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I want “THAT” Voice

April 10, 2013 By 14 Comments

microphone-bHonest-to-goodness wanted posting for a voice actor:

We’re looking for a male narrator whose a Jack Nicholson/Joe Pesci/Vincent Price type for a low budget, unconventional horror film that’s currently in post production. The ideal candidate’s vocal presence should invoke intensity and suspense intertwined with crass and a sense of humor.

That post came from a Google Alert I set-up long ago for the keyword “narrator”.

Doesn’t it just make you roll your eyes when you see the reference to a name actor like that?  Lately, if it’s not Morgan Freeman, then it’s Mike Row, Tim Allen, Peter Coyote, or Jeff Bridges.  But I don’t see that Jack Nicholson, Joe Pesci, and Vincent Price sound AT ALL like each other.

So you know what this means?  This means the director has no bloody idea what they want other than a certain genre.  The adding of recognizable names (or sometimes a link to a YouTube video voice they like) — honestly — I think makes it into the specs because they feel they have to put something down.  I’m not disparaging well-meaning clients.  We’re on the receiving end of these directions, so we see it over and over…and clients have no idea of the mind-numbing similarity that often pops up in the specs.

I’m no VO coach, but I’ve listened to enough of them hear the following advice, so I’m passing it along:

Read the specs.  Give ‘em one read that way…then give ‘em another read that’s all YOU.  Often, I think they’re HOPING for something original that’ll knock their socks off regardless of the direction they gave.

–OR–

Forget what the specs say, and just give ‘em the read only you can bring.  You know what’s the magic of THAT read?

You’re the only one that can offer it. 

It comes with your experience, your tone,  your emotion, your understanding, your interpretation, your history, and your intention…and no one else has THAT.  Sure, the client might still give the job to the guy who sounds like Vincent Price, but he then again, he may LOVE your take.

….and do you really want to be able to do a good Jeff Bridges?… or create YOUR brand, perfect YOUR voice, hone YOUR delivery?

I like Tim Allen, but I’m working hard on Dave — so that some day, some director will put in his specs:  “I need a Dave Courvoisier-type voice…”

You?

CourVO

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Audition Head Trips

March 6, 2013 By 4 Comments

poserTHE POSER

Most foundational psychological theory holds that we present to the world the person we want people to see.  Apparently as young humans, the world seems too daunting for most of us, and we learn early on to construct a facsimile of ourselves (with a few unique modifications) through which we filter the world.  More importantly, though, this facsimile presents a “pose” seen as “you” by everyone else.

ENTER: THE DIRECTIONS

You’ve just received an audition from your agent or your favorite P2P.  The directions are longer than the copy, confusing, and referencing Tim Allen’s voice on something he did for Michigan Travel, or better yet, includes a link to a YouTube video using a voice “we really like”.

ADD: THE VOICES INSIDE YOUR HEAD

Your VO coach says:

“Read the directions if you want,” the coach suggests, “but in the end, be sure to give them the REAL YOU.”
Many of the best VO coaches will tell you “the real you” is the only thing that differentiates you from all the other losers auditioning the same script.
But…uh…wait-a-minute…is that the REAL me, or the real me that I’ve been posing all these years?

Your experience says:

“I think I know what this audition really needs…it needs the same ole delivery that won me that big spot for Trident chewing gum last year, and besides it’s what I’m really good at.  It’s the same winning sound I learned from those years behind the mic as a DJ.”

Your over-analysis says:

“I didn’t spend all that money for VO coaching for nothing…so I’ll whip out a few tricks I learned…some pacing, some inflection, maybe a little low raspy character voice.  Then I’ll punch the client’s name hard, and they’ll never recognize the DJ I used to be.”

But the client clearly says:

…he wants me to sound like Mike Rowe on this one, so I’ll overlay all of the above with my best “Mike Rowe” imitation.

Now, your confusion says:

“OK, I admit it…I have no freakin’ idea how to approach this copy.  Do I go with my gut?  Do I give them the real me?  Who IS the real me?  Do I apply all the lessons I learned?…or do I just break down and give them Mike Rowe?

In the end:

…you chicken out, and give them three reads…two-and-a-half of which they’ll never listen to, ’cause they threw out your audition after hearing — and dismissing — your voice in the slate.

Tell me you haven’t gone through that mental gyration at some time with copy.  Or are you that good that you just KNOW how to deliver each and every spot that comes your way.  Your interpretation is impeccable.  Your prescient knowledge of what the client wants is bordering on clairvoyant.  You’re booking right and left, and can do no wrong.  Bravo!

The Truth

I liken it to learning pole vaulting, or piano playing, or  BMX racing.

You start with some basic talent.  You add your life’s experience.  You get coaching…and learn a couple of new tricks.  It’s awkward at first, but practice makes it more natural, and then you go back for some more tips.  You try to THINK about those tips one-by-one as you approach the high bar, the keyboard, the dirt track.  It’s hard.  You manage some new moves, but can’t seem to incorporate them all at once.

Mechanically at first, you synthesize all the knowledge you’ve been given, and you practice some more.  Then you practice some more.  Now what was mechanical becomes second-nature, and your intrinsic (spiritual?) understanding of the ethereal principles begin to kick in with small successes.  You throw in some advanced technique.  Now you’re reaching higher on the bar, mastering more fingering on the keys, leaping higher and landing with more control on the track.  It’s you.  But it’s a new you.

Voice over auditioning is like that.  Don’t throw out the DJ entirely…you’ll need him/her on the local auto dealership spots.  Don’t bury the newscaster, she/he comes in pretty handy on E-Learning and medical narrations.  Your High School Musical debut as “Curly” in the musical Oklahoma may serve you well in audiobooks.  They’re all part of the “you” that enters the booth.

When your most excellent VO coach admonishes you to “bring the real you” to your read, they mean taken your basic talent, add life experience, and incorporate all the tips you’ve picked up along the way…then PRACTICE.  Practice till you hit the “new you” that can handle copy when it comes with a client wanting “Morgan Freeman” on a spot full of words referencing kitchen cabinets.

You might still be posing…but I guarantee you’re a lot closer to the real you.

CourVO

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Context

August 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My newfound source of insider information –  “JJ” — calls it Zeitgeist.

Of course, that’s a word from our Teutonic neighbors that means:  “…the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era…”

Ace VO coach and producer Nancy Wolfson would probably call it the author’s “intent”…a sort of tea-leaves hidden meaning that’s not all that subtly shrouded, really,  if you just grow the discipline of taking a good analytical look at the copy, and it’s place in today’s society.  CONTEXT.

You’ll remember, JJ lamented the fact that of the 400 auditions he received for a PIRATE voice, only a handful understood that the words needed to be larger-than-life… growly and curmudgeonly, and gravelly, and everything else we all stereotypically think of when we characterize the mind-picture of a Pirate.

JJ states:   “…if you’re going to audition for voice roles, know the zeitgeist and go big on your audition.  Much easier to pull the talent back than to push them forward…”

As you know, “JJ” has agreed to pass along some nuggets of auditioning wisdom on my humble blog, and he states the following admonition for this week’s offering.

“Often when I have an audition that is a series of lines, like for a game, I will receive many auditions that are presented as several takes on each line rather than the whole read edited as a part.  So if the lines are “you, come here”/”stop thief”/”send help”, instead of receiving a read that consists of line 1 followed by 2 followed by 3 I’ll get line 1 3 or 4 times, then 2 then 3 in the same manner.  I hate that and think it’s very lazy on the part of the person auditioning.  Edit your best read together in its entirety, don’t make the voice seeker have to wade thru multiple takes of the same line because you aren’t confident in your read.”

Keep in mind, while my friend is a seasoned, respected audio engineer, VO producer, and VO talent himself, others may have alternative viewpoints, and YMMV.

CourVO

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Feedback Follow-up

August 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Voice Actors are starved for feedback.

Intrinsic in that yearning is a need for validation that the efforts we make reflects professionalism, progress, and proof-of-performance.

Am I close?
Am I barking up the right tree?
Am I in the ballpark?
Did I make a final cut?
Where am I falling short?
How was my interpretation?
Is the audition technically sound?

The common wisdom is to send the audition and forgo all the hand-wringing.  Move on to the next one, keep doing your best, and don’t waste time with any angst or second-guessing.

No wonder, then, that the blog article of last Friday (Embarrassingly) True Story brought more response than I could’ve anticipated.  Between the blog, Facebook, and Twitter, nearly 700 people either read, responded, and commented in reaction.

Among the incredulous responses was the question: “He listened to all 400 auditions???!!!”

Well, here’s more response from my secret producer (again, a seasoned, knowledgeable producer, audio engineer, and studio owner in a major city who regularly lists jobs for voice-actors)  I’ll call him “JJ”:

“… Yes, I did listen to every single one of them.  You take the time to audition, I’ll find the time to listen.  BUT – I do not listen all the way through; if I don’t hear something that catches my ear in the first line I move on.  I can move through this stuff pretty quickly…”

JS Gilbert, an accomplished voice-actor, producer, and someone who’s been booking talent for projects for many years, made mention that:  “… ”I’ve never had to go through more than 30 or so auditions to find 5 or 6 good ones to present a client…”  

“Fair enough,” claims “JJ”, in answering that specific comment  “But when you’ve got a client looking for a specific voice and you haven’t found it yet you keep going through the pile.  This isn’t about my ability to cast a voice, it’s about the talent and their ability to “bring it” to an audition.  My job is to find the right voice and get it to my client.  We also received several auditions from another voice service and out of the final 30 or so voices I will then narrow it down to the best 5 or 6 to send along.  My clients never have to sift through more than 6 voices…”

Summarizing, “JJ” notes the following three points:

1.  Learn how to properly work your equipment so your audition sounds great.  Not good, great.
2.  Have an understanding of the zeitgeist of your culture so that you deliver the proper audition without the client have to spell out every tiny detail.  Call me naive but I am astonished that after three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, people don’t know that pirates have larger than life personalities.
3. Bring your A game to every audition.  Not landing any jobs?  Guess what, seasoned producers know when you are phoning it in.  If I don’t hear you trying then I’m not going to pick you.  Period.

This entire conversation which began last week with the comments from JJ proved so valuable to so many, that he and I are probably going to collaborate from time-to-time (as the opportunities present themselves), with articles that recount the original job posting, and following-through with the results, and feedback on the auditions from the producer’s point-of-view.

Would such a regular feature be of interest to you?

CourVO

Filed Under: Auditions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

(Embarrassingly) True Story

August 2, 2012 By 12 Comments

Setting the stage:
A well-known, top-notch commercial audio studio in a major city puts up a call for auditions on Voices.com.

The Specs:
The voice-seeker is looking for a Pirate voice…something…well….loud and boisterous and over-the-top mean sounding…like the sterotypical pirate we all think of.  The producer states these directions in the job listing, which is for 5 short lines for a game.

The rate offered:
For the above-mentioned 5 lines,  the price was set at $450 which, in that producer’s mind, is a good rate for a regional, 13 week.

The # of respondents:
Roughly 400 male voices.

The quality of auditions returned to the voice-seeker  (as perceived by this seasoned producer):
“…about 15% were just their demo reel and easily half  were terrible recordings that make it very difficult to understand the audition…”

Additional Feedback (off-the-record verbatim comments from the producer that all auditioning talent say they would DIE to hear):
 ”…MORE than half of these auditions were so lazy and laid back…I was so surprised.  And some of the names are very recognizable, some of these folks are players.  The rule in auditioning for a big character should always be go big or provide a laid back and a big read.  Producers always feel they can pull a talent back but it’s very difficult to push a talent to a bigger, more energetic read.  I am really surprised at what we received.  Out of over 400 male auditions the initial narrowing down took it to 21.  Out of those 21 I’ll find the best 5 or 6 to send off to the client.  And so many didn’t make the initial cut because they just didn’t bring it…”

The above story is absolutely true down to the small details, and the quotes.  The producer did not wish to be identified in return for my being able to share the facts and the feedback.

I hope you were one of the final 21, and not one of the other 379.

People complain about these P2P sites, but look at what auditioners are doing!

You need to decide that if you’re going to audition for these cattle-calls, that you MUST “bring it”.  Your reputation is at stake.

CourVO

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ACX Incentive

July 11, 2011 By 10 Comments

The launch of Audible’s site for narrators in May sent ripples through the audiobook business.  The blog I wrote about ACX was one of my most-visited articles.

Check back in a few days, I’m working on some Q & A with one of the principal officers you’ll want to read.  In the meantime, the folks at ACX are offering some meaningful incentives you may want to consider as you decide on auditioning.  (note, offer assumes you’re “approved”…See below the release they sent me).

The offer below is a creative tool.  Overall, the compensation model ACX has devised is not perfect, but shows they did plenty of research and consideration before launch.  It reveals what I believe to be the widest spectrum of choices for narrators seeking more work, and hoping to find a pay solution that works for them.

ACX’s limited incentive plan:

To celebrate the first hundred ACX audiobooks in production, we have a new special offer for you, THIS OFFER IS ONLY FOR PRODUCERS WHO ARE EITHER “AUDIBLE APPROVED” OR WERE PART OF OUR BETA-TESTING PROGRAM EARLIER THIS YEAR.

If you accept a Royalty Share offer on any ACX title by August 31st, it comes not only with the usual extra $100 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $1,000 for a 10-hour audiobook), but we’ve sweetened the pot by making your second Royalty Share deal earn a $200 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $2,000 for a 10-hour audiobook), and your third Royalty Share deal earn a $225 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $2,250 for a 10-hour audiobook). See Stipend Offer Terms and Conditions for complete details and requirements. The stipend is, of course, in addition to the Royalties and Bounties you earn on sales of the audiobook. Here’s how it’ll work, step by step:

  1. Choose any book being offered as a Royalty Share deal. We especially recommend titles from this list, which were hand-picked by Audible’s editors for their good sales potential
  2. Submit your best audition
  3. If you get a Royalty Share offer on one (or more) of these titles, accept the offer.
  4. Upon your completion and approval of the audiobook, submit an invoice to ACX for $100 or $200 or $225 X the number of finished hours
  5. We pay you that fee
  6. You also earn half of the 50 – 90% escalator royalty on each sale of the audiobook (i.e. 25% – 45% as outlined here)
  7. You also earn half of any $25 bounty generate by downloads of the audiobook, as outlined here

You can get this per-finished-hour stipend offer on up to three productions, so don’t be shy about auditioning. Good luck!

Best,
The ACX Team

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Auditions, Compensation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

New AFLAC voice

April 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Talk about a cattle (er…duck) call!  Your odds:  12,000-to-1…but there’s always a winner, and Dan McKeague is the guy beating out all other hopefuls as the new voice of the AFLAC duck.

A father of three from Hugo, Minnesota, who works at radio station KQRS in Minneapolis…McKeague sent in a 30-second demo, then later got a more formal tryout.  He signs a one-year contract in the “low 6 figures”.

Sure, Gilbert Gottfried said some insensitive things after the earthquake in Japan (Japanese customers make up ¾’s of AFLAC’s business), but methinks AFLAC took this opportunity to maybe get someone with a lower expectation of compensation?

Am I insensitive for saying that?

Here’s one of many articles on the new voice for AFLAC (Philadelphia Inquirer) and below is the first spot featuring the talents of McKeague.

CourVO

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HandHeld iPhone/Pad Mic

January 7, 2011 By 7 Comments

CES is here in Vegas this week, but I haven’t seen THIS gizmo on the show floor!

It’s only available for PRE-order from a foreign company — IK Multimedia — but the iRig Mic is touted as the first hand-held mic for your iPhone.  I’ve blogged before about Blue Mikey and using the iPhone for auditioning, but this seems to take it to a new level.

The iRig website says:  “…The iRig Mic features a highly unidirectional condenser-electret microphone capsule that provides quality recording in both close mic and long distance mic conditions, and provides real time monitoring with its dual mini-jack connector design. ..”

The package deal comes with 3 iPhone/Pad software apps:  VocaLive, Amplitude, and it’s own iRig Recorder.

I faux-pre-ordered the iRig, and didn’t get very far with the process…but if they clear it up, the entire package of hardware/software is listed at $59.99.  That’s very close to $60!!!    ;-}

Check out the iRig/IK Multimedia website for more info…I keep saying this is the next-gen of Voice Overs, and companies like iRig keep moving it in that direction!

My thanks to Billy James — voice actor, of Charlotte, NC for letting me know about this product.  See his comment below for another tip.  See BillyVoice.

CourVO

Filed Under: Auditions, Mics, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

uAudition?

November 3, 2010 By 3 Comments

Under the heading of:  ”Shoulda jumped on this months ago”…somebody beat me to the punch and has designed an iPhone app for VO auditioning.

You might remember, I blogged about methods for doing just that in “Poddio Update“.  New smartphone technology opens up incredible technology to make our already internet-based VO methods even MORE portable.  The method I described was easy-enough…but this new app makes it brainless.

Check out iAudition.  I confess I just found it and downloaded it ($4.99), but have not yet tried it.  However, it DOES come with a fully-functional audio editor, and an FTP uploader.

Let me know how you like it.

CourVO

Filed Under: Auditions, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

FeedBack Gold

October 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

Have you ever had a chance to take a Marc Cashman class?…or even work with him on a demo?  You should.  He’s one of the true seasoned pros in the business of VO.

The other day he did something ALL voice actors yearn for, but almost never get.  As the producer of a spot that went out for audition, he took the time to write a long, informational response to all the people who auditioned.

I don’t know if it was altruistic, or out of frustration for all the sloppy things VO’s do when they respond.  It doesn’t matter.  The entire email was feedback GOLD.

I’m excerpting-out the irrelevant stuff, and leaving the tips.  Promise me you’ll read through this…even though you may not have auditioned for this spot.

This is an abject lesson in:

1) listening
2) following directions to the letter
3) watching the details

Click “read the rest of this entry” to see his comments.

CourVO

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