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Alan Wake Interviews
Soundelux Design Music Group indulged its dark side in providing sound design services for "Alan Wake," Remedy Entertainment's groundbreaking video game thriller, newly-released by Microsoft Game Studios for xBox 360.
Supervising Sound Designer and Academy Award-nominee Alan Rankin headed a team of sound designers who, under the direction of Microsoft Game Studios Audio Director Mark Yeend, helped create the spooky atmosphere of the game, widely hailed by critics as the year's best new release. The sound design created by Rankin, Sound Designer Brad Beaumont and the rest of the DMG crew helps the game attain a cinematic, richness and depth to help draw players through the innumerable plot twists. "The game offered a lot of chances to build creepy, otherworldly ambiences, environments, and in-game sound effects," recalls Rankin. "There is a real story to be told and the sound design helps immerse the player in that narrative."
While the soundtracks for many action games use gunfire and explosions to provide players with an adrenalin rush, "Alan Wake" employs a subtler and morre nuanced sound treatment to make the hair stand up on the backs of players' necks. "Everything is very organic. It's not monster-like but more ghostly," Rankin notes. "People who've played the game say it's one of the creepiest, scariest games they've ever played."
Alan Wake Reviews
It's been a few days since Alan Wake was released, and the reviews have been trickling in, such as this in-depth look from Gametrailers.com. This was an engaging project for us, allowing for some very creative sound design. XboxAddict.com, cognisant of this, wrote "Yes there are intense moments and there is spectacular voice acting but the sound itself becomes a character in the story rather than just some background noise."
Lost Planet 2
Soundelux Design Music Group recently provided original music, voiceover recording and sound design for Lost Planet 2, Capcom’s new sequel to its enormously popular third person shooter game. Jamie Christopherson wrote the new main theme and the majority of the score for the game, which was recorded by a 96-piece live orchestra, one of the largest ever used for a video game title. If you wanted to see some pictures from this amazing orchestral session, you're in luck!
Soundelux Design Music Group also created specialty sound design elements. Working with Capcom’s Sound Director Tomoya Kishi, Supervising Sound Editor Peter Zinda led the team that created sound effects for many of the game’s robotic “Vital Suits,” “Akrid” life forms and weapons. They also conducted Foley sessions to create sound effects for human characters dressed in various forms of armored gear.
Click here to read more about our involvement with Lost Planet 2.
10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards
San Francisco's Game Developers Conference is a fairly serious convention for the Video Game industry, focusing much more on business than glitz, glamour, and blockbuster announcements. As such, it tends to fly under the radar for most of the worlds’ gamers, paving the way for award ceremonies driven by peer votes & nominations.
At the apex of these lies the Game Developers Choice Awards, and we were happy to see both Assassin’s Creed and Brutal Legend nominated a number of times. We are extremely thankful for our small role in the audio landscape of some of our clients’ top rated games!
G.A.N.G. Distinguished Service Award
Soundelux DMG Voice-Over Manager Chip Beaman was among five industry professionals recognized at the 8th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards, held Friday, March 12th at The Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. Pictured with Chip are Morla Gorrondona, Dave Chan, and Alexander Brandon. All four G.A.N.G. Voice Actor Coalition (G.V.A.C.) co-chairs were recipients of the G.A.N.G. Distinguished Service Award, while Rob Bridgett (not pictured) was recognized for his hard work as a new Interactive Entertainment Sound Developers (I.E.S.D.) policy contributor.
Capcom COO Mark Beaumont Passes Away
Heartbreaking news in the games industry today. We were saddened to learn that Capcom COO Mark Beaumont passed away suddenly yesterday morning, a victim of a heart attack. Mr. Beaumont was an old hand in our young industry, having started in 1982 working for Atari, before moving on to other important companies like Activision, Time Warner, and Midway. In 2005 he joined Capcom and proceeded to work wonders in marketing and publishing, securing a position as Chief Operations Officer in 2008. Mark Beaumont was a man who saw depth and promise in electronic entertainment, and will be sorely missed.
CSS Takes Home Two MPSE Golden Reels
CSS Studios brought home two awards from the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reels this past weekend, held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. We would like to extend our congratulations to the Soundelux and Modern Music team members who made this happen!
CSS Talent Nominated for 15 Golden Reel Awards
With the 57th MPSE Golden Reel Awards just a few weeks away, we'd like to take a moment and recognize the work and recognition of our sister studios Todd-AO, Soundelux, and Modern Music. CSS has earned 15 nominations from Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), spanning TV, video games, and 7 feature film nominations.
Star Trek nominated for Academy Award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) announced nominations for this year's Academy Awards February 2nd and the Soundelux DMG family is proud to congratulate Alan Rankin, Mark Stoeckinger, and Wylie Stateman of our sister studio Soundelux on their Oscar nominations! All three have been honored with nominations in the 'Sound Editing' category; Mark and Alan for their work on 'Star Trek', and Wylie for 'Inglourious Basterds'. It's truly an honor to be a part of such a hugely talented family. Tune in Sunday, March 7th @ 5PM Pacific and keep your fingers crossed!
Star Trek Nominated for Golden Reel, BAFTA Awards
Sci-Fi epic STAR TREK has been nominated for both MPSE (Motion Picture Sound Editors) Golden Reel and BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards in 2010.
BAFTA, for those who do not know, is a British parallel to the American Oscars. It spans most of the art forms involved in entertainment, across multiple mediums and platforms, as such, there is only one sound category so it is exciting to see that nomination alongside Special Visual Effects.
The MPSE Golden Reels specifically recognize Audio professionals for their work, and there are many categories. STAR TREK is in the running for Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film, Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film, and Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film. Alan Rankin (Supervising Sound Editor) and Scott Gershin (sound designer) worked with Soundelux's Mark Stoeckinger (Supervising Sound Editor) and sound designers Ann Scibelli and Tim Walston to make this magic happen. We're very happy to see the continuing impact of this film!
Assassin's Creed 2 wins Gamespot's "Best New Character of 2009"
Gamespot has recently run a series of articles outlining the "Best-Of" 2009. Bursting from the ranks of New Game Characters is Ezio, of Assassin's Creed 2.
We're very proud of Director Amanda Wyatt and Voice Actor Roger Craig Smith for the recognition they've been getting for their diligent work on Assassin's Creed 2. Roger's portrayal of the series' new protagonist Ezio has been well-received across the board, appreciated by fans and critics alike. Our favorite form of entertainment is rife with strong opinions, and reception such as this is rare. We at Soundelux DMG are happy to have been a part of this!
Here is a quote from the article:
"...what makes Ezio a standout favorite among stiff competition from other games is his growth as a character. At the beginning, we see a carefree young man who delights in causing mischief on the streets of Renaissance-era Florence, but we also see a character who cares tremendously for his own family. As the game progresses, Ezio's brash personality becomes tempered by loss and a thirst for revenge. We still get glimpses of his old self when he interacts with people he trusts, but when it's time to get the job done and start stabbing his enemies, his ruthlessness nearly consumes him."
Gamasutra: The Most Anticipated Games Of 2010
It's 2010, and we've got a big year of gaming behind us, with another just ahead. Gamasutra is right on the money with their Most Anticipated Games predictions - and you'd better get ready, because some are slated to drop within the month!
There are even a few mentioned in the article which we've had the pleasure to work on at Soundelux Design Music Group.
SoundWorks Collection - Star Trek
The SoundWorks Collection recently went behind the scenes at Soundelux to profile the team behind the sound of the hit movie STAR TREK.
The video features remarkable views on J.J. Abrams creative input, the creation of the weaponry and warp sounds, an interesting use of a Russian toilet flush, as well as the sound teams' efforts to stay true to an established franchise signature sounds. Soundelux Design Music Group's very own Supervising Sound Editor Alan Rankin and sound designer Scott Gershin are highlighted alongside the creative minds of Supervising Sound Editor Mark Stoeckinger and sound designers Ann Scibelli and Tim Walston.
As Star Trek is a veritable trove of unique visuals and audio, it is virtually guaranteed you will like this video!
Click here to visit the Soundworks Collection!
Spike 2009 Video Game Awards Winners
The VGAs were held last Saturday, December 12th, at The Event Deck @ LA Live in Los Angeles. While not winning in a category specifically designed for audio, there were a few titles to which we had added our own brand of sonic talents that did indeed garner some well-deserved recognition in other categories. We'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate the developers and publishers involved with these titles!
AFTRA Ratifies New Video Game Contract
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have ratified a new contract for interactive media. As of April 1, 2010 the agreement increases actor wages 2.5% to $802 per four-hour session, and retains the 135% remote delivery fee for applicable games.
It also includes an instant $100 payment if a producer fails to inform the actor of a vocally stressful session, as well as the highly debated "Atmospheric Voices". Under this performance category, an actor may record up to 20 distinct voices per session, as long as none of the roles are principal or lead roles, the lines delivered to not further the storyline and none of the roles surpass 300 words. Interestingly enough, this was also in the proposed contract SAG voted down in October.
AFTRA members passed the new contract with a 66% vote in favor. This new agreement will replace AFTRA's extension agreement to the 2005-2008 Interactive Media Agreement, which remains in effect through December 31, 2009. That extension included a wage rate increase of 3% and a benefit contributions increase of 0.5%. The new agreement, which includes a 2.5% increase in minimum session fees on April 1, 2010 as mentioned above, will go into effect on January 1, 2010, and remain in full force until March 31, 2011.
Read the official press release here.
Spike 2009 Video Game Awards Nominees
Spike has announced nominees for their 6th annual Video Game Awards! This is one of the only televised award ceremonies dedicated to interactive entertainment, and we're excited to see some of the titles we've worked on in the running.
First and foremost, we'd like to congratulate the development teams and publishers who worked on these great games. With all the long hours involved on these pieces of entertainment, it's wonderful to get this kind of recognition. The awards ceremony will be held live on the Spike Channel, December 12th 2009 at 8pm.
Among the several other deserving titles that have been nominated this year, we'd like to bring your attention to just a select few for which we are particularly proud and honored to have provided our services.
Bayonetta #1 on Japanese Game Charts
Bayonetta has taken the Japanese video game charts by storm since its regional release on October 29th, 2009. The Playstation 3 version is holding steady at 1st place, while the XBOX 360 release sits at 7th! What a climax.
Hold on to your holiday gift cards, Bayonetta's North American release date has been set for January 5th, 2010.
Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker cast revealed!
We at Soundelux Design Music Group are pleased to share with you that we have been hard at work on the upcoming Konami/Kojima game Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker! Here is a cast list for your curious perusal. Other than this, we must keep our lips buttoned and our typing fingers strapped...
Supervising Sound Editor George Simpson passes away
We at Soundelux Design Music Group are grieving the loss of George Simpson, a Supervising Sound Editor at our sister company, Soundelux.
Below, please read an excerpt from a communication issued by CSS Studios CEO, Robert Rosenthal;
"I am deeply saddened to share with you that Supervising Sound Editor George E. Simpson of Soundelux passed away this weekend.
While George returned to our Soundelux family only as recently as January 2009, he worked professionally in post production sound for more than 20 years as a Sound Editor and as a Supervising Sound Editor. George was actively engaged in a successful and prolific career here at Soundelux, working together with his long-time friends and colleagues from his time working both as part of Weddington and as part of Soundelux.
In addition to his significant body of work as a sound professional, George was also an accomplished writer with several published novels to his credit, including “Ghostboat” which was later made into a movie.
George is survived by his daughter Annie and his sister Jane. Our thoughts and prayers go out to George’s family and friends."
Star Trek, The Sound Show!
On Tuesday, October 20th, the Motion Picture Sound Editors boldly presented an exploration of the sonic worlds of this summer's blockbuster, Star Trek from Paramount Pictures. Soundelux's Award winning Supervising Sound Editor Mark Stoeckinger (Mission: Impossible III, The Last Samurai) and Co-Supervising Sound Editor Alan Rankin (Windtalkers, The Amityville Horror) demonstrated the process of creating an epic soundtrack for the action-packed reboot of the long-running science institution, Star Trek. Specially prepared sequences were shown to reveal the variety of elements used to create a new universe of sound.
Joining them to tell the whole sonic story were Picture Editors Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon (Mission: Impossible III, Alias), Music Editors Stephen Davis (Mission: Impossible III, Ratatouille) and Alex Levy (Mission: Impossible III, The Incredibles) and Re-Recording Mixers Andy Nelson & Anna Behlmer (Mission: Impossible III, Cloverfield).
And as if that wasn't enough, the presenters were rounded out by very special guest, Director J.J Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, producer Cloverfield, creator Alias, co-creator Lost).
Gears of War 2 Nominated for TEC Award
We would like to congratulate our Gears of War 2 team on their nominations for the 2009 TEC (Technical Excellence & Creativity) award.
Supervising Sound Sound Designer and Mixer Scott Martin Gershin led his team of Sound Designers Peter Zinda and Brad Beaumont who designed most of the in-game weapons & explosions. In addition the team designed & mixed most of the cinematics within the game with the added talents of Steve Robinson & mix assistant Chad Bedell. This title previously won us an MPSE award as well as a GANG award.
Unfortunately not everyone fit into the TEC award categories but we wanted to congratulate & recognize their work as well, James Moriana and Jeffrey Wilhoit our Foley artists, Shannon Potter who supervised the Foley, and Nerses Gezalyan our foley mixer. None of this would have happened without our assets & management team, and of course the tremendous work done by Mike Larson & the audio team at Epic.
We are also happy to announce that many of those on our team who worked on Gears of War 2 were also nominated for an additional TEC award for their work on the movie Hellboy 2.
The Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards were founded in 1985 to recognize achievements in recordings, films, TV shows, and live performances, and are held every fall during the annual Audio Engineering Society Convention. In 2007, The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio broadened its scope to include interactive entertainment, and it is a great honor to be among the first recognized in our young, yet rapidly developing industry.
Click here to view the full list of nominees
VOWOL podcast on Voicebank
Roy Samuelson has over 20 years experience as a voice actor. He's booked national voice over ad campaigns for TV, including Jeep, Dodge, Nestle Wonka, and Intel. He has voiced the killer in "Midnight Movie," various voices in "The Beacon" and Universal's "The Express" and "Van Helsing," as well as in the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer / Disney feature "G-Force." He has recorded many promo spots for Los Angeles' NPR station KCRW. He is also the founder of Los Angeles workout group VOWOL (VoiceOverWorkoutLounge), which we host in the DMG VO Booth!
Click here to check out the podcast!
Composer Christopher Tin interviewed by OC ReMix
Our own composer Christopher Tin did an interview with OCR recently where he talks about his work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on his debut album Calling All Dawns, the changing public perception of game music, and his favorite video game soundtrack (which turns out to be Katamari Damacy).
The crew at OC ReMix was taken with his hit piece Baba Yetu, written for Civilization IV and featured in the renowned Video Games Live concert tours.
Click here for the complete interview!
Fable II Wins at BAFTA Awards
This past Tuesday, March 10th 2009, the British Film and Television Association held their Video Game Awards in London. Microsoft and United Kingdom-based Lionhead Studios have taken home the golden mask for Action & Adventure with the ever-epic Fable II. We are pleased that our small role in this amazing title has continued to help garner it the recognition it deserves. Wish us luck with the G.A.N.G. awards later this month at the Game Developer's Conference, as Fable II competes against Gears of War 2!
Click here to see BAFTA's official list of winners.
12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards @ D.I.C.E.
Game developers and other industry professionals had a chance to put their heads together at the 2009 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, which kicked off Thursday, February 19th, 2009 in Las Vegas.
Also at the Summit was the ceremony for the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, honoring notable games released in the past year. These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.
Among the winners were past DMG projects Prince of Persia for Art Direction, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, and God of War: Chains of Olympus for Handheld Game of the Year. These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.
Ubisoft, Kojima and Sony, we tip our gigantic collective hat to you.
Visit the official D.I.C.E Summit website.
MPSE and the 56th annual Golden Reels
At a beautiful event this past Saturday, February 21st, 2009 The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) held their Golden Reel Awards ceremony at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.
The Golden Reel Awards are given to honor audio professionals in the entertainment field, and the ceremony has been held annually since 1953. Alongside the traditional categories surrounding Film and Television, Soundelux DMG has taken home the award for Best Sound Editing: Computer Entertainment with Epic's epic Gears of War 2. CSS Studios (our parent company) was well represented at the event, both in terms of nominations and the sheer size of our delegation.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize the achievements that were honored by the MPSE and congratulate the teams who made it happen. Great job!
G.A.N.G. Awards 2008 finalists announced
On Thursday, March 26th, 2009 the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) will hold its seventh annual G.A.N.G. Awards at GDC. The finalists have been voted upon and judged by professionals in the game audio industry and the Guild's 2,000+ members, and we are pleased to announce some projects we have worked on have made it to the final round.
Gears of War 2 pops up in several catergories, including Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio, Best Use of Multi-Channel Surround in a Game, and Audio of The Year.
Another DMG project contending for Audio of The Year is Fable II, which is also being recognized for its soundtrack. Congratulations Microsoft, Lion's Head and Epic! Good luck at the show.
BAFTA Video Game Awards 2008!
You may remember BAFTA announcing in April 2008 they would postpone their Video Game Awards show until March 2009, allowing for the annual rush of games released just before holiday. And it's a good thing they did! By most accounts it was the best gaming season in recent memory.
We'd like to extend our best wishes to the nominees, along with our thanks for those titles we were fortunate to work on. Congratulations to all the production crews for their hard work on these excellent titles.
Former Blizzard Entertainment Music Producer, Gloria Soto, joins Soundelux DMG
We are proud to announce that Gloria Soto, formerly of Blizzard Entertainment, has come on board at Soundelux DMG as our new Music Producer. Gloria brings more than 11 years of developer experience working at both Blizzard and Interplay.
At Interplay as the Audio Operations Manager and at Blizzard as the Cinematic Sound producer, Gloria focused on hiring contractors for titles such as "Baldurs Gate" and "Wrath of the Lich King".
"When game development gets tough, Gloria remains positive, insightful and incredibly motivating. She has a deep understanding of the creative process which allows her to balance business requirements and creative demands. As a music producer, she is able to work with top talent and enables the process of production to run smoothly. Gloria is an excellent addition to any music production that needs to be delivered on time and at world-class standards."
Quote from Jeremy Soule, CEO, Co-Founder, Artistry Entertainment Inc.
We are very excited to have Gloria join Soundelux DMG. She is a true professional in the industry which makes a great addition to our team. If you're going to GDC, Gloria will be there... finally!
Tomi Tomita Now Working With DMG
We are pleased to announce a new addition to our team, Masanobu "Tomi" Tomita! Tomi, born in Japan, has been active in the Hollywood entertainment industry for the past 20 years, most notably garnering 6 Emmy Nominations and 1 win for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series" during his 15 years on the Star Trek TV series.
"Most shows are mundane sounds - you see a car, you grab sfx for that type of car." For Tomi, creating sounds that don't exist in the real world is much more interesting. We know he'll find the right creative atmosphere here at DMG. Welcome to the team!
TEA's THEA Awards 2008
For fifteen years, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) has held its annual Thea Awards to recognize excellence in themed entertainment. This includes amusement parks, museums and the like.
Soundelux DMG designed sound for two winners this year. The Arizona Science Center's "Forces of Nature" and Washington DC's "Newseum", a museum dedicated to journalism. Last year (2008) we won with the Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy Space Center.
Dutch Hill has spent time mixing on location. Mixing for traditional entertainment such as film, television or games, requires the mixer to consider the various and often differing playback environments. The benefit to Location Based Entertainment is that the mix is performed in the final playback location, thereby allowing for more control over the final listening experiences. We can all understand Dutch's enthusiasm for designing sound in the only place it will ever be experienced.
To learn more about TEA and ceremony details, check out this page.
Spike's 2008 "Video Game Awards" Show / X-Play update
Spike aired its annual VGA show last night, delivering winning nods to several games worked on at Soundelux DMG. Gears Of War 2 (Best Xbox 360 Game, Best Shooter), Shaun White Snowboarding (Best Individual Sports Game), and of course Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots (Best Original Score, Best Graphics). Following hot on the heels of Khary Payon's X-Play win, Debi Mae West was recognised for her performance as Meryl in Metal Gear Solid 4, taking home the award for Best Performance By A Human (Female).
In other good news, Brutal Legend has been picked up and will be published! We're all thrilled for Jack Black, Time Schafer, and everyone up the coast at Double Fine!
If you want to see more on the VGA's, check out their page.
XPlay "Best Of 2008" Nominees!
G4 TV's X-Play has nominated Fable II for Best Sound Design "Best Of 2008" Awards. This is an honor for the DMG family, Fable II was a long project that often FELT like an arduous journey across Albion (and just as fun!).
Also up is Drebin 893 from Metal Gear Solid 4 for Best New Character! Kudos to Khary Payton. And good luck with all your other nominations, Kojima. Except maybe sound design.
To see the entire list, follow this link.
AFTRA extends contract!
AFTRA, the second largest actors' union in America, has agreed to extend their Interactive Media Agreement contract through December 31, 2009. In these trying times, one headache has been alleviated.
Several relatively small changes have been made to the contract.
For more info, check out this AFTRA press release.
CSS studios
As part of Ascent Media Group's (AMG) previously disclosed spin-off from Discovery Holding Company, the companies formerly comprising AMG's Creative Sound Services group have announced the creation of CSS STUDIOS, LLC.
CSS Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Communications, the world's number one nonfiction media company, will include Soundelux Design Music Group as well as Todd- AO, Soundelux, Sound One, POP Sound, Modern Music, and The Hollywood Edge. All the facilities will continue to carry on with their individual brand identities. The new company will be headed by Robert C. Rosenthal, who formerly served as Chief Operating Officer of AMG's audio division.
CSS Studios provides creative services to major motion picture studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, cable channels, advertising agencies and interactive producers. With more than 50 years of experience in providing creative sound services and technical solutions, the companies, collectively, have garnered more than 50 Academy Award nominations and won 26 Academy Awards�.
To stay abreast of CSS news, you might opt to peruse the CSS blog!
Tokyo Game Show Grand Prize Winners!
As we wrap up the Tokyo Game Show, which was held in ... Tokyo this year, a few DMG projects have been honored in the award announcements. To start, Monster Hunter 3 (DMG sound supervisor: Bryan Celano) and Resident Evil 5 (DMG sound supervisor: Alan Rankin) were two of the twelve games awarded "Best In Show", traditionally given to the most exciting unreleased titles on the floor. If these games continue to get recognition, it could be a very good year for Capcom :) Devil May Cry 4 and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G were both in the "Award for Excellence" category (DMG sound supervisor for both: Bryan Celano), with Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G winning "Game of The Year", the centerpiece award at TGS.
To read details about these and other winners, visit the official site.
The Passing of Don LaFontaine
In a world where all know his voice but few knew his face, stood Don LaFontaine. His life was an adventure, beginning as a sound engineer and living as "The Voice Of God". One man, with his voice in over 5,000 film trailers, Don was still working seven or more voiceover sessions a day at the end of his career. He passed away September 1st 2008 at the age of 68, and the DMG family sends our deepest condolences to his. LaFontaine is survived by his wife Nita Whitaker, and three daughters.
G4 Awards Best VO Acting to MGS4
Metal Gear Solid 4 has beaten Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Portal to win the GPHORIA 2008 award for best voice acting. These awards are derived purely from the votes of viewers - that's right, everyone loves David Hayter & co! Congrats to Kris Zimmerman and the cast, the engineering crew, and especially Kojima for dreaming up such an amazing game.
"Metal Gear Solid 4: The Guns Of The Patriots wraps up Hideo Kojima's epic saga of Solid Snake, with hours of cinematics carried by some of the best voice actors in the business."
To see their coverage (and the competition), follow this link.
Wwise Press Release
Our affiliate partner, Audiokinetic recently announced the release of a new version of its award-winning audio pipeline solution, Wwise, and the official launch of its highly-expected motion solution for games, Wwise Motion. Here is an excerpt:
"In order to illustrate the functionalities of Wwise and Wwise Motion, Audiokinetic collaborated with partner Emergent Game Technologies. Audiokinetic was responsible for the entire audio aspect in Emergent's new demo, The Forbidden Terror on Station Z (Zorsis), which was also presented at GDC 2008. Audiokinetic worked with long time partners Michael McCann and Soundelux Design Music Group: McCann created an amazing music score for the demo, and Soundelux Design Music Group provided all the sound effects to include weapons, creature voices, ambiances and the UI. "Working with McCann and Soundelux was extremely satisfying," commented Simon Ashby. "These guys are so pro; most of the content they deliver is right on target and almost never need retakes." The assets were then integrated and managed in Wwise to create the final audio in Zorsis. Audiokinetic then used Wwise Motion to generate the motion effects in the demo."
To read the entire press release, click here.
VOWOL article on Blog.Voices.Com
The Voice Over Work-Out Lounge (VOWOL) offers an affordable place for VO actors to take home pro-recordings by working out their acting chops in a playful and positive gym at a top quality recording studio, while connecting to like-minded VO people, and learning from very special guest hosts.
VOWOL meets evenings at Soundelux DMG with the full support of our engineers and equipment.
Click here to read the article. Click here to visit VOWOL.com.
Soundelux attends S.F. Game Developers Conference
For those with a role in the booming video game industry, the place to be was the San Francisco Game Developers Conference, held February 18-22.
Pictured here (right to left) are SAG New Media Committee members David Sobolov and Vyan Pham, both of whom frequently voice characters on high profile games, as well as SAG Business Representative Pierre Debs, who specializes in interactive contracts for the Guild and Soundelux Design Music Group's VO Manager, William "Chip" Beaman.
The SAG team met many new game developers interested in using professional talent, but they also strengthened ties with current guild signatories such as Soundelux DMG.
Chip Beaman and Kris Zimmerman featured in Bionic Commando podcast
Bionic Commandos Top Secret Podcast goes on location at the voice recording session of Bionic Commando in Hollywood, California, as CAPCOM's Gearoid Reidy talks to Soundelux VO Manager William "Chip" Beaman, and the Voice Director of Bionic Commando, Kris Zimmerman. Find out what it takes to make a game sound great, and explore the mixed past of CAPCOM voiceovers.
Click here to listen.
Former Gametracks/Danetracks Director Joins DMG
We're extremely pleased to announce that Becky Allen, the former Director of Interactive Audio at Gametracks/Danetracks, has joined forces with Soundelux DMG. Becky brings a wealth of talent and expertise adding depth and breadth to the Soundelux DMG team.
Some of you may not know this, but Becky was the Ops Manager here several years ago. She now rejoins us as Manager of New Business Development. She received her MFA at CalArts in Music composition and then proceeded to Microsoft in 1994. While at Microsoft, she became an Audio Lead in the consumer products division. Becky joined Soundelux DMG in 1998 and later became Operations Manager. In 2005, she left the game biz to pursue her music career. In 2006, she joined Dane Davis of Danetracks.
We are very fortunate to have Becky back with us. She is truly a terrific addition to our talented team. If you're going to the GDC, you'll probably see her smiling face!
DMG PROJECTS WIN DICE AWARDS
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards at the 2008 DICE Summit in Las Vegas on February 7th. Soundelux would like to congratulate our clients Ubisoft and Crytek for their individual successes. We are honored to have helped lay the sonic landscape for each of these outstanding projects.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation:
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering:
Crysis (Crytek)
DMG receives MPSE Nominations
Each year the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) presents the MPSE GOLDEN REEL AWARDS, in which they acknowledge the year's best work in the various areas of sound editing: Dialogue & ADR, Effects & Foley, and Music. The 55th GOLDEN REEL AWARDS will be held February 23, 2008 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel
We are honored to have been nominated in the following category;
Best Sound Editing– Made for Computer Entertainment
DMG has now garnered three of the five nominations in this category.
TRANSFORMERS THE GAME
UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3
CRYSIS
DMG Nominated for Several Gang Awards
Soundelux DMG is once again proud to be nominated in several categories for the 6th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) Awards, taking place on Thursday, February 21st during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco . The G.A.N.G Awards identify the highest quality and achievement of those individuals, projects and products offering a significant and positive impact on the art and craft of producing interactive audio, its community and the interactive industry as a whole.
We are honored to be nominated in the following categories:
Best Arrangement of Non-Original Score
Pirates of the Carribean Online (Disney Online)
Music by Jamie Christopherson, Chris Tin, Deddy Tzur
Best Article, Publication or Broadcast
" The Golden Compass Composer Diary" (GameSpy)
Authored by Jamie Christopherson
Best Original Instrumental
" Main Menu"/ Golden Compass (Foundation 9 Entertainment)
Music by Jamie Christopherson, Cody Westheimer
Best Original Vocal – Choral
" Joan of Arc" / Bladestorm (Koei)
Music by Jamie Christopherson
Best Dialog
God of War II (SCEA)
Dialog Recording and Editorial by Soundelux DMG VO & Talent Services
Sound Design of the Year
Crysis (Crytek)
Design by Scott Gershin & Peter Zinda
Music of the Year
Golden Compass (Foundation 9 Entertainment)
Music by Jamie Christopherson, Cody Westheimer, Deddy Tzur
Audio of the Year
God of War II (SCEA)
Dialog Recording and Editorial by Soundelux DMG VO & Talent Services
Spike TV VGA 2007
Spike TV unveiled its list of nominees for its 2007 Video Game Awards ceremony. The winners were announced on December 9th. Soundelux DMG takes special pride in having had the privilege to have been a partner in the creation of such spectacular games and we honor our clients whom were nominated in several categories:
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed
Best Action Game
SCEA's God of War II
Best Action Game, Best Original Score
Crytek's Crysis
Best PC Game,
Best Graphics (WINNER), Breakthrough Technology
SCEA's Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Best Handheld Game
Midway's Stranglehold
Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show
Japan Game Awards 2007
We take great pride in celebrating the achievements of two of our clients, CAPCOM and Konami/Kojima Productions. These award winners received their accolades at the Japan Game Awards at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show in Japan. We are honored that we have been able to collaborate on such outstanding games with these magnificent clients. Our congratulations!
Grand Award:
- Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP)
Award for Excellence:
- Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus (PSP)
- Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP)
- Lost Planet Extreme Condition (Xbox 360)
Global Award Japanese Product:
- Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
For more information click here
BAFTA Video Game Awards
Representatives from the British Academy of
Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have announced
the organization’s nominations and winners for the 2007 British
Academy Video Games Awards. The winners were
announced at the gala awards ceremony, in London
on October 23rd during this year's London Games
Festival. We would like to congratulate and
offer our best wishes to our client Sony Computer
Entertainment America (SCEA) on their 2007
BAFTA Game Awards nominations in the following
categories: (winners
are in bold below)
Action and Adventure
God of War II (PS2)
Original Score
God of War II (PS2)
Lair (PS3)
Story and Character
God of War II (PS2)
Technical Achievement
God of War II (PS2)
Use of Audio
God of War II (PS2)
For more information
Team DMG burns rubber
After a grueling first quarter, the DMG team kicks back and kicks some ass at Malibu Speedzone. Click here to see some photos of the fun. Game companies take note: we challenge you to a duel!
Making Music for John Woo’s "Stranglehold"
Soundelux DMG composer Jamie Christopherson discusses his contribution to this adrenaline-pumping project in an interview with the Stranglehold music team.
Peter Zinda discusses Lost Planet
A Senior Producer and Director from Capcom travelled from Osaka to thank Soundelux DMG for a job well done on the game Lost Planet which has set new standards for audio in games.
The Voices of MGS 4
The voice of Raiden, Quinton Flynn and DMG VO Director Kris Zimmerman Salter join Ryan to discuss performing the lead role of MGS2 and Quinton’s new approach to his character in MGS4. Plus Kris clears up some rumors circulating about some of the MGS 4 actors click here.
Metal Gear Solid 4 Podcast
Click here to listen to VO Manager Chip Beaman and Kojima Productions' Ryan Payton talk about the latest Metal Gear Solid trailer, which debuted at Sony's E3 2007 press conference. Click here for a follow up conversation as they discuss Metal Gear's upcoming 20th Anniversary Party in Tokyo.
The Voices of MGS 4 Continued...
Click here to listen to voice actor Christopher Randolph who joins Kojima Productions Producer Ryan Payton to talk about his experience recording Otacon's voice in Metal Gear Solid 4.
IESD in Mix Magazine
Click here to read the Mix Magazine article about the launch of the Interactive Entertainment Sound Developers.
Tricks of the Trade
DMG founder and creative director Scott Gershin reveals his approach to sound design in this Electronic Musician article.
DMG Welcomes Composer Christopher Tin
Christopher Tin is an award winning composer whose career spans all major markets: film, television, video games, advertising, and the record industry. Click here for more info.
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