Voice-Over Actors Find New Jobs in Animation
by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@animationschoolreview.com
Animation School Review Columnist
Voice-over acting has always played a major role in cartoons and animated full length films. Today, the video gaming industry is creating many new jobs in animation for voice-over actors.
Video gaming became much more advanced with the introduction of the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox a few years ago. These systems’ memory capabilities enabled more lifelike animated scenes. Video-games started looking a lot more like cartoons and animated movies than ever before. Now that consumers have become used to realistic-looking flight simulators and battle scenes, they expect the sounds coming from their TV screens to also be realistic. This desire has provided a lot more jobs in animation for voice-over actors, because gaming companies are starting to invest more in voice talent than ever before.
Most Jobs in Animation Go to Multi-Voiced Actors
According to an article in Animation World Magazine, voice-over actors looking for jobs in animation generally need to be able to create a lot of different voice personalities. This versatility makes them valuable because they can often perform a number of different roles for the same production.
First Animation Jobs Always Hardest to Land
Landing voice-over animation jobs is similar to landing other jobs in the entertainment industry. You need to know someone. Of all your future animation jobs, the first will be the hardest to get because you don’t have many connections in the industry. Once you’ve worked with and impressed a few animation directors who need voice-over work regularly, you’ll start seeing more animation jobs on the horizon.
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About the Author
Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.
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