The Monster Factory CEO Discusses the Importance of Humanity in Voice Acting, Vocal Stuntwork

Gamescom

By Joshua Duckworth & Gemma Johnson

Published 3 days ago

The Monster Factory is a company that creates creature and monster sounds for movies, video games, and beyond. While the idea of stuntworkers and stunt doubles in movies is well-known, the concept of vocal stuntwork might be somewhat less familiar. Vocal stuntwork can consist of something like producing elongated choking sounds or eliciting creature screams for hours on end, something a regular actor may not be trained for and that could be damaging to their later performances - like Hollywood's need for stunt doubles. They must also be able to sustain the correct sounds for inhuman creatures, from goblins to Mind flayers, and give it the intent only a human can. This is especially noteworthy given the ongoing impact of AI on the game industry.

At Gamescom LATAM, Game ZXC spoke with The Monster Factory CEO Sébastien Croteau about the company's vocal stuntwork and creature acting. Having worked as a voice actor for creatures and monsters in video games for almost two decades, Croteau explained more about the differences between the role of vocal stunt performers versus standard voice actors. Croteau also shared his thoughts on how AI affects voice acting in the industry, specifically in his niche, and how he hopes to keep human voice acting in the loop.

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Differences Between Vocal Stuntwork And Regular Voice Acting

Speaking at Gamescom LATAM, Croteau explained more about the differences between vocal stuntwork and standard voice acting, which comes down to specialist training. Where voice actors work with scripts, Croteau explained how being a creature voice actor involves learning to work with and place vowels and consonants "to make the sound realistic."

We are trained to produce vocal distortion, we are trained to scream, and we are trained to make inhuman sounds for hours and hours and hours. If you ask any untrained voice actor to scream, he’s going to scream for 15 minutes. Done, that's it. He's not trained for that, you know? If you ask us, well, we can do that for sometimes two, three, four hours. That's the difference, so we do that stuff because other people are not trained for that. It's the same thing.

However, being a creature voice actor or vocal stunt performer is not just about knowing how to scream. Croteau explained that just like a voice actor is not inherently a screamer, a screamer is not inherently a voice actor. There's an acting element involved, especially when it comes to sustained vocals. A good example is pseudo-intelligent goblins in video games. They must be able to produce a certain vocal effect while speaking (thus acting), but if an actor loses that vocal effect (the raspiness of a goblin voice), that creature is gone.

The Impact Of AI on Voice Acting, Creature Acting, and Beyond

Croteau also emphasized the importance of producing sounds intentionally, which can only come from humans rather than computer-modified ones or animal sound libraries. Animal noises have intent, but all too often humans do not know what that intent is. Combining that noise with another doesn't elicit the same intent or emotion that someone may be aiming for, confirming the need for a human element in creature acting, in voice acting, and beyond. However, the rise of AI has many voice actors concerned about their jobs. Croteau acknowledged that his part in the voice acting industry has not been impacted, yet at least, but he understands the concern.

Croteau hopes to prove that human acting is better than AI, adding that once clients choose vocal stuntwork, they rarely return to stock or library sounds. Croteau also expressed concerns about the implications of advances in AI more widely, not just in acting, and what he hopes it pushes humans to do. and what humans can do about this:

I'm more worried about AI, in general, as a tool being used to create awful things than I fear for my work as a voice actor. I understand why people are worried about that, though.

But I think this is where we need to show how creative we can be. I think that having something that can imitate us will drive us to think about what makes us human. Because if we have something that imitates us, what is the difference between this and us? Reflecting on what makes us human, I don't think is a bad thing. I think we need to think about what makes us human. I think, that even if people fear AI in voice acting, it's going to drive us to think about how more creative we can get in the long run. How can we surpass this thing? We can because we created it, right?