Remember when we were limited by the physical nature of recording? Film, tape, vinyl? Yeah, me neither. Many of those forms of technology didn’t die out all that long ago (after all, the first voice overs are still less than 100 years old) and yet, we quickly repressed those memories in favor of the newest, most convenient technology.

From Logic to ProTools to the stuff we carry around in our pockets, advances in technology have increased our ability to create great products, to do so cost-effectively, and to cast the projects efficiently.

By Ryann Ferguson

We pooled our resources here in the office, as well as your votes from online to put together our top 10 most memorable, most inspirational Voice Over Performances. Ever. Now this is for an iconic single performance. We’ll get to actors with an all around amazing track record next week. From newer performances iconic to younger generations, to unexpected performances from actors we thought we knew, there is no shortage of innovation in voice over performances. Without further delay, we present these memorable performances to you now.

While New Yorkers may have to put up with cacophonous and disjointed announcements on their subway systems– where the voice seems to be screaming at them– the British tube has long been understood to be a more civilized system. The tube was made famous thanks in part to its soothing, silver-voiced announcement to please Mind the Gap.

By Ryann Ferguson

What would Shrek be without his Scottish accent? Can you even imagine it? But not only was the character of Shrek NOT Scottish in William Stieg’s original books, (in fact, his name comes from Yiddish) but Mike Meyers very nearly never got the chance to play Shrek.

Several other actors were once considered for the film, including Bill Murray as Shrek with Steve Martin as Donkey. Ultimately, the producers hired comedian Chris Farley, who recorded upwards of 90% of the movie’s dialogue before passing away without completing the role.

Last month, the whole team at Resnick Interactive ventured over to the studio for a Motion Capture (MOCAP) test for a video game we’ll be working with in the near future. With the help of the always charming JB Blanc, we all had a great day in the studio filled with new technology and lots of eyeliner. Eyeliner? Yep, eyeliner. The MOCAP camera uses dots (in this case, provided by liquid eyeliner) to pick up on and track facial movements. Phillip from MOCAP Design was the lucky gentleman that got to dot eyeliner all over JB’s face. For those of us not getting outfitted with little black dots across our faces, the entire process was pretty hilarious.

Voice actor Nolan North.

In this second episode in our sit down with voice over actor Nolan North, we find out how voice acting for video games may differ from other projects. His response? It doesn’t! Nolan shares that he believes the medium is irrelevant. Acting, any acting is all about brining life and truth to a fictional character. Whether that is on camera or through voice over recording for many different genres of projects, the production challenge is the same.

As winter blows through the northern hemisphere, the season brings with it the chilling threat of illness to those in the voice over industry. Nothing halts a voice over production faster than the actors losing their voices! Even worse, for the struggling actor or singer, blowing an audition because you’ve caught a cough can be a devastating hit.

Taking care of your voice during cold and flu season really just involves paying extra special attention to the normal tricks and habits that most voice over professionals should already be considering. For instance, be sure to drink LOTS of water with a minimum eight glasses of water of day to ensure proper hydration. In the winter this is especially true because the air tends to be dryer than usual, therefore vocal cords tend to become stressed with the relatively low humidity. In addition, many of us often drink extra coffee or tea to warm ourselves up, however these things, in combination with the dry air, only serve to dehydrate the body even more and, as a result, strains the vocal cords.

Voice actor Nolan North.

In this episode we sit down with Nolan North, one of the great voice over actors we have had the fortune to work with. In this first video of the series we find out about the many games where you can hear his voice including the recently released Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The gaming industry is creating its own stars as they come even closer to motion pictures. Most notably known for his portrayal of Drake in the Uncharted franchise, North is the closest the gaming industry can come to a leading man. His resume is extensive having appeared in Batman: Arkham City as The Penguin, Assassin’s Creed as Desmond Miles, Prince Of Persia (as The Prince), & And Then There Were None as Patrick Narracott.

The Engineer is the person responsible for all the machines used in the voice over recording session working perfectly; their job is to capture all the vocal magic. While they could easily be regarded as ‘button pushers’ or machine-focused; the fact is, that the Engineer put his/her heart and soul into each project and their performance cannot be understated or overlooked. One could argue that they are our Tin Man – seemingly machine, but truly much heart.

It is the Engineer’s attention to the detail and their knowledge of each component that allows the other members of the team, namely the writers, directors and voice actors, to focus on their creative responsibilities.

By Debbie Munro

What?! I thought I was getting into a fun industry?!

If you have ventured into the world of animation and video games, you know exactly what I’m referring to. The wonderful thing about make believe, is that anything can happen. I’ll never forget my time on DragonBall – I played a character named ‘Mai’ and she died in what seemed like 50% of the episodes. You have to get very creative in your death scenes. You can only die so many times and in the world of video games, you can die over and over again. The interesting thing about a death scene is that this isnt something we can truly relate to ourselves. And the way we die in animations isn’t realistic to most deaths we know. So we have to become very creative and think outside the box.