Finding Your Voice, part II

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Greetings, Pathfinders!

Last week we told you how we record the voices for our characters. For part II of our segment “Finding Your Voice”, we’ve sat down with Tom Wayland, our voice director from 3Beep studio and the voice of Lann, and asked him to tell you about himself and his job.

How did you become an actor and a director? Could you tell us a little about your professional journey?

When I was a kid, a friend named Jonathan and I used to make recordings on cassette tapes of our own "radio station". We pretended to be goofy DJs, made fake commercials, did fake songs, improvised fake interviews and trivia contests. I guess that's kinda where it all really started. By the time I got to high school, I was acting in all the plays and musicals at school and performing in regional productions throughout Northern NJ. By the time I was a senior in high school, I had starred in several shows, so the teacher in charge of the theatrical productions asked me if I wanted to direct. And I did. The show was called Moose Murders. It was a campy murder mystery infamous for an extremely short run on Broadway in the 70s. Perfect for a high school production.

I ended up going to New York University and majoring in acting. While there, I started some bands and had a decent degree of success at that. So clearly my destiny was not to be an award-winning actor—but be a rock star instead. Which totally makes sense. I kept acting and performing at NYU and professionally in NYC, but focusing most of my energy on music—playing drums in a metal band and singing for some rock bands, having some degree of success with both.

But after a few years of rock stardom, the bands split up, and I needed to get a job. Having picked up some recording experience making records with my bands, I talked my way into a job at Central Park Media. They were a small anime distributor in NYC, and I was hired to produce DVDs. By the end of the year, I was in charge of producing all of their English Language productions, and by the next year, I was directing them.

This is where I met my business partner Tim Werenko, who started at CPM about a year after I did. I was still doing some theater as an actor at this time. After a while, I left CPM and started my own company, producing and directing English-language versions of foreign animation. Now that I was independent, it would no longer be a conflict of interest for me to audition for voice roles in productions with the many studios I employed while I was at CPM. Around the same time, I was snatched up by 4Kids in NYC to be a voice director for them, getting to transition from working on niche straight to DVD shows to nationally televised programs. Eventually, I made my way to DuArt (with Tim Werenko), directing Pokémon and pretty much everything else that came through there. Over the last 20+ years, I've directed and acted in thousands of episodes over hundreds of different series and video games. I rarely act on camera anymore, as I just don't have the time. But I still find time to rock as I have a gig or two each month, singing and playing bass.

Tell us a little about your work. What do you do as a voice director?

In a nutshell, I direct the voice talent. Letting the characters know what's happening in each scene, who they're talking to, how they're feeling, etc. There are technical aspects to it, especially if you're doing ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement – the process of recording dialogue in a studio after filming to replace the initially recorded lines on set) and recording to picture, which I do a fair amount of. But I direct a lot of prelay (preliminary voice recording, which then serves as a reference for the animation) and games that are not constrained by a pre-existing video. The actors don't often get to see the scripts beforehand, so being able to set the scenes for them is important. I don't want to micromanage the talent too much. You have to let your actors act. So you just let them know everything their characters know and let them use their instincts to act accordingly in character.

How did the global pandemic affect your work? Did you have to change your processes a lot? Maybe you had to record more of the actors remotely?

This changed everything for everyone. But I must say, we adapted to remote work almost immediately. We closed the studio in NYC on a Friday and were up and running remote sessions the next week. The road was a little bumpy at first as we were trying to find the right remote programs to suit our needs and because the actors had to learn the ins and outs of setting up a really good home studio. Here's a tip for all of you out there—it doesn't matter how great and expensive your mic is if you don't put it somewhere QUIET. A really sensitive high-end mic will just highlight all of the imperfections in your recording space. But people adjusted and the work kept flowing.

Remote recording is now commonplace in the industry. There are definitely some drawbacks, as it makes the mixer's job a bit tougher. Instead of having every actor in the same booth on the same mic, now you might have 10 different actors on 10 different mics in 10 different spaces. They might all have pro setups, but they're still different from each other, and the mixer needs to massage the tracks to make it seem like everyone's in the same place.

One of the main perks—it really opens up the talent pool. You can work with just about anyone, anywhere. This is definitely coming in handy with our/your next game Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader as I'm recording talent in the UK from my house in New Jersey.

Can you recall any fun or interesting cases that occurred while working on Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous?

Oh yes. The romances. Specifically, the (spoiler alert!!!) surprise 3 way with the player, Regongar, and Octavia in Kingmaker. One minute everyone's hanging out at the pub, relaxing after their harrowing ordeal—Octavia and Regongar are having their silly bickering back and forth as they basically have had this brother/sister relationship—and then all of a sudden sweet little Octavia is like "let's all get it on!" Then comes the awkward morning after scene. Followed by the "Why don't the 3 of us all get married! You're the king—you can do whatever you want!" This was made extra funny and awkward since Octavia is played by the brilliant Aly Rosenfeld, who is kind of like my little sister. I've worked with her and mentored her in this business ever since she got into voiceover after college. So we had a lot of fun on that. And it was somehow topped in Wrath of the Righteous, where Aly plays Queen Galfrey - who is also a romanceable character. We're recording her putting the moves on the player, and then suddenly we remember (spoiler alert!!!) that Galfrey is actually over 100 years old! So we start recording outtakes of her playing the queen as if the youth spell fizzles halfway through. It's like the morning after scene from Futurama after Fry has sex with his own grandmother. That one won an Emmy!


Do you have a favorite character in Pathfinder that you particularly enjoyed directing?

I loved Jubilost in Kingmaker. Abe Goldfarb was great. Really funny and obnoxious. In Wrath, it was probably Areelu. She was played by Mary O'Brady who is absolutely one of my favorite actors to work with. Sexy and calculating and mysterious all at once. She really understood the material and really bonded with the character.

Do you have any favorite lines and moments in Pathfinder that you voiced as an actor?

I played Lann in Wrath of the Righteous, and I really loved his sarcasm towards many of the other characters. And also the way he'd throw snark at everyone one moment, and then the next get deadly serious with the player with his whole "I'll lay my life down for what's right" vibe. I liked his (spoiler alert!!!) death scene. Very well written.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice actors regarding how to end up in a video game?

Yes. You can end up in a game the same way you get any professional work. LEARN ACTING. Don't just seek to be a voice actor—be an actor. Learning to express emotions and create realistic characters and find truth in the material is the same if you're in a play, a film, or voicing someone in a game. Don't think you can buy a mic and take a 1-hour online class with a "pro" and suddenly you're ready. If really wanting to do a thing actually qualified you for that thing—I would be on the Yankees. It takes real training. Days and weeks and months of it. Take classes. Work with directors and coaches who will give you honest criticism. Get on stage. Get in front of a camera. Act. So if you want to get work in a video game—be a good actor. If you want more work—be a better actor.

Do you play any video games yourself? If yes, could you name a couple?

I've played plenty of games in my day. My favorite game ever is probably Bioshock. So immersive. Amazing design, marvelous acting, and a great story with some good twists. And genuinely frightening at times. I also really loved the first two Batman Arkham games. Fluid combat and amazing voice work from Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Joker singing on Batman's voicemail at the end of Arkham City—haunting and heartbreaking. Some other favorites—Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed Black Flag (love that ship combat). Right now, I have Call of Duty (Modern Warfare III) so I'll be getting into that soon.

Did you see the fan art and plush toys of Lann our players have created? How does it feel to bring to life a character that people will romance?

Lann is a fine choice for a romantic partner. He'll make you laugh, and he'll love you forever. Plus, he kicks ass from long range with his bow attacks! I have seen some of the art and plushies, and I'm glad I got to help create a character that people have enjoyed so much.

Do you want to say anything to our players? Maybe Lann’s fans in particular?

Thanks for playing and fighting the good fight! And always know good old Lann's got your back. Even if you decide to become a disgusting swarm of insects… but maybe don't. This group only needs one weird-looking monster man. And you know, the unspeakable evil is bad for your complexion. Take the high road, and I'll cook you up some of my famous Lanncakes. Which is also what I call my butt.

If another studio that works on video games decides to get in touch with you, what is the best way to contact you?

We'd love to work on your game! And your game will thank you for it. You can reach me and my partner Tim at 3Beep at [email protected]. Or just show up at Tim's house. He loves that. Just kidding—that would be bad. The email works just fine.

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Well, we hope it was a fun and entertaining read for you, Pathfinders! And by the way, if you want us to interview some of our devs, ask the Community Managers on Reddit or Discord! We love to hear from our players!

Love, Owlcats