(Potentially the last) November Questions (Patreon)

Hi everyone!

So, I'm thinking about retiring the Q&As. Despite the growing number of patrons, there just aren't that many questions coming in. BUT I think we can replace it with something else fun- exclusive streams maybe? I'm open to suggestions. 

With all that said, there are still some very good questions that need to be answered! 

Fletcher: What are your thoughts on the responsibility of consumers with respect to crunch culture? 

This is something I've thought about a lot. As much as I want to believe in voting with one's dollar...I mean, Red Dead 2 was going to sell a bazillion copies no matter what. And even if it didn't, my guess is that Rockstar would think "well, we shouldn't have made the animation so slow," and not "well, we should have treated our employees better. 

BUT, I think there's a ton we can do outside of simple boycotts. If you buy a game where the studio has made a point of unionizing/providing healthy hours, be loud about how that's something you're proud to support! I think if publishers start seeing a healthy workplace as a selling point, that could actually drive them to action.

The biggest thing we can do is probably just support the efforts of orgs like Game Workers Unite- follow their people, track what they're doing, listen to what they're asking for.

Kinokunst: What’s the recording process like? Do you have to fight neighbor’s lawnmowers for clean audio?  (A film review friend of mine sadly is in the doldrums as his apartment neighbors are too loud for him to record🎙😓) 

Recording has definitely been a learning process for me; while I don't have noisy neighbors, I do have cats, dogs, and a not-particularly-quiet computer. 

I do VO in pretty short chunks, rarely more than a couple paragraphs at a time. This means that if there's some background noise (or more likely, I stumble over my words), there's not that much to re-do. I also re-record constantly. Tone is probably the thing I work hardest at in terms of a video's aesthetic, which means that if I change a music track or choose a different place to break up a section, I'll probably feel like I have to do a whole new VO take. It's...a long process.

I wish I had better tips for your friend, but the main one is music covers up a TON of background noise. USE MUSIC.