"People always ask me for advice on how to get started in the VO business. My advice: 'Get this book'."
- Phil LaMarr, Actor Futurama, Family Guy, Metal Gear Solid
The first stop on our international book signing tour went well, thanks Las Vegas, Nevada.
Next UP:
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
VO talk & book signing
The Comic Outpost
12:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
2381 Ocean Avenue
San Francisco, CA94127
We will add details and more cities as soon as they are confirmed, so check back to get more details!
Coming soon:
Melbourne & Brisbane,Australia in April,
as well as Chapel Hill, NC in April
London, England in May/June
Dublin, Ireland in May/June
We will add details and more cities as soon as they are confirmed, so check back to updated information!
In the meantime, need reviews on Amazon.com which YOU can help us with! So if you’ve read the book, we’d love for you to review it for us, CLICK HERE and write your VOVA Amazon review. Thank you
With orders from Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores, as well as direct sales on our website, we’ve just ordered more copies of the book since we’ve sold out of our first print run, thank you all.
Below is a list of places we’ve visted and done book signings or voice-over talks! Thanks to everyone who stopped by!
LAS VEGAS, NV
Alternate Reality Comics: THANKS EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED!!
Begin by reading the list below and noting what each particular word means to you: how each word affects you, or what kinds of thoughts or feelings come up when you read them. What are the attributes or qualities of each specific descriptive word? Of course, if there are any of these words that you are unfamiliar with, do not hesitate to look them up.
Adjective/Adverb List
Wry Calm Perky
Honest Open Cut-to-the-chase
Sarcastic Happy Clipped
Giddy Haughty Innocent
Secretive Emotional Bored
Inquisitive Playful Cool
Sexy Witty Crazed
Earnest Angry Grounded
Trustworthy Confident Relaxed
Start with the first word on our list: wry. Think about what it means to you. Who is someone you think is wry? What are the qualities you associate with wry? What pictures or images come to mind when you think of that word? As they come to you, jot them down.
For example, when I think of wry I imagine someone who cuts-to-the-chase, makes no-bones-about what they are saying but does it in a very tongue-and-cheek kind-of-way. Someone who is wry almost seems to be smirking as they tell you the facts; I can picture a weary mom telling me about a trying to keep her kids’ clothes clean with a wry, “What are you gonna do? I love them, but they just get so darn dirty.”
We stress the importance of reading out loud. It may seem simple, and maybe you haven’t done it in years, but it can be hugely effective in improving everything from your acting to your ability to quickly assess a script, make choices, and pull the words off the page. Sir Ian McKellen claims that reading out loud was how he learned to act, and I think most of us will agree that he knows his stuff in that area. So, good enough for Sir Ian, good enough for us.
Here’s a simple exercise you can almost anywhere and on your own time: Pick three things to read. Any bit of written media will work. Start small if you want. A pamphlet, a matchbook, a newspaper article, a newspaper ad, a comic book, a shopping list, someone’s blog, anything. Over the course of the day, collect those three things. Now– and this is where it gets tricky –read them. Out loud.
Read each one at least once through, and if you’ve got time and you’re enjoying yourself, read them through again. See if each time through differs for you. See how the writings may be different from each other. Is one a story? Is one just trying to sell a product? Is one using a story to try and sell a product? Is one just a list of numbers on a receipt? If you’re having fun, give a different “character” to each one, or even switch it up within the writings.
You may not feel a change after doing this exercise, but trust us, it gets your brain and mouth working in all the right ways. Most importantly, as long as you’re reading out loud there is no wrong way to do this exercise. Unless of course you’re a monk who had, until this exercise, taken a vow of silence. Or if you’re in a library where they frown on doing anything out loud.
Sure, breathing is important to staying alive, but because we do it all the time, we kind of take it for granted and we sometimes get lazy with it. Breathing is crucial in voice-over. You can’t speak without breathing, and you can create powerful (and safer) vocal effects with proper breath control. To increase your breath control try this simple exercise.
Start standing. Simply notice your breath. Now, exhale all the air in your lungs and hop/jump up into the air as you inhale as much air as you can. Then as you land begin counting aloud, “one-two-three-four…” up as high as you can on that breath. When you’ve emptied your lungs of air once more, jump up as you inhale as much as you can, and then land and begin counting out loud again. See if you can’t get a few numbers higher than the first time, speaking as you exhale, or “on your breath.”
Do this several times. Try to see if you can best your initial count by 10. Do this every day and you should begin to notice that you have better breath control and increased lung capacity. This will help sustain and protect your voice as you speak “on your breath.”
** If at any point during this exercise you begin to feel dizzy, or otherwise uncomfortable, stop immediately. As with any other exercise, consult a physician before engaging in a new or unfamiliar activity.
Flip channels on your television or radio for 5 minutes to listen to commercials. Each time you find a commercial, try parroting the voice actor who is speaking. Try to repeat not only the words, but the musicality, the nuances, the tone, and the inflections.
Then turn off the radio or TV and pick up a random piece of text (it can be an advertisement in a magazine, a book, a piece of mail, etc). Try to use the same vocal patterns, tonality and style you were just mimicking as you read this new material.
Practicing this will begin to train your ear, attune you to what is currently “hot” in the advertising world, and get you reading and speaking aloud, which is important in and of itself.
