Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘narration’

"Disconnecting from change does not recapture the past, it loses the future."

–Kathleen Norris

So…this is not a blog about coins clinking in your pants pocket?

Nope.  It's about Making change work for you.  Or putting "change" in your hip pocket, like you would a comfortable old handkerchief.

Doggone it!…we SO resist change.  We seek peace, calm, status-quo…a level playing field…a plateau…balance.  At least I do.

Luckily, life has plenty of that without trying…which is good 'cause, like sleep, you DO need those moments. 

But when you ARE trying…why not give change a chance?

Lately, I've been finding myself awash in change, and it's starting to feel good.  Even at my age…which is decidedly not in the highly-coveted 18-34 age range that TV advertisers bleed for.

I could say the change is uncomfortable, but then I'd be denying the giddy realization that I'm remaking myself…into something and someone I'd never have imagined two years ago.

On the outside, I look the same (well, maybe a little more gray)…but inside, the butter is churning.  I suppose it stems from the conscious decision I made about 3 years ago to take more of my destiny into my own hands and launch an entrepreneurial Voice-Over career of my own. 

At first I didn't hear the stanchions creaking from the weight of change.  Now they're virtually groaning from the force and pace of it.

Possibilities….are…endless and taking on new permutations and personalities and perceptions faster than I can write them down. 

So I don't.  In the past, I would.  Now, I'm tossing my attempt to log the change, and just moving on to the next change.   Does that make sense? 

Rather than learning the new rules, I'm just re-writing the rule book.

Is this all confusing?  Yes, but the confusion signals successful change.
Is it disconcerting?  Yes, but always being in "concert" puts you in too-familiar ruts.
Will it end?  I dunno.
Do I want it to end?  Not by any means. 

I'm having too much fun!!!  Give it a try!

CourVO

Julie Williams' excellent monthly newsletter The (free) Voice-Over Insider is out with its January issue.

I don't know how she does it, but it's a wonderful amalgam of articles, tips, info, items for your calendar, and even the ads are great.

Click HERE to check it out.

Below, her original newsletter telling me of its release.

CourVO

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January 1st, 2008, when my blog was just a few months young, I posted a bold list of voice-acting resolutions for the new year.  It was actually two blogs with about 18 goals.

Honestly, I barely re-read the list once or twice in the last 365…now it's time to come clean.  Did I live up to my own lofty principles?

I tackle the first 10 on the list in this blog.  More tomorrow.

I'm re-printing each one here, with my reaction underneath.

BLUE = YES, GOALS MET.
RED = FELL WAAAAAY SHORT
PURPLE = MIXED OUTCOME

1.  Invoice all clients
who haven't paid for work I did in 2007.  Whether I did it in December or
August, a new year is always recognized as a milepost in settling
accounts.

2.  Post at least one,
if not two entries EACH DAY in this blog.

3.  Post along with each Blog
entry, the Podcast .mp3 OF the
entry.

4.  Do a new Commercial Demo. 
This may take a good bit of time and effort, but by the end of '08, it's GOTTA
be done….that's all there is to it.

5.  Launch an entirely new AudioBook demo from
scratch.

6.  Market more
aggressively the following two segments of this industry:  AudioBooks and
E-Learning.

7.  Re-vamp my website,
embedding all my demo's INTO the site with Flash Players.

8.  Re-vamp my
website some
more.  It's a work in progress…never done, really.

9.  De-code and
actually try to understand what my Google Ad-Clicks
are doing, with the goal of tweaking them to better use.  I'm getting cold-calls
from people searching for VO talent…but I'm sure it could be
better.

10.  Learn Pro-Tools better.   
Despite what Frank Frederick says, I believe there are features within that
program that can benefit my VO product.  I just upgraded to M-audio Pro-Tools
7.4, and I hope to learn new features each week.

BLUE = 5 goals met
RED = 3 failed goals
PURPLE = 2 mixed results

I'm calling this a win. 

At least 70% of my goals had some degree of success, with half of the top-10 being a total success.  Not perfect by any means, but probably the best adherence to a New Year's Resolution list in my life.  I'm encouraged.

Tomorrow, goals 11-18. 

CourVO

This morning, I handed over my first-born to the surgeon.

Since age 2, Grace has danced…following the rhythm in her heart.

A Sophomore at the University of Illinois, she continues to make us proud as a scholarship dance major.  All the more reason we were saddened and scared by the MRI revealing two herniated lumbar discs resulting in chronic sciatic pain so debilitating, Grace has been unable to dance — thus in her mind, unable to truly live, nor express her heart — for 8-9 months.

This morning, in a 45-minute outpatient surgery, we believe our 1st-born was given a 2nd-chance.  The sciatic pain immediately removed, she must now recuperate from the incision.  The immediate danger being that she feels SO good, she could ruin her recovery by engaging in BLT's.  Bending, Lifting, or Twisting.

Forgive me a brief window into my faith…but I believe a first-born to Mary many many years ago gives us an unending bounty of 2nd-chances…for eternity.

No amount of Rennaissance-era cherub-painted representations of the child can do justice to the perfect love this being feels for his children.

I get some glimpse of that whenever I look at my child…my Grace, and see the promise that lies in her.

I want to be healed that way.  Let me dance.

CourVO

Top-notch voice-actor Connie Terwilliger posts the following evaluation of the Word 2 Wav software that many people are dying to get their hands on IFF it is everything it claims to be.

I've blogged about this software previously.

In short:  I think Connie kinda likes it.  Read below.

Thanks, Connie!

CourVO

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Phil Tederous has been cutting my hair for more than 20 years.  He's an affable guy — maybe a little younger than me — and an entrepreneur/businessman in the grandest tradition.

Although his bread 'n' butter is hair styling, he's also tried running restaurants, gift shops, managing office space, and more recently launching a fitness salon.

We've grown to share our personal lives and our professions while I spend time in his chair. 

As my voice-acting business grew, he asked me more and more questions about how it all worked.  Then came the day when he said he wanted to hire me.  Since we're such good friends, I told him maybe we could barter something.

"No," he said.  "We need to arrange a compensation package for what I want you to do for my business."  He mostly wanted me to update his various phone system messages once-a-month.  It was a piece of cake, but he insisted on paying me for my voice services.

See? 

Phil gets it.

He's not just a stylist.  He's a businessman; and he recognizes how hiring my service benefits his business. When callers can't get Phil live on the line, they hear a professionally-recorded message instead.

I'm not going to get rich on the jobs Phil gives me, but I'm sooooo encouraged that he understands the value of MY work for HIS business .

Oh, and he's an excellent stylist, too.

CourVO

   …and you thought chocolate was addictive!

Twitter is worse…. at least for me.  Yes, I've been spending too much time there of late, and  not auditioning enough…but that's going to change as soon as I complete the 4th-step in my Twitter's Anonymous Recovery group.

Thing #1:  I have no problem directing people to other blogs.  If you're a voice actor and don't read Bob Souer's blog everyday, you're missing out.  Now, there's another blog to add to you list:  Anthony Mendez' The Lazy VoiceOver – Doing Less to Achieve More.  Thoughtful.  Useful.  Helpful.

I'm thinking especially of his most recent post, when I think of my Twitter overload lately.  Click HERE to read: "Lowering Your Noise Floor"…some great thoughts about how to choose VO priorities and stick with them despite distractions (and like he says:  it's not about recording).

Thing #2:  I've started a Google Group for voice actors.  Sheesh!  Is there anything Google DOESN'T do?  Sometimes they worry me.  Believe it or not, I actually started a Google group for voice actors as an extension of a TwittGroup I created for voice-actors.  Honestly, I have no idea where this is going.  I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve, and not sure there IS a curve.

Anyway, click HERE to get the the Google group for Voice Actors.  Maybe it'll evolve into something at least as prolific and helpful as the Yahoo VO group…'cause maybe Yahoo ain't gonna be around all that much longer.

I'd post the link for the TwittGroup for Voice Actors, but it's Sunday, and I don't think it's cleared their filters yet.

Thing #3:  The bad guys are winning. I wonder where this is all going sometimes.  'Could be, it's going down the tubes.  Click on THIS article referred to me during a TechMeme visit, and see why it'd be easy to get a little depressed about this internet thing we all rely on so intrinsically for our voice acting businesses.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

CourVO

Check out the info below… a chance to win TWO tickets to Julie Williams'/Deb Munro's VoiceLympics cruise next year.  They've got a pretty impressive roster of coaches on board…. all business, though… no play!!!  ;-}

CourVO

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….'cause it's 3am….and they say sleep is good for your health (and I've been spending waaaay too much time on Twitter….I take that back: PeopleBrowsr).

Many thanks to those who visited and those who commented on yesterday's blog: "A Word About…Words"

Apparently I struck a nerve.  I'm working on Part II.
 
I'm reminded by Bettye Zoller of a great site for anybody in voice work who needs a quick one-stop-shop for anything VO.  It's not the end-all-be-all…but it's pretty slick:  WhereIsTheMic?.

The (now official since Dec 2007) recession is NOT dampening the rampant rumours that voice-acting is the new fast way to have sacks of money appear at your door.  I gauge that by the number of queries I got BEFORE we got smacked, compared to those inquiries I'm still getting.

Upcoming on Voice-Acting in Vegas:  two absolutely KICK-BUTT blogs involving question and answer sessions with people who are forming the very industry we work in.  No names yet, and no timetable either…'cause genius deserves it's own pace… but 'safe to say we're getting close, and you'll want to read every word.

CourVO

Steven Lowell, the Quality Assurance Manager at V123 reads my blog! 

He noticed my rant about "inactivity" and guided me to a blog he himself wrote in October on this very topic.

HERE is the link.

I also heard from Julian Castillo of V123, who replied to me with the following.

"The inactive status is just a way to let potential clients now
how long you could take to respond if they contact you. The reason why
this was implemented is because in the past the voice seekers contacted
talents that do not check their Voice123 account often and therefore
they did not get a reply on a timely manner, because of this we lost
valuable voice seekers that were willing to hire Voice123 talents. To
keep your account active all you need to do is log in regularly."

I appreciate the timliness of their response. 

In the interest of balanced journalism, I'll withold any more comments and leave it to my readers to decide on their own the efficacy of their policy.

CourVO