Okay, before I go into details I was going to make a post about a service I use on a daily basis. Because of the importance of this topic, however, I'm going to have to postpone it until the next post.
Now then, onto the main event. I was on my Twitter account looking for pages and people to follow. As I was doing so, two hashtags caught my eye. They were #PerformanceMatters and #iAmOnBoard2015. I had a hard time figuring the two out and it wasn't until I dug further into various Twitter accounts and did a search on them did I learn the nature of them. I even took the liberty of spreading the word and mentioning two voice actors that I follow.
The voice actors I follow and am fans of are typically part of a labor union, which is an organization representing people part of a trade. In the case of these voice actors, they're part of two unions; the SAG, or Screen Actors Guild, and the AFTRA, or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. These unions, in addition to providing benefits associated with other trade unions, make it possible for voice actors to provide their talents in anything that requires voice work.
Primarily it applies to video games and animation, but there are other mediums that the SAG-AFTRA covers, such as commercials; news reports; and even sound recordings. In the case of this topic, it's about video games and voice work in them. It's also about the treatment and payment of voice actors as well.
Relating to the hashtags and the unions, the SAG-AFTRA has been negotiating with employers to provide bonuses for a number of sales, downloads and subscriptions in games; stunt pay for stressful recordings; stunt coordinators for safer motion capture; and transparency of what union members were getting into in terms of their work. Employers, on the other hand, have not only rejected these negotiations but even had proposals of their own.
These proposals consist of letting producers charge $2,500 fines for actors being late or even any reason they can think of; fining agents large sums of money for not sending out voice actors to specified auditions; revoking SAG-AFTRA union franchises from agents for refusal
of submission to said aformentioned auditions; hiring their own workers to do motion capture work without dealing with unions to save money; and other proposals reducing fees and rolling back gains from SAG-AFTRA contracts. In short, cutting costs and punishing actors and agents for petty
reasons.
The agent franchise revoking set me off the most because of how agents would have to force voice actors to certain auditions or the agents in question lose their rights to send voice actors on union work. Some of this union work covered happens to be audiobooks, and that would affect potential authors such as myself hiring talent for audiobooks. While the topic is voice work in video games and the treatment of voice actors, the SAG-AFTRA union happens to cover audiobooks so this movement bears importance to me.
What I really want to say is that these voice actors are not just voice actors. They're hard working human beings like you and me, trying their damndest to earn an honest living in a world where work is a dime a dozen. I took this for granted in my younger years when I watched specific animations and played certain games, but as I got older I learned that the voices in those works weren't magic or artificial. They were the result of actual living beings doing what they love. While I won't go into details, I know of people struggling to earn a living because of powers beyond their control, such as careless corporations; self-centered politicians; and other groups and people that want to make things harder for everyone else. It's enough that a family member; friend or next door neighbor is having hard times working in the modern world, but when I hear of voice actors going through this trouble as well, that's a personal problem. This is especially taking in to consideration that most of the credentials of these voice actors consists of video games, and there's quite a few that I own that had the talents of these people.
Speaking of games and voice actors, here's my confessions. I may not buy every work that a certain voice actor has been in. I'm not into fighting games like BlazBlue or Mortal Kombat. I never liked Role Playing Games like Final Fantasy and Persona. I avoided the Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Metal Gear franchises despite being the owner of PlayStation video game consoles. I also admit that I buy video games and other voice heavy works based on what I enjoy, because they're hobbies to me.
Do I still support these voice actors despite these facts? Yes, greatly. If there's a medium or work that I like and if I hear a certain voice actor's voice or see a voice actor's name pop up on the credits of works that I like, that puts a smile on my face knowing that a work I like has been given life by people that I'm fans of. If these voice actors also like interests that I and any of their fans like, that also makes me happy and gives me incentive to support them even more.
The voice actors part of this union are voting to go on strike as we speak. While I myself cannot vote, support for this action is strong amongst readers and fans alike whether they play video games or not. Notice for this action has attracted the likes of Moviepilot and Variety, both of which are notable and reputable sources. Even Wil Wheaton and Jon Bailey, the former a Star Trek cast member and TV show host while the latter being the Honest Trailers voice person, are on the #PerformanceMatters bandwagon. It's only a matter of time before the strike happens and these major gaming companies wake up and learn that voice actors are not just people behind a microphone. It's time that these voice actors get the treatment they deserve.
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
The Rise of Audiobooks
I google searched 'audiobook article' one day to find extra information regarding audiobooks to revise my writing report with. Two articles in particular that caught my eye came from both the Wall Street Journal and the Independent, both being high reputation websites.
The articles interested me because it shows how far audiobooks have come in terms of accessibility. In my writing report, I mentioned how it was a luxury for school libraries and public libraries had entire sections for audiobook access. I also stated, however, that the evolution of technology has made it possible for audiobooks to be available to anyone with a computer and/or a smartphone. Previously, audiobooks had to be carried around via CD player or tape cassette, both cumbersome devices. Nowadays, MP3 files; iPods and mobile media players almost replace such devices and make it easier to enjoy and carry around audiobooks.
In addition, audiobooks in the marketplace are now worth unbelievable profits. Sales of audiobooks are on the rise and it's changing the way books are read in a positive way. Amazon's audible service has over twenty thousand audiobooks with narrations and they add more a month. Billions of dollars in revenue are raked in, and prices are on par with that of e-books. This is a far cry from the past where audiobooks cost $50 tops.
This is a big deal for me because I want to hire voice actors for audiobook adaptations of my work. Voice actors also benefit because it's considered a lucrative side job for them. Hollywood talent tends to take the reign of some audiobook titles, but my works won't have such talent. I wanted to get voice actors from anime; cartoons and games involved in my audiobook projects. Ditto that remark for any animated or game based adaptations of my work.
I was actually inspired by such voice actors reading books that I got from the library. That's what motivated me to write my novels, so the same would happen with my work. That's why I want to write novels: to introduce new stories and to get my role models involved.
The articles that this post pertains to can be found here:
The New Explosion in Audio Books - Wall Street Journal
Sound and the story: The rise of the audiobook - The Independent
The articles interested me because it shows how far audiobooks have come in terms of accessibility. In my writing report, I mentioned how it was a luxury for school libraries and public libraries had entire sections for audiobook access. I also stated, however, that the evolution of technology has made it possible for audiobooks to be available to anyone with a computer and/or a smartphone. Previously, audiobooks had to be carried around via CD player or tape cassette, both cumbersome devices. Nowadays, MP3 files; iPods and mobile media players almost replace such devices and make it easier to enjoy and carry around audiobooks.
In addition, audiobooks in the marketplace are now worth unbelievable profits. Sales of audiobooks are on the rise and it's changing the way books are read in a positive way. Amazon's audible service has over twenty thousand audiobooks with narrations and they add more a month. Billions of dollars in revenue are raked in, and prices are on par with that of e-books. This is a far cry from the past where audiobooks cost $50 tops.
This is a big deal for me because I want to hire voice actors for audiobook adaptations of my work. Voice actors also benefit because it's considered a lucrative side job for them. Hollywood talent tends to take the reign of some audiobook titles, but my works won't have such talent. I wanted to get voice actors from anime; cartoons and games involved in my audiobook projects. Ditto that remark for any animated or game based adaptations of my work.
I was actually inspired by such voice actors reading books that I got from the library. That's what motivated me to write my novels, so the same would happen with my work. That's why I want to write novels: to introduce new stories and to get my role models involved.
The articles that this post pertains to can be found here:
The New Explosion in Audio Books - Wall Street Journal
Sound and the story: The rise of the audiobook - The Independent
Monday, June 25, 2012
Side story progress, and a dream anime cast list
Well, just want the world to know that the second side story chapter is almost completed. Now it's about the efforts of B.W. and Miyu Kusanagi as they momentarily split up from Kirk and Tigercat and take on the Germanians' training exercise while encountering two of the Germanian Empire's four elite IllusionCore pilots.
By the way, I've might have mentioned in an earlier blog post that this novel would feature an ambitious audio novel unique in that an industry veteran voice actor would voice it. However, a full cast is not practical for audiobooks; I'd only hire one industry veteran VA for such a project. I would, however, like to see my work turned into an anime film. So, here's my dream cast for this dream anime.
Personally, I want Cristina Valenzuela to do audiobook for this work, while Karen Strassman would do the sequel. Plans for a third and episode zero novel are still in the works.
Johnny Yong Bosch - Kirk/KFBAT/Kevin Redbeacon
(JYB is the classic hero/anti-hero type, which these characters are; he even prefers this character!)
Wendee Lee - Eloyse Floyd/Tigercat/Vulpecula/Canus Major/Canus Minor/Lyra/Cassiopeia
(Wendee Lee is a superb multirole voice artist, known for characters ranging from high school girls to young boys and older tough gal types. She would be suited for all of these characters as a result.)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Melissa Williamson/Miyu Kusanagi/Venus/Anna Germania/Captain Atsuko Kurasagi
(Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is good with the sexy, tough as nails heroine characters.)
Cristina Valenzuela (or Cristina Vee, whichever she would prefer) - Noel/Vambrace/Suzumi Himoto
(Cristina Vee is good with young girls, but also great for the heroine characters, too. The characters that she would voice represent her in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most important aspect of Noel would be that she would be speaking Japanese. This is actually a part of the novel's theme and story, which will not be covered in this blog post. Cristina Vee can speak Japanese very fluently, and would be best suited for these characters.)
Richard Epcar - B.W./Mars/Pinnace
(Richard Epcar is good with the wise but strong characters, but perhaps the biggest trait is that he has a sort of relation with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in terms of career history. Basically, Miyu Kusanagi and B.W. are friends in my novel, Batou and Major Motoko Kusanagi are friends in Ghost in the Shell, and Richard Epcar and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn are friends in real life. It's a theme I'm following in this novel.)
Michelle Ruff - Georgette Germania/Mother Angel
(Michelle Ruff, like Wendee Lee, is a multirole type, but somewhat more condensed. She's most effective as a sort of commanding figure, though, so the roles of Georgette Germania and Mother Angel would go to her.)
Stephanie Sheh - Lepus/Devil's Mistress
(Stephanie is good with voicing young women, even though Lepus is more than just a young woman. Also, I wanted her to voice a villainess, so as to break out of her usual mold. [This role is a work in progress, as I want to draw a picture of, and have other female VAs to voice Devil's Mistress before I decide which one works best])
Lauren Landa - Zenaiva
(Lauren is good as the fanservice character, as well as young girls and boys, but this character would be the troubled sister who is forced to work for an evil army.)
Cindy Robinson - C.R./Circinus
(Cindy Robinson can not only voice young boys effectively (she's also the new official voice of Betty Boop), but also use a more natural voice for the more serious characters. That, and her Ordinance Quail character matches her initials.)
Kate Higgins - C.H./Hydra
(Kate recently got promoted to multirole voice artist status, but for the anime, she would be playing this Ordinance Quail character due to her initials matching Kate's.)
Yuri Lowenthal - Suzuki Roberts/Devil's Egotism/Crux
(Yuri is good with a variety of male characters, from Suzuki/Suzaku's Knight Templar style, to Devil's Egotism's maniacal and arrogant villain personality, and Crux's noble and heroic sense of humility. Also, Devil's Egotism and Crux can speak Japanese in addition to English, which is an important part of the novel's theme and story since Noel has some past with these devil characters [they are part of an organization called the Diablo's Darkness, by the way]. Yuri Lowenthal can speak Japanese fluently, which makes him best suited to these characters.)
Tara Platt - Lacerta
(Tara Platt is on par with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's warrior characters, but Tara has some compassion and kindness in her as well. Also, Crux and Lacerta are both husband and wife in my novel, just as Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are married in real life. Yes, voice actor relations and parallels to fictional characters are a theme in this novel.)
Christopher Sabat - Feral Wolf
(Christopher is good with both the hammy and the aggressive villain types, but I wanted to match Feral Wolf's voice and personality with that of Wild Dog from Namco's Time Crisis series. The main goal is to try and emulate the old voice actor of Wild Dog in Time Crisis one and two, which I find Christopher Sabat to be best suited for the role.)
Crispin Freeman - McDougal Gottfried/Tokuso/Devil's Psycho/Pluto
(Crispin is good with a variety of male characters, but he is suited for Devil's Psycho because of his history of playing as psychotic characters like Albedo Piazzolla from Namco's Xenosaga and Alucard from Hellsing. He's also good for Pluto, a dark-themed hero, as he's played similar characters, too.)
Karen Strassman - Karen Strassfield/Devil's Seduction
(Karen, while achieving the status of multirole, would be voicing both an Ordinance Quail character and Devil's Seduction, since Karen is good with the seductive villainess voice. That, and her OQ character shares both her real name and a pen name.)
Steve Blum - Roger Smith/ORO
(While Steve Blum is a supreme special multirole, his character appearances are somewhat limited to that of a reporter based on a character from Big O and a ninja warrior like that of Time Crisis' MOZ but spelled out with the first three letters of Orochimaru from Naruto.)
Liam O'Brien - Sheruto Garra
(Liam can handle a variety of male characters, but I chose him to emulate the old voice of Sherudo Garo from Time Crisis. Also, the character design is a mixture of Sherudo, Gaara from Naruto and Liam O'Brien himself, which makes him suitable for this role.)
Sam Riegel - Samuel
(While having only a minor part, Sam Riegel would be best suited for Samuel due to his natural voice.)
John Kassir - Devil's Perversion
(He's mostly noted for Raymundo Rocket from Rocket Power and the crypt keeper from Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Crypt Keeper, but his voice as Monsoon from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance fits perfectly as Devil's Perversion)
Charles Forrest "Spike" Spencer - Devil's Maniac
(While Spike Spencer can voice a variety of male characters, I chose him for Devil's Maniac because of how the character is like that of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion but has the personality of Arakune from BlazBlue. Spike really wants to play the psychotic characters, kind of like Mark Hamill and Joker from Batman.)
Patrick Seitz - Patrick Seitz
(He's Patrick Setiz. He's a voice actor. He's getting a small cameo in this novel. Need I say more?)
Rebecca Forstadt - Kiva Redbeacon
(Rebecca can voice sweet young girls, but is chosen for this role for reference reasons.)
Michael McConnohie - Michael Germania
(Michael can voice the in-charge and hammy characters greatly, making him a fit for Michael Germania.)
Julie Ann Taylor - Julie Samford
(This character role is minor, but it fits because Julie Ann Taylor is good with the compassionate women.)
Brina Palencia - Corona Borealis
(Brina is good with the young and older women, but would be suited for this role due to the character resembling Rei Ayanami, another NGE character. Of course, the big difference between Rei and C. Borealis would be that Brina would be using her natural voice.)
Tiffany Lynn Grant - Corona Austrina/Devil's Doppelganger
(Tiffany is basically Asuka Langley Soryu incarnate, which is what Corona Austrina is designed upon. Same thing with Devil's Doppelganger, but there's a secret involved with this character. Also, Tiffany would be using a natural voice and a deeper, more sultry voice for both C. Austrina and Devil's Doppelganger respectively.)
Kirk Thornton - Cygnus
(He can voice a variety of male characters, both lone wolf and wise, but in this case Kirk's character is in line with Gabumon from Digimon, voice wise, but design wise he's a mix of Bunshichi Tawara from Tenjho Tenge and Weregarurumon from Digimon.)
As you can see, the cast here consists of veteran voice actors that have experience in anime in one way or another, but some of the cast members don't get as big of a role as others. Nonetheless, as I have said before, this would be the perfect cast if this were made into an anime.
By the way, I've might have mentioned in an earlier blog post that this novel would feature an ambitious audio novel unique in that an industry veteran voice actor would voice it. However, a full cast is not practical for audiobooks; I'd only hire one industry veteran VA for such a project. I would, however, like to see my work turned into an anime film. So, here's my dream cast for this dream anime.
Personally, I want Cristina Valenzuela to do audiobook for this work, while Karen Strassman would do the sequel. Plans for a third and episode zero novel are still in the works.
Johnny Yong Bosch - Kirk/KFBAT/Kevin Redbeacon
(JYB is the classic hero/anti-hero type, which these characters are; he even prefers this character!)
Wendee Lee - Eloyse Floyd/Tigercat/Vulpecula/Canus Major/Canus Minor/Lyra/Cassiopeia
(Wendee Lee is a superb multirole voice artist, known for characters ranging from high school girls to young boys and older tough gal types. She would be suited for all of these characters as a result.)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Melissa Williamson/Miyu Kusanagi/Venus/Anna Germania/Captain Atsuko Kurasagi
(Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is good with the sexy, tough as nails heroine characters.)
Cristina Valenzuela (or Cristina Vee, whichever she would prefer) - Noel/Vambrace/Suzumi Himoto
(Cristina Vee is good with young girls, but also great for the heroine characters, too. The characters that she would voice represent her in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most important aspect of Noel would be that she would be speaking Japanese. This is actually a part of the novel's theme and story, which will not be covered in this blog post. Cristina Vee can speak Japanese very fluently, and would be best suited for these characters.)
Richard Epcar - B.W./Mars/Pinnace
(Richard Epcar is good with the wise but strong characters, but perhaps the biggest trait is that he has a sort of relation with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in terms of career history. Basically, Miyu Kusanagi and B.W. are friends in my novel, Batou and Major Motoko Kusanagi are friends in Ghost in the Shell, and Richard Epcar and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn are friends in real life. It's a theme I'm following in this novel.)
Michelle Ruff - Georgette Germania/Mother Angel
(Michelle Ruff, like Wendee Lee, is a multirole type, but somewhat more condensed. She's most effective as a sort of commanding figure, though, so the roles of Georgette Germania and Mother Angel would go to her.)
Stephanie Sheh - Lepus/Devil's Mistress
(Stephanie is good with voicing young women, even though Lepus is more than just a young woman. Also, I wanted her to voice a villainess, so as to break out of her usual mold. [This role is a work in progress, as I want to draw a picture of, and have other female VAs to voice Devil's Mistress before I decide which one works best])
Lauren Landa - Zenaiva
(Lauren is good as the fanservice character, as well as young girls and boys, but this character would be the troubled sister who is forced to work for an evil army.)
Cindy Robinson - C.R./Circinus
(Cindy Robinson can not only voice young boys effectively (she's also the new official voice of Betty Boop), but also use a more natural voice for the more serious characters. That, and her Ordinance Quail character matches her initials.)
Kate Higgins - C.H./Hydra
(Kate recently got promoted to multirole voice artist status, but for the anime, she would be playing this Ordinance Quail character due to her initials matching Kate's.)
Yuri Lowenthal - Suzuki Roberts/Devil's Egotism/Crux
(Yuri is good with a variety of male characters, from Suzuki/Suzaku's Knight Templar style, to Devil's Egotism's maniacal and arrogant villain personality, and Crux's noble and heroic sense of humility. Also, Devil's Egotism and Crux can speak Japanese in addition to English, which is an important part of the novel's theme and story since Noel has some past with these devil characters [they are part of an organization called the Diablo's Darkness, by the way]. Yuri Lowenthal can speak Japanese fluently, which makes him best suited to these characters.)
Tara Platt - Lacerta
(Tara Platt is on par with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's warrior characters, but Tara has some compassion and kindness in her as well. Also, Crux and Lacerta are both husband and wife in my novel, just as Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are married in real life. Yes, voice actor relations and parallels to fictional characters are a theme in this novel.)
Christopher Sabat - Feral Wolf
(Christopher is good with both the hammy and the aggressive villain types, but I wanted to match Feral Wolf's voice and personality with that of Wild Dog from Namco's Time Crisis series. The main goal is to try and emulate the old voice actor of Wild Dog in Time Crisis one and two, which I find Christopher Sabat to be best suited for the role.)
Crispin Freeman - McDougal Gottfried/Tokuso/Devil's Psycho/Pluto
(Crispin is good with a variety of male characters, but he is suited for Devil's Psycho because of his history of playing as psychotic characters like Albedo Piazzolla from Namco's Xenosaga and Alucard from Hellsing. He's also good for Pluto, a dark-themed hero, as he's played similar characters, too.)
Karen Strassman - Karen Strassfield/Devil's Seduction
(Karen, while achieving the status of multirole, would be voicing both an Ordinance Quail character and Devil's Seduction, since Karen is good with the seductive villainess voice. That, and her OQ character shares both her real name and a pen name.)
Steve Blum - Roger Smith/ORO
(While Steve Blum is a supreme special multirole, his character appearances are somewhat limited to that of a reporter based on a character from Big O and a ninja warrior like that of Time Crisis' MOZ but spelled out with the first three letters of Orochimaru from Naruto.)
Liam O'Brien - Sheruto Garra
(Liam can handle a variety of male characters, but I chose him to emulate the old voice of Sherudo Garo from Time Crisis. Also, the character design is a mixture of Sherudo, Gaara from Naruto and Liam O'Brien himself, which makes him suitable for this role.)
Sam Riegel - Samuel
(While having only a minor part, Sam Riegel would be best suited for Samuel due to his natural voice.)
John Kassir - Devil's Perversion
(He's mostly noted for Raymundo Rocket from Rocket Power and the crypt keeper from Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Crypt Keeper, but his voice as Monsoon from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance fits perfectly as Devil's Perversion)
Charles Forrest "Spike" Spencer - Devil's Maniac
(While Spike Spencer can voice a variety of male characters, I chose him for Devil's Maniac because of how the character is like that of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion but has the personality of Arakune from BlazBlue. Spike really wants to play the psychotic characters, kind of like Mark Hamill and Joker from Batman.)
Patrick Seitz - Patrick Seitz
(He's Patrick Setiz. He's a voice actor. He's getting a small cameo in this novel. Need I say more?)
Rebecca Forstadt - Kiva Redbeacon
(Rebecca can voice sweet young girls, but is chosen for this role for reference reasons.)
Michael McConnohie - Michael Germania
(Michael can voice the in-charge and hammy characters greatly, making him a fit for Michael Germania.)
Julie Ann Taylor - Julie Samford
(This character role is minor, but it fits because Julie Ann Taylor is good with the compassionate women.)
Brina Palencia - Corona Borealis
(Brina is good with the young and older women, but would be suited for this role due to the character resembling Rei Ayanami, another NGE character. Of course, the big difference between Rei and C. Borealis would be that Brina would be using her natural voice.)
Tiffany Lynn Grant - Corona Austrina/Devil's Doppelganger
(Tiffany is basically Asuka Langley Soryu incarnate, which is what Corona Austrina is designed upon. Same thing with Devil's Doppelganger, but there's a secret involved with this character. Also, Tiffany would be using a natural voice and a deeper, more sultry voice for both C. Austrina and Devil's Doppelganger respectively.)
Kirk Thornton - Cygnus
(He can voice a variety of male characters, both lone wolf and wise, but in this case Kirk's character is in line with Gabumon from Digimon, voice wise, but design wise he's a mix of Bunshichi Tawara from Tenjho Tenge and Weregarurumon from Digimon.)
As you can see, the cast here consists of veteran voice actors that have experience in anime in one way or another, but some of the cast members don't get as big of a role as others. Nonetheless, as I have said before, this would be the perfect cast if this were made into an anime.
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