Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘documentaries’

Stu Gray. 

It’s all his fault.

He put me up to it.

The Nashville-area voice talent and prolific VO blogger approached me a couple of weeks ago with the idea of doing a Q & A about social networking.  He with the "Q".  Me with the "A".

Well it took me long enough, but I finally finished.  Good questions…wordy answers.

We agreed to sort of share the wealth…so if you want to get the full impact of my pithy musings about social networking, and its value to voice actors, you’ll have to visit BOTH sites. 

I recommend you start with Stu’s blog: The Creative Mouthpiece.  Click HERE.

Then see the link underneath my name, below, to read more.

Thanks, Stu, for coaxing me to really think about the value of social networking to my business.  I hope by sharing what little I know, someone may gain some momentum.

CourVO

‘Heard of the “Open Directory” project?

Their “about” page describes it as: “…the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web.  It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors. The Open Directory was founded in the spirit of the Open Source movement, and is the only major directory that is 100% free.  There is not, nor will there ever be, a cost to submit a site to the directory, and/or to use the directory’s data.  The Open Directory data is made available for free to anyone wo agrees to comply with our free use license.

Kinda sounds like Wikipedia, but remember, it’s a directory, not an encyclopedia.  (I just haven’t figured out where the acronym DMOZ comes from in their URL.)

With such an ambitious mission statement, you’d have to expect there might be mention of a good many resources for Voice Actors, and you’d be right.  Not only that, but apparently, I’m VERY late to the party.  TONS of links, references, resources, names, agents, coaches, production houses, talent…you name it.

On the site, you’re encouraged to submit your own website for approval, but they’re also big on you volunteering to help edit submissions.

Click HERE for the page that reveals results of a search for “Voiceover” resources.

….and….volunteer!

CourVO

 Deb Munro writes with the latest updates and offers if you want to have great cruise AND learn a bunch about voiceovers from real pros.  VoiceLympics.

See her e-mail to me below…an amazing line-up, and some incredible offers!

CourVO

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For a while there, earlier this week, I felt like I was like an Alabama tick ready to pop from all the pressure.  I admit.  I got on my blog pity pot for a while.

I'm back now…mostly 'cause I was buoyed by faithful readers of my blog…many who reminded me they find my missives through RSS feed.  DUH! 'Forgot about that.  I'm sure there's a way to track that too, but I haven't figured it out yet. (anybody?)

Not only am I back, but I've set in motion some actions that will soon result in a vastly better blog in appearance, design, visual appeal, arrangement, and logistics.

Sorry.  Same crappy content.   ;-}

That's all I'm gonna say for now.  One of these days, you'll visit to find something at this address so engaging and compelling, you'll even tell your garbageman to check it out.

In the meantime.  The next few posts will seem uniquely un-VO-like.  I'm off to Champaign, IL for the marriage of my sister's oldest daughter (yes, I know….it's my niece).  It's alternately a family reunion as well.  I'll try to stay sober enough to deliver compelling pics on my iPhone and some pithy lines of narrative here 'n' there.

So, thanks to all those who commented and supported my efforts here.  Y'all are fantas-tick!

CourVO

Please!  No more IPhone apps!  I've got too many already!

But….just one more…really!

As a voice actor, you will LOVE this one.  It blows me away, actually.

Poddio is a voice recorder, yes, but it's also an audio editor…'very powerful one at that.

What really got me…was the quality of the sound.

Listen to this soundfile:

That file was recorded on my IPhone, transferred via the Poddio Software to my laptop by way of my home Wi-Fi as a .wav file. I opened it with AA 3.0 to listen to it. I added absolutely NOTHING. I applied NO effects, volume, amplitude, normalizing, compressing, or equalizing. Heck, I didn't even edit out the breath sounds (although Poddio has the editor to do that). I then saved it as an .mp3 and uploaded it to TypePad.  That's what you're hearing.

I don't know whether to be impressed with Poddio, or the IPhone microphone…but I think that sounds pretty darn good!

Poddio comes as a free version, or pay $10 for all the bells and whistles.  My opinion:  $10 buys a lot here.  Visit the Poddio website to see their full schpiel.  They  had musicians and podcasters in mind when they designed this software, but it can do most things your Audacity editor could do.

Possible use for voice-actors?

1) 'Client calls while you're indisposed away from your studio and wants a quick read to see if you've got the chops for the spot.  You read his e-mail on your IPhone, scribble out a few lines, go to a closet, and deliver your audition into your IPhone…then e-mail it back to him in a flash.  Quality is better than Skype, I think.

2) Quick on-the-run interviews for a podcast.  Take 10 minutes to edit out the guest's curse words, and some fluff while you were interrupted on the convention floor, and you've got a passable podcast.

3) Collect real-life sound-effects for use later in a demo.

4) Record answer-phone messages for friends, and send them by e-mail.

5) A regular client wants to change a tag for a low-budget spot, but you're in Dyersburg, TN getting gas on your way to Stubenville, OH to see a date you found on FaceBook.  He's not particular about quality, but when he gets your Poddio file, he says, "Hey, I thought you said you didn't have your equipment with you?"

OK…last one may be a little far-fetched…but you get the drift.

CourVO

Somebody who gets it! 

NEVERBLUE is all about affiliate marketing. 

Don't ask what that is.  I haven't quite figured it out yet. But I know some people swear by it. (someting about getting rich repping other people's products on your site…kinda like franchising online)

Here's their pitch: "Neverblue is a premier global lead generation network that delivers
millions of profitable customers to clients from all over the world.
Experience better affiliate marketing."

OK, that clears it up.

But Neverblue has apparently figured out that voice actors actually have value, and in THIS blog, they lay out several scenarios in which a smart person would want to hire a voice actor for professional product.

They make pretty good sense.  'Might even be worth a cold-call?

CourVO

R U a member of FaceBook?  R U in any way interested in voice acting or voiceovers?

Then…R U a member of Stephanie Ciccaarelli's VOICE ACTING HUB on FaceBook?

If not, you should be.  Stephanie's great, and always posts quality material.

Click HERE to go….there….and if that link doesn't work, just go to "Join Groups" and search for Voice Acting Hub.

CourVO

OK, I admit, it's really late on a Tuesday…ahem, actually it's early Wednesday morning as I write this, but I refuse to face the reality…

I ran across this unique community for Sci-Fi enthusiasts.  SPACE AGE MAGAZINE…a Social Network for Sci-Fi writers and artists.  Hmmm…  close to MY heart.  Really.

Anyway, click HERE to see an offering there that is an amazingly succinct primer in how to record a fairly decent sound-file for podcasting and other purposes.

Apparently, they don't need us.

CourVO

Time and again I've referred visitors here to workshops, articles, and offers from Pat Fraley…one of my favorite voice coaches and certainly one of the giants in our business.

Below, see the offer he's making to budding voice actors seeking work in Audibooks.  I've studied with Pat, and I have this set he's marketing.  It's the real deal.  Lots of really good tips.

'nuff said

CourVO

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Great minds think alike. 

Yeah, it's a hackneyed phrase, but I hadn't used it in a while, and actually I don't compare to John Florian's great mind anyway.

Yesterday, John and I both published content-laden articles composed by JS Gilbert.  John on his wonderful site: VoiceOverXtra, and me on this blog. Neither of us knew what the other was up to, even though we often collaborate and share content.

We had both sought-out JS's considerable expertise.  In this case, everyone's a winner, including you, JS, and our respective VO sites.  I encourage you to visit VoiceOverXtra today to see even more of JS Gilbert's wisdom on the business of voicing for video games.

As promised, though, I'm also going to publish the second half of my exhaustive Q & A with Gilbert.  Please see the very end of today's blog for a quick BIO on JS…he's an accomplished guy whom I applaud for selflessly sharing his depth of experience with us.

Thanks again, JS!

CourVO

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