Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘voice overs voice-overs’

After my blogging about Joe J Thomas' online conversation with V123's "Julian" on Live Help (Latest on
Torrenegra), I got a clarification comment from V123's QA (Quality Assurance) Mgr, Steven Lowell.  You can read it at the bottom of that post.

I wrote Steve back and thanked him for shedding some light on the hearsay, and today, heard back from him again.

I hope he won't mind that I post that response here for you to see:
—————–
"It is true that Alex is not as 'visible' or available as he once was, but
he is still very much involved.
 

Alex began working on another project with Torrenegra, and back in
February, he made Juan Salcedo GM, and began using me for not only QA
Management, but also assisting in marketing and translating needs, ideas
received, and ideas on future product development to both Juan and Alex.
 

To give you an idea of how much he is still involved, it was actually Alex
who showed me your website, and the chat posted there. I still dont know why
Julian used that wording, but I do know live chats can leave one under pressure
to answer questions quickly, and I dont believe in canned answers as customer
service. I assume that confusion is somewhat my fault, as I promote team
atmosphere in Voice123, and sometimes we forget each others titles.
 

Keep in touch if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer them as
best as I can."
————————-
I think maybe Steven had a typo when he wrote: "…Alex began working on another project with Torrenegra…"  otherwise, the sentence makes no sense. But that's just an aside.

I appreciate Steven having that sort of commitment to QA.  You should slip on over to V123 sometime if you're a subscriber.  Click on the line of small thumbnail pics they have at the bottom of the page, and it brings you to a page that introduces "our team".

It's easier to accept what sometimes may appear to be a corporate mentality when you can see the faces behind the facade of V123.

CourVO

   When I grow up, I want to be just like Pat Fraley….no — Deirdre Cooper… OK, I kid, but put these two free spirits together on the same project, and you'll get the proverbial choruses of angels.

…. and then there's their collaborations on voice projects!

What I'm referring to is about the slickest website in terms of capturing the true spirit of personality branding I've ever seen.

DB Cooper completed her own site some weeks ago, and now she has finished Pat's as well, with the contributions of her hubby –  a highly-accomplished artist in his own right.

John Florian's VoiceOverXtra features a fine article explaining the process they went through to arrive at this fine website.

Click HERE to see the article on VO Xtra.

CourVO

Oh, there's plenty of copy out there. 

Bad copy.  75-secs worth in a 60-sec spot.

Bad spelling, bad grammar, no grammar.

Stuff with lousy concepts, banal sentences…even worse: lots of numbers being repeated over and over.

We all want good stuff on our demo.

Just listen.  Yeah…listen.  It's out there. 

TV and radio.  Uh-huh there's actually some good stuff here 'n' there. Those ad agencies get paid millions by billion-dollar companies to come up with new stuff all the time. Pay attention to the spot-sets…not the programs. 

But the best stuff?  It's gonna come from you. It may take a while to develop this skill, so start now.  Read magazines, newspapers, fliers, direct-mailers, even the Reader's Digest.  If you don't find good copy, you'll find good IDEAS for copy.

Write it down, word process it to death.  Move the words around.  Cut 'n' paste.  Highlight.  Be colloquial…use vernacular…

Until your sense of it all finds maturity, just do this:

Listen to the best spot during Prime Time, and transcribe it…write it down, or type it into your laptop (use your TiVO, dummy!).

OK, now you've got the :30 or :60 in front of you.  You can't use this spot, 'cause somebody already HAS.

So change the product, but keep the sell.  Make it softer, harder, schmaltzier, funnier, or tongue-in-cheek just by adding a stutter or an ad-lib, or few extra words, or fewer words. 

Save the flavor, change the content.  There are a million ways to take the essence of good copy and make it slightly different enough to make it YOURS.

Do it today. 

CourVO

   Barbara Winter is a wonderful mentor, supporter, and entrepreneurial innovator.  I'm lucky, too, to call her my friend.

  For some unknown reason, she's taken a shine to my blog, and keeps mentioning it in her newsletters, and other materials she publishes.  So much so, that she's finding inspiration to perhaps begin her own blog.  She should, 'cause she's such a good writer, and has great tips for everyone, especially those running their own voice acting business.

  She just put the finishing touches on a new WEBSITE.  'Well worth the visit because no one else I've run across has the absolutely unencumbered view of "working for self" that Barbara espouses.  If you have a chance to attend one of her seminars, don't hesitate!

 Just recently, Barbara has mentioned me along with very prestigious company in a list of "FELLOW TRAVELERS" on the road of entrepreneurship.  Thanks Barbara, you honor me by including me in a set of such accomplished people!

CourVO

Love 'em, hate 'em… niche forums serve a great purpose to all sorts of different people for many reasons. 

Veteran studio whiz/coach/voice-actor/training expert Michale Minetree reminds me that he's launched a VO forum that is just dying for YOUR input.

Click HERE for the link.

Other forums:  The Voice-Over Bulletin Board VO-BB (my perennial fave)

And Julie William's Voice-Over.com forum.

CourVO

Marc Cashman was one of the more prolific contributors to the recent VOICE 2008 event.  The guy was everywhere!

It's really no different than his presence in the world of VO, esp. in LA.  Producer, writer, director, casting agent, voice artist, and voice coach, Cashman brings a world of experience to the table.

Read below the fold to see his response to requests for more access to the information he churns out of his studio.

CourVO

Read the rest of this entry »

Did someone launch a new national advertising campaign about pajamas and sacks of money arriving at your door???!!! ‘Cause they’ve been comin’ out of the woodwork the last few days!

‘Seems to me everybody and their 3rd cousin is considering, or trying to, or maybe wanting to, or at least thinking about getting into voice overs.

And word gets around.  You know…”…call that Dave Courvoisier guy…I think he’s doing something with that…”

Now, far be it from me to discourage anyone’s dreams. Somewhere along the line in the last few years I also picked up the flag for voice acting, and many people helped me, so I’m happy to mentor too.

However, I have found no quick way to answer the question of what it’ll take to get into voice-overs.  Meaning the answer itself is getting fairly involved AND time-consuming.

My latest tack is to just ask for the neophyte’s e-mail address and bury them in resources so deep it takes weeks to get through it all.  Then, if they come back, I’ve got at least a qualified candidate to talk to.

Hence, the following list is my preferred set of links to voice-over nirvana for n00bs.

Got more?  Puh-leeze, let me know, so I can add it to the list.

8/28/08 update:  John Florian of VoiceOverXtra sends THIS link to his site esp. for beginners:
http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/newcomers.htm

Also, there’s a thread on this very topic RIGHT NOW on the VO-BB which is one of the resources noted above.  But the specific link to the newbie thread is here:

http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6908&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Read ‘em and weep folks!  Heck, I’m not even finding the time these days to read VoiceOverUniverse alone!

[ADDED 1-9-09 FROM DAVID HOUSTON:  EXCELLENT ARTICLE:  http://davidhoustonvoice.com/blog1/2006/08/getting_started_my_take.html]

[ADDED 11-27-09 FROM WAYNE JUNE: Another top-notch resource in this area: http://www.waynejune.com/where_to_start.html]

CourVO

Looking back on which of my blogs have garnered the most interest, posts about setting rates is at or near the top.

Don't worry, I'm not going to re-hash long formulas here (see above link for all that stuff)…I just want to point out how making this decision can decide a plethora of issues for you, and it shouldn't be taken lightly.

Then again, you shouldn't agonize over it either.

Think about it.  Quoting YOUR price to a client tells them what YOU think you're worth.  That tells them a lot about you. 

This is a hugely personal standard you're setting.

So….what are you worth?..and can you back it up with real (or percieved) value/content/talent/goods?

The variables are endless.  Do you charge per hour, per minute, per page, per word-count, per how-bad-you-need-the-job?

Is this a returning customer you want to keep happy?  Someone you may be more forgiving of the rules?  I know many a successful voice actor who absolutely positively WILL NOT fudge on ANY stated rate sheet.  They claim they ask Union scale whether it's a union job or not, and they further claim their clients pay it willingly and keep coming back. 

Go ahead, post the question about rates on the VO-BB (many have – you oughta see the archives) and witness the wide spectrum of responses you get.  People are vehement about this stuff!

Formulas get complicated.  Grab a calculator.  Many boil down to so-many-cents-per-word.  Or so many dollars-per-page.  150-160 words per minute.  250 words-per-page double-spaced, 12-pt font, 1-inch margins….yada, yada, yada…  Is that a :30 spot or a 36,000 word AudioBook?  Should there be a difference in the rate for either?

I suppose it's important to get down to the math.  I've done that, then I do a gut check after I come up with a figure.

OK.  All fine and good.

Now…are you going to edit the thing?  "Post-production".  Clean up all the coughs, mouth-clicks, pauses for interpretation, planes passing over, and phones ringing?

Back to the calculator.  More variables.  Per hour, per minute, per job, per word, per page…?

I have a rate sheet.  Some clients who are detail-oriented like to see such a document. 

I think of it as a starting point for negotiations.  I see it as a personal statement, yes, but I also think each job and client has its own set of unique variables that demand a recalculation every time around.

There will be those who strongly disagree on principled reasoning.  I salute them.  I find it hard to be so rigid…and I may be shortchanging myself in the process.

But I like to think I'm giving each of my clients a personal service…in more ways than just voice.

CourVO

Paul Pape appeared twice in the VOICE 2008 event…he's an ADR whiz, and veteran of most all forms of Voice Acting.  He's also a close and long-time friend of Don LaFontaine.  Below is his latest update on Don LaFontaine….followed by a thankyou letter from Don's wife, Nita.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pat Fraley's at it again, this time with a star-studded workshop line-up called:  "Play Among The Stars"

The "name" in attendance is Ed Asner, but the rest of the roster is top-notch too.
Hillary Huber, Richard Horvitz, Jennifer Darling, Peter Jason, and more.

Click HERE to see the entire pitch for this September 20th.

These classes always fill up fast, so get right on it.  Pat's workshops are just the BEST, and reasonably priced.  He'll work with you on payments.

CourVO