How Acting Is Evolving Thanks to Video Game Technology

Acting in the Digital Age is a series that explores the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing industry. In this edition, Backstage looks at some of the innovations brought about by gaming studios to enhance the performance of actors working in the vast video gaming industry.

The world of video games is so large (forecast to be worth £217/$293 billion mid-decade) that a single game can offer opportunities to a huge number of actors around the world. 

And it’s an industry with a global footprint. Techniques that evolve in China, Germany, or South Korea today could be widespread in Pinewood and Hollywood tomorrow.

One of the many companies breaking new ground in this arena is German studio Synthesis, and their approach to acting within the digital domain is worth paying attention to.

What does Synthesis do?
Just as major movies will be dubbed into other languages, the biggest games go through a “localisation” process to replace foreign languages with local ones. Localisation is a core part of Synthesis’ offering, meaning that voice acting is a bigger part of their business than for most gaming companies.

Adrian Koch, Synthesis’ Managing Director, explains the nature of their work to Backstage: “Our biggest challenge is bringing the nature of the video game as a virtual and nonlinear medium together with the need for excellent, to-the-point acting by the voice actors involved.”

Koch says this process comes with some significant challenges: “Neither the original story writer, nor someone comparable to a director, is in the studio to advise us creatively. Also, the product itself is more or less invisible because it is not yet finished.”

To work around some of these problems, Synthesis manages to cover “some of the more challenging aspects of our work by developing technological support for actors and directors.”

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A ‘massive difference’ for actors
Koch believes this tech helps “makes a massive difference” for actors. He explains: “Actors’ skills and experience are based on their usual job of acting which, in most cases, means interacting with other actors.”

This interaction is often missing when acting in games. “Looking at the studio situation an actor finds him or herself in while recording for a video game, it can often be far from creative or inspiring. It can lack any live surrounding like you have on a film set, or the direct, intimate atmosphere of a theatre stage.

“And, if you compare to linear dubbing studios [for movies or TV], it even misses a final picture to record to, which is still not a true live acting situation but at least a constant medium to work with.” Luckily for its actors, then, Synthesis has a few tech tricks up its sleeve.

Understanding the character or creature that you’re voicing isn’t always straightforward.

How Synthesis uses tech to help actors
When recording voice talent in the absence of the game’s original developer – for example, if recording a different language version, Synthesis aims to gather as much helpful information about the game as possible, with a view to making this information easily accessible to the recording team on the day.

“Having videos, pictures, and dialogue available is typically better than long, oral explanations about the story or such. It’s key to give the actors material to play with and keep the momentum of the performance going.

“One way we achieve this is with a separate screen in the actor booth – the “booth screen” – where we feed all relevant info into. Videos, pictures, and descriptions appear exactly where they are needed during the session.”

This screen also comes in handy when the actor might need to change from one character into another, since it’s very common for actors to voice more than one character in a game. “The actor sees the picture of the new character on a big screen along with the script lines to make sure to connect easily with the new character.”

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Additionally, “the director has a separate screen with a more detailed view to do a proper briefing while we make sure the actor doesn’t get distracted by info that is only relevant to the director.”

And it’s not just the booth screen which Synthesis provides to make life easier for actors. Koch explains: “Interactive recording scripts are uniquely created for each actor by our engine. This enables us to have easy-to-use buttons and shortcuts for any kind of functionality that might be needed when recording, such as creating alternative takes – or saving a recording as [an] audio pronunciation guide – available in all future sessions for reference. 

“Phrases will be highlighted in the interactive recording script to make sure actors listen to this reference before recording. This feature is essential when recording large-scale fantasy games with lots of creative names and places.”

Acting in sprawling fantasy stories like The Elder Scrolls can benefit from Synthesis’ continuity technology.

Why continuity is key
“Continuity is a big challenge with large games,” says Koch. “How do we make sure creatures of the same kind sound the same when performed by many actors? And what if a different director picks up the session? Without proper tools, this challenge is impossible to master.

“This is why we created a database that contains all characters for the current project as well as all of those that we have recorded in the past. The interactive recording script that is used in the sessions is fed by exactly this information to make sure we have everything available when needed. 

“Pictures, descriptions and even reference recordings by the localised characters from past sessions are available with the click of a button. This way, we can easily address continuity in large scale projects. Once all character info is in the database, the recording script engine takes care of the distribution of the info automatically. This saves pre-production resources and speeds up the whole process.

“Another functionality of the script engine is the integration of previously recorded dialogue. With the project progressing, we record more and more takes that are integrated into the interactive recording script. 

“Hearing those takes during the session let us simulate real dialogues during the recording even with just one actor in the booth. This lets the actor react to his counterpart and the director is able to make adjustments while hearing the dialogue as a whole.

“It may seem obvious to record the main characters chronologically and let the actors discover the game world while moving from scene to scene. However, due to the complexity of the interactive storytelling and the burden of technical recording restrictions, this is just not possible without specialised tools that overcome this technical burden.” 

Synthesis’ booth screens and interactive script functions assist actors

What advice does Synthesis have for actors?
As Koch is keen to stress, “We put our focus strictly on what really matters at the end: great actor performances.” And given that he has worked with a large number of actors, we asked what advice he would offer to performers looking to enter the world of video games.

“I think the most important aspect of all acting is to understand the character you are supposed to play. This could perhaps be called ‘easy’ when you are in a position to create a character for the first time on-screen or in a theatre, with direct on-set guidance by your director, possible other actors involved, and all the ingredients belonging to a [traditional] production. 

“[But] if you are in the role of giving life to a virtual character, belonging to a virtual product, you still need to dig deep into the character you are playing.”

He adds: “The more obstacles there are to understanding a character, the more important it becomes to collect all the puzzle pieces in advance, and combine them. This might include looking at similar games in that genre to get a better understanding of typical settings and fan expectations. Prequels in a game series are the best possible research material, if available, and simply watching a ‘let’s play’ video on YouTube can be especially helpful. 

“Last but not least: play games yourself – or at least try a few, to get in touch with the medium and understand your audience’s point of view.”

In closing, Koch says: “A game is a nonlinear medium. It is about decision-making, paths changing, winning, losing, and evolving. There is always something new and different in every playthrough by a gamer, so your character does not have to be a 1:1 copy of any reference file. It cannot be. The interactivity of games, playing a story, is the big difference compared to other entertainment mediums.”