Aaaand it's already almost X-Mas. If there's one thing that I'm increasingly learning new ways to deal with it's how to balance things going on from day to day. It's not work/life that's the problem right now it's work-life/voiceover-creativity. The holidays are nuts for pretty much everyone, but it is a new experience trying to keep up with my practice, sending out auditions, and doing my "homework" on acting, marketing, industry news. But I'm not at the point yet where I can simply put my day job aside, so a little bit of feeling like I'm standing on a huge Jenga tower comes with the territory I guess.
I am immensely looking forward to the time I get to take off from my survival job around X-Mas and New Year's. I'll still be working a bit, but it's voiceover work that I'm excited to be a part of. I'll be heading to San Diego to visit my parents as well as to see friends both new and old in Los Angeles while I'm down there. But in the couple of weeks I still have until we leave, I am determined not to fall into a rut. Classes are kind of on hold around the holidays as most acting teachers don't want to start one when everyone is out of town. So I'm left to be a diligent self-learner for the time being.
I'm also continuing my construction of a decent home recording space. For the moment it looks a little bit like an empty box, but it's coming together. I'm finding that the problem with home audio booths isn't the echo off of the drywall or the ventilation but actually preventing sound from getting in -- and when you have a new neighbor that likes blasting music with heavy bass it's a BIG problem. Unfortunately I don't have $5000 to drop on a prefabricated isolation booth, so heavy blankets on every surface seems to be the way this is going to go. Especially the floor. Because killing my downstairs neighbor is generally frowned upon, unfortunately.
One thing I'm thankful for is my continued subscription to Steve Blum's webinar classes. I can't usually participate live, but they're all recorded so I can generally start one whenever works best for me. They're a great way to remotivate myself if I'm feeling like I'm dropping into that sort of educational or creative rut, and he always provides interesting homework assignments to give each class a practical side. Anything that gets me back in front of a microphone when I start to want to procrastinate is fantastic.
Above all, I want to feel like I'm making progress and moving forward. Plateaus are an awful feeling when you see the next level above you and just can't quite make it. So every new thing I can learn, every little trick I figure out for my own voice or realization about a certain theoretical lesson put into practice puts me one more step up on this staircase to where I want to be.
For those of you following along, I realize that sometimes it seems like I'm stating the obvious or restating something I've said before, but remember that this is as much if not more for me than it is for you. Writing this out helps me put my thoughts into practice, and my brain is a pudding thrown against a wall sometimes. So the rambling will happen. I thank you for bearing with me, and checking in with me from time to time on this journey of mine. Every one of you that cares enough to see what I'm up to is incredibly appreciated.
Cheers, and Happy Holidays!
Monday, December 10, 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Happy Turkey Day!
Happy nonspecific harvest festival celebration day, everybody! I'm pretty much taking today off from the blogging in order to pack for a brief trip out of state to visit my in-laws for the holiday. So this isn't going to be a full training/info topic.
I just want to share that I have a couple new projects that I've been cast to take part in. Unfortunately, I can't give any more details than that, but I'm excited to contribute and I will of course tell you all about them when they are finished and announced by the project creators.
In the meantime, enjoy your holidays if you celebrate, however you celebrate, and I'll be back to posting my particular brand of verbal detritus and scree next week!
I just want to share that I have a couple new projects that I've been cast to take part in. Unfortunately, I can't give any more details than that, but I'm excited to contribute and I will of course tell you all about them when they are finished and announced by the project creators.
In the meantime, enjoy your holidays if you celebrate, however you celebrate, and I'll be back to posting my particular brand of verbal detritus and scree next week!
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Training Update
This week I'm just going to say how much of a difference actually having a voiceover coach is making for me. Leslie at Inside Voice is well worth the money I'm investing to improve myself, and every session I have with her brings new insights. We're working mostly on my general skills and commercial voiceover education as that's the area I feel I'm least up to par in. My character acting is improving steadily, aided by more generalized acting classes, and I'm starting improv classes after the holidays. Leslie has been instrumental in bringing me to the next level in just the basic knowledge one needs to enter this profession, however.
It could be something as simple as "don't 'punch' (overemphasize) your pronouns", "why don't you try smiling or smirking a little bit while you're speaking, show me your dimples", or "'season' the client's business name a little more when you say it". Little fixes and tricks that help me be clear, on message, and dynamic in my recording for commercial voiceover. Having internalized these lessons, and after a lot more practice and experience, it will be clear to prospective clients and the people they hire to produce these projects that I know what the hell I'm doing. (Or that I can at least fake it well enough!)
The big thing I learned this session was that the speed and sort of rhythm or flow of the lines was an essential thing to find. I'm still learning, so I tend to swing to extremes. In acting class, I was told to SLOW DOWN because my natural tendency is to speak very quickly and get it all out there. In a commercial spot, however, taking a slow and measured pace may not work for a twenty second radio spot. Pauses are fine, but sometimes it's quick and clear annunciation that gets the job done instead. It may even behoove me to edit myself a bit in my sound recording software to speed things up, get rid of breaths that aren't intentional, and get a recording to really pop.
For next week, I've realized that very soon I'm going to hit another equipment wall with the way my recording gear is set up at home. So I'm going to take the weekend and try to do some low-cost improvements to my amateur sound booth in order to better employ the things I've learned in voiceover coaching -- including going from being seated at my desk to a standing setup so that I can move my body more. I knew that it made a difference, but that was one more thing that Leslie really pressed in our previous session. I'm a pretty expressive talker sometimes, and if I have to sit still and keep my desk chair from squeaking, my performance suffers. I'm also going to invest in some thick blankets, a PVC pipe frame, and some padded flooring to better prevent recordings from picking up as much ambient sound.
I may have to get a few pieces of equipment shipped in, but we'll see what I can manage by next week's update. My other intention, once I can get a jump in quality, is to start adding more of my practice recording to my YouTube and Soundcloud to back up what I've been writing about and prove that I'm not just bloviating about all this.
Lastly, I'd just like to thank anyone who's been reading along here. I'm doing this mostly for myself, to keep me honest, but also to have a record of where I've been because sometimes you need to see how much ground you've covered to keep you motivated. I know my readership so far is likely just a bunch of my mom's friends, but if you're reading this I appreciate any and all of you for checking in with me. Cheers!
It could be something as simple as "don't 'punch' (overemphasize) your pronouns", "why don't you try smiling or smirking a little bit while you're speaking, show me your dimples", or "'season' the client's business name a little more when you say it". Little fixes and tricks that help me be clear, on message, and dynamic in my recording for commercial voiceover. Having internalized these lessons, and after a lot more practice and experience, it will be clear to prospective clients and the people they hire to produce these projects that I know what the hell I'm doing. (Or that I can at least fake it well enough!)
The big thing I learned this session was that the speed and sort of rhythm or flow of the lines was an essential thing to find. I'm still learning, so I tend to swing to extremes. In acting class, I was told to SLOW DOWN because my natural tendency is to speak very quickly and get it all out there. In a commercial spot, however, taking a slow and measured pace may not work for a twenty second radio spot. Pauses are fine, but sometimes it's quick and clear annunciation that gets the job done instead. It may even behoove me to edit myself a bit in my sound recording software to speed things up, get rid of breaths that aren't intentional, and get a recording to really pop.
For next week, I've realized that very soon I'm going to hit another equipment wall with the way my recording gear is set up at home. So I'm going to take the weekend and try to do some low-cost improvements to my amateur sound booth in order to better employ the things I've learned in voiceover coaching -- including going from being seated at my desk to a standing setup so that I can move my body more. I knew that it made a difference, but that was one more thing that Leslie really pressed in our previous session. I'm a pretty expressive talker sometimes, and if I have to sit still and keep my desk chair from squeaking, my performance suffers. I'm also going to invest in some thick blankets, a PVC pipe frame, and some padded flooring to better prevent recordings from picking up as much ambient sound.
I may have to get a few pieces of equipment shipped in, but we'll see what I can manage by next week's update. My other intention, once I can get a jump in quality, is to start adding more of my practice recording to my YouTube and Soundcloud to back up what I've been writing about and prove that I'm not just bloviating about all this.
Lastly, I'd just like to thank anyone who's been reading along here. I'm doing this mostly for myself, to keep me honest, but also to have a record of where I've been because sometimes you need to see how much ground you've covered to keep you motivated. I know my readership so far is likely just a bunch of my mom's friends, but if you're reading this I appreciate any and all of you for checking in with me. Cheers!
Friday, November 9, 2018
Self-Care
Hello, readers. Apologies for the late post this week, but I was sick Wednesday and things tend to snowball. But it actually leads in to what I wanted to talk about this week: the importance or self-care.
It's sort of a rare experience for me to work myself into exhaustion so badly that I get physically ill, but I didn't take care to devote enough time to rest and I paid the price. If you're passionate about something, it's easy to throw yourself into it, and especially if you're depressed, anxious, or ADD/ADHD you tend to feel like you're never doing enough or never going fast enough. And it screws with you.
I'm 32, and still just getting into this voiceover thing. So a lot of the time I struggle with feeling like I'm way behind. So instead of taking the time to relax my body and mind after already spending nine hours at my survival job, I throw myself into research and practice as soon as I get home, too. If I'm not careful, my health and my relationships suffer. Fortunately, my wife is also a creative and she can see the signs. She watches out for me just like I watch out for her, since we can't always see things right in front of our faces.
I think that setting a bit of an elevated pace is a good thing. It keeps me from getting lazy and falling into old habits. I'm always concerned with what's next instead of ruminating on what I've already sent out. But as much as I love this, it's still work. I'm not slacking off if I also include time to watch a movie with my wife or take an extra long walk with the dog. Your mind is a muscle, and when you're working out rest is just as important as activity. I can't be my best if my brain is wrung out and useless. The same is true for my voice. If I over-practice or overuse it, trying to stay ahead of the competition I'm going to hurt myself and fall behind anyway.
Taking a break when you need it is also, strangely enough, a great way to stay motivated. Killing myself with this is the best way to guarantee that I'm not going to want to keep doing it. Even the best job in the world can end up being a chore if you're not taking care of yourself in your off time.
So set a healthy pace. If you deal with mental issues like ADHD, take steps not to hyperfocus. Have a varied set of hobbies and interests outside of voiceover that can refresh you. Try to live a healthy social life, because your friends and experiences out there are going to make your performances in the booth much better! And well...you know what else I'm going to say. Eat your vegetables, take your meds, and stay in school.
Mostly what I'm saying here to myself and to you is, you have permission to rest. You're still going to be great.
It's sort of a rare experience for me to work myself into exhaustion so badly that I get physically ill, but I didn't take care to devote enough time to rest and I paid the price. If you're passionate about something, it's easy to throw yourself into it, and especially if you're depressed, anxious, or ADD/ADHD you tend to feel like you're never doing enough or never going fast enough. And it screws with you.
I'm 32, and still just getting into this voiceover thing. So a lot of the time I struggle with feeling like I'm way behind. So instead of taking the time to relax my body and mind after already spending nine hours at my survival job, I throw myself into research and practice as soon as I get home, too. If I'm not careful, my health and my relationships suffer. Fortunately, my wife is also a creative and she can see the signs. She watches out for me just like I watch out for her, since we can't always see things right in front of our faces.
I think that setting a bit of an elevated pace is a good thing. It keeps me from getting lazy and falling into old habits. I'm always concerned with what's next instead of ruminating on what I've already sent out. But as much as I love this, it's still work. I'm not slacking off if I also include time to watch a movie with my wife or take an extra long walk with the dog. Your mind is a muscle, and when you're working out rest is just as important as activity. I can't be my best if my brain is wrung out and useless. The same is true for my voice. If I over-practice or overuse it, trying to stay ahead of the competition I'm going to hurt myself and fall behind anyway.
Taking a break when you need it is also, strangely enough, a great way to stay motivated. Killing myself with this is the best way to guarantee that I'm not going to want to keep doing it. Even the best job in the world can end up being a chore if you're not taking care of yourself in your off time.
So set a healthy pace. If you deal with mental issues like ADHD, take steps not to hyperfocus. Have a varied set of hobbies and interests outside of voiceover that can refresh you. Try to live a healthy social life, because your friends and experiences out there are going to make your performances in the booth much better! And well...you know what else I'm going to say. Eat your vegetables, take your meds, and stay in school.
Mostly what I'm saying here to myself and to you is, you have permission to rest. You're still going to be great.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Happy Halloween! Kumoricon Voice Panel Recap
Happy Spoopy Day, everybody!
If you got such a gorgeous torrential downpour of rain like we did here in Portland, I hope you're enjoying it. It's been like this most of the week and after the several months of bone dry weather we experienced it's giving a pluviophile (someone who loves rain and finds peace in rainy days) like me life.
Last weekend I hit Kumoricon, mostly for the voice panels. In attendance were Monica Rial, Keith Silverstein, Justin Briner, Erica Mendez, Lucien Dodge, Jād (jade) Saxton, Lauren Landa, and most likely more I have forgotten -- but these were the voice actors, directors, and ADR scriptwriters in the panels I was able to attend. And I'm just going to talk about a few points from the most interesting ones -- the ADR Scriptwriting Panel, the From Fan to Professional panel, and Justin Briner's Q&A panel.
ADR, or Automated Dialog Replacement, is the process of taking a foreign language script, translating it, and rewriting it so that the English matches the mouth flaps of the animated characters on screen -- mostly used for anime shows. Monica Rial, Lucien Dodge, and Erica Mendez were there to give us a rundown on the process as well as answer some questions. One thing I hadn't considered about ADR was that they're not just doing a straight translation, or even trying to adhere 100% to what the literal translation from Japanese would be. They're sticking to the intent more than the actual words, because a straight translation into English doesn't often make a whole lot of sense. They're also adjusting it by characterization in order to translate a specific character's personality into English as well as the dialogue. An ADR script adapter has to deal with things like long pauses ("Shatnerisms"), lengthening or shortening a line to fit the time frame and mouth movements, the Japanese switchup with the letters "L" and "R" that sometimes happens, and especially any time there is a sign written in English or a person speaking English in the Japanese version which they'll either have to go with, adjust slightly, or ignore depending on how bad it looks or sounds.
The "From Fan to Professional" panel was interesting because Erica Mendez and Lucien Dodge were basically telling their own story about how they got into the industry. Erica especially was a fan first, no classic theater training, went to school for something else, but was able to get into it with sheer hard work and passion for the craft. It's honestly very inspiring because in a whole lot of those ways I'm in the same starting position, only she was able to figure it out when she was five or ten years younger than me. What it boils down to, basically, is be tenacious and driven but don't be a dick. The more friends you make, the more people have your back, the more people will see you helping yourself and want to help you. I like that. It's still really, really, really, really hard work but it's nice to have a hand to help pull you back up off the ground when you fail. You'll also burn fewer bridges if you're just a nice person. It seems very obvious, probably, but a lot of people conflate being driven with being ruthless in the entertainment industry. Don't.
Strangely enough, I got my most useful answer to a question from Justin Briner's open Question & Answer panel. As usual, I was the guy in the front row taking notes, probably making him wonder if I was part of the press or just an obsessed fan, but he answered my question about getting into the character's headspace on a short time frame really well. I'd love to have just let him talk about it for the entire hour and a half, but I wasn't the only one with a question, so I'm glad he went on about it for as long as he did. The question, basically, was "How do you find the character when you're given a script a day, or hours before having to audition?" Voice actors often don't get a lot of time to prepare, so I wanted to know what Justin's process was when he was handed a new character.
If you got such a gorgeous torrential downpour of rain like we did here in Portland, I hope you're enjoying it. It's been like this most of the week and after the several months of bone dry weather we experienced it's giving a pluviophile (someone who loves rain and finds peace in rainy days) like me life.
Last weekend I hit Kumoricon, mostly for the voice panels. In attendance were Monica Rial, Keith Silverstein, Justin Briner, Erica Mendez, Lucien Dodge, Jād (jade) Saxton, Lauren Landa, and most likely more I have forgotten -- but these were the voice actors, directors, and ADR scriptwriters in the panels I was able to attend. And I'm just going to talk about a few points from the most interesting ones -- the ADR Scriptwriting Panel, the From Fan to Professional panel, and Justin Briner's Q&A panel.
ADR, or Automated Dialog Replacement, is the process of taking a foreign language script, translating it, and rewriting it so that the English matches the mouth flaps of the animated characters on screen -- mostly used for anime shows. Monica Rial, Lucien Dodge, and Erica Mendez were there to give us a rundown on the process as well as answer some questions. One thing I hadn't considered about ADR was that they're not just doing a straight translation, or even trying to adhere 100% to what the literal translation from Japanese would be. They're sticking to the intent more than the actual words, because a straight translation into English doesn't often make a whole lot of sense. They're also adjusting it by characterization in order to translate a specific character's personality into English as well as the dialogue. An ADR script adapter has to deal with things like long pauses ("Shatnerisms"), lengthening or shortening a line to fit the time frame and mouth movements, the Japanese switchup with the letters "L" and "R" that sometimes happens, and especially any time there is a sign written in English or a person speaking English in the Japanese version which they'll either have to go with, adjust slightly, or ignore depending on how bad it looks or sounds.
The "From Fan to Professional" panel was interesting because Erica Mendez and Lucien Dodge were basically telling their own story about how they got into the industry. Erica especially was a fan first, no classic theater training, went to school for something else, but was able to get into it with sheer hard work and passion for the craft. It's honestly very inspiring because in a whole lot of those ways I'm in the same starting position, only she was able to figure it out when she was five or ten years younger than me. What it boils down to, basically, is be tenacious and driven but don't be a dick. The more friends you make, the more people have your back, the more people will see you helping yourself and want to help you. I like that. It's still really, really, really, really hard work but it's nice to have a hand to help pull you back up off the ground when you fail. You'll also burn fewer bridges if you're just a nice person. It seems very obvious, probably, but a lot of people conflate being driven with being ruthless in the entertainment industry. Don't.
Strangely enough, I got my most useful answer to a question from Justin Briner's open Question & Answer panel. As usual, I was the guy in the front row taking notes, probably making him wonder if I was part of the press or just an obsessed fan, but he answered my question about getting into the character's headspace on a short time frame really well. I'd love to have just let him talk about it for the entire hour and a half, but I wasn't the only one with a question, so I'm glad he went on about it for as long as he did. The question, basically, was "How do you find the character when you're given a script a day, or hours before having to audition?" Voice actors often don't get a lot of time to prepare, so I wanted to know what Justin's process was when he was handed a new character.
- Theater training really helps here -- helping you make a strong choice, especially in the audition; vocal control and technique; cold reading and quick decisions; physical movement and projection.
- A healthy back and forth with the Director can help you tweak your performance to help you give them what they want.
- A focus on what your character wants in that moment. What is the purpose of the scene? Keeping that always in the back of your mind in order to serve the flow of the story.
- Experience and practice, practice, practice. Having read enough scripts and done enough acting that you can recognize the cues in what you read nearly instantly. The character is all there -- the delay comes in the speed at which you process it from the reading.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
First session with my voiceover coach!
I'll be quick today. [Editor's Note: It turns out I wasn't as quick as I thought when I first started to write.] I just wanted to report that I had my first session with a voiceover coach last weekend, and I'm incredibly happy because it went well. Leslie at Inside Voice brought me in, we got to know each other, she gave me a ton of new resources for recording spaces and acting/improv classes in town, and she put me in front of a microphone and had me cold-read one character side and a few commercial scripts.
I basically knew when it wasn't as good as it could have been, but she pretty much instantly was able to tell what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how to fix it so that the next take was better. Leslie pointed out the specifics and went over the audio right after with me to figure out what worked and what didn't. I did my best to just take direction well and learn everything I could while I was there. (She also brought me cookies! Best. day. ever.)
There's always anxiety for me about taking a new class or taking the next career step. My inner critic likes to whisper in my ear and tell me I'm not ready, or I should have studied harder, or people are going to laugh at me or tell me I suck, but the best part of my week is sprinting full speed into it anyway just to shut that little bastard up. He always comes back, but each time the volume gets a little lower on his end.
The on-camera acting class that I'm taking just ended on Monday night as well, and I spoke with my teacher about very much the same thing. It's not what I'd call stage fright, but I'm acutely aware when people are watching me or listening to me. I'm working on not letting it make me tense up in this way it always does no matter what I do to prepare for it. It might just be a matter of time and exposure, just getting used to it. But it's not all bad, either, you know? The idea that people might actually WANT to listen to me or watch me and actually be interested in what I had to say still surprises me. I've always made a conscious effort not to talk or draw attention because for some reason I thought that it annoyed people. That same inner voice would tell me that they were just barely tolerating my presence and I should just shut up.
It's only recently that I've found I have a voice, and I'm pretty good at using it. When I speak, and sometimes when I write, people listen. They don't always agree with me, but what I am and what I do has value. I'm worth it. I'm enough. I know that might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but I'm still wrapping my head around it.
So! What's next, you ask? Well, the holidays are around the corner, but the auditions don't stop. I'll be packing my mic and taking it with me so I can throw some blanket-fort recordings into the ether while my wife and I are visiting family. If there's enough time between now and then, I'm looking into either the next course from the same acting studio where I've been taking these on-camera classes OR I think it might even be time to throw myself head first into some Improv classes. Improv seems scarier at this point so that tells me maybe it's the best choice for now. Of course I'm also going to go back for more sessions with Inside Voice.
Take care, anyone who might end up reading this. Tell your inner critic "Bite me" today and go do something great.
P.S. With permission, I'm posting a bit of what was recorded during my coaching session. It's pretty great seeing these short reads change as I adjusted to Leslie's direction and in the case of the character just allowed myself to go full weirdo.
I basically knew when it wasn't as good as it could have been, but she pretty much instantly was able to tell what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how to fix it so that the next take was better. Leslie pointed out the specifics and went over the audio right after with me to figure out what worked and what didn't. I did my best to just take direction well and learn everything I could while I was there. (She also brought me cookies! Best. day. ever.)
There's always anxiety for me about taking a new class or taking the next career step. My inner critic likes to whisper in my ear and tell me I'm not ready, or I should have studied harder, or people are going to laugh at me or tell me I suck, but the best part of my week is sprinting full speed into it anyway just to shut that little bastard up. He always comes back, but each time the volume gets a little lower on his end.
The on-camera acting class that I'm taking just ended on Monday night as well, and I spoke with my teacher about very much the same thing. It's not what I'd call stage fright, but I'm acutely aware when people are watching me or listening to me. I'm working on not letting it make me tense up in this way it always does no matter what I do to prepare for it. It might just be a matter of time and exposure, just getting used to it. But it's not all bad, either, you know? The idea that people might actually WANT to listen to me or watch me and actually be interested in what I had to say still surprises me. I've always made a conscious effort not to talk or draw attention because for some reason I thought that it annoyed people. That same inner voice would tell me that they were just barely tolerating my presence and I should just shut up.
It's only recently that I've found I have a voice, and I'm pretty good at using it. When I speak, and sometimes when I write, people listen. They don't always agree with me, but what I am and what I do has value. I'm worth it. I'm enough. I know that might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but I'm still wrapping my head around it.
So! What's next, you ask? Well, the holidays are around the corner, but the auditions don't stop. I'll be packing my mic and taking it with me so I can throw some blanket-fort recordings into the ether while my wife and I are visiting family. If there's enough time between now and then, I'm looking into either the next course from the same acting studio where I've been taking these on-camera classes OR I think it might even be time to throw myself head first into some Improv classes. Improv seems scarier at this point so that tells me maybe it's the best choice for now. Of course I'm also going to go back for more sessions with Inside Voice.
Take care, anyone who might end up reading this. Tell your inner critic "Bite me" today and go do something great.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
D&D is fantastic practice for voice acting!
So since it's Orctober, and friends of mine like Steven Pope are posting phenomenal articles like "Orcs and Queerness" I thought that this week I'd discuss what D&D means to me as a voice actor. Before that, however, a small update on what I'm working on right now!
Starting off, coming this Saturday, I have my first voiceover specific coaching lesson with Inside Voice right here in Portland which I am excited beyond belief about. I believe it's primarily focused on commercial voiceover, but that's something that I'm probably the weakest in at the moment so all the better. Any time I can get in a professional booth with an experienced coach will benefit me enormously. Secondly, I've been auditioning on places like BehindtheVoiceActors.com, CastingCall.club, and the Voice Acting Club on mostly amateur level fandubbing projects and machinima videos, etc. for several months now and I actually got cast in one of the first things I ever auditioned for! The casting process isn't over yet, but I'll have more to report once things get going. I'll be playing at least two supporting roles on that. Third, I was also contacted out of the blue on Facebook by someone needing a voice actor for a YouTube project that I'm excited to contribute to, and two friends of mine from the Savannah College of Art and Design also made me aware of a couple more auditions I would never have known about otherwise. (I might even get paid for one of these!) Will definitely post more when I know more! But before I move on, I'd just like to take a moment and emphasize how awesome it is to have amazing and supportive friends on this weird and wonderful journey I'm on. Even if I don't get cast after those auditions, I can't thank them enough for sending me the opportunities. You guys are incredible.
Now, on to the nerdy shit!
Now, linking D&D and voice acting is nothing new. If you haven't seen Critical Role on Twitch, a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors have already made themselves even more famous by streaming what used to be their own personal home game online. It's amassed a giant following, starting on Geek & Sundry and eventually moving to their own new Twitch channel, with new shows and new content just now starting to all really hit their stride. I'd be lying if I said that Matthew Mercer and company weren't an influence on me climbing down the voice acting rabbit hole.
I've been the Dungeon Master/Game Master/running a Dungeons & Dragons game for a group of local friends for a while now. It's probably the longest running single game with the same people I've ever had, and I've learned a lot about how to be a good DM in the process. More than that, I've learned how fun it can be to have a captive audience on which I can practice a ton of different character voices! Male, female, high, low, angry, pleasant, scared, evil, good, innocent, English accents, Irish accents, Scottish accents, American accents, Spanish accents, one voice pretty much directly copying Oded Fehr's character in "The Mummy". I am not only allowed, but encouraged to do them all so that my players can feel immersed and so that they have a great time.
It's also an exercise in improvisation! Anyone who has run a D&D game before knows that you can spend weeks planning an adventure, working out the storyline and minutae to the smallest detail, only to have all of your best laid plans torn asunder in the first five minutes of player decisions. If you want the game to run smoothly, you have to be quick on your feet and adapt to the changing circumstances. You can have the adventure path or the story you created laid out as a guideline but if you force them along the path you'll be accused of and actually be guilty of railroading them, which isn't really all that fun. You know the whole story, but you have to parcel out the hints and details in a way that makes them interested in following the breadcrumbs. And sometimes your players will just do pants-on-head crazy murder-hobo shit, too. Like killing an important PC or missing all the [what you thought were] obvious clues to get to the bad guy in the basement... (I'm not bitter.)
I have to sometimes voice up to ten different NPCs, or "Non-Player Characters", sometimes in rapid succession changing accents and personalities with very little time to reset. I've even had to have the NPCs all have a conversation with one another with my players just sitting there watching me going back and forth from one personality to the other. It's exhausting, and I'm still pretty bad at it sometimes, but I'm getting better. It's great practice for when I might have to pull a random voice out of my hat for a side character or background noise in a future recording session. It also gives me a LOT of different potential details to put in my wheelhouse for auditions! If I like a certain character voice, I take the time to play with it before and after the actual game, honing it into something I can use in my career.
Finally, Dungeons & Dragons is amazing for developing an active imagination and really letting yourself fall into that secondary reality. It encourages you to think in a character's headspace, think about the where/how/why/when of a scene, and when everyone is buying in to that creativity it becomes a magical experience for everyone involved. If you've never played, D&D's 5th Edition has a starter set that you buy and I would absolutely recommend it for anyone -- not just newbie voice actors.
Starting off, coming this Saturday, I have my first voiceover specific coaching lesson with Inside Voice right here in Portland which I am excited beyond belief about. I believe it's primarily focused on commercial voiceover, but that's something that I'm probably the weakest in at the moment so all the better. Any time I can get in a professional booth with an experienced coach will benefit me enormously. Secondly, I've been auditioning on places like BehindtheVoiceActors.com, CastingCall.club, and the Voice Acting Club on mostly amateur level fandubbing projects and machinima videos, etc. for several months now and I actually got cast in one of the first things I ever auditioned for! The casting process isn't over yet, but I'll have more to report once things get going. I'll be playing at least two supporting roles on that. Third, I was also contacted out of the blue on Facebook by someone needing a voice actor for a YouTube project that I'm excited to contribute to, and two friends of mine from the Savannah College of Art and Design also made me aware of a couple more auditions I would never have known about otherwise. (I might even get paid for one of these!) Will definitely post more when I know more! But before I move on, I'd just like to take a moment and emphasize how awesome it is to have amazing and supportive friends on this weird and wonderful journey I'm on. Even if I don't get cast after those auditions, I can't thank them enough for sending me the opportunities. You guys are incredible.
Now, on to the nerdy shit!
(Picture sourced from Easy Roller Dice Company - Learn to Play D&D in 5 Easy Steps)
I've been the Dungeon Master/Game Master/running a Dungeons & Dragons game for a group of local friends for a while now. It's probably the longest running single game with the same people I've ever had, and I've learned a lot about how to be a good DM in the process. More than that, I've learned how fun it can be to have a captive audience on which I can practice a ton of different character voices! Male, female, high, low, angry, pleasant, scared, evil, good, innocent, English accents, Irish accents, Scottish accents, American accents, Spanish accents, one voice pretty much directly copying Oded Fehr's character in "The Mummy". I am not only allowed, but encouraged to do them all so that my players can feel immersed and so that they have a great time.
It's also an exercise in improvisation! Anyone who has run a D&D game before knows that you can spend weeks planning an adventure, working out the storyline and minutae to the smallest detail, only to have all of your best laid plans torn asunder in the first five minutes of player decisions. If you want the game to run smoothly, you have to be quick on your feet and adapt to the changing circumstances. You can have the adventure path or the story you created laid out as a guideline but if you force them along the path you'll be accused of and actually be guilty of railroading them, which isn't really all that fun. You know the whole story, but you have to parcel out the hints and details in a way that makes them interested in following the breadcrumbs. And sometimes your players will just do pants-on-head crazy murder-hobo shit, too. Like killing an important PC or missing all the [what you thought were] obvious clues to get to the bad guy in the basement... (I'm not bitter.)
I have to sometimes voice up to ten different NPCs, or "Non-Player Characters", sometimes in rapid succession changing accents and personalities with very little time to reset. I've even had to have the NPCs all have a conversation with one another with my players just sitting there watching me going back and forth from one personality to the other. It's exhausting, and I'm still pretty bad at it sometimes, but I'm getting better. It's great practice for when I might have to pull a random voice out of my hat for a side character or background noise in a future recording session. It also gives me a LOT of different potential details to put in my wheelhouse for auditions! If I like a certain character voice, I take the time to play with it before and after the actual game, honing it into something I can use in my career.
Finally, Dungeons & Dragons is amazing for developing an active imagination and really letting yourself fall into that secondary reality. It encourages you to think in a character's headspace, think about the where/how/why/when of a scene, and when everyone is buying in to that creativity it becomes a magical experience for everyone involved. If you've never played, D&D's 5th Edition has a starter set that you buy and I would absolutely recommend it for anyone -- not just newbie voice actors.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Improv training and the importance of allowing yourself to look STUPID!
Think about that someone you know who is really great at improvising on the spot, whether due to natural ability, upbringing, or training. They may not necessarily speak quickly, but they've trained themselves to think quickly and are ready with a comeback or a comment before you manage to even process what was just said. They're on the spot with a joke, can handle awkward or tense moments very easily, they don't seem to have that same brain to mouth hesitation as everyone else does when it comes down to the moment. (Sometimes it even gets them in trouble if they haven't learned to keep the filter on.) I seethe with jealousy of those people who are able to just <BOOM> get it.
Me? I'm not always ready at a moment's notice, but sometimes I'm good with a quip. It all depends on whether I catch my gut response in my web of overthinking and second-guessing. Not just a filter, but a feedback loop of "what if's" and potential scenarios. It's kept me out of trouble, certainly, but the rest of the time I just kick myself because I couldn't think of anything brilliant or funny to say. It's not that I'm stupid, I'm just not quick enough to get there most of the time. Too much time spent in my own brain.
The ability to react quickly and improvise is crucial to acting, and especially voice acting. Time and time again, when famous actors are asked what they'd suggest to people trying to break into the industry is Improv Training. It lends to that ability to be in the moment in order to make your performance authentic and real. So it's something at the very top of the list of what I want to learn next. Fortunately, I have help from fantastic acting coaches. Brooke Totman's Intro to Comedy and Improv classes are on deck along with Ted Rooney's advanced On Camera Acting class, and I'm excited and intimidated in equal measure. But in order to get better you have to throw yourself full bore into that uncomfortable sensation, embracing feeling unprepared and just focusing on getting incrementally better each time you try it. Just like learning any other new skill. I'm starting to learn to like that feeling.
I once described that anxiety before performing as this pressure or energy in the center of my chest that I was determined to have fuel me instead of hinder me. It was like Tony Stark's Arc Reactor right there in my sternum just shooting power to every limb, making my fingers tingly and my breathing and heart rate pick up a bit. Of course I had to learn after how to calm the hell down, but that energy is still there ready to use. Pretending I'm Iron Man before I start performing also just gives me a little bit of childlike glee and sense of play that really helps me no matter what I'm working on anyway. Because, coincidentally, Robert Downey Jr. is also one of those people who is just so quick and reactive and instantly ready for whatever comes his way as well. I don't think I've ever personally seen him blindsided by a question in any interview or Q and A panel he's been on.
Improv training can help you make friends and network as well. Being a good conversationalist, knowing when and how to keep a conversation going instead of letting an awkward silence develop as you search for something to say, makes you look and sound more confident and memorable in a good way.
More specific to what this blog is about, however, a session in the booth recording for a voice role is often going to include having you make shit up on the spot! They'll ask you to read the line several different ways, change things up, and sometimes even ad lib your own lines just to see what you might be able to come up with once you're inhabiting the character. Maybe they just need some background chatter or a new minor character that needs to say a throwaway line that you're expected to just vomit forth with no preparation. You'll also have to apply this trained quick thinking to scripts you will probably get handed freezing cold, and they expect you to turn out a quality performance the first or second time you've even read the new material. They're on a schedule. They're not going to sit there on the other side of the glass and give me three hours to prepare and rehearse. They're just going to get someone who CAN toss things out there and make strong choices instead.
This all comes back to something I struggle with a lot: Not being afraid to look or sound STUPID. It's part of the job description. Sometimes my stuff is going to fall flat. Almost constantly I'm going to have to make ridiculous noises and funny faces and look like a total idiot, but man that's half the fun of this whole thing. If it doesn't work, you just try something different. Don't sweat the small stuff. I'm a big overanalyzer. I scrutinize the smallest details wondering if I said something wrong or came off the wrong way when in reality I'm probably going to be lucky if a person I hand my business card to even remembers the conversation. I keep having to remind myself that I've got waaaaay more important (and more fun) things to do than worry.
So go ahead. Get stupid today.
P.S. If you're a Portland, OR resident, go see Brooke and Ted's sketch comedy group Night Bus and their new show "Everything. Now." for the next two Friday and Saturday nights downtown at the Deep End Theater. My wife and I went last weekend and it was hilarious!
Me? I'm not always ready at a moment's notice, but sometimes I'm good with a quip. It all depends on whether I catch my gut response in my web of overthinking and second-guessing. Not just a filter, but a feedback loop of "what if's" and potential scenarios. It's kept me out of trouble, certainly, but the rest of the time I just kick myself because I couldn't think of anything brilliant or funny to say. It's not that I'm stupid, I'm just not quick enough to get there most of the time. Too much time spent in my own brain.
The ability to react quickly and improvise is crucial to acting, and especially voice acting. Time and time again, when famous actors are asked what they'd suggest to people trying to break into the industry is Improv Training. It lends to that ability to be in the moment in order to make your performance authentic and real. So it's something at the very top of the list of what I want to learn next. Fortunately, I have help from fantastic acting coaches. Brooke Totman's Intro to Comedy and Improv classes are on deck along with Ted Rooney's advanced On Camera Acting class, and I'm excited and intimidated in equal measure. But in order to get better you have to throw yourself full bore into that uncomfortable sensation, embracing feeling unprepared and just focusing on getting incrementally better each time you try it. Just like learning any other new skill. I'm starting to learn to like that feeling.
I once described that anxiety before performing as this pressure or energy in the center of my chest that I was determined to have fuel me instead of hinder me. It was like Tony Stark's Arc Reactor right there in my sternum just shooting power to every limb, making my fingers tingly and my breathing and heart rate pick up a bit. Of course I had to learn after how to calm the hell down, but that energy is still there ready to use. Pretending I'm Iron Man before I start performing also just gives me a little bit of childlike glee and sense of play that really helps me no matter what I'm working on anyway. Because, coincidentally, Robert Downey Jr. is also one of those people who is just so quick and reactive and instantly ready for whatever comes his way as well. I don't think I've ever personally seen him blindsided by a question in any interview or Q and A panel he's been on.
(Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man", 2008, Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment)
More specific to what this blog is about, however, a session in the booth recording for a voice role is often going to include having you make shit up on the spot! They'll ask you to read the line several different ways, change things up, and sometimes even ad lib your own lines just to see what you might be able to come up with once you're inhabiting the character. Maybe they just need some background chatter or a new minor character that needs to say a throwaway line that you're expected to just vomit forth with no preparation. You'll also have to apply this trained quick thinking to scripts you will probably get handed freezing cold, and they expect you to turn out a quality performance the first or second time you've even read the new material. They're on a schedule. They're not going to sit there on the other side of the glass and give me three hours to prepare and rehearse. They're just going to get someone who CAN toss things out there and make strong choices instead.
This all comes back to something I struggle with a lot: Not being afraid to look or sound STUPID. It's part of the job description. Sometimes my stuff is going to fall flat. Almost constantly I'm going to have to make ridiculous noises and funny faces and look like a total idiot, but man that's half the fun of this whole thing. If it doesn't work, you just try something different. Don't sweat the small stuff. I'm a big overanalyzer. I scrutinize the smallest details wondering if I said something wrong or came off the wrong way when in reality I'm probably going to be lucky if a person I hand my business card to even remembers the conversation. I keep having to remind myself that I've got waaaaay more important (and more fun) things to do than worry.
So go ahead. Get stupid today.
P.S. If you're a Portland, OR resident, go see Brooke and Ted's sketch comedy group Night Bus and their new show "Everything. Now." for the next two Friday and Saturday nights downtown at the Deep End Theater. My wife and I went last weekend and it was hilarious!
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Acoustic Panel Shenanigans and New Training Update!
"When you can hear your blood moving you've gone too far."
Very helpful advice on placing my new acoustic panels given to me by my old dorm neighbor, from back in college when I was racking up a bunch of debt getting an education that ultimately didn't go anywhere. But really, isn't the real student debt the friends you make along the way?
Anyway, back on topic, I got some new acoustic panels! For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, acoustic panels are basically foam squares with a kind of egg crate-esque texture on one side that's designed to diffuse echoes. I'm still learning the technical side of it, but they keep a lot of the annoying reverb from getting picked up by my microphone when I'm screaming into the void at home. That said, I severely underestimated how many I'd need for my messy, little recording nook. I also realized that I'm going to need several different types to help me with different frequencies of sound, such as looking into getting bass traps for my corners.
Notice the duct tape? Tip of the iceberg. The glue I got, Liquid Nails, is supposed to be really good but I'm incompetent at simple things so all the panels kept falling off the wall. The duct tape was supposed to just be there to hold it steady for half an hour while the glue dried, but I ended up using a combination of liberal amounts of both glue and tape to get them to stay. Apparently you're supposed to put down lines of the adhesive across the surface instead of just dots. At least next time when I go to add the roughly twenty or thirty more panels I'm going to need to cover more of the wall space I'll maybe sort of almost know what I'm doing. And yes, I've come to terms with ruining the paint a bit.
Also, new training update! I've scheduled by first initial lesson SPECIFICALLY for voiceover with actual booth time and focused instruction! I don't live in LA where you can hit up a bevy of famous voice actors for classes -- I live in Portland, where there's maybe one voiceover studio searchable on Google. So the only reason I even found out about Inside Voice here in town was through a classmate of mine in my on camera acting class. (Thanks, Aaron!) I'm scheduled for a few weeks from now and I'm trying to manage my excitement lest it get the better of me. I may get there an hour early that day, but I'll try not to scream "HI!" in the teacher's face. I'm an actor now, so I can at least pretend to not be a total overzealous geek for a couple hours.
Maybe.
We'll see.
For those of you seeking voiceover instruction like I am, here's what I've been told to watch out for:
1) Anyone who guarantees success is probably a scam. This career doesn't really do guarantees as a rule. It's a lot of hard, hard work and being trained and ready to jump on the right opportunity when it comes up.
2) Be seriously skeptical if they want you to produce a demo. If you're still new to this, you're probably not ready to produce a quality, competitive demo yet. A good teacher will only broach this subject if you're both absolutely sure you're ready to take that step.
3) Seriously consider your potential teacher's resume. Best case scenario, you want someone who is currently working in the industry as either an actor, a director, or something like a dialect coach. But like all learning, it's better to be empty than to be full of shit. Having a bad teacher can hurt you more than no instruction at all.
Lastly, this isn't really specific to go on the above list, but just in general about this kind of thing: Look out for warning signs, trust your gut, and when in doubt get more general training. You can never take enough acting classes or get enough experience. Get into community theater, say yes to opportunities that even peripherally have to do with voiceover like checking out a puppetry group or singing class, research the recording and sound editing software you're using and especially what the pros are using, find excuses to get onto film or television sets, sign up to be an extra, see if you can shadow a casting director, etc.
At no point should you or I be wondering what to do next. There is always something more to learn. Keep your schedule full, see what else you can apply to your career, explore other creative outlets, and make lots of friends and acquaintances. Surround yourself with other creatives and you'll always be inspired by them.
Very helpful advice on placing my new acoustic panels given to me by my old dorm neighbor, from back in college when I was racking up a bunch of debt getting an education that ultimately didn't go anywhere. But really, isn't the real student debt the friends you make along the way?
Anyway, back on topic, I got some new acoustic panels! For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, acoustic panels are basically foam squares with a kind of egg crate-esque texture on one side that's designed to diffuse echoes. I'm still learning the technical side of it, but they keep a lot of the annoying reverb from getting picked up by my microphone when I'm screaming into the void at home. That said, I severely underestimated how many I'd need for my messy, little recording nook. I also realized that I'm going to need several different types to help me with different frequencies of sound, such as looking into getting bass traps for my corners.
Notice the duct tape? Tip of the iceberg. The glue I got, Liquid Nails, is supposed to be really good but I'm incompetent at simple things so all the panels kept falling off the wall. The duct tape was supposed to just be there to hold it steady for half an hour while the glue dried, but I ended up using a combination of liberal amounts of both glue and tape to get them to stay. Apparently you're supposed to put down lines of the adhesive across the surface instead of just dots. At least next time when I go to add the roughly twenty or thirty more panels I'm going to need to cover more of the wall space I'll maybe sort of almost know what I'm doing. And yes, I've come to terms with ruining the paint a bit.
Maybe.
We'll see.
For those of you seeking voiceover instruction like I am, here's what I've been told to watch out for:
1) Anyone who guarantees success is probably a scam. This career doesn't really do guarantees as a rule. It's a lot of hard, hard work and being trained and ready to jump on the right opportunity when it comes up.
2) Be seriously skeptical if they want you to produce a demo. If you're still new to this, you're probably not ready to produce a quality, competitive demo yet. A good teacher will only broach this subject if you're both absolutely sure you're ready to take that step.
3) Seriously consider your potential teacher's resume. Best case scenario, you want someone who is currently working in the industry as either an actor, a director, or something like a dialect coach. But like all learning, it's better to be empty than to be full of shit. Having a bad teacher can hurt you more than no instruction at all.
Lastly, this isn't really specific to go on the above list, but just in general about this kind of thing: Look out for warning signs, trust your gut, and when in doubt get more general training. You can never take enough acting classes or get enough experience. Get into community theater, say yes to opportunities that even peripherally have to do with voiceover like checking out a puppetry group or singing class, research the recording and sound editing software you're using and especially what the pros are using, find excuses to get onto film or television sets, sign up to be an extra, see if you can shadow a casting director, etc.
At no point should you or I be wondering what to do next. There is always something more to learn. Keep your schedule full, see what else you can apply to your career, explore other creative outlets, and make lots of friends and acquaintances. Surround yourself with other creatives and you'll always be inspired by them.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
In case anyone was wondering: acting is hard.
I had a "learning experience" night in acting class a couple days ago. I was doing an "audition" for a small part from a movie script where I had to play a therapist. I didn't prepare as well as I should have and relied too much on having the script in my hand, checking it every couple of lines to make sure I was still on track. I got the voice right, felt the delivery was pretty good, but the lack of eye contact in a scene where I was supposed to be giving a patient my full attention was disastrous to the overall effort. I bombed big time.
Fortunately, we're doing the same scene again next week, so I get to learn from my mistakes and blow the doors off next time. But it underscores something that I learn anew every time I go to perform: Acting is really, really hard to do. And it's really, really, really, really, really hard to do well. To anyone new to this that thinks they're just going to be handed some dialogue and they're going to be brilliant right off the bat, you're either a genius acting savant and I hate you or you're in for a rude awakening. Failure and learning from that failure is something I'm encountering basically every time I do this, and I don't expect it to ever change. Sure, I can increase my rate of success from 0% to something a bit higher as I go, but no one gets every part they audition for. In listening to interviews and talking to working actors, rejection and failure is simply expected. It's part of the job.
Take the last thing you said to your spouse, your kids, or your coworker and try to repeat it with the same delivery, the same emotions, the same headspace as before. Harder than it seems, right? Something's different or off about it. Even when it was something that was generated in your brain and came out of your mouth. A good actor, not even a great one, has to be able to take something someone else wrote and do the same thing -- make that dialogue authentic, natural, and believable.
Sometimes all it takes is a glance to the side to ruin a take. A simple break of eye contact or a twitch of your face breaks the moment or communicates something besides what you were intending. Michael Caine speaks about the importance of simplicity and eye contact in this interview here, which I would highly recommend for anyone even slightly curious about this whole subject. I'm not at a place in my training where I can afford to be that cerebral about it, but sometimes if I just remember the goal of the scene, what my character wants to accomplish in the set of given circumstances, I subconsciously do what he so brilliantly puts into words. And having listened to his take on it, I'm just a little more studious and notice what my face or my eyes do, and how tiny things can affect the overall result.
I'm going to be really bad at it for a long time. That act of making something look and sound simple and real is going to be an effort. But man, am I looking forward to that "eureka!" moment of magic one of these days when it all clicks on purpose instead of by accident. When I can do that, I'll have taken another step on this road.
Until then, and after, it's still going to be fun. Whether I succeed brilliantly or fail horrendously the act of acting is still something that fuels my soul. As bad as I was, I got to be a grizzled, pony-tailed, ex-hippie therapist last class. Before that I was a bumbling cop desperate for love. In voice auditions I've been a dancing skeleton, a hooded assassin, a corrupt businessman, a panicked gnome, and more. It's all very difficult, and I fail more often than I succeed, but it's FUN. Even when it's hard work, it's fulfilling and it's worth it.
In other news, Steve Blum's Facebook community group continues to be a blast. He laid down the latest voice acting challenge for the Blumvox Studios members last week for Talk Like a Pirate Day: Say something in a pirate voice/accent that no pirate would ever be caught dead saying. Naturally, I threw a line down from Mary Poppins and improvised an eye patch with my headphones. I've already won one of these, but I love doing them, and I love seeing what everyone else comes up with. Judging ends tonight, so fingers crossed! Maybe I'll get another shout-out.
Fortunately, we're doing the same scene again next week, so I get to learn from my mistakes and blow the doors off next time. But it underscores something that I learn anew every time I go to perform: Acting is really, really hard to do. And it's really, really, really, really, really hard to do well. To anyone new to this that thinks they're just going to be handed some dialogue and they're going to be brilliant right off the bat, you're either a genius acting savant and I hate you or you're in for a rude awakening. Failure and learning from that failure is something I'm encountering basically every time I do this, and I don't expect it to ever change. Sure, I can increase my rate of success from 0% to something a bit higher as I go, but no one gets every part they audition for. In listening to interviews and talking to working actors, rejection and failure is simply expected. It's part of the job.
Take the last thing you said to your spouse, your kids, or your coworker and try to repeat it with the same delivery, the same emotions, the same headspace as before. Harder than it seems, right? Something's different or off about it. Even when it was something that was generated in your brain and came out of your mouth. A good actor, not even a great one, has to be able to take something someone else wrote and do the same thing -- make that dialogue authentic, natural, and believable.
Sometimes all it takes is a glance to the side to ruin a take. A simple break of eye contact or a twitch of your face breaks the moment or communicates something besides what you were intending. Michael Caine speaks about the importance of simplicity and eye contact in this interview here, which I would highly recommend for anyone even slightly curious about this whole subject. I'm not at a place in my training where I can afford to be that cerebral about it, but sometimes if I just remember the goal of the scene, what my character wants to accomplish in the set of given circumstances, I subconsciously do what he so brilliantly puts into words. And having listened to his take on it, I'm just a little more studious and notice what my face or my eyes do, and how tiny things can affect the overall result.
From BBC Radio 4. "An Acting Masterclass with Michael Caine"
Until then, and after, it's still going to be fun. Whether I succeed brilliantly or fail horrendously the act of acting is still something that fuels my soul. As bad as I was, I got to be a grizzled, pony-tailed, ex-hippie therapist last class. Before that I was a bumbling cop desperate for love. In voice auditions I've been a dancing skeleton, a hooded assassin, a corrupt businessman, a panicked gnome, and more. It's all very difficult, and I fail more often than I succeed, but it's FUN. Even when it's hard work, it's fulfilling and it's worth it.
----
In other news, Steve Blum's Facebook community group continues to be a blast. He laid down the latest voice acting challenge for the Blumvox Studios members last week for Talk Like a Pirate Day: Say something in a pirate voice/accent that no pirate would ever be caught dead saying. Naturally, I threw a line down from Mary Poppins and improvised an eye patch with my headphones. I've already won one of these, but I love doing them, and I love seeing what everyone else comes up with. Judging ends tonight, so fingers crossed! Maybe I'll get another shout-out.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Feeling Busy and Feeling Overwhelmed - The Difference Between the Two
Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day, everyone! I'm at my full time survival job at the moment, writing this while filling out payment requests and taking every free moment someone isn't looking to read a new script we're preparing for my acting class. Oh, and I've got the dulcet tones of Taliesin Jaffe and Brian W. Foster caressing my ears in the background.
These days I'm really busy. Like really, really busy. I have a little, black book with a day to day calendar in it and each month is absolutely filled to the brim with work, training, practice, meetings, and reminders. I think I'm busier now than I was when I was in college. But you know what?
It feels fantastic.
There was a time before now that having this much on my plate would send me into a panic -- a deep spiral of anxiety and depression and loathing that would have had me ignoring all of it just to spend more time hiding in my bed where I felt safe. I was wondering the other day just why it feels so different now as opposed to just a year ago, and how I'm handling things in a new way.
Aside from some proper medication, the difference is purpose. It's drive, passion, a sense of going somewhere as opposed to just treading water.
All my life I've sort of gone the path of least resistance, and when things got too hard I just changed direction instead of fighting the current to get what I really wanted -- because I didn't really even know what I wanted. I thought I did, but for some reason I always gave up. Instead, I tried to fit in. I changed majors (several times) to what I thought might be easier and provide a more stable future instead of one I really cared about. But I never stuck with anything if it got too hard. The only thing I really enjoyed was time I could escape from my life into games, books, movies, etc. Work was always going to be something that I crawled through in order to have my precious, lazy downtime at the end of the day or on weekends.
When I decided to stop trying to fit in and go with the flow, my worldview changed. It's difficult, and maybe I'll never get where I want to be with it, but I realized how much being creative and performing meant to me. When I take even one step in that direction I get more energy not less. For a serious introvert it's as thrilling as it is terrifying, but I can't stop myself. For the first time I believe that people actually might want to hear what I have to say and my brain is suddenly Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch.
It feels great to be busy. I can't NOT be busy now. I've got so much work to do, so much content to produce, so much to give back in a life that (aside from the incredible woman I somehow tricked into marrying me) I feel like I've utterly wasted to this point. But it's not too late. To paraphrase Monty Python, "I'm 32. I'm not old!"
I have worth, I am enough, I have talent and skill and a depth of passion which surprises me sometimes. I wish I could have told myself that ten or fifteen years ago, but I am where I'm supposed to be right here right now and you're all going to hear about it.
These days I'm really busy. Like really, really busy. I have a little, black book with a day to day calendar in it and each month is absolutely filled to the brim with work, training, practice, meetings, and reminders. I think I'm busier now than I was when I was in college. But you know what?
It feels fantastic.
There was a time before now that having this much on my plate would send me into a panic -- a deep spiral of anxiety and depression and loathing that would have had me ignoring all of it just to spend more time hiding in my bed where I felt safe. I was wondering the other day just why it feels so different now as opposed to just a year ago, and how I'm handling things in a new way.
Aside from some proper medication, the difference is purpose. It's drive, passion, a sense of going somewhere as opposed to just treading water.
All my life I've sort of gone the path of least resistance, and when things got too hard I just changed direction instead of fighting the current to get what I really wanted -- because I didn't really even know what I wanted. I thought I did, but for some reason I always gave up. Instead, I tried to fit in. I changed majors (several times) to what I thought might be easier and provide a more stable future instead of one I really cared about. But I never stuck with anything if it got too hard. The only thing I really enjoyed was time I could escape from my life into games, books, movies, etc. Work was always going to be something that I crawled through in order to have my precious, lazy downtime at the end of the day or on weekends.
When I decided to stop trying to fit in and go with the flow, my worldview changed. It's difficult, and maybe I'll never get where I want to be with it, but I realized how much being creative and performing meant to me. When I take even one step in that direction I get more energy not less. For a serious introvert it's as thrilling as it is terrifying, but I can't stop myself. For the first time I believe that people actually might want to hear what I have to say and my brain is suddenly Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch.
I'M SO CLENCHED UP RIGHT NOW; LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT VOICE ACTING.
It feels great to be busy. I can't NOT be busy now. I've got so much work to do, so much content to produce, so much to give back in a life that (aside from the incredible woman I somehow tricked into marrying me) I feel like I've utterly wasted to this point. But it's not too late. To paraphrase Monty Python, "I'm 32. I'm not old!"
I have worth, I am enough, I have talent and skill and a depth of passion which surprises me sometimes. I wish I could have told myself that ten or fifteen years ago, but I am where I'm supposed to be right here right now and you're all going to hear about it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Update! Training and RCCC - Actors dealing with cringe at Q&A panels.
So! Update this week is on the large side of medium, I'd say.
I've really committed to getting the training I need if I'm going to compete at a professional level in voiceover/voice acting. I've just started the next class in a series of On Camera acting courses offered by Rooney/Totman Acting Studio in Portland, this time around with Ted Rooney, an amazing actor and amazing teacher, who focuses on authenticity in performance and first-person storytelling. I'm still a little weirded out by having to be on camera and full-body act instead of specifically voice act, but I know I'm going in the right direction because of that fear mixed with electric excitement feeling you can only get when you're improving yourself.
In addition, I've begun vocal coaching with Amanda Eve Studios, learning to focus on developing and maintaining good habits when it comes to breath control, vocal health, and developing the range and power of my voice. She's personalized a curriculum for me, helping me apply the lessons singers learn early on to when I might have to really stretch my ability -- like if a role requires me to scream a lot, for instance.
I've been to the first lesson for each of my new classes and I am STOKED to continue. In the meantime I'm never letting up with my personal education, making sure I've read Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt's book, "Voice-Over/Voice Actor" cover to cover and continuing to learn from Steve Blum's live Blumvox Studios teaching webinars. My goal is to learn more each day, to immerse myself in the subject, and to be better as an actor every week than the one before. I might post a full list of books on acting and voiceover that I've gathered since my start in a future post.
On a different note, I went to Rose City Comic Con this past weekend! It was fantastic and crowded and frenetic and full of amazing cosplayers and cool people. I had the good fortune to get into the panels for Chris Sabat (Voice Actor - Dragonball Z, My Hero Academia, and more), Felicia Day (Screen Actor - Dr. Horrible, Supernatural, The Guild, Author, Co-Founder of Geek & Sundry), and finally Lucy Pohl and Charlet Chung (Voice Actors - Overwatch), along with maybe the last five or ten minutes of the David Tennant (Screen Actor - Dr. Who, Broadchurch, Jessica Jones) panel immediately previous to these.
I was somewhat disappointed in that the panels weren't really discussion or interview with the actors, but rather they were ONLY audience Q&A, but there were some gems from Felicia Day especially. She said, "If (what you create) touches one other person, it's worth doing." and I think I need to really internalize that. I'm not trying to get into voice acting to be famous, and from watching the "dance, monkey, dance!" demands the audience tend to put upon their favorite celebrities to repeat lines of dialogue like a juke box, I'm not sure I'd ever want to reach that level of public attention. But it goes to show you that everything is easier when you're funny. Chris Sabat was incredibly skilled at handling even the cringiest questions thrown at him in a joking, personable, and easy sort of way. It was almost like an improv exercise where he had to stretch "Yes, AND..." to the absolute limit.
And hey, we got to hear All Might tell some dad jokes, so that was pretty great.
Well, I've got some script memorizing to do for Monday. Next week, let's do some more recording!
I've really committed to getting the training I need if I'm going to compete at a professional level in voiceover/voice acting. I've just started the next class in a series of On Camera acting courses offered by Rooney/Totman Acting Studio in Portland, this time around with Ted Rooney, an amazing actor and amazing teacher, who focuses on authenticity in performance and first-person storytelling. I'm still a little weirded out by having to be on camera and full-body act instead of specifically voice act, but I know I'm going in the right direction because of that fear mixed with electric excitement feeling you can only get when you're improving yourself.
In addition, I've begun vocal coaching with Amanda Eve Studios, learning to focus on developing and maintaining good habits when it comes to breath control, vocal health, and developing the range and power of my voice. She's personalized a curriculum for me, helping me apply the lessons singers learn early on to when I might have to really stretch my ability -- like if a role requires me to scream a lot, for instance.
I've been to the first lesson for each of my new classes and I am STOKED to continue. In the meantime I'm never letting up with my personal education, making sure I've read Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt's book, "Voice-Over/Voice Actor" cover to cover and continuing to learn from Steve Blum's live Blumvox Studios teaching webinars. My goal is to learn more each day, to immerse myself in the subject, and to be better as an actor every week than the one before. I might post a full list of books on acting and voiceover that I've gathered since my start in a future post.
(David Tennant, Rose City Comic Con 2018)
I was somewhat disappointed in that the panels weren't really discussion or interview with the actors, but rather they were ONLY audience Q&A, but there were some gems from Felicia Day especially. She said, "If (what you create) touches one other person, it's worth doing." and I think I need to really internalize that. I'm not trying to get into voice acting to be famous, and from watching the "dance, monkey, dance!" demands the audience tend to put upon their favorite celebrities to repeat lines of dialogue like a juke box, I'm not sure I'd ever want to reach that level of public attention. But it goes to show you that everything is easier when you're funny. Chris Sabat was incredibly skilled at handling even the cringiest questions thrown at him in a joking, personable, and easy sort of way. It was almost like an improv exercise where he had to stretch "Yes, AND..." to the absolute limit.
And hey, we got to hear All Might tell some dad jokes, so that was pretty great.
Well, I've got some script memorizing to do for Monday. Next week, let's do some more recording!
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
1, 2, 3...Fuck it. I'm doing this!
Something that really sticks with me from listening to people talk about voice acting is when Richard Horvitz gave this little bit of advice. When you're nervous about a performance, just repeat in your head "1, 2, 3, fuck it." Then you just go.
So that's what I'm doing.
To everyone who comes across this blog, my name is Kyle Stroud and I AM A VOICE ACTOR. I started this blog, one, to give me somewhere to post my demo, and two, so that anyone could read along as I go down this road. I'll be posting articles, thoughts, updates, and other interesting tidbits as I come across them. I'll also be posting about acting in general as I continue my training in the craft and probably more than a bit of everyday nerdity as well. Thanks for taking this journey with me!
For a little example of what I'm up to, check out my demo below.
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