Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest tonight on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club, Julia Bianco Schoeffling! Julia shared a bit about her background working in the video game industry, and how it prepared her for the role of co-founder and COO of the Halp Network, which connects creative professionals in the entertainment industry.
Julia and Marc offered really valuable advice to the many people who read scripts and showed off their characters. Here’s just some of the insights and tips that we heard tonight:
–On slowing down your performance for video games, Julia said, “For games, you can slow it down — milk it. For animation it’s more fast paced, but for video games we want a more grounded performance.”
–We heard several really excellent reads for characters in fantasy games. Julia said, “There’s a demand for fantasy accents, such as in Zelda Breath of the Wild, where it’s not not quite British, not quite Irish but an interesting accent.” She said to think Lord of the Rings or The Princess Bride as archetypes.
–Putting a nonverbal effort at the top of a line is a good way to distinguish your performance from the hundreds that casting directors hear for each role.
–About improv: Julia said that it is a great skill to have as an actor. In an audition, she recommends to “just pepper it in,” don’t overdo it. She added that when you’re booked for the job, you’ll know how receptive they are to it as you work with them.
Look for Julia’s upcoming book, called The Art and Business of Acting for Video Games, coming out this April/May. Sign up for her newsletter to find out when the pre-order date is available.
Thanks so much to Marc and Julia for their awesome feedback and conversation, and for everyone who read tonight!