For me, 2017 is the Year of the Videogame. To be precise, I've decided to make a big effort to develop my career in the area of Interactive Entertainment. And my mission got a big boost  when I was on the winning team in The Voiceover Network's first ever Voiceover Game Jam! 

This is the Game Jam's winning Team: "GatoRoto". (It means "broken cat". Don't ask...) Lucky for me, I was with an incredibly talented bunch. We four voice actors had never worked together. I'd only met one team member before. But we'd all signed up for The Voiceover Network's Game Jam competition, so we were thrown together and challenged to create an audio trailer for a videogame in just 48 hours. 
Game Jams are common among videogame developers. Programmers, designers, artists and writers get together to plan, design or create one or more games within a short space of time, usually 24-72 hours. 

But this was a bit different - a VOICEOVER Game Jam - designed for Voice Actors to show off what they do best. Thankfully, we didn't have to produce any visuals or coding, just an audio trailer for a made-up game, "Vicus Quest". The game concept was created by Bafta Crew Games Member Lorraine Ansell. Click here to read the full, identical brief given to each team, as a starting point for the Jam. 
And this is what we came up with...

I play the Mallat leader, a water creature who provides the sting in the tail of this trailer. 
It was a brilliantly creative and collaborative process, considering we were all working from our own studios, independently and against the clock. So how did we do it? Here's how - in 10 steps...
5pm Friday:
1) Super organised Ally Murphy created a Facebook messenger group for our team and we met via a 4 way Skype chat to discuss plans face-to-face.
2) Ally also created a Dropbox folder for us to deposit images (for inspiration), plus clips of sound effects and music which we thought would work in the trailer.
3) We (obviously) elected Ally as Team leader. We each wrote a 1 minute script, and then shared it with each other via Dropbox.
10am Saturday:
4) We had another Skype meeting, (with various ill cats on various laps), where we discussed each other's scripts, took the best bits from everyone's versions, named our team and wrote an almost final script.
5) We all recorded all the voices for all the parts and shared those audio files.
6pm Saturday (less than 24 hours to go):
6) We decided whose voice worked best for each character. Chris Tester became the "Narrator/Elder" and "Arborach", Ally Murphy was the "Dao", Simon Johns was the "Blaonach" and I was the "Mallat". We re-recorded our lines.
Late late late on Saturday:
7) Ally put effects on some of the voices. Simon mixed and mastered the first version of our entry. 
8) Much discussion ensued via our Facebook group about levels, fx and the mix.
10am Sunday (7 hours left):
9) Final Skype. I got picky about the clarity of the storytelling and signposting in our script. We tweaked it and Chris re-recorded the narrator lines. Simon tweaked the mix again... and again...
1pm Sunday:
10) We all agreed on the final version and Ally submitted our entry - 4 hours ahead of the deadline! Phew.

Team GatoRoto met in person 5 days later, at The Voiceover Network's brilliant conference and workshop event "Get Your Game On 2017". There were 4 other teams competing in the Game Jam and we were excited and intrigued to hear what they'd come up with. Every entry was superb - it was fascinating to listen to the other team's creations and see how they had interpreted the brief. There was just 1 point between the 2nd placed team and the winners - but we did it!

The judges included Videogame Acting legend Dave Fennoy and Bafta Award winning Audio Director Adele Cutting.
The judges said: "The music edit took me on a journey - very nice. I like the ending - I can see that working with the visuals and felt that would keep up the viewing til the end." And:
[This trailer had] "the best storytelling... nice tag at the end".
As a self-styled Storyteller, this comment made me particularly happy!
Thanks to the judges, The Voiceover Network and also thanks to the sponsors who donated cool prizes to each member of our team - a box of chocolates, a T-Shirt and a RODE microphone! But I think the best prize was the amazing experience I gained by doing this Game Jam. It has really set me on track to make 2017 my Year of the Videogame.

 

As 2016 draws to a close I have been thinking about how my business has grown this year, and how it's all due to the amazing people I have connected with - who've been so generous with advice, encouragement and work!
Last month I was lucky enough to be nominated for a Voice Arts Award for exceptional achievement by the US Society of Voice Arts and Sciences. My nomination was for Best Performance, Outstanding Spoken Word or Storytelling, for a short animated film for children about the life of William Shakespeare, produced by Slurpy Studios.

About a year ago, I wrote a blog about how the voiceover industry is a global business - and even though I work by myself, the internet allows me to be connected to producers and clients all around the world. This means, (I wrote) that I was not really working alone.
However... in hindsight, I realise that I was alone - because I was operating by myself without any support from fellow VOs. My new business was taking off, my website was looking good and I was regularly getting booked. But had no continuing professional development and no sense of how I fitted in to the British Voiceover Community.
Well I'm pleased to report that is no longer the case! So what's changed? 
a) I joined The Voiceover Network.
b) I signed up for Voiceover Kickstart.
Here are my TOP TEN REASONS why these moves were a MASSIVE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER:

1. I had known about The Voiceover Network for ages, but had decided not to join (durr...) I thought I couldn't justify forking out for the membership fee because, I argued to myself, I wasn't yet earning enough as a VO and wasn't experienced enough to get the most out of the membership. So I waited... but two months ago I finally signed up and I have been astonished and delighted by what a supportive and welcoming community it is on Facebook, on Twitter and in person. Here are just a few of the benefits I've enjoyed in the last 8 weeks...
2. I've gained valuable insights into VO rates of pay. One member shared his blog on the subject. VO Nicola Redman gave excellent advice too: "We do have to show a united front in terms of keeping rates where they should be, so it's important to know the proper industry standards before making a decision. Think about how much you believe your voice/talent/brand is worth to a client, in relation to where things stand in the industry. And know that undercutting each other isn't the way forward, in terms of preservation of the value of our work."  
3. I've learned that you can record auditions on your phone when you're out and about... with the right kit. (My fellow VOs recommended Twisted Wave and one of these).
4. I've absorbed useful advice on improving my VO performance: "If you struggle to keep a smile while reading, the other thing which'll lift your voice and keep it chatty and colourful is raising your eyebrows!" Or try listening to yourself and imagining you are hearing a foreign language...
5. I've discovered how to add music to my voice using Audacity. 
6. Members have shared leads which may bring me work, and warnings about scams targeting our industry.
7. And I was even brave enough to attend my first event - and meet fellow VOs face to face. Here's a video of it!

8. And let's not forget the Voiceover Kickstart course - a FREE 6 week online voiceover programme, which takes just 15 minutes a day. I am 5 weeks in, and it has been fantastic from the start.
9. Guy Michaels' course has covered the industry, its terminology, some case-studies of successful VOs, vocal techniques and describing my voice, the practicalities of recording, branding and promotion, and finding work, as well as connecting me with fellow Voiceover Artists at many different stages of their careers.
10. Here too, I have found a friendly and welcoming group of people, ready to share their experiences and help me to raise my game. Kickstart alumni are also invited to 'CONNECT' by joining a members' only forum to support each other and keep the conversation going after the 6 week programme. More ways to learn, share and develop my career - a definite change for the better.

This time last week I was at Red Bull Studios in London, for a spot of Character Building at the Voiceover Network's Get Your Game On event #GameOnVOND. It was a day devoted to the Gaming Industry - and how voice actors help to bring those games to life.
The Game Industry is now bigger than Hollywood - and it's an arena where voice actors can really, well, act. It took me out of my comfort zone (check out my body language in the photos above!) but was an incredible learning experience. Thank you Voiceover Network for a fantastic day (and for the photos too).
We were lucky enough to hear (& learn) from the following Games Industry gurus:

• Mark Estdale - Producer, Director and Casting Director at OMUK
• Jay Britton - Video Game Actor in games including Grim Odds, Antinomy, Fragments of Him.
• Stephane Cornicard - Video Game Actor and Director
• Des Gayle - Independent Game Developer and Producer at Altered Gene
• Adele Cutting - BAFTA award-winning Audio Director and founder of Sound Cuts

It was a brilliant day, and 13 pages of notes later, I thought I'd share the TOP TEN TIPS I picked up, on
Voice Acting for the Games Industry.

1. Games and animation are very different genres.
2. Acting in a game is more like acting in a movie - it's subtle, dramatic, intimate acting. As Jay Britton put it: "Foster your emotional elasticity."
3. But unlike film scripts, game scripts are not linear. The dialogue is looping and scripts can be hundreds of pages long.
4. At a casting, really get into and become the character, be prepared to ad-lib, offer multiple versions, relax and have fun! Adele Cutting asked: "What are you [the voice actor] bringing to the party? Bring enthusiasm, have fun and be silly!" Stephane Cornicard advised: "Start with the archetype, then give the character a background, a quirk of personality".
5. "Let's just read it through" really means "Show me what you can do!"
6. Mark Estdale talked about the parallels between video-games and espionage! "Undercover agents have no script", he said, just as the voice actor must "live in the game" and be "truthful" to the character they have become. Stephane Cornicard said: "Get in touch with your inner child, lose your inhibitions; go through your own 'golden door' to become a character in another world."
7. Do your homework. Des Gayle said voice actors need to play games to understand the genre or at least get familiar with famous games and how they work. Adele Cutting suggested we check out games like The Unchartered Series, The Last of Us, Thomas was Alone, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
8. Everyone stressed voice actors should be flexible about how, when and where they work. Don't whinge! Be nice!
9. Des Gayle advises: "Be patient" - the producers may not know what they want so give them lots of ideas to bring their characters to life. Adele Cutting agrees: "A game is really organic, constantly changing and fluid".
10. Most games actors are just being themselves, and using their natural voice, (with a bit of a spin). But it's still a good idea to have a range of character voices you are comfortable with to call on, as well as accents, and emotes. Remember, as Jay Britton pointed out, "You're not going to unleash your 'Gaming Voice' - there is no such thing!" 

To join the Voiceover Network, visit www.thevoiceovernetwork.co.uk

Fantastic article on BBC News website this week showing how sound effects were produced in the heyday of radio.
​http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-35802142
Nowadays many sound effects are created digitally and added in as part of the post-production process, long after the voice actor has left the studio. But back in the 1920's, sound effects were created live by inventive producers. The picture above shows studio managers creating the sound of a paddle steamer, using a siren, bells, paddles and a water tank. 
By the 1940's most households had a radio, and the plays and stories which entertained the nation were brought alive by the sound effects. By the early '30s, the BBC was so aware of the intrinsic value of good sound effects, that it emphasised the point in its production manual: 

This photo shows the "inventors" of sound at the BBC, Jack Holden and Charles Willis, in 1957.
It reminds me of my student radio days, when I gathered together a group of Cambridge English students who were interested in poetry performance. I decided to create a radio adaptation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,​ which I produced and acted in. We used a variety of random household objects to experiment with different sounds for our production. We then recorded the entire poem in a local recording studio, complete with live sound effects, including of course the Mariner's ship toiling on the stormy ocean. Cardboard tubes filled with rice, buckets of water and giant sheets of cardboard did the trick very well. It was all pretty good, except for that pesky albatross. 

Sorry about that...
Just thought I'd share the most recent audition brief that has come my way. 
For a long time I worked in the sensible world of TV news, writing sensible scripts and generally producing sensible news programmes. Since becoming a Voiceover Artist, I've also done a lot of sensible things. Corporate scripts are my main income - but they are rarely amusing or entertaining (at least to me!) Subjects include Vegetable Oil production, new mapping software, turning paper records into digital ones. You get the idea.
So I'm always delighted when slightly more unusual audition invitations come along. For example, I thoroughly enjoyed recording the voice for a miserable Welsh publican in a video game, an education film in the style of Judi Dench, and a Mission-Impossible finance film.
So today's request for me to write a 4 line song, about bathing a baby, to the tune of La Macarena, wasn't as off the wall as it might seem. Egged on by my Facebook followers, (thanks folks), I decided to give it a go. Apparently they will also want other songs about pandas and kittens. Can't wait.

I am feeling a tiny bit excited this week, as there is a chance (albeit a very very small chance) that the Queen has checked out one of my voicovers!
Last week Her Majesty the Queen presented the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering to the groundbreaking scientist Dr Robert Langer. The ceremony took place on 26th October at an evening reception at Buckingham Palace, attended by diplomatic ambassadors and the next generation of young engineers.
Dr Langer's work is revolutionary - linking engineering, chemistry and medicine. Earlier this year, the Royal Academy of Engineering hired me to voice a short film about Robert Langer and his incredible achievements. And a little bit of me is wondering whether the film was made for The Queen... If so, I hope it got the royal seal of approval.

Working as a Voiceover Artist can appear to be a solitary business. I work alone, in my soundproofed studio, and then I edit and produce my work in silence, listening to the project through my headphones. The majority of communication with clients comes via email, so this job could feel rather impersonal, and even isolated.
However, I am not isolated at all - I am constantly amazed at the way my job is connecting me with media companies all over the world. I am auditioning for projects all the time - and as a result, I am now working with Brandnewmedia in Los Angeles, and am also on the voicebank of BlubbMedia in Stuttgart (thank you Ina) and Destaka in Madrid (thank you Alberto). 
My most "English" job to date is a series of animated Shakespeare plays, with UK animators SlurpyStudios, but the other actor working on the series is in Los Angeles! He sends his voiceover from sunny California and I submit mine from sunny (ish) Sussex. Thanks to broadband and digital technology, this industry is, as Shakespeare would put it, "a brave new world".

Just thought I'd add a link to a blog I've written for the lovely people at Media Parents. It's about my experience at their extremely good "CV Tear Up" event a couple of weeks ago. So here it is, complete with a photo of me at the event and some top tips for improving your CV, playing to your strengths and building your confidence.

Had fun recording the intro and end of this trailer for a spoof Game of Thrones / Real Housewives series... 
The scenes between Cersei and Margaery are fantastic and really make you cringe. Although I would also have included the bit where Cersei (the icy Queen Mother) asks Tommen (her son, the teenage King) if he thinks his new wife Margaery is intelligent. "Hard to tell, isn't it?" she says. 
View the video at Mashable:
http://mashable.com/2015/05/01/real-housewives-of-kings-landing/
and Grantland:
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/game-of-thrones-precap-feeding-stannis-the-real-housewives-of-kings-landing-and-brothelpalooza/