A Day In The Life Of A Voice Over Director At Talkback Casting And Directing
A Voice Over Director's day is "long," typically an eight-hour studio session directing actors through "sometimes 700 lines" in various roles for video games, often incorporating motion capture technology similar to "behind the scenes footage of Avatar." The work extends beyond studio hours, with evenings dedicated to script preparation at home.
Communication, Project Management, Behind-the-Scenes, Technology, Hard Truths
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Amanda Wyatt
Voice Over Director
Talkback Casting & Directing
Orange Coast College AA degree
n/a
General Studies / Not Applicable
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Creative
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. A voiceover director's day is long, typically 8+ hours in the studio, involving directing actors through hundreds of lines of script in a single day.
2. The work often includes coaching actors on multiple roles within a single project, requiring adaptability and strong communication skills.
3. Many projects now incorporate motion capture, expanding the director's role to encompass not just voice but also facial expressions and full-body movement, requiring a versatile skillset
Transcript
What does the day in the life of a voiceover director look like?
It's normally at least an eight-hour day in the studio. We promptly start at 9:00 AM, sometimes 8:00 AM.
I normally have one actor who voices either one role or up to three roles in any video game. I coach them through all of the roles. The script can be up to 300 lines, sometimes it's 700 lines in four hours.
Then I'll get a second, or third, or sometimes fourth actor for my afternoon. So I'm kind of shuffling through actors, navigating the different scripts and roles that we need them to do.
Lately, we've been doing a lot of motion capture as well. So we record not only their voice but their facial expression with facial motion capture. Sometimes I'm on a motion capture stage, similar to behind-the-scenes footage you've seen of *Avatar*, where they're on a full motion capture stage.
Then I'm directing the entire performance: body movement, expressions, and voice. So it's about an eight-hour day there. I come home, I feed my children, and then I go back to work, normally in my home office, reading scripts and prepping for the next day. It's a long day.
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