Archive for the ‘Tips & techniques’ Category:
July 23rd, 2010
Found in Tips & techniques, Videos, Voice over acting | 2 Comments
A buddy of mine tipped me off to these four videos on YouTube about how to learn foreign accents for voice overs. While I'm not yet at a level in my voice acting journey to delve into practicing foreign accents (I'm still working on mastering my own accent! 
) these videos are still a great learning tool. If anything, they will help you to better understand your own accent just as much as other accents.
Click the "Read more" link below to check out the foreign accents for voice over videos:
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May 15th, 2010
Found in Script analysis, Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | No Comments
Have you ever had one of those slap-your-hand-to-your-head-and-say-"d'oh!" moments? You know the kind. It's when all of the facts have been patiently staring you in the face while your brain stubbornly refuses to acknowledge them. Then suddenly "WHAM!" the connection is made and you find the palm of your hand applied firmly to your forehead. You hear words like "Duh!", "D'oh!", or "I'm such an idiot!" flying from your lips.
I had one of those just the other day...
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May 10th, 2010
Found in Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | 2 Comments
I admit it, I love American Idol. Not the first few episodes where the weirdos and freakish fame seekers crawl out from wherever they lurk and attempt to be "unique", but anytime after the top 12 are chosen. It's during this time in the show's progression that one can truly see and hear talented individuals. Having a music background myself, I love to pit my opinions against those of the judges.
But just recently while envisioning myself in a battle of opinionated wits with Simon Cowell, I discovered a very close connection between the musical performances and voice acting...
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May 9th, 2010
Found in Script analysis, Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | 3 Comments
If you asked a professional voice actor to perform a script like a regular person reading out loud from a book, he or she could do it — and you would immediately recognize the poor performance. If you asked for a natural, conversational read, then you would immediately recognize that one as well (and be much, much happier with the result.)
Why is that? Why can we recognize when someone is reading and when someone is truthfully speaking?
In this post, I'd like to put on my "speech therapist" hat and offer up to you the answers. Be prepared, though. The explanation might get a little long-winded...
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May 3rd, 2010
Found in Script & copy basics, Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | 2 Comments
Pretty much all of the books on becoming a voice-over actor will teach you how to perform a list of two or more items. Basically, each item in the list must sound different than the previously spoken item, with each one sounding better than the last. The most common approach is to assign a different vocal pitch to each item. For example: a low-middle-high or a middle-high-low read for lists of three items. For lists of four or more, alternating your pitch in a low-middle-low-middle fashion is a common practice.
But this approach can often lack the ever-important emotional punch.
In this post, I'd like to share with you a wonderful voice acting technique that will help you to breathe life into the lists that often appear in voice-over scripts.
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April 28th, 2010
Found in Careers in voice over, Tips & techniques | 2 Comments
I just finished reading Harlan Hogan's VO: Tales And Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor for the third time (yes, it's that good.)
In the final few pages he includes a quote from Executive Creative Director of K & R Marc Advertising, Jack Badofsky, that paints the perfect picture of what makes a voice actor a great voice actor:
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April 26th, 2010
Found in Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | 2 Comments
It can be nerve-racking to the beginning voice-over actor: standing there in a small, cramped, sound-proof booth that pokes at the claustrophobic bits of your sub-conscience while your voice-acting coach seemingly bashes your ego time and time again with "That wasn't quite right. Do it again. But this time with more ABC and not so much XYZ." You long to hear the words "Good job!" or "You nailed it!" But those words hardly seem to ever come your way. You feel crushed — a failure. You feel that maybe voice acting just isn't your bag.
But hold on...
Before you throw in the towel, there are a few things you need to know about what direction really is and how to take it without letting your ego, your pride, or even your sanity get hurt. In this post, we'll take a look at those things...
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April 15th, 2010
Found in Careers in voice over, Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | 8 Comments
It's not too surprising to me just how many people nowadays are interested in becoming a voice-over actor. I mean, with the allure of being able to work at home and at your own pace coupled with the jaw-dropping amount of money that voice actors appear to make per session, who wouldn't want to hop on the voice actor bandwagon, too? And hey, all you need is a voice, right? And you've got one of those already.
For now, let's put aside the whole "jaw-dropping amount of money" issue for a later post, shall we? It really is a topic that requires a whole series of posts to dispel. And let's put aside the "work at home and at your own pace" topic as well because, as they say: all that glitters is not gold. And the "voice" thingy? Well, if you haven't had it trained professionally, then just having a voice will get you nowhere at a rather rapid clip.
In this post, we'll look at what I believe to be the most important part of becoming a voice actor: truly loving to read.
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March 18th, 2010
Found in Tips & techniques, Tongue twisters, Voice over warm ups | 1 Comment
I'm not sure if these could be classified as tongue twisters or not. They're really not that hard to say from a diction point of view. But they are challenging in a completely different way — and that difference makes them excellent "sort of" tongue twisters to practice your acting.
Here's the first little beastie:
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March 10th, 2010
Found in Tips & techniques, Voice over acting | No Comments
In a previous post about acting emotions, I gave a list of the most common emotions that any actor worth his or her proverbial salt should be able to produce at the drop of the proverbial hat. But being able to authentically act out emotions is only the tip of a very proverbial iceberg. Yes. There is much, much more. And one of those "mores" is being able to deliver, with believability, the intention behind the words.
Everyone has a desire or a need that is trying to be fulfilled when we speak. The need could be for attention, acknowledgment, acceptance, and many others. So in order to have this need fulfilled, we speak up. But the way we speak up depends directly on what we think is the best way to get this need fulfilled. We consciously, or unconsciously, decide how we will get our desired outcome and speak thusly. And this becomes the intention that drives us as we speak. (Note: I've always wanted to use thusly in a sentence! )
Anyway... time for another list!
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