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GTA V's gangs voiced by real gang members

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S

shinobi602

Member
Shank if old.
Grand Theft Auto 5's gangs are voiced by real gang members, producer Lazlow Jones has revealed – including one who was released from prison the day before recording.

"When we record all these ambient characters that are in the world we go towards authenticity," Lazlow told US radio station WGN. "So in the game, part of the element of the story is that there's rival gangs.

"There's black gangs, there's Latino gangs, and we recruited a guy who gets gang members, like actual gang members, real gang members. I mean, El Salvadorian gang dudes with amazing tattoos and one of which literally had gotten out of prison the day before. And we brought these guys in to record the gang characters because you know, you don't want a goofy LA actor who went to a fancy school trying to be a hard gang member. There's nothing worse than that."

Lazlow believes the answer is to "find the real terrifying people and say, can you come in here please. "And they look at the lines and they say, 'I wouldn't say that. If I was upset at another gang, I wouldn't say that'. So... say what you would say. Authenticity, you know?

"There's a lot of sessions that we would have where we would just throw the script on the floor and be like, this thing we wrote is irrelevant, let's just work out something real."
Click to expand...
Via Videogamer
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Pretty cool.

Would still love Game reprising a role or something. I'd make him voice the villain in my game if I made one.
 
N

No_Style

Member
Win-win for Rockstar.

Audience: "These voices are terrible."
Rockstar: "Well... we pulled these people off the streets!"

Audience: "These voices are so authentic."
Rockstar: "Of course! We pulled these people off the streets!"
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Imagine being on the lowest Rockstar career rung (Junior Tester?) and finding out how much guys fresh out of prison or soon headed there were paid for their vital services.
 
P

PaleFolklore

Member
This feels really fucked up to me. I'd rather have people who were less authentic than know Rockstar is paying real criminals to do this. Oh well, I wasn't all that interested in GTA anyway.
 
F

fertygo

Member
Any competent VA can pull random gangster hissy-fit, no need to pay actual world scum.. And I bet they gonna just sounds funny too anyway.
 
A

Aomber

Member
PaleFolklore said:
This feels really fucked up to me. I'd rather have people who were less authentic than know Rockstar is paying real criminals to do this. Oh well, I wasn't all that interested in GTA anyway.
Click to expand...
This. I don't care who voice acts characters as long as they do a good job, shouldn't be criminals off the street.
 
S

Somnia

Member
SolidSnakex said:
Haven't movies been known to do the same thing when it comes to gang members?
Click to expand...

They have and still do. Training Day for example was able to shoot within areas of LA that no other camera crews were ever allowed before. No real gang members had talking roles, etc. but some of those shots with gang members on the roofs with guns, etc. were the real deal.

edit: Sometimes these things can change people (not the training day thing mind you), take Danny Trejo for example.
 
M

Mooreberg

is sharpening a shovel and digging a ditch
The hired a private investigator to get "Walk The Night" on GTA IV's soundtrack, so there are no real surprises when it comes to Rockstar's willingness to do things the way they want to.
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

Member
This is definitely kind of shitty...Is it possible they're reformed gang members or something? Paying criminals seems out of line.

Won't stop me from playing though. Morals askew I guess.
 
D

Dark Octave

Banned
Rockstar really knows what their doing. I have no idea who they used for San Andreas but being someone who grew up in Southern California in the 90s, they were pretty spot on with the words we used back then.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
I remember some people having problems with Garrone using real mafia guys, for Gomorrah.

I'm actually torn on the issue.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I kind of get using such people as consultants or whatever, to make the script feel authentic (although, how many would really know the difference if it was a bit off?), but actually using them as voice actors seems a bit weird.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
BadHand said:
Can gang members act though?

There's a reason this doesn't happen more often.
Click to expand...

It's funny how many fans of The Wire there are when they used regular ass people from the streets of Baltimore, many of whom actually live the life that was portrayed on screen and yet will still post things like this.
 
B

BadHand

Member
INDIGO_CYCLOPS said:
This is definitely kind of shitty...Is it possible they're reformed gang members or something? Paying criminals seems out of line.

Won't stop me from playing though. Morals askew I guess.
Click to expand...


So if a criminal does an honest days work, DONT pay them. got it.

BigDug13 said:
It's funny how many fans of The Wire there are when they used regular ass people from the streets of Baltimore, many of whom actually live the life that was portrayed on screen and yet will still post things like this.
Click to expand...

sorry I've never watched the wire. ill be very happy if they pull it off.
 
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