Actors' Notes

Audio for Interactive Media v.s. Interactive Audio
Audio for Interactive Media can be anything -- music, voice, or sound effects that accompanies any sort of multimedia presentation. The format of the audio may well be the same as anything you've done before for narrative, dialogue or commercial work. Interactive Audio means that the nature of the audio itself is interactive. The person interacting with the program makes choices that guide where the audio actually goes. This means that the audio is experienced in non-linear order and may be heard in a variety of different ways. -- Your voice is recorded as digital audio then formatted as individual computer files, programmed to 'pop up' in various chosen orders within the program.

Branching is a common format you may be asked to tackle. It refers to a section of the program which 'branches off' from itself. A Plot line may offer a variety of different paths for the storyline to take, so that the player is presented with options for how to proceed. It also refers to the style of recording where a sentence or phrase is left incomplete, and then a variety of options to complete that sentence must be recorded to match up with the sentence naturally. As an example: "You have confirmed reservations for MONDAY at 7:00 for TWO ADULTS and ONE CHILD"

Script and scripting may refer to what the programmers are doing in coding game design.

Development refers not to script or character development. It is more commonly used to refer to the creation of the product, including the design, programming, graphics and audio. It is the developer that would ultimately need your services. So that's your first question when pursuing a company. Do you do your own in-house development. If not, who does. That is who you want to contact

Cinematics often refers to the non-interactive section of a game that is either live action or animated. Games often open up with cinematics to set up the basic story and background. Cinematics often include a good deal of introductory narration and dialogue. Then, from cinematics the player is launched into gameplay mode. The interactive part of the game.

Player refers, not to you, but the person in front of the computer engaging in the program. The character on the screen is sometimes even called the non-player character. The player interfaces with the non-player character, and therefore, you the voice

This brings up the second element which distinquishes MM from other VO work
2) The nature of the material you can expect to find yourself working with
Interactive performance is perhaps most comparable to performance for television. (What I refer to here, I must credit to two writers of interactive media, John Spencer and Pamela Douglas, whose backgrounds are largely in writing for television.)
This is a medium that basically lives in your home on a small screen. Like television, hundreds of hours might be spent as the player or viewer gets to know the character in the program. The faces on the screen are no bigger than your own and the viewer's connection with it is up close, in your face, one on one, and in a word -- intimate. Big action sequences and special effects that work on the big screen don't always translate well when confronted with the technological realities of the personal computer and game systems out there right now. So, what works best for this kind of medium in general is relationship-based content material. Programs that rely on the intricacy of relationships and decision-making. That's what makes it a great medium for character-driven entertainment and human drama.

So. in turn, the relationship that you create as an actor, character to character, or between character and viewer, is by nature intimate and intense -- Your character must inspire the kind of closeness that brings on a desire to interact in life. In order to motivate a player/viewer to continue to interact, they must in the most active sense of the word, WANT to hear & see more of you. They have the choice to continue using an interactive product, or not. To continue making interactive choices, or not. Your character has to inspire that in the player, actively engage the player. This is why whiny or iritating voices can't last for too long in the interactive world. Any voice that we have to keep hearing and coming back to, must be one that is appealing to listen to.

The work often requires good improv skills, as your character goes wherever the player chooses to go. In interactive media, there is so much more potential for multiple plot lines to evolve and branch from one initial premise. Based on choices made by the gameplayer, a different thread is followed. This means there's lots of room for characters to have fuller backgrounds, motivations, goals, secrets, and multiple relationships. This requires characters with true dimension. John and Pamela compare this kind of material to an on-going tv series that in five years generated 100 episodes and multiple story lines that followed different regular characters.

The need for strong continuity relates to the third element as well.
3) the technology itself and how it impacts on us as performers and the creative art form of VO
We are living in an age where MTV and Videogames, for better or for worse, has helped to shape a new aesthetic in film, television shows and commercials. A current trend in entertainment leans towards the quick takes, intense ongoing episodes and tighter scenes. Communications in the 90's has us all moving at higher speeds. You as performers are often being asked to grab your viewers attentions in shorter, higher speed, more highly charged segments or sound bites.

In keeping with all that, the work in multimedia fits these current cultural trends. In these types of recording sessions you're generally asked to deliver your voiceover performances in short isolated chunks. Ultimately, these separate voice files get programmed in along with the graphics, and they pop up at different points in the gameplay or based upon the users choices. Each of these seperate segments therefore must dramatically hold up on their own. That often means being extra creative to sneak 'character' into tiny little segments.

It also requires greater attention to continuity. Since there is no strict linear sequence in which your performance is going to be experienced, the continuity of your character becomes that much more significant. The gameplayer can often jump around the program and different pieces of what you've recorded may be heard in all kinds of different sequences... The voice you've created needs to be sustained from beginning to end, and any inconsistencies that might exist are often blaringly obvious.

The more information and familiarity you have with interactive media and it's development, the better. It is a new field constantly changing, and not many standards have been set. The changes are exciting and mean all kinds of new opportunities for voice talent, but because interactivity is evolving from one month to the next, it can be confusing to get a handle on how things work or how you are expected to fit in. In some ways the industry is scrambling to bridge the technology that gave birth to PONG with the impact of Hollywood. In other ways, companies are sincerely looking to develop something that is, in truth, a completely new entertainment model.
The more familiar and up to date you are with the medium from a production standpoint, the more valuable you will be to your employers.

There are Limitations in the technology exist that make our work that much more challenging. Again we have to realize that this is a new industry with a lot more growing and maturing to do. One must often have to put up with the growing pains. And perhaps be that much stronger as performers as a result. The stronger your technical skills on-mike the better for dealing with timing constraints, compression. The technical skills must be accompanied by strong performance, improv, self directing and basic people skills....

Beth Kaufman comes to the field of Interactive Communications after years in the performing arts. Ms. Kaufman holds a Masters of the Arts degree in Educational Theater from New York University and has worked as a professional performer, arts educator and administrator, director and vocal coach in New York City, San Francisco, and abroad. Her current focus is on talent casting, directing and voice over performance for multimedia and interactive entertainment projects. She can be reached at 415 821 7722 or, by email, at neuroms@slip.net.