When your character dies in a video game, he or she may let out a dramatic, blood-curdling, scream. You might be screaming as well, out of frustration. Chances are, you don’t spend a lot of time screaming at your video games. That’s good, because it turns out that all that screaming is causing harm to the voices of the actors who bring your character to life.
The national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), David White, sent a letter to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) on May 25, 2016. The union wants the state of California to open an investigation into the allegedly unsafe vocal recording sessions that some companies in the video game industry are requiring voice actors to do.
Voice actors who work in the video game industry are asked to work long hours. Those hours are spent recording loud and strenuous noises (including violent screaming). Some may be asked to use their voices to make noises for characters that are not human. Keep in mind that a voice actor rarely gets the line perfect on the first try. It is common for them to have to do many retakes of the same line, over and over again.
The letter from SAG-AFTRA states that the voice actor union members were not given enough time to properly warm up their voices. Some members have experienced cysts, polyps, and cord hemorrhaging as a result of their working conditions. SAG-AFTRA points out that this could result in changes in vocal quality or complete vocal cord paralysis. Obviously, that could end a voice actor’s career.
The next time your character dies, listen closely to the sound. Spare a thought for the voice actor or actress who had to stress their vocal cords by making that scream.