduction in the amount of lines in games.

[o Ventus]

I'm willing to wait for MEA if it means the voice actors are paid fairly. I am not really sure that it is a large factor in production cost atm. Hopefully it won't mean a reduction in the amount of lines in games.

I would imagine that, in the past, most of the money went to things like licensing the tech used to make the games (since ME1 thru 3 were all built on Unreal 3, which would have been licensed from Epic) and employee salaries. I can't make a wholly accurate statement, but I would guess that the celebrity voice-over work does actually cost a fair amount, what with them being celebrities and all. People like Keith David, Carrie-Ann Moss, Seth Green or Martin Sheen. Plus, there are the bigger-name but not quite universal celebrity voice actors like Jennifer Hale, Robin Atkin Downes, and Courtenay Taylor. Robin Atkin Downes especially, I would guess, since he is in god**** near everything nowadays, even if nobody can recognize his voice. 

 

Robin Atkin Downes and Dee Bradley Baker (although DBB doesn't do anything with ME, as far as I can tell), those two are in f***g everything. Like, if something exists and features some kind of voice-over work, one of them probably had a part in it.

 

I think I respect voice actors more than on-screen actors. They do just as much work and they don't receive nearly as much recognition. Everybody knows who Tim Cruise is, or Jessica Alba, but I can't imagine many people who aren't industry diehards or otherwise have a specific interest in the craft (like me) know who Kevin Michael Richardson or Jess Harnell or Rob Paulsen are.

[Cyonan]

I'm guessing somewhere between $10.20 and $1000000 per hour.

[Larry-3]

This is not good. Now BioWare will start cutting on dialogue and banter.

[Remix-General Aetius]

Some voice actors have it especially bad with the strain on the vocal chords. If you've ever played Gears of War, for example, Robin Atkin Downes does the voices for all of the Locust characters, and the Kantus voices in particular had to be damaging on the chords. The inhaling scream at the end (around 2:00) would be downright painful if you make a mistake.

 

 

And when one injures their vocal chords, it's as painful and inconvenient as any other kind of injury. The damaged chords are not only sore, but they feel way more sensitive to things like temperature, and you can feel it when you swallow hot food or drinks. Prolonged speech or singing (especially when you have to play a false and unnatural voice for long periods of time) can also lead to polyps forming on your vocal chords, which can sting like a son of a b****.

 

he does the voice of the Master in the Strain series. AND he's the Demon of Illusion on Charmed lol. I love him!

[Panda]

This is not good. Now BioWare will start cutting on dialogue and banter.

 

Too early to say.. I guess it depends on what BW already is paying and what their attitude about strike is and what is outcome of the strike.

[Fredward]

Hasn't Bioware said that VA is one of their biggest costs? I don't think the people who voice the companions and protags and such get peanuts. Dunno about the rest.

 

EDIT:

 

Going through that list I'd give 'em:

 

- stunt co-ordinators if they're doing mocap

- more pay for stressful vocal sessions

- more info on what they're working for (why not anyway? Just give them a nasty no-spilling-the-beans contract)

- 2 hour work limit on the super stressful stuff (with an associated paycut but still above average in comparison to a normal sessions)

 

Dunno about the royalty thing. Maybe for those that do the most lines at like 0.3% or something. And no getting stunt pay for stressful vocal sessions.

[AllThatJazz]

Too early to say.. I guess it depends on what BW already is paying and what their attitude about strike is and what is outcome of the strike.

Yeah, this. Also it seems that Bioware has a pretty good relationship with many of the VOs that it uses frquently (Ali Hillis, Jennifer Hale, Claudia Black, Mark Meer, Alix WR, Sumalee Montano, Allegra Clark etc) - if the number of friendly tweets, photos etc is anything to go by, and the number of actors who are happy to work for Bioware over and over again. Enjoying working with a particular crew definitely counts for something, so Bioware has some leverage there.

 

It's additionally worth remembering that many (most, even?) of the Dragon Age VAs and at least a few ME ones are based in Britain, so aren't affected by the American strike, and the Equity actors union in the UK is pretty good at getting fair rates for its members I believe (this from my former next door neighbour who is a stage/occasional tv actor). Edit: And are Canadian actors (like Hale/Meer) affected by the strike? If US VA becomes prohibitively expensive, then at least Bioware has a pool of Canadian/UK talent to draw on for ME, basically.

 

Edit: And yes, voice work can cause tremendous strain on the vocal chords - Mark Hamill has had real trouble with his vocal chords I believe, after years of performing as the Joker. Good VA requires a huge amount of skill, for frankly a fraction of the money and recognition that tv/film actors get. As video games become more and more mainstream, it's high time that changed imo.

[SolNebula]

I start to think that for EA it would be convenient to hire fresh but talented graduates from acting schools as permanent voice acting casts (like being proper EA employees) in all their games, therefore they can avoid this problem of increasing costs and make the cost of voice-acting somewhat predictable in their budget.

[Helios969]

Bottom line they "deserve" whatever they can get.  I mean who among us wouldn't try to get more from our employers if we thought we had the leverage to do so?  It could also backfire and many of them could find themselves replaced by people who are willing to live with the current conditions and payscale.  If they get what they want, great, if not, I can tell you I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

[Navasha]

While I am all for workers striving to get ahead, I am also all for companies keeping their costs in line.    We, as the consumers, are ultimately the ones who pay the price of these costs.    So if these voice actors demand too much and the company can get decent talent elsewhere than that is what they should do.   The quality of the product has to be balanced with the costs.  

 

If paying royalties to these voice actors means that a company responds by having fewer voiced lines and smaller word "budgets", then that is a huge loss in quality.   Companies should then look to cheaper voice actors rather than sacrifice the scope of their projects.     If these voice actors price themselves out of a job... then so be it. 

[KoorahUK]

I think the royalties stuff will got dropped in negotiation. You always go in demanding more than you want to walk out with, thats pretty standard. It gives SAG some negotiating power. 

The real issue here for the actors are the working conditions and the possible 'fines' for inattentiveness. I think they are mainly concerned that the definitions of inattentiveness are somewhat....loose. Actors don't want to find themselves with a massive fine because it took 3 minutes longer to pinch off a deuce than the director wanted.

Fact is, for all the complaints of "get a real job" thats the benefit of having a talent that is in high demand. Pretty much anyone can pick up a shovel and do back breaking work, thats why those jobs don't pay well. Anyone who believes voice acting is just turning up and reading from a script has no idea what acting actually involves.

[BioWareM0d13]

I sympathize with some of the union's complaints, particularly the clause in their contract that allows actors to be fined, but not the demand for royalities. That one is just flat out greed and not a request for something the union members deserve.

 

Games aren't the same as films, where actors' name recognition and performances make or break a film. They are a huge part of a film's success (or lack thereof), and as such deserve a large stake in the profits those films make. People buy movie tickets or stay home in part based by who is starring in a film. No one however buys a game based on who does voice acting work in it. Most people probably don't even know who the cast is before purchasing a game. Good voice acting can make a good game great, but it isn't the make-or-break thing thing that is with film. Games sell based on the gameplay features being offered, the reputation of the company developing it, and impressions from previews and reviews...none of which the voice work has a large impact on. If voice acting is mentioned at all in a review, it will be brief and have less words devoted to it than discussions of the gameplay, technical issues, or the game's story.

 

Actors shouldn't be getting royalities when programmers and other developers, who have a much larger role in a game's success, don't. 

 

Koorah is probably correct however that the Union is just playing hardball to get a better negotiating position.

[thepiebaker]

For royalties do what movies and I believe music does. If they're big enough to deserve it they get part of the net profit, which after everyone gets their fair, such as producers who payed the upfront cost of equipment, salary, etc, the distributor, the studio. The more important roles in the creation of the game such as the writers or directors. By the time the VO cast get their share it will probably be for every $10,000 the game makes they get $0.50.

If anyone in film ask for grosse profits they're shown the door. Not even Robert Downey Jr or any big name actor can throw enough weight to get that.

[Battlebloodmage]

Higher pay is up to the company, but I can see their points about limiting the hours. It's more about the health issue for the actors. If they limit the hours, it would put less strain on their vocal cords, and if they want to do overtime, they could get paid more. 

[ArabianIGoggles]

Is singing and songwriting really more of a "real job" than this though? 

Yes.  They created the product.  Voice actors merely follow a script and have a limited amount of freedom in their role.  I'm not saying they aren't talented.  MH is fantastic as the Joker, but asking for royalties is absurd. 

[Donk]

Why was this locked and then unlocked?

[ArabianIGoggles]

Why was this locked and then unlocked?

Things have a way of occurring each month that biology cannot stop, but only treat the symptoms.