Voice Actors: Expand Your Comfort Zone!

We all have our happy places when it comes to acting. Some of us revel in playing the hero or heroine, while others feel perfectly at home twirling our mustaches as the villain. Either way, it’s good to know where your comfort zone is and where you enjoy playing. It pays to know your strengths so you can take advantage of them and carve out a niche for yourself in the area you may be best suited to. But it’s also good to be aware of your strengths so that you can take time to work on the areas you aren’t as skilled in. In this way, you expand your repertoire and make yourself a more versatile, interesting, and employable actor.

It’s certainly not our intent to detract from the idea of doing one specific thing very well. That’s extremely important. It’s just that, if that one thing goes out of style, you want to have something to fall back on. And just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you can’t learn to do other things equally well. For example, our good friend, the otherworldly talented actor Dee Bradley Baker, is known far and wide for his creature voices, monster babble, and alien squawking, and that’s what people tend to hire him for. But when called upon to do so, he also turns in a very moving, believable, human performance.

The best actors push their personal boundaries and continue to grow throughout the life of their entire careers; filling them up with memorable, interesting, and bold characters. If you feel you’re having a hard time pushing your boundaries on your own, get into a class where it will be someone else’s job to give you a friendly shove in the right direction. Classes can hold you accountable for your work in a way you often can’t do on your own.

Use your auditions as a place where you always push your boundaries and expand your comfort zone a little. Open yourself up to all possibilities. Widen the circle you play in.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Creating a Creating a Character – the Acting Part of Voice Acting

There are several things that we think you should know before you start auditioning. One of these things is the importance of creating a strong character. We’ve noticed that the people who really succeed in this business are generally good actors first, good voice-over actors second. Strangely enough, when juggling all the balls of voice-over, one of the easiest to drop is the acting. Acting is where the most fun is, so who wants to drop that ball?

Creating a character is so much more than saying the words in the right order, or in a unique and interesting way. Creating a character is really about using your imagination to create the universe the character lives in, and then saying “yes, and,” to that universe. This yes, and, theory pops up a lot in improvisational comedy (improv) and theatre classes, so you may have heard it bandied about before now.

Put simply, one of the fundamental keys to good improv (and good acting in general) is agreeing to the scenario (yes) and then adding something (and) to take it to the next level. The more you say “no, but,” the harder it is to get to where you’re going, and the less interesting it’ll be for everyone involved. You’ll find that by your being specific about the world your character lives in, the type of character that would reside in that world quickly becomes clear to you. The character’s personality you end up creating this way will be real and honest, no matter how outlandish and wild the character’s reality might be.

Who’s to say that a talking sponge can’t have friends under the sea and wear geometrically formed pants? We bet a lot of people said “no, but” to this idea once upon a time, but the success of that show goes on and on, because the right people said, “yes, and … ”

Bringing a character to life through your own creativity, truth, and ability is what being an actor is all about. You get to live different lives and have experiences totally foreign to your own. Showing how much you love this part (by doing it) will become invaluable not only once you’ve got the job, but it’s going to help you get cast. Being able to create an interesting character at an audition shows that you’ll be able to create an interesting character if hired.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Megaton May with Tara & Yuri

Check out our latest newsletter, below. There's a sign up button over on your right if you'd like to receive it!

 

Click here to read as a pdf: Megaton May newsletter, with Tara and Yuri, May, 2014

We are well into spring with May in full bloom. I hope you are finding love (of yourself, of life, of others) and generally enjoying the beautiful weather. You can even use hypnosis to help move you toward a more happy life! I have been fortunate to book several commercials, so let me know if I appear on a screen near you. Yuri has had a wonderful run of some new VO projects and been hard at work writing (he even won a few awards) and is working on a couple of scripts and we are headed to OZ on a summer convention adventure! May your May be bountiful and fun!

Tara :) (&Yuri)

Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt: Raise Your Voice (Acting)!

 

Click here to read more: Newsletter: MegatonMay with Tara & Yuri, May 2014

 

Voice Actors: Do You Need a Web Site?

Nowadays a Web presence is practically essential for anyone trying to market themselves in this business. It serves as your calling card and news feed, letting people know what you’re up to. As we’ve mentioned, the Web provides a way for new people to find you, and it’s a fantastic place to post your demo reel for quick and easy access by potential employers.

Once you have a Web site set up, you can make a business card that includes your Web address (preferably an address that’s your name, like ArchibaldTuttle.com or TaraPlatt.com, although sometimes, if that’s not an option, you’ll have to get creative: ArchibaldTuttleVO.com or YuriLowenthalIsAVoiceActor.com). Then, whenever you meet people in the VO business, you can give them your card: suddenly all your info is at their fingertips.

Even the most basic Web site should include your name, general contact info (phone number, e-mail, etc.) and/or your representation contact info. In addition it might also include a list of credits and/or upcoming work, and maybe a clip or a demo reel of your voice.

Many actors choose not to have images of themselves on their Web sites if the site is for voice-over only, as one of the great things about voice-over is that it isn’t looks-based (remember our note about packaging). Instead of displaying your photo, you can put up images that showcase either the work you’ve done or the qualities or essence your voice evokes.

Your Web site may feature several different things ranging from your professional acting experience to your personal life. If so, make sure that it’s as easy to navigate to your VO info as possible, so that potential employers don’t get caught up in photos of your latest class reunion when all they’re trying to do is listen to your VO demo. If possible, you might want to have a separate site for your personal stuff so that professionals visiting your VO site don’t see anything that might adversely affect their judgment of you: those photos may be funny to you and your friends, but a casting director might not get the joke.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money, nor do you need to know html programming to set up a decent, effective Web site that you’ll be able to update yourself. Shop around, ask around, and find a Web hosting company that works for you. Check out other actors’ sites, and if you like what you see, shoot some of them an e-mail and ask who’s hosting their Web sites and who did the design (sometimes you’ll find that information at the bottom of the Web page). There are even companies that let you design your own free Web page, and that can help when you’re trying to get started on the cheap. In any case, creating a page is something you can do on your own. And a Web site is a resource that could prove very important. So full steam ahead!

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

10 Common Voice Actor Mistakes

Many thanks to Dave “Courvo” Courvoisier for this guest blog!

From Dave’s upcoming book, “You Need More Than a Good Voice to Do Voice Overs,” available soon!

Just as important as knowing WHAT to do in the VO business, is knowing what NOT to do! Being aware of the biggest classic mistakes ahead of time can really help you avoid them.

Some of these admonitions may seem obvious and common-sensical, others are basic concepts you can adapt to your style and business plan.

Do yourself a favor, print this out and post it in a place where you’ll see it often.

By-no-means-complete, but essential list of VO mistakes:

1) Being undecided about your rate. Do your research; many of us charge too little for our services. Or we are apologetic, defensive, blustering… Read the chapters on rates, a little further on in this book. There I lay out my opinions and experience in this area, and give lots of links to other experts’ suggestions as well! Come prepared to a conversation about rates with the client!

2) Believing all you need is an agent and you are in the black! Of course, a good agent is invaluable in obtaining auditions for you that you’d not get yourself, but they will never be your only source of sessions. Look for contacts, keep networking, marketing online and in person, and DO that cold-calling you’ve been putting off. Don’t rely solely on your agent.

3) Making your voice over demo when you are not yet ready. You need practice, you need coaching, you need to know your voice and what it can do. In short, you need to be really prepared. If you pay for that demo too soon, it can be wasted money. And no demo is forever. Be ready to go through the process as often as the market demands.

4) Not getting help with that first demo when you ARE ready! This is really a place for leaving it to the pros. You may think “How hard can it be?” to plop down your voice with your own new equipment. This is a common mistake, but believe me, studios bring experience, skill, and know-how to the process. You can’t be objective enough about your own demo, and you only get one shot at a first listen. Make it the best it can be!

5) Failing to get that agreement in writing. It is always vital to get something in writing. Memories of discussions and “agreements” can so easily change over time, with the potential to lead to uncomfortable and unnecessary conflicts. Plenty of voice actors don’t do this, but most clients don’t blink when you request it.

6) Forgetting to practice – ALOUD – every day! It is absolutely vital to read aloud every day; you can get rusty in a just a few days without this exercise. Do your voice exercises, repeat your tongue twisters, exercise your face, and oh, yes, READ ALOUD EVERY DAY!!

7) Not using TV and radio as an instant, powerful mechanism for practice, and for knowing what is current and popular, and in demand. You must know what is playing on the air at any given time! So listen and learn from today’s commercials, listen to narration on documentaries and reality shows. Stay current.

8) Forgetting the customer’s directives! Within the expertise that you bring to any project, the client’s wishes still need to remain at the top of the to-do list. This is a service industry. Do it their way, and if you think you can do better… make that your 2^nd or 3^rd take.

9) Being difficult to work with. This is an extension of number 8, above. Be considerate and easy to work with. Listen to the requests of the customer and the engineer, don’t be pushy. Follow up in a timely manner. Be in time, and on time. Never be arrogant. Don’t share info about the job with anyone else unless the client says it’s OK. They may welcome the extra PR, but they may not want anyone to know.

10) Expecting instant success. Don’t lose patience with this process. Be persistent, and be prepared to reach out time and again. Stay on the radar of prospects. Take more classes, buy more coaching, network endlessly... This is a business for tortoises, not hares.

THIS GUEST BLOG IS BY: Dave “Courvo” Courvoisier

Dave is a multiple Emmy-Award-winning TV News Anchor with more than 30 years experience in the biz. He currently anchors 3 newscasts daily at the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, NV, KLAS-TV (http://www.8newsnow.com)

But Dave always thought he had at least one more good thing in him, and that thing is Voice Acting.

Now with eight years of voicing experience under his belt, Dave has clients that range from Audiobook publishers to E-Learning to Documentaries and Commercial spots. He’s studied with some of the best coaches in the business, and enjoys promoting the community of Voice Actors as a member of the executive board of World-Voices Organization.

Along the way, Dave embraced Social Media as his marketing plan, and THAT lead to even more demand for his services to explain how to use social networks in raising one’s profile on the internet. He has spoken at many business conferences and conducted a number of webinars on the subject of social media marketing.

Dave’s Website: http://courvo.com/
Dave’s Blog: http://www.courvo.biz/
Dave’s Website focusing on one of his strong niches: Audio Book Narrator: http://www.courvo.net/

Thanks again, Dave!

Voice Over Artists: Self-Promotion 101

Self-promotion can be hard for some people. It takes work. And how many times did your grandma say, “People don’t want to hear you talk about yourself!” We’re taught that tooting our own horn is prideful and unattractive. But in this business, you have to find as many ways as possible to let people know how great you are and why they should be hiring you. And as we said before, promoting you is not part of your agent’s job. What if you don’t even have an agent? What can you do on your own? Well, a lot, actually.

We’ll talk about some of the things you can do to promote yourself, but there are plenty more ideas beyond what we’ll go into. The more creative you get, the more effective your promotion will be. So put your fun-hat on and get cranking on some ideas.

Once you’ve determined what your sound is and decided where you think you might fit best in the VO market, you’re done with the hard part. Use this info to promote yourself and move in the direction you want.

Tip: Don’t worry if you don’t have an agent yet: you’ll always be your own best promoter. So start selling yourself now.

What to Do with Your Voice Over Demo

So what do you do with your masterpiece? The demo you spent all that love, time, energy, and dough on? You get it out there and get it working for you. It’s time to try to get a return on your investment.

Do a mailing to your target agents or managers, and don’t stop there. Do a little research, and target production studios, ad agencies, producers, casting agents, and directors who work on the kind of projects that you’d like to be working on. Once again, feel free to check out the Resources section of this book to get more direction about where you can start your search.

Post your reel on line; it’s easy these days. Make it accessible on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and any other online social networking site, so that if someone wants to hear it, they can find it easily. Build your own Web site and host your demo there. The more online places your demo is featured and associated with your name, the easier it is for somebody to find it by using a search engine like Google.

Use whatever method you can think of to get your demo into the hands of the people who could hire you (or at least into the hands of someone who can introduce you to some of those people). There is no right or wrong way to do this, but there is a fine line between catchy and gimmicky – much like the line between aggressively pursuing and stalking. So do be respectful about putting yourself in people’s faces.

We’ve found that the difference between catchy and gimmicky can be crystallized in this comparison: a personalized card with a funny note included with your demo is fine; a glitter-filled envelope that explodes all over an agent’s desk when he or she opens it will get you remembered, but for all the wrong reasons …

A short note on packaging: except for those times when you simply e-mail your demo as an MP3, you’ll need some sort of packaging for it. You’ll want it to look nice and professional. Feel free to use your creativity in putting your package together, but one word of warning: while it may seem to be a good idea to put a picture of you somewhere on that CD case, listen when we say that there are better options. Putting your face on your demo automatically typecasts you in the eyes of the person looking at it. As a voice actor you want a potential employer to think that you can be anything and anyone.

If agents have a specific image of you in their heads, it’ll be harder for them to consider you as anything other than what you look like. We’ve been telling you how important it is to use your imagination, right? Well, let the agents use their imaginations this time.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

How to Succeed as a Voice Over Actor: Great Article from PBS

We found a terrific article from PBS that we'd love to share, "How to Succeed as a Voiceover Artist in the Digital Age."

It offers good suggestions for getting started, ideas on home and portable studios, attending voiceover conferences, continued training, and more. Here is a short excerpt, and click on the link to read the rest!

"...voiceover, like with other entertainment industries, has moved into digital. While voiceover work has existed for decades, new technologies have enabled voiceover actors to record with more quality and to do so virtually anywhere they happen to be.

Most of us probably take many voiceovers for granted: telephony (such as voice prompts and on-hold messages); animation dialogue; videogame voices; audiobook readings; corporate and training video work; dubbing work; e-learning instruction; webinar speaking; documentary film narration; radio, podcast, promo, trailer (the famous Don LaFontaine) narration, and television voicing.

This growing need for voiceover work, along with the opportunities to work from anywhere, make this profession a great and burgeoning business for voice actors."

Read the entire PBS article entitled "How to Succeed as a Voiceover Artist in the Digital Age"

Voice Over Actors: How to Stock Your Pantry

All the actors we know have their own tricks and tips for keeping their voices healthy – because if you lose your voice, there’s no real way around it.

Some of our favorite tools for soothing a sore throat or tired voice, or getting your voice prepped for an upcoming session, include all natural black licorice, non-caffeinated hot tea, honey (especially Manuka honey, an anti-bacterial, medicinal honey from New Zealand which you’ll have to go to a health store to find), primrose or fish oil capsules, lots of water, fresh pineapple or pineapple juice.

Also, we eat a lot of ginger and garlic which are said to have natural antibiotic properties; and while that might not directly affect our voices, it seems to keep us healthy. Staying healthy is important because we’ve found that when we get sick, our voices are the first things to go. We’ve also found that zinc helps nip a cold in the bud, or at least loosen its grip on us. You may want to keep these things around so you’ll have them when you need them.

You may find other things that are good for you. Great, add them to the list. Pay attention to what makes your voice feel good and what makes it feel bad.

Many people will tell you that before recording you should avoid milk products at all costs because it makes your voice thick and phlegmy, and in most instances they’re right. But sometimes we actually like to have a little dairy if our voices are particularly scratchy or raw because it tends to coat our vocal cords a bit. Obviously (because we’ve said it so many times), drink as much water as you can without starting to feel sloshy. Not just before a session, but as often as possible. Staying hydrated will help a lot more than just your vocal health.

Black licorice (natural, not candy) is said to have anti-inflammatory properties which can soothe and slightly numb the vocal area, so it can be nice after a grueling session. But many people don’t like the sharp taste. Yuri used to hate it, but after realizing how positively it affects his voice when it’s scratchy, he’s come not only to tolerate it, but maybe even like it. Maybe. Just a little.

Many types of cough drops can also be soothing. And while lemon and menthol (not necessarily together) are appreciated by some as a remedy, see how they affect you because some people actually find that the harsh properties of both lemon and menthol can aggravate a throat irritation.

Hot, non-caffeinated tea is nice for multiple reasons: it is warm, which keeps your voice loose and relaxed; and it keeps your throat moist. Honey, which can be mixed into tea or taken separately by the spoonful, has soothing and anti-bacterial properties.

Primrose or fish oil capsules, when ingested, are said to help strengthen your vocal cords and keep them lubricated. However, be sure to check the dosage: eating too many at a time could have … runny results. As with many types of natural cures, there is no scientific evidence proving that these oils will do something for the voice specifically, but the folks we know who use them seem pretty happy with their results.

Using fresh pineapple and pineapple juice as a natural antitheir -inflammatory is a tip that was given to us by a friend who has starred in many a Broadway musical. Singers often drink it or munch on it before, during, or after a show to keep the swelling in their vocal cords down when voices are tired from overuse. Hey, good enough for Broadway is good enough for us; and besides, pineapple tastes good.

Some folks will tell you that besides green apples for combating smackiness, green apple-flavored hard candies or even a sip of soda will help. We prefer the apple since it’s easier on the teeth and healthier in general. But once again, check with your body before you make your final selection: it usually knows best. Since you really just need the juice of the green apple, it’s too bad they don’t sell green apple juice. We’d buy it.

Things that we’re pretty confident you should avoid to keep your voice as healthy as it can be are smoke and caffeine. Hey, like we said before, we’re not your mom, your teacher, or the boss of you; but smoking and being around smoke seems like an obvious no-no, as smoke dries out your vocal cords and can change your voice, over time. Not to mention the effects of smoking on your lungs, mouth, etc. (we’re sure you know this already). Once again, it is very much a personal choice. We know both highly successful voice actors who are regular smokers and highly successful voice actors who never smoke.

Caffeine has a very similar side-effect to smoke: drying out your voice and often creating more strain on it when you use it. So think twice before swigging that morning cuppa joe on the way to your VO session, tasty though it may be. Or at least consider decaf.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

A fun interview Tara did on VO acting and more!

Animation Fascination

Tara’s Interview:

A fun interview Tara did on VO acting and more :) Enjoy!

Listen Now!!Ready for a bad pun? No? Well here it is anyway...On the "Platt"-er for this episode is our awesome guest, the mile-a-minute voice actress, Tara Platt (Naruto, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien)....

READ MORE : Tara’s Interview:

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Voice Over Essential Tip: Know Your Voice!

This is something that can’t be said enough: you must know your own voice. No matter how long you’ve been living with your voice and how well you think you know it, you’re about to start doing things with it that you’ve probably never done before. So take the time to get friendly with your beautiful and unique pipes. You’ll learn to recognize your limits and your strengths.

Believe it or not, if you don’t know your voice, sometimes booking the job is the worst thing you could do! For example, let’s say you really push your voice way out of your comfort zone in the audition, and you book the job. Well, that’s great, you got the job! But now you have to do that voice (maybe for 52 episodes!), and if you’ve made a choice that your vocal apparatus can’t keep up with (say, a deep gravelly voice that you can only maintain for a few minutes before you get hoarse or keel over in pain), then you’ll end up embarrassed because you’ll have to back out of the project, and the producers will have to find someone else.

In that case, everyone loses, and no matter how many times you apologize, everyone will remember what a snafu you caused. We’re gonna bet most voice actors have a story like this; and you only need one such experience – where you risk losing your voice (and your pride) – to drive home the importance of knowing your own limits.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t push yourself or that it isn’t possible to expand your range. That’s the fun part! But the key here is staying healthy. Start by becoming conscious of when you are speaking on your voice or off your voice. Just as our fingerprints are unique to each of us, our vocal folds vibrate to create specific vocal patterns which make up our personal and unique vocal signature. Practice creating interesting and specific characters with the voice you have, and not the voice you wish you had.

Sure, it’s possible to imitate someone who has a similar sound or register, but ultimately we are each built differently, and our vocal quality is one more example of this. (You really are unique, just like your mom told you.)

You can expand your healthy voice range just as you would build muscles at the gym – by working out. Taking a singing class or voice class can often provide you with the exercises you need to broaden your range.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

 

How can Alexander Technique Help You as a Voice Over Actor?

We Voice Over actors use all kinds of techniques to strengthen our skills and keep ourselves in great health and shape: healthy eating, rest, voice coaching, acting lessons, improv practice, tongue twisters, breathing exercises, warm up exercises, face and mouth exercises - anything we can do to make us the best we can be!

Consider trying The Alexander Technique. Research via clinical studies has shown that it can substantially improve posture, stress, breathing, and reduce chronic pain. Since the voice is an inseparable function of the body, all methods of moving and breathing correctly can help you in the art and skill of voice over.

As a student for many years of various voice-over and movement techniques, Tara can't recommend enough getting in touch with your voice, breath, and body thru a class and a teacher that you are passionate about. If you are interested in Alexander Technique there is a fabulous database to help you find a certified teacher near you:

www.alexandertechnique.com/teacher/northamerica/

 You can check out The Alexander Technique and read further here as well:

What is the Alexander Technique?
What are the Benefits of Lessons or Classes?

"The Alexander technique is a way of learning how you can get rid of harmful tension in your body." Although certainly not a full definition of the Alexander Technique, this is a good start.*

"The Alexander Technique is a way of learning to move mindfully through life.

"The Alexander Technique is a method that works to change (movement) habits in our everyday activities.

"The Alexander Technique is an intelligent way to solve body problems."
- So begins an excellent article-length introduction to the Technique.
Read this article.
 

Voice Over in the Studio: The Proper Distance from the Mic

 

Microphone technique

VO actors: The Proper Distance from the Mic

The microphone is very sensitive, so where should you stand in relation to it? The engineer might ask you to get a little closer or stand a little farther back, but here's a good place to start: open up your hand, palm up. Now, close just your three middle fingers (the index, middle finger, and ring finger). You're left with only your pinky finger and thumb extended, much like the popular surfing Hang ten sign or, if you hold your hand up to your ear, the international Call me! sign. The distance from the tip of your pinky to the tip of your thumb is about the distance your mouth should be from the mic. You can also put two fists on top of each other to measure roughly the same distance.

An exception to this mic distance rule is when you're working with a loop group doing ADR and walla. In that case, you'll be working in a larger room, moving around a lot with a group of people, and your distance from the mic will be much farther.

Now, obviously, these rules may change depending on the type of sound you're trying to create. For example, if you're going for a whispered, or soft, sultry quality, you may wish to get a little closer in on the mic. For yelling and screaming you will probably want to back off so as not to blow out the engineer and whoever else may be in the studio.

When you speak, the sound comes out in a cone shape; so while a mic will generally pick you up no matter where you are in the booth, you'll always get your best sound if you're standing directly in front of it. And once you're in position, pay attention to where you are and how that feels. It'll be important for you to maintain a pretty consistent position throughout your session so that the recording quality matches from line to line and session to session.

How much freedom do you have to move around? The answer is … some. You shouldn’t be worried about keeping your head stock-still. You have some play: about 15-20° to the right and to the left. The same goes for up and down. There’s a stand in the booth to hold your script, so feel free to tilt your face down to read from it. The mic can take it, and so can the engineer.

You definitely don’t have to memorize each line and then look up to deliver it, although some people might do this, particularly if they’re looking up to sync with mouth movements on a screen. The trick is to do the looking with just your eyes, and not change the relationship of your mouth to the mic in the middle of a take. Moving your head will make a difference to how the recording sounds. So, before you say the line, decide how you want to place your face in relation to the mic.

Movement only begins to cause problems in two cases:

1. when the movement itself gets noisy, either due to your clothing/shoes or your flailing about and knocking into things

2. when your movement carries you too far from the mic or too close to the mic

Either of these cases can cause you to have to do another take of the line because there are limits to what even the engineer can compensate for.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Recommendation for voice over actors: the work of Kirsten Linklater

Voice coaching and training: Kirsten Linklater

For those of you unfamiliar with renowned voice training coach, teacher, and writer Kirstin Linklater, we suggest you read her work and implement her methods.

Ms. Linklater speaks of voice training as a method of freeing the natural voice. Many voice over artists and film and theater actors use her techniques.

This talented women is also a dialect coach and theater director. She is currently at Columbia University as the Head of Acting in the Theater Department.

Also, Linklater's book, Freeing the Natural Voice, is a wonderful tool for the actor. Learning to command your natural voice is a crucial step toward success. We highly recommend reading her work and implementing her techniques.

Check out her website!

“The best actors, and perhaps this can be said for the best performing artists in general (musicians, dancers, singers), are relaxed in performance. That is, they have no extraneous tension. Their muscles are ready to receive the impulses necessary to fulfill action and will ripple with energies in the service of particular stimuli…
In order to develop a voice that will create maximum effect with minimum effort and therefore be truthful, actors must exercise the vocal musculature in a way that conditions the voice to respond to imaginative and emotional stimulus.”
Pg. 39, Freeing the Natural Voice, 2006, Kristin Linklater

Relax. It’s Not Just about You

The best way to learn to audition is not by auditioning. That's the second-best way. The best way is by spending some time in casting. Through the process of casting, I learned how stressful and difficult casting can be, and I can relate to and identify with the casting directors and their needs in a much deeper way. As a talent, that awareness gets me out of my own head and my own need, and need is casting director repellent. In addition, I learned how many, and sometimes most, of the determining factors in casting a role have nothing to do with the quality of my audition. I can let go and have fun doing what I do best; and when I let go, I can book.

- Zach Hanks, Actor, Director

Voice Over in the Studio: Taking Direction

Okay. So you got the audition. You showed up, waited in a crowded room with a bunch of other actors, and it’s finally your turn. You’re in the booth, the engineer signals that he or she’s recording, and the director says, Start. (Each director will, of course have their own way of saying, Start. Only rarely will it be, Action! as that’s more an on-camera thing. Sometimes it’ll be We’re rolling, whenever you’re ready … , and sometimes it’ll just be And … Go!)

First, make sure you’ve read the script you have in front of you – before you come in. Nothing makes you more nervous than feeling unprepared. And once you’ve read the script, hopefully you’ve made some sort of choice about it. For example, if you’re going to audition for a commercial, make sure you know how you feel about the product you’re trying to sell, and decide who it is you’re trying to sell it to. You’re going to talk differently to a forty year-old mother of three than you will to a six year-old boy. Be specific. Make that choice. Or come in with a few choices.

And then – this is where it might get confusing for a second, but stick with us, we’re here for you – don’t get too attached to the choice you’ve made. Having made a choice shows the director that, in addition to having some skill as an actor, you’ve read the material, understand it, and have an opinion. Also, a director can better direct you if you’ve made a choice going into the audition.

The director might like your choice, but often – and this is the job of a director, remember – he or she might ask you to do the scene a completely different way. This does not mean that your take on the character the first time through was not right. The CD may have loved your choice, and now just needs to see if you’re directable.

So sometimes you’ll finish your first read and the CD will say, “That was great! Now gimme something different.” This can be annoying, but it happens; so it pays to have something different to give them. And if you don’t, it pays to be good at improv. Of course, if you are having a hard time making a choice based on the material you’ve received, feel free to ask the CD for more information. But if you do ask, don’t just ignore what the CD tells you: make sure you incorporate that new info into your work.

Listen to what directors have to say. Remember, they’re not there to make a fool out of you. They want you to get the job. They want you to be good. It makes their job easier. If they’ve asked you to do it again, it means they already think that you can do it; they just want to see if you’re willing to try it their way. And that’s your job as an actor. Don’t fight the director on interpretation or try to explain why your idea was better (even if it might have been).

Remember, take the direction. If you don’t understand the notes the director gives you, ask him or her to repeat or clarify so that you do understand. Then take a moment to look over the material with this new direction in mind. The CD should be happy to give you this time. There is nothing worse than a director giving direction and an actor not taking it. All that shows the CD is that you might be difficult to work with and unable to do what the director requests. Neither of those are things you want to be known for; nor will they help you book the job.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Very cool new USB microphone - check it out!

Blue Unveils Nessie, Adaptive USB Microphone

We always rely on SomeAudioGuy to keep us updated on all the latest cool techie stuff for our home recording VO studio. Check out the new USB mic, which he talks about in his blog:

"You can always count on Blue to deliver an attractive microphone.

Nessie is the newest addition to their line up. The goal with Nessie is to take some of the pain out of editing and cleaning up your recordings. Blue calls this "adaptive" recording. While on the show floor I wasn't ale to try this out personally, but a combination old and new tech seems like it will help those looking to record higher quality audio."  READ MORE  

 

 

 

Tips for Creating a Character – the Acting Part of Voice Acting

One of the things you need to know before you start auditioning is the importance of creating a strong character. We’ve noticed that the people who really succeed in this business are generally good actors first, good voice-over actors second. Strangely enough, when juggling all the balls of voice-over, one of the easiest to drop is the acting. Acting is where the most fun is, so who wants to drop that ball?

So, how do you start creating a character? Make clear character choices: The Importance of the W’s: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and hoW

Sure, these questions are important for reporters, but they’re also important for you (assuming you’re not already a reporter). They’re the questions that help you make clear character choices. Luckily, in most cases you’ll have a script to draw from, and it’ll be chock full of answers to these six questions.

In some ways, acting is like being a detective. If you can find enough clues and put them together, things begin to make sense, and you don’t have to do anything special. Thinking about reasons why your character says or does something (as indicated in the script) can often help you make creative choices that will help your work stand out and bring your character to life.

1. Who are you: what kind of a person/creature/thing are you? What is important to you? Who is the character you are you talking to, what is your relationship to him/her/it?

2. What are you doing, what have you done, what do you plan to do, and what’s going on?

3. Where are you physically, where are you usually, where would you like to be, and just where are you in the telling of the story?

4. When is this scene/story/moment taking place and how much time do you have to do whatever it is you’re doing?

5. Why are you doing/saying what you are doing/saying anyway? Why aren’t you saying/doing something else?

6. And finally, how does your character choose to do what he/she/it is doing, and how is that different from how you, yourself, in real life might do it?

Often, pondering the differences between how you might do or say something and how the character does or says it will teach you something important about the character.

Between your imagination and the script, you should have more than enough information to flesh out a unique and real character. Actors often try to make choices because they feel an idea will be interesting or cool – regardless of the information they’ve been given. Try, instead, using your yes, and powers to see what makes sense in terms of the story that the writer has given you. Would that Martian speak with a German accent just because it would be kooky and fun for you to do, or because the script indicates that the only interaction Martians have had with Earth has been through German soap opera broadcasts?

And don’t get caught up in thinking, Well, I’ve never been to Mars. How am I supposed to know what a Martian sounds like? Or something closer to home, like, Well, I don’t have a brother, so how am I supposed to know how that feels?

Odds are, if you’re interested in an acting career, you probably have a pretty active imagination. Use it. It’s fun. Your imagination is like your voice or a fingerprint – unique. Using it will automatically make your take on a character different from anyone else’s.

Even when you’re dealing with sterile commercial copy, something as simple as, Come in today for a great deal! it can be easy to just say the words without even thinking about it (which isn’t always bad). But try taking a second to get specific about what you’re saying. Think of a person you know, and deliver the line as if it’s just for that person. Imagine the circumstances under which you could be telling this line to someone. For example, what if you’re telling your little sister who never listens; or what if it’s a secret that you don’t want to be overheard; or what if you’re in a hurry to get the info out because the deal ends in fifteen minutes? Suddenly, this simple, throwaway sentence has taken on a whole life of its own, just in the time it took to ask and answer the W’s.

Specific choices and clear ideas on how you feel about what you’re saying take your work to the next level. Sometimes things aren’t clearly laid out on the page, and you can’t ask the writer what he or she meant. This is where you get to make up some things, get your creative juices flowing, and harness that wild imagination of yours. This is where things really get fun.

Let’s say the scene is between two brothers, and the only lines are the older brother saying, I’m taking you to the zoo, and the younger brother saying, Okay. The writer hasn’t given you much to go on here, but nobody’s keeping you from filling in the blanks on your own. Maybe the last time the younger brother went to the zoo he was attacked by monkeys, and he was left traumatized by the event. You’d better believe that’s going to color how he says, Okay.

Or maybe the older brother’s never done anything nice for his little brother before, so the little brother’s Okay is a suspicious one. In life, we’re rarely indifferent about things. We almost always have an opinion or feeling towards almost everything we encounter, so why wouldn’t our characters have their own opinions and feelings? Humor and drama come directly from our relationship to the things in our environment and from how we react to those things.

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Check out our VoiceOverVoiceActor website for more tips and exercises. We post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Spotlight on Voice Actors! CNN article

Some of you may have seen the article on CNN a month or so ago, but check it out if you haven't.

Respect for voice actors and our profession is increasing at a wonderful rate! From household names like Chris Rock, and Danny DeVito, to less known but extremely successful voice actors like Frank Welker, Peter Cullen, our industry is spotlighted in this article. Check it out: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/01/showbiz/voice-actors/index.html

“It's even gotten to the point where Chris Rock, star of the "Madagascar" franchise, took the opportunity of presenting an animation Oscar to quip about how "easy" it is to do voice work.

Rock joked that all he had to do was say the lines, "And then they give me a million dollars." (No less than Danny DeVito took issue with that characterization.)”  READ MORE

Voice over loop group or walla group: another good VO acting job

Another good voice acting job within the TV/film industry comes in the form of the loop group or walla group (usually a team of five to eight actors hired to record all the extra or background dialogue necessary in film, TV, or games). These groups join the project after a film/TV show has been shot, to fill in the audio soundscape (sounds that make up the environment). That generally means creating crowd or ambient noises that weren’t recorded during filming.

Typically there is little to no scripted dialogue: the walla group actors simply make up lines based on research they’ve done about the location of the scene. But occasionally, a member of the loop group will be asked to match or replace a small character with scripted lines.

You see, in order to get the best quality sound on set when a movie or show is originally shot, the only people who are allowed to actually speak and make noise are the principal actors. This means that everyone you see in the background of any scene (in the coffee shop, hospital, or sports arena) is simply miming speaking and is not actually saying anything. So it is often necessary to have a loop group come in to the recording studio and fill in the voices that are missing.

Sometimes doing loop group or walla group work means adding in efforts (those non-dialogue vocal sounds) and possibly dialogue (ADR) that was somehow missed or perhaps left until later. Or it could involve replacing dialogue that didn’t work out. Say, for example, that the film was shot in Romania, but the story is supposed to be set in New Jersey. Some of the actors who were hired locally may not have sounded Jersey enough, so the loop group may be asked to replace the dialogue with a more authentic accent.

These looping sessions can be some of the most sought-after work in the VO business. The prestige is low, but the pay is high, and the work can be profitable if you become associated with a group that works frequently.

Also, contrary to how we’ve described the workspace for most VO work, if you are working as part of a loop group, you’ll have plenty of room to move around. The microphone is often set up fairly high in a larger-than-average room so that the actors can walk and move around and create different depths of background sound.

These different depths of sound are achieved through a number of techniques that have their own specialized vocabulary. One example is the pass-by, where people in conversation stroll across the pick-up area of the mic to give the illusion of movement. Another technique is the similar donut, where the group circles like a wagon train in front of the mic, and actors converse while continuing to circle. Sometimes it’s just a stationary line-up of the group in front of the mic, with every member taking a turn shouting callouts (shouts) that may be used to break up the walla bed (a continuous layer of background dialogue). The first time we worked with a loop group, it was as if we had traveled to a foreign country and had to learn a whole new language.

As a member of the loop group, you are responsible for doing your own research so that you can bring in terms and vocabulary specific to certain settings or locales that are featured in the film/show. For example, if the movie you’re looping is about the crew of a submarine, you’d better ask the Internet (or your favorite uncle) a lot about submarines before you come in to work. You must be prepared to improvise dialogue realistically and within the specific context of the project. But don’t worry; a good loop group director will go over what you’ll need to know for a specific project enough in advance that there will be time for you to do some research.

 

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Check out the rest of the website for tips and exercises, we post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

“So How Do I Find My Own Voice?”

 

You can start identifying your own voice by making a list of adjectives that you feel describe your voice and your way of speaking. Then, because we often have trouble being objective, pick five people who know you well, and five people who know you less well, and ask each of them to come up with five adjectives to describe your voice. Remind them that they’re not trying to describe you or the way you look, but specifically your voice. If they have trouble coming up with descriptive words, maybe you could compile a long list of adjectives to make it easier on them. Here are a few adjectives you might choose (also see our suggestions in “Play to Your Strengths” in Chapter 10 of our book, The Demo):

abrupt             energetic               sincere           curt         fun-loving       

smooth            confident             guarded        upbeat    warm                 

See which of the words suggested by your friends resonate with you, especially if a certain adjective comes up more than once. That means there’s usually something to that suggestion.

As you become more familiar and comfortable with your voice, you may find that you can start to identify the attributes that are specific to you. Your voice might be raspy or it might be crisp and clear. Maybe you have a slight drawl from living in the South, or a particular vocal pattern that people identify with you. Identifying your vocal characteristics is a good way to start honing in on what types of characters and qualities you might be able to bring to the table.

Some people call this description of your voice and delivery a vocal signature or style; others simply call it your sound. As soon as you zero in on your sound, you’ve got a strong place to start and to build outward from. It’ll be your safe place that you can always fall back on, and probably the place from which you’ll do most of your work.

Vocal signature comes up a lot in commercial VO. You might get hired because of your specific sound and attitude – which the client feels perfectly represent the product, and suddenly you’re the spokesvoice for that brand.

Remember, the most important thing here is that you are discovering for yourself your own personal and particular vocal quality and sound. There are so many opportunities in the field of voice-over that there’s no reason for you to feel the need to alter your own sound. Simply learn to market what you have and who you are, and that’s when things will really start popping!

Check out the rest of the website for tips and exercises, we post daily VO tips on Facebook and Twitter, and our book, Voice Over Voice Actor: What it’s like behind the mic  includes a wealth of exercises to build your voice and keep it ready for a successful voice over career!

Voice Over: Playing with Speed, Pitch and Volume

There are so many different elements that contribute to how a person sounds, and if you can become aware of them, you can use them to your advantage to help you create some really fun, funky, and fancy voices for your repertoire. Start with the speed which is simply how quickly you’re speaking: slow, medium, or fast. People often joke about Southerners (from the U.S.) speaking in a slow, meandering drawl, while folks from the northeast (U.S. again) are more fast-paced, quick, and to the point. Play around with your speed to find fun patterns, not only of the words, but of the phrases and sentences.

Then move to the pitch. Generally a voice can be pitched high, mid-range, or low. Some examples of a high-pitched voice might be the aforementioned Spongebob Squarepants, or the actress Ellen Greene, or yourself after sucking on a helium balloon. A low-pitched voice calls to mind James Earl Jones, Tom Waits, Ron Perlman, or Lurch from The Addams Family. The rest of us fall somewhere in the middle.

One person’s mid-range pitch may be your low or high depending on how you’re built, and depending on what sex you are: men naturally tend to have a lower register, while women’s voices are usually higher. Play around with your pitch a little and see what happens. It can lead to touching moments, funny moments, and downright scary moments sometimes.

The final basic element is volume: loud, conversational, and soft. Perhaps a male character speaks in a loud booming voice and is always being asked to quiet down (maybe he worked for years in an anvil factory). Or a female character’s voice is shy and whispery, and no one can understand her (too many years as a librarian, perhaps). See how entire characters can develop out of how loud or soft you choose to speak?

Now look at these three elements: speed, pitch, and volume, and break each of them down into its low, medium, and high grades. The result is nine different qualities to mix and match in three dimensions. Imagine a giant 3-D tic-tac-toe board with each quality represented by its own dimension. It’s kind of like a simplified vocal Rubik’s Cube of choices, with speed represented by height, pitch represented by width, and volume represented by depth (see diagram below). Now pick one of the intersections of these elements (a small cube within the cube) and see what combo you get. Here are quality groupings you’d end up with if you selected each of the numbered cubes in the illustration:

Cube 1: a fast, low-pitched, soft voice

Cube 2: a slow, mid-range, loud voice

Cube 3: a medium-speed, high-pitched, conversational voice

You can come up with a variety of other combinations simply by mixing these three different qualities. This doesn’t even take into account other flair you can add, such as attitude, accent, or age. The possibilities are (nearly) endless!