Photo by Minraed
SIFF returns again in September for our Fall season, but if you know SIFF then you know that we start the festivities well in advance. Be sure to read our SIFF Buzz Update inside this issue for all you need to know to start preparing for the big event.
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Clowning around with the Editors This month I want to make a point of thanking Jorgha Haq for stepping up big-time while I have been absent. Jorgha rounded up the usual team as well as some new contributors to make this issue not only HUGE but awesome too! I just wanted to be sure that everyone knew that I didn’t do all of this hard work. I am just putting it all together for publication with a few final touches. As always we aim to showcase the talents of our community and provide some tips and inspiration. Jorgha has been exploring some new features so be sure to have a good read through and let us know what you think. and Jorgha Haq
Contributing Editors and Freelancers Ajoya, ProfKranc and‌ Lunxi
Unobservantsims
Gus Rockman
TenderWolf
Tinkerbelch PeacemakerIC
Who doesn’t love a circus right? Well, not those who have a fear of clowns, or balloon animals and not those who get dizzy and sick on merry go rounds‌ so I guess not everyone loves the circus afterall, but we do hope you at least find some inspiration in these pages. We have seen some really cool circus themed machinimas during SIFF over the years, and usually they are the ones that we vote as interesting and unique so we thought a little clowing around this month might lead to more great ideas for SIFF.
Photo by Jorgha Haq
Join us for next month’s theme Alien Nation Get the details
HERE
By Sims Berrry
For many people the Circus conjures up scary scenes, mysterious tales and dark themes. Left by Jorgha Haq Above by NiniSims
One of our favourite machinimas with a dark circus theme is Cirque by Cloudwalker Sims from a few years back. Worth a watch if you have not seen it before.
https://youtu.be/xp0PA5vjdRk
Left by TenderWolf Above by SimsBerrry
ajoya-sims.tumblr.com/
Get it HERE on Tumblr
By LilSapphire
Continuing on with the morning routine, The Bears decided to have some fun at the clown's expense the second he wandered off from rest of the group
Ironic Death By Jorgha Haq
Everyone has that one day that they don't talk about. For The Three Bears that was the day the circus mime died... it started out as any other day as the circus workers met at the hot dog stand.
It didn't take long for everyone to realize that something had gone wrong...
The End
The mime had been practicing a new routine called "Ironic Death" and proceeded to demonstrate....
Practice was going very well for the duo of magician and acrobat
Photos by GemBobMarley
Until something went horribly wrong.
Maybe we need to take a break for a while
No Elephant By Sylent Whysper
Click HERE to get details
DOWNLOAD AT MODTHESIMS
The SIFF Buzz your w The BUZZ will have a sp regular weekly prod
weekly-ish go-to publication for all things SIFF pecial introduction issue around July 1st, then duction will resume through the months of August and September.
Off-Season Updates We are working hard behind the scenes to get everything in place for another great season. We are working through a few things that we had issues with in the past so we aim to have an improved system for special recognition awards and voice actor awards this season. We are dedicated to fairness and fun so we are always looking at ways to improve. On the topic of improvements, our SIFF Machinima Manual will be updated and ready on or before July 1st. You are welcome to start preparing and planning, but please be sure to review all of the rules and guidelines before you officially submit for Fall 2015.
Ÿ SIFF machinima must be a new production never seen before September 15th release date.
Rules Summary
We expect everyone to be sensible and respectable in terms of content - be sure to read our censorship policy clearly. (
Ÿ Your machinima must be rendered in the Sims game platform. Editing for effects is permitted, but MMD rendered machinima is NOT considered Sims machinima. Ÿ Submissions are all accepted. Everyone must submit using the proper format via email as per the rules document. Ÿ Submissions will be accepted starting July 1st and the deadline will be September 1st (this is the submission period, films are not due until September 15th) Ÿ There is plenty of fun for everyone so follow SIFF on our forums.
Watch Bella Goth: The Return on YouTube
Watch My Man on YouTube
Are you an active participant in the Sims 2 Community?!
We know that The Sims 2 community is small these days, but we also know that there is still a solid and creative group of people dedicated to this version of the Sims and we want to give them a place to showcase their machinima, stories and photography. If you are an active Sims 2-er and want to be an ambassador for your community then send us an email and we can talk about how to get you involved.
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Rules & Info Packet Battle of the Bands Forum Thread
Apocalyptic Dog Films on YouTube
BREE PAGE
CALLUM JAMES
An Interview With
TYSONATER Spring 2015 SIFF was the first season that the Sims Community got to vote on voice actor awards. In fact, it has been a rather recent thing that more attention has been paid to the voice actors. This is a welcome change. They deserve just as much attention as the machinima directors. Without them it would be hard to make machinima what it is. There would be no voice over series and movies. They really play a huge part in bringing things to life. Tysonater was voted, Spring 2015, as the Best Male Voice Actor for the roles he played in Unbreakable Fate, Foreboding Illusion,
and Tangled Wires. He was nice enough to take time out of his vacation and answer some questions for us.
Hello Tysonater, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for Simatography Magazine. How are you? Well I hope? Thank you, I'm not doing too bad, this week has been very up and down. I got to see my brother get married this week, but also found out that a much loved teacher of mine from school/college passed away on the same day. He was a huge factor in my continuing to follow the performance path in my life and we are sad to lose him. Inspiration/ reason behind the username? Haha alright the username. I use it everywhere, type it into Google and you'll probably find my YouTube, PSN, Facebook pages and so many other things. If you want to know what I'm up to I made it easy for you. There was never much thought behind it. It was a very off hand sort of creation. I was watching Terminator one time and thought it would be pretty cool to mix my surname 'Tyson' with that title, I mean it's Arnie, how can you be any cooler. I tried to use it as my YouTube name but it was taken. And that is why a lot of directors probably spell it wrong for me 'just like you did at the top of this interview sheet, I won't change it, I want you to see haha How did you get into voice acting? Well according to my YouTube channel my first video was uploaded 7 years ago. The first few are from some of my media projects in college. I truly enjoyed that subject and was quite proud of what me and my nerdy friends had made, the media course taught me all the basics of video editing which I make good use of to this day with my Pokemon parody series PTTAS, which you should all check out if you like Pokemon and have a dark sense of humour like me haha. But I was always an actor, I have been since primary school, or elementary I think
or all you Americans. As life goes on it gets harder to physically perform like I got the chance so many times to do in school and college. I did a bit of musical and straight theatre after and in-between which I'm glad for. But when it got harder to find the time to do, I moved into voice acting. And my first video was posted over four years ago. I just bought a mic and with a life soaked in performance, I had all I needed. As most voice actors will tell you, you can't just get a mic and be a voice actor. The best thing you can possibly be when you start is an actor period. What equipment do you use? I use a Samson CO1U USB Studio Condenser Mic, It wasn't too expensive and it's never let me down. Been using it the whole time. I use a simple mic floor stand, will probably need a desk stand when I move again. Pop filter is a must if you're going to professionally VO. In terms of software all you need is Audacity, easy to use and free. What was the reason you started voice acting? Well two people who inspired me to voice act are James Arnold Taylor, when playing the first Final Fantasy game with voice actors. I wanted to do that so badly. And Nolan North, not only is he in every video game, but his stand out video game performances really inspired me to follow this line of work. I had already started when I became aware of Troy Baker and his work just fanned the flames of passion I have for the art. So I guess video game probably had a huge impact on me doing this. If you look at my first VO video it's actually Final Fantasy quote video from one of the games that had no voice actors. That also spurned my major project that I'm still working on, the Final Fantasy IX FanDub that you can find on my channel. We are currently on episode 12 or 13, and I'm very proud of it so far. This project has thrown me in to even
more roles behind the scenes. I had to cast, direct, voice and then stitch it all together and it is great fun. What was your first role in a sims production? How did you land this role? First role in a sims production, now that is going way back. The earliest sims role I can remember was for something called 'Boy Next Door' which was made by my now friend Katgagenproductions. If I remember correctly I think I replaced someone else in the role, I can't remember why but that was the start of it. The first role since then that I think had a major impact on where I am today in the sims side of things was probably when I was cast as Gray in Desolation by TateyFuzz12(TeirÄ ăƒƒ) in episode 5. In terms of how I landed them I can only guess they liked my auditions. I wasn't handed anything when I started I worked hard to get to where I am today. How did you prepare for it? Were you nervous? Well I wasn't too nervous, I'd been doing this for a bit so I had gotten used to sending my work out to the wide world with the thought that people could love it or hate it or anything in between. In terms of preparation, as I usually do when I'm cast in a role I'll ask for age, character type and a voice type and go from there. As most people seem to not know and are very surprised to find out (which is a huge compliment) I am British. I voice almost all of my roles in an American accent because that's just usually what people want. I've done it so much it's actually easier than acting in my proper accent. I am always grateful to try out different accents with different projects. I currently play three roles in DNL Films 'Unbreakable Fate' Two Brits and one Australian, so that's pretty fun to record.
Are there any particular lessons you have learnt since you began voice acting?
Well when you've done it for as long as I have you certainly have your preferences for how you like to work. There is usually a routine. I get the role, I ask about the character, if I have just been given a role and didn't audition, the first time they hear the voice for the character is actually when I send the lines for their first appearance. Usually it's pretty spot on luckily for me, but then they do usually come to me because they know my voice and what kind of characters I can do. I usually record in one whole session, check the quality and send it off. The only things I really had to learn for this kind of work is more on the technical side, which I still don't know a whole lot about, like different file types and all the technical stuff. But I can record my lines and send them off on time (usually) and in great quality and that's all that really matters to me. I haven't had to learn much about actually voice acting since I have started because of my background in theatre. I approach a VO role as I would a stage or screen role. There are little and simple things I picked up like moving away from the mic when your shouting or getting close for whispers, things like that. Then once I've played around with all the effects in certain programs, you find out things, like how to make your voice sound like its behind a door or coming from a radio, those cool little tricks. When you are looking to get involved with more productions, what do you look for in a sims director or production? When I first started, as any new voice actor should, I auditioned for absolutely anything. Even if it looked god awful or something you totally weren't interested in like 'my little pony' (Sorry Bronies) and you just hope from the best. If they give you feedback then use it and keep on truckin'. These days I have more freedom to pick and choose within the sims genre of things. Not tootin' my own horn, but I believe I am well known within this community now and honestly I am really humbled by it. It's always nice to hear from people and asking you to voice for them because they're a fan basically. I tend to look for things that interest me more now, if someone comes along and asks me to do a role for them I have a tendency to just do it without
even looking at the project. If they come to me and are nice and spell my name right, wink wink, then I'm happy to oblige and help out. I get people that comment on my videos and message me just saying 'Voice in my series' or 'Audition for my series'. My response.. well no, you know? But yes I look for things that interest me, good looking series/movies are always nice to be involved in. I always love to work with a great cast, there is nothing worse than being in a project where every other actor is either god awful or have horrible mic quality, you just feel like you don't belong and it's not a nice feeling. I will also look for directors I have never worked with before as well as some of my favorites to go back to. It's always a good idea to see how many followers a director has, purely from an exposure point of view. If you can get into a series that more people watch, all the better for you. And if you're a good actor, all the better for the director and the fans too you know? What is your dream character to play? Dream character, hmm. I don't know about character but as you might know I would love to voice for video games, that's an ultimate dream for me right there. I like to have a variety of characters to play in my schedule. Who doesn't love playing the lead, a sexy hero. But also I'm a Brit, not only do I love voicing villains but I'm destined for it Haha But even different and quirky characters are always fun to do, I try to get as many versatile characters as I can. What has been your most challenging role? My most challenging role was actually something that hasn't been released yet and I am really really hoping it hasn't been cancelled or forgotten about. False Eyes by MintoratyCat that's the one. I was cast as a character called Urge. I have never put as much effort into a role as this one. I still have all my files saved just in case something goes wrong on her side. I keep emailing checking for updates on her progress which I don't do for many of the projects I'm involved in. You should all send her
a message telling her how much you want False Eyes haha Oooh you know I just checked her channel and you've probably all seen this but there is a preview of it sitting right there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPgWBqUpvp0 This character was really challenging because of who he is. If you've watched the video you'll see that it's dealing with some pretty F***ed up content. And Urge is the epicenter of it. I recorded most of the script at once and when I was finished I was physically drained and had to have a lay down. No other role has done that to me for a while. So I really hope you will get to see it, no one is more excited than me right now. Do you have a goal in relation to your voice acting? As an actor you always enjoy what you're doing no matter what. But I'm all grown up, the major goal in all honesty would be to get paid for what I do. I offer a service people need and people should pay for a service. I've gotten a few paid jobs here and there, but to make it a career would be amazing. As I've said the main arena I would like to work would be video games, it is the hardest work for a voice actor, but the payoff must be immense. What do you enjoy most about voice acting? The best thing has to just be the fun of it all. It's not a job, it rarely feels like one. It can sometimes when I have a backlog of things to record that I'm just not interested in, but you gotta be a professional haha I really just enjoy the chance to bring these stories to life. That is one of the reasons I am really grateful to you guys for giving us a little spotlight. I always do my best for a project whether I like it or not and it does take effort and skill to bring the words of a page to life. Then once its finished and you check out the comments to see what people think, rightly it is full of admiration for the director, the lighting, the look of the sims and the editing and all these things that are very important. Usually but not always there IS some kind of comment about
a voice actor or a voice cast, but usually it's an offhand comment, a one liner. And that kinda bums me out a little. Because if you look at these voiced series (Ones with good VAs anyway) and compare that to a subtitled series of the same visual quality. Which is more engaging? I'll let you decide but I know what I'd pick. So just a quick thank you to you guys for raising awareness of the work and effort we do put into making the series and films truly more enticing.
How do you get into character? It depends on the character really. Sometimes I just read the lines and it kind of just happens, like muscle memory, cruddy answer I know haha Some characters require much more physicality than others, these are the ones that will make you need to take a break. Look at Mark Hamill when he voices that Joker, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Creating the character physically even though only your voice will be captured is a must for the more four dimensional characters. I come back to Urge from the (hopefully) upcoming False Eyes. I put my whole body into that character, he has episodes and fits and a constantly changing personality. That kind of role is one you need to take your time with, you can't just phone in a character like that.
Is there anything in particular you like/ dislike about the sims community/ productions and why? The sims community and their productions. Hmm alrighty, on a whole at the face of it, it seems like a great community where everyone is friends. I know that sometimes people can be a little bitchy and snide comments are made, people are childish and silly things happen. I also know that in some instances the sims community can be very clicky, like your average high school movie. If you're cast in a long running series and you're t he new guy, sometimes it's great, everyone welcomes you and you have a great time. Sometimes it's literally like a stranger
walking into your Christmas dinner or something and no one likes you just cause you're the new guy. The comments on peoples productions I'm glad to say are usually very positive and it feels like a really positive and loving community, everyone just wants to watch everyone else's projects and I love that. From the perspective of a voice actor as I already said sometimes we don't get as much recognition as we deserve. Sometimes again in a long running series, when voice actors/characters are mentioned, its only one character/over (usually the main) mentioned over again in the comments and that really sucks. I do love the difference in the quality of projects and seeing people get better at their craft, be it an editor, director or voice actor. You'll see staggering sims moving around slowly and having huge gaps in speech for no reason and you'll see truly cinematic epicness from someone like my friend DNL Films, I mean look at it. But even the best looking sims series/film can be let down by bad voice actors or voice actors with bad quality audio. So to all you sims directors out there, just take some time and research actors for your next project. We can help or hinder, work with someone you trust to give you a great performance with great quality audio. So all in all it's a loving community, with random fights and bitching behind backs. But it mostly seems like a great place to be involved in, I can only hope it gets better and better. Are there any criticisms - constructive or negative, that you have received that particularly struck home for you? Motivate you or upset you? Off the top of my head I can't really think of anything sims related, as I said the community is generally very positive and supporting. You'll either get praise for your performance or no mention at all. I suppose if it's a role you put a lot of effort in and are really proud of, to not get any kind of comment can feel as bad as a straight up criticism but you sort of get used to it. Most of the praise for my work comes from when I get messages or comments asking me to voice for them which isn't a surprise if they want you to work for them haha
If you put in a great performance the directors will often let you know and that's always nice to hear. In terms of criticisms it's usually only something small and non offensive from a director just asking you to try a different voice or redo a line this way or that way and such. So in all I think I've been pretty lucky with the response to my work and am ultimately really happy if anyone enjoys something I've done whether they express it or Not.
Some say voice actors could better distribute their time to other productions than sims machinimas. Would you agree with this? Why? I think right off the bat everyone needs to know and understand that paid work will always take priority over something else. Whether it be it for someone with 10 subs or 10,000, that's just a reality of life. I love working with some of my sims directors and some of the stuff they write is honestly really good and I love voicing a great script or character. In terms of watching it back, as a voice actor I do not only want to voice in sims productions. I want to have variety in my body of work. So I make my own series, I voice in audio only things, sims projects, animated projects, fandubs. Whatever I can get my hands on that seems interesting I will do. But does one medium, say a fandub take priority over sims projects, I wouldn't necessarily say so. Could always depend on the fandub, is it your most favourite game of all time? Then it might. It also depends on how much work you have on your plate at the time. I personally try to get everything done on time when I can no matter who you are. If you are a new voice actor get as much experience as you can. When you get to where I am and you have quite a fair bit to record, sure you might have to manage your time better, but I wouldn't say priority is a factor. I think sims machinimas can be just as good as any other video game machinimas or other kinds of project, they all have their pros and cons. If you want to grow as a voice actor and learn, the sims community is as good a place to start as any.
Would you agree there is a lack of voice actors in the sims community? If so, do you think this gives them an unfair advantage over voice actress'? I always hear that there is a lack of male voice actors. I don't know whether that's just a numbers thing or if it's a quality thing. There may only be a handful of good male voice over actors, but the fact that they are good can be used to an advantage for you. Multiple roles, different accents and character types can be done by one actor. That's always an option for you if you find you're lacking male voices. Of course there is only so many roles you can give them in one show or movie, but just think about that instead of stressing out or cancelling a show in a panic. In terms of the female voice over actresses, wow, there are a lot haha They totally outnumber us guys, some of them are truly great though, so I guess it's not that bad for you directors. I do notice every time I see a new casting call every lead is usually a female and then the next four or five are female and you're thinking 'you want me to audition for a girl or something?' Then a guy role will eventually pop up haha I personally would love to see some more male leads out there, but that's just me Wink Wink I do think that because of the ratio of male VAs to female, that a guy has a better chance of getting a role, but again it's that quality issue. There may be fewer guy voice actors, but not everyone is experienced or has good quality audio. It's just something you'll have to think about. Even with the vast array of female VAs I see, I do see a lot of them getting the lead all the time, is that because they are great or is it typecasting or is it directors just sticking with what they know? I couldn't tell you. I'm all for giving everyone a chance to shine, but if I'm making a project, I want the best project I can make and that includes the best voice over actors. So I see both sides.
Sims production you would recommend to readers? (One that you aren't involved in).
Unfortunately I don't watch a lot of sims productions that I'm not in purely because of time and life getting in the way. So I cannot really recommend specific projects that I'm not in. I can however happily recommend directors I have worked with or still work with because I know their content, whether I'm in it or not, I know they make great work. The first two have to be TateyFuzz12(TeirÄ ăƒƒ) and TwistTVShow. These two wonderful ladies were my first real fans when I started to work for them and they make awesome content. Of course I have to mention DNL films, if you're interested in beautiful worlds and interesting stories, he's your guy. StarstoShineX is also a director I need to mention. I know she has a lot of passion for her projects and always does the best she can for her fans, of which there are a lot haha If you could go back and re-record any lines for a production, which would it be? Why? Surely the earlier work could be better right? haha Well there s always a feeling of not knowing how your lines will turn out when the whole thing is put together. Unfortunately voice actors never really act together, so we can't play off each other and have the correct inflection with a line when we respond to someone else's. That can sometimes leave the audio feeling a bit odd, a questionable inflection where there shouldn't be one for example. I always love to record an episode with other actors if I can because it just produces a better final product. In terms of a particular role I can't think of one off the top of my head but I know I am guilty of sometimes phoning a script in, usually just because I have a lot to record and I'm not proud of that at all. It's usually with a smaller role but that's no excuse really. I always try to do my best and I hope that comes through in what you see from me. If I rerecord lines before the project is complete its usually for something like pronunciations some of you directors love your weird names haha it's a lot easier to go back and rerecord lines for something I'm making because I can put it all together and see and hear it and know what needs to change and I can just do that right away and make a better final product.
If you had any advise for actors/ actresses looking to break into the Sims Voice Over scene? Where to look? What to do to prepare for roles? First thing about voice acting is that you need to know how to act, you can't just read the lines off a page, it sounds horrific and I have seen some actors do that in sims productions and it's a real shame. If you know how to act and you've done it for a while (the longer the better) then great you can get some recording equipment. If you're on a budget, then don't go insane with gear, you can get a decent mic for cheap. My mic was around ÂŁ70 when I bought it and I'm still using it, so it's not all about the price. Don't forget to get a pop filter though. Once you have your gear just audition for everything you see, you may only be an extra, take that role and own it. Don't be shy when recording, the hardest parts for me about recording are screams and being loud. Only because I don't have my own ÂŁ100000 sound booth, you will find challenges along the way and you will learn from those. The best advice is to just be persistent and consistent. Keep auditioning, keep voicing if you are cast in a long series and gain your experience. Don't forget to make friends along the way, not just for networking but it's always great to have friends in the community. Last piece of advice for when you get more well known, be humble and grateful to the people that follow you. No one likes an arrogant voice actor, I go out of my way to NOT cast people who think they are better than everyone else. I by no means think I'm a great voice actor and I probably never will, that's just how I've been brought up. If people love a performance and to them I'm one of the best in the community I cannot love you enough for thinking so. But I'm just a madman with a mic.
If you could go back and give advice to yourself at the beginning of voice acting, what would you say? Very interesting question. I'm happy to say I don't think I've made too many mistakes on this journey.
Certainly starting out it's a good idea to constantly check for casting videos, you can miss quite a few interesting or high profile casting calls in just a few weeks. Also if you want to grow as a voice actor, you don't have to stick to youtube or sims, look for voice acting communities and sites. Behind the voice actors is a great site to sign up to. Just keep your options open and get your finger in as many pies as possible early on. The s ooner you have a large body of work the sooner more interesting opportunities will open up for you. Are there any upcoming productions we can look forward to see you in? Well hopefully False Eyes haha In terms of sims my character is still alive in Desolation by TateyFuzz12(TeirÄ ăƒƒ) I am also three characters in DNL Films 'Unbreakable Fate' I'm looking at my recording backlog right now and I have 5 or 6 people waiting on me haha So you can expect to see me in Untamed by Selena Cloud, Inside by miboy1991, Undeadly Thirst by Hazelrie, Abandoned by Kasey Joy and those are just what I haven't recorded for yet Haha The best thing to do is keep an eye on the playlist on my channel titled 'Voice Over Resume' A lot of these are long running series. If you're looking for something other than sims projects then first check my channel, I do monologues, creepy pastas, and fandubs of random scenes a long side my long running Final Fantasy IX FanDub. For any pokemon fans with a dark sense of humour like mine please do subscribe to the projects channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc0FQgw4fM-m31qEmuw7Fhw It won't be long until we start releasing season 1 to the public. This is one of my favourite projects and I hope you like it too. Thank you Tysonater :) (and we promise to try really hard to spell your name right) You're very welcome.
We have some awesome submissions so far so come and join us with yours!
From top to bottom Sylent Whysper Sims Berrry Jorgha Haq
Things have slowed down in the 100 themes challenge, but we have a couple of contenders who are still going strong. This issue we have photos from Sylent Whysper, the challenge creator - and TenderWolf. Right- #47 Neighbour Cat: “who is this girl who keeps invading my space in the scrap yard?� By Sylent Whysper
Join us with your photos HERE
# 94 - The Visitor A royal from an alien planet is living in Willow Creek By Sylent Whysper
# 47 - New Beginnings A chance meeting sparks a new friendship
# 52 - Fight By Sylent Whysper
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#13 - W Jack and Rose
#97 Du Elena and Kath Vampire
#75 - Do Ana and Chri Shades #23 -
By Tend
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Water e from Titianic
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# 76 - Garden of Mystery By TenderWolf
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