Behind The Voice

Project Songbird's creator, Conner, joins Behind The Voice Podcast to talk about how he created a game that turned his worst fear into a horror game. We were also joined by the lead actor, Valerie, who voices Dakota in the game to talk about how she connected deeply with the game and was able to give a performance linked to her real life. You might've also heard her as Edith Finch in What Remains of Edith Finch game.The game was far more personal than you realize and it shows with the quality of storytelling, including the writing, presentation and voice acting.

Cronos The New Dawn lead actor, Kelly Burke, returns to the podcast to talk about her role as The Traveler. In this episode we break down the most horrific and painful moments of the game. Kelly reveals the unique physical toll of performing motion capture for a massive, heavy character whose neck doesn't even move and who lacks a face. We dive deep into heavy spoiler territory to discuss the Traveler's tragic realization, the "religious" feeling behind the extraction scenes , and the massive "epic gaslighting" betrayal orchestrated by the Warden. Kelly also shares her candid thoughts on why the game offers no happy ending and the real emotional weight behind the community's favorite tagline, "Such is our calling".

Blonde Blazer voice actress, Erin Yvette, joins Behind The Voice to break down and dive deep into Dispatch's story. She shares her reaction to the success of the game, how she always believed in it since the beginning. She also gives insights on how she gave some feedback to how her character should respond and why she didn't play the role of Invisigal. We also went deep into various story beats of the game such as Blazer's feelings for Robert, players choosing Invisigal over Blonde Blazer, the gala dress scene and whether there will be a season 2. We also touched upon The Wolf Among Us & The Walking Dead and a few fan questions from other games.

Bryan Dechart @DechartGames joins the show to talk about 8 years of Detroit Become Human and how the story still resonates with the fans. He reflects on meeting fans and sharing the story worldwide, preparing for the role of Connor, how his relationship with Clancy Brown evolved, the start of the streaming career and where it is now.Bryan also talks about working with Santa Monica Studios for God of War Sons of Sparta & how challenging this new role was. He'll be streaming the game with his wife on Twitch.

The creator of Rosewater indie game, Francisco Gonzalez, joins today's episode to talk about how he hired 22 incredible video game actors for his game. Even though its a point and click adventure game, a genre that is very niche, these actors were still interested to be in his project.Francisco talks about how he has been a fan of point and click adventure games and started making them years back. Every commercial game of his also had actors however all of them were non-union, except Rosewater. Its amazing to know that SAG-AFTRA has developed new contracts that helps indie developers get the funds they need for hiring actors.It was incredible to hear Francisco's ideas around indie game development and how he would love to see more "serious" storytelling across the genre of point and click adventure games.

Jennifer English joins Behind The Voice to talk about her iconic role as FemShep in Mass Effect trilogy, Jean in X-Men 97 and much more. She also shares her feelings towards AI and tells people to use AI and participate in AI because that's the future. She also opens up on the use of AI in games and with voice actors. She also talks about how singing was her original passion and how she did her first voice over role. It was incredible to know from the iconic actress who has worked on multiple projects, both video games and animated series. I also tried to get some more details on KOTOR Remake & X-Men 97 Season 2 but wasn't successful.

Charlotte Hoepffner, the performance capture actor of Maelle in Expedition 33, joins Behind The Voice Podcast and talks about her experience working on the game. This was her first video game role ever and she's genuinely surprised that video game acting can be so intense. She describes what it was like working with Estelle & Maxence, which was overwhelming at first, but she became friends and now she's very comfortable working with them. She dives deep into the making of certain scenes and what each scene means to her. Charlotte is truly brilliant and she lived her role as Maelle in the game. She has a plan of finally sitting down and playing the game and saying goodbye to the character.Timestamps:00:00 Charlotte forgot about the game01:24 Performing live on stage02:56 Charlotte on fan interactions04:10 Charlotte almost didn't audition05:47 Playing video games06:42 First scene as Maelle08:32 Doing motion capture for the first time10:43 Scenes that Charlotte improvised12:23 The first Maelle nightmare scene13:51 Maelle & Gustave's relationship14:29 Couldn't stop laughing while shooting16:23 Burying Gustave scene18:57 Multiple takes of Gustave's death scene21:59 Video game stories are so real?23:13 How did Charlotte brought frustration to Maelle25:37 Impact of this game on Charlotte's life28:21 Charlotte's fav lines31:11 Maelle & Renoir arguing scene32:32 Does Charlotte relate to Maelle's story?33:12 Charlotte's plan to saying goodbye to Maelle35:05 Charlotte wants more video game work36:35 Clashing cameras during performance capture37:43 Hardest scene to shoot39:52 Is Maelle's journey over?40:29 Shooting emotional scenes42:02 How did Charlotte portray Maelle?43:08 What inspires Charlotte as an artist?45:15 Charlotte on hearing Jennifer English's voice

Dying Light franchise director, Tymon Smektala, opens up how they underestimated the fans and the community and made decisions that the players didn't really need. He talks about bringing Aiden in Dying Light 2 instead of Kyle Crane. Why Dying Light is different to Dead Island and the real story of why they changed publishers. He also talks about what makes Dying Light special and how they missed it in Dying Light 2 and fixed it in Dying Light The Beast.

Rebecca Hanssen, the voice actor of Eve from Stellar Blade & Ciaconna in Wuthering Waves, returns to Behind The Voice and talks about what its like to play these characters. She reveals why she can't let go of Eve from Stellar Blade and how Ciaconna was similar to Alfira from Baldur's Gate 3. She also talks about her recent role as Olivia in Dying Light The Beast and what it was like to work with Roger Craig Smith.

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 lead writer, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, joins Behind The Voice to reveal how she and Guillaume (Director) made the story. It's so interesting to know that a big part of the story came from a dream she had. She also reveals the difference between the studio's first game, We Lost, and Expedition 33 along with why there were 4 GENERATIONS of Gustave's family written. I also tried to ask her about Clea's real purpose but she didn't say much. What is your fav moment from Expedition 33?

Cronos The New Dawn lead writer, Grzegorz Like, talks about how horror video game storytelling should be done. He mentions how Cronos The New Dawn's main focus was storytelling and its characters but also how monsters were able to give a far better experience than other horror games. He also talks about the best way to make a creepy horror games without using too much jumpscares and why characters are more important.

Markus and Olli from Poets of the Fall join the podcast to talk about their journey as a band from Max Payne 2 to Alan Wake 2. They talk about how the formation of the iconic Late Goodbye song, working with Remedy and making a fictional band Old Gods of Asgard as well as the making of one of the longest video game songs, Herald of Darkness, for Alan Wake 2.What's your favorite song from Old Gods of Asgard and Poets of the Fall?00:38 Late Goodbye wasn't meant to be04:42 Success of Late Goodbye07:07 How Old Gods of Asgard happened10:13 Old Gods vs Poets of the Fall11:55 How songs are made for Remedy?15:55 Reacting to their songs in-game20:10 Alan Wake 2 musical 25:48 Longest guitar solo28:39 Shooting live action & music video32:24 Old Gods of Asgard album wasn't planned35:55 The Game Awards almost didn't happen40:07 Herald of Darkness impact on Poets42:49 Input on Old Gods of Asgard characters44:19 Fav music video45:30 Touring as Old Gods of Asgard?47:10 Fav Remedy game48:57 Use of unusual intruments51:59 VR in Olli's latest song