Tongue Twister Practice

Hello! Can you believe it’s 2012 already!? I certainly can’t. Last year was a whirlwind and I expect this year to be just as exciting. We have plans for films, more episodes of Shelf Life and look forward to working on more fun projects. I was so excited when Yuri surprised me with a weekend getaway to Paris for our anniversary! Bon Voyage, indeed! And then so relaxing to spend the holidays in Idyllwild and Desert Hot Springs for a little R&R. Here’s to thrilling and fantastic surprises for your year as well, and to surpassing your goals with your own New Year’s Resolutions. My focus this year is on visibility (for our projects, for my work and for our company). Bigger and Better in 2012! Tara (&Yuri)   Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt: Raise Your Voice (Acting)!

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Newsletter Jan 2012

It is a grand gig. You can record from home with your own little studio, since technology has advanced to make this a possibility. And you don’t have to have a “look,” a necessity that some people feel hinders the chance of becoming an on-camera actor for many folks.

But the competition is fierce, and just having a good speaking voice and good articulation is not enough. You have to learn to read (perform) and make it sound natural – like you are speaking new thoughts to someone particular. It takes acting skills, and speed of making choices. You have less time in a recording booth in a VO session than in many other forms of acting. You often have never seen the copy until the moment before you are asked to perform.

Another necessary skill is to be able to find the line between enunciation and sounding affected. You can work on this by recording yourself reading copy, and ask friends to give you their honest opinion – does it sound natural, clear, easy to listen to, believable, appealing? It has to sound real.

If you are serious about joining the Voice-Over world, take classes, get coaching, make a great demo, get equipment to record yourself at home, make a website, read all you can about it, listen to people who know, read our many tips here on our website, and consider getting our book, Voice Over Voice Actor.

Most important of all, Practice Practice Practice! And stay passionate about it.

Good luck and have fun.

The correct answers are:

1) Of their almost 100 credited titles together, what animated spin on a classic fairytale featured VO big-hitters Mel Blanc and June Foray in the 50′s?”
Red Riding Hoodwinked

2) Which two actors have most often voiced the Star Wars character of Yoda?
Frank Oz and Tom Kane

3) Which Hollywood A-lister has done commercial VO for Budweiser and worked opposite Meryl Streep in an Oscar Nominated Animated feature?”
George Clooney

Thanks to everyone who participated!

There are, of course, a few exceptions to this – the first being when you’re recording a version of a game that was originally produced in another language. In that case, you may have reference tracks in the original language, cut scenes (the short movies that play in between gameplay) that you’ll have to match, and strict timing concerns to be aware of.

In another scenario, near the beginning of a game’s development, you may have done some work on the game while no animation was yet available; and then eight months later the producers ask you to come back and do more work on it. Only now they’ve got animation and gameplay to show you as a reference.

But most often you’ll have very little (if any) preparation, and not a lot of time to learn about the game before you’re thrown into the fire. And this is where the director will be your best friend, giving you context for your dialogue – which you will sometimes record very quickly, one line after the other, two or three takes per line (i.e. two or three different recordings of the same line), with not even the other characters’ dialogue for reference. Other times you might get the entire script, but it’s unlikely you will have the time to do much more than scan it as you jump from line to line.

We’ve said that a strong imagination will help you in this business. To make this stuff work, you’re gonna have to imagine quite a bit. So, listening to the director, using your imagination, and making bold choices – all at high speed – are important, and together can often be the key to finding yourself on the top of the call list when a studio is auditioning and booking future jobs.

Very often these days, video games are developed in tandem with major motion pictures so that when the movie comes out, the game based on that movie is also available. Now before you get too excited about doing the VO for these video games, we have to let you know that voice actors in video games get paid a lot less than their on-screen counterparts. Why? Because the budgets for video games are nowhere near the budgets of the movies they accompany.

But now’s your chance to get excited again because, in most cases, a major motion picture actor will not want to lend his or her voice to the video game; the salary paid is simply not worth the time involved. This is where you come in: the game will likely require a voice actor to voice match the actor from the film. See, you always knew those impressions would come in handy one day.

On the downside, video game work, because of the nature of video games themselves, can be very stressful on your voice if you’re not careful. This is certainly a place where vocal control is important. If you play a lot of video games, you know that they’re chock-full of shouting, screaming, yelling, getting blown up, being set on fire, and falling from great heights. And that’s just in the opening cut scene.

These recording sessions can last up to four hours at a time. There have been times when we’ve emerged from them sweaty, hoarse, and shell-shocked – as if we’ve actually been through the war we were just playing at. Many voice actors refuse to do video games for this reason, and some will intentionally schedule VG sessions in the afternoon on a Friday so that they have the whole weekend to recuperate. But don’t let that scare you. Just keep reading: we have ways of keeping you safe.

1)    You must have a strong dream to get you through the dry times as you get started in VO industry.

2)    Be sure to get ready before you start offering your services.

3)    Keep your job, unless you are independently wealthy! You will need finances to train, create a demo, and it takes time to get started. You need tenacity and perseverance.

4)    Don’t have unrealistic expectations – that way lies heartache. Just because your friends tell you that you have a great voice and are going to make a ton of money, the fact is the competition is huge.

5)    Create a good quality voice over demo (get help with this – it is NOT something to be done on your own).

6)    Further to the last tip, do not think you can be self sufficient in this industry. Even the best VO actors get critiques, engage a coach for continual training, and they practice, practice, practice!

7)    Get a website up! Some people advise that you should wait until your demo is ready to create a website. But these days an online presence is practically mandatory and you might be losing contacts to hold off until your demo is completed. So create it as soon as you can so people who find the site have something to listen to.

8)    Oh, and did we say this already? Practice, practice, practice!

Keep the dream alive. Be realistic and know it will take time. And the more you practice and train, the better your chances of having a fun and rewarding career as a Voice Over artist!

Interview with Voice Actor, Tara Platt!

July 6th, 2011 FROM: BigDamnGeeks.com

You might not recognize her face but her voice will jog your memory! Tara Platt is an amazing voice actor whose worked on shows like Naruto and Ben 10, films like the upcoming Tekken: Blood Vengeance and video games like Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and Marvel vs Capcom 3. Aside from her work in animation, Tara Platt is an accomplished stage actress who’s played the title role in Romeo and Juliet and as Titania in A Midsummer’s Night Dream. She’s worked multiple times in shows written and directed by Star Trek: TNG’s John De Lancie. In 2004, she and her husband Yuri Lowenthal created Monkey Kingdom Productions, an independent film company and they also co-wrote a book on Voice Acting called Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind The Mic.

You started acting at a very young age, but when did you first get into doing voice work for animation?

The acting that I did when I was younger was all stage, I didn’t get into film or TV until after college, and then I didn’t start working in VO (animation, video games, etc.) until moving to LA in my early 20′s. So although I’ve been acting for much of my life, the VO part has been the latest “medium” to play in… Read the entire article

This is another great (and inexpensive) way to practice is to mimic things you hear. Listen to your favorite radio station and simply mimic the DJ’s, the commercial announcers, even the newscasters. Not only will this clue you in to the types of voices that are booking work, but you’ll often come up with new and exciting voices just by trying to mimic someone else’s.

Try out the following Commercial and Animation Audition Copy using the following specs. See how each unique spec changes your performance.

Commercial –

Specs:
1. young, cheerful, spunky 2. wants to be everyone’s friend
3. eternally optimistic 4.intelligent, honest, down-to-earth

1. In the summer heat, 2 bucks can go a long way.
Now, at The Burger Joint, grab a large drink, large fries
and your choice of hamburger or cheeseburger for only $1.99.
Come in and fill up for less than 2 bucks.

2. Why choose one of those other companies that might loose your package or handle it with less-than-optimal care?
Let BoxYouUp come by your office or home and package,
mail and deliver your important items at your convenience.
Visit BoxYouUp.com for pricing.

Animation –

Specs:
1. energetic, sporty, hot shot 2. is always having a good time
3. goofy, crazy, wild 4.nervous and easily excited

1. Hey little monkey, I don’t know what you are doing in there, but you need to come out right now. You hear me?I don’t wanna have to yell. C’mon now. Get out. Get. OUT. Monkeeeeeeeeee! OUT. Now see, that wasn’t so bad, now was it. Ha! Silly monkey.

2. You mean there is more out there than this? Robots even? Wicked!
Because I’ve been waiting my whole life for that.I just know I can take them on.
Let’s go.
What are you waiting for? Let’s do this thing.
Woah. Did you see that? I’m awesome.

Fantastic. Hopefully getting the experience of listening to your performance has given you a deeper understanding of the variety of things you will want to consider when working on audition material or even going to an audition. Of course, this exercise can’t exactly duplicate an audition experience, but the more prepared you feel before you go into an audition situation, the more confident and relaxed you will be, and the higher your chances of you doing your best work, and with any luck, booking the job!

2. kick small medium large

3. attack small medium large

4. hit (you’re being hit) small medium large

5. death small medium large

The above is a good example of something you’ll encounter quite a bit in video games because video games are generally chock full of action. Imagine what kind of sounds you’d make in the given situations. Mix it up a little and try a variety of sounds like hy-ah, ki, shah, rah, gar, huh, for example. Try the same sounds with different types of efforts to see how they come out. Experiment with different lengths of efforts. Often in a video game session they will ask for a small, medium and large version of each fight sound. Imagine the difference between getting your earlobe flicked, getting punched in the face and getting decked with a sledgehammer. A good imagination will bring variety and directors really like variety. Give ‘em what they want and they’ll call you again.

Try to make sure you are generating the sound from good diaphragmatic support and not uncomfortably constricting your throat to create the sound. Straining your throat can put a lot of pressure on your vocal cords and could damage your voice.

Another great (and inexpensive) way to practice is to mimic things you hear. Listen to your favorite radio station and simply mimic the DJ’s, the commercial announcers, even the newscasters. Not only will this clue you in to the types of voices that are booking work, but you’ll often come up with new and exciting voices just by trying to mimic someone else’s.