[NEohioPAL] What you should know before you study VO!
Jean Zarzour
lipschtick at lipschtick.com
Fri Jan 8 00:24:04 PST 2010
Happy New Year, Everyone!
I am very excited to be in the midst of my 3rd year teaching Voice Acting
Classes under the *Find Your Voice-Voice Acting
Institute*<http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com>shingle
in Cleveland and at
*Donna Belajac Casting* <http://www.donnabelajaccasting.com> in Pittsburgh.
Over all, I've been teaching this work for over 25 years. In all these
years there are a few "constants" that I felt were worth sharing if you are
thinking of taking a voice acting class or producing a demo with me, or
someone else for that matter.
Visit http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com for more
information about me and the classes I offer.
In my experience, people who are new to voice acting/voice over work have
many misconceptions about the work, and therefore, can be prey to scam
artists with empty promises. The most common misconception is that if you
have a great voice, can read and speak English, then you can make a living
in voice overs! How hard can it be for crying out loud?! Harder than you
think.
*Here is just some of What you should know before you study V.O.!*
*Q: WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT TO LEARN IN A VOICE ACTING CLASS?* *
*Proper breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups, elocution exercises, body
placement, copy interpretation skills, how to train you "ear", voice
maintenance, home work exercises, studio/business etiquette, other resources
for learning and everything in-between toward expanding your voice acting
repertoire for a wide variety of "reads". Where marketing is concerned, you
should learn the *best marketing practices for your region. *There are
subtle differences in the way that artists in large markets like New York,
Los Angeles & Chicago do things from the way artists in smaller markets like
Ohio, PA & Michigan do things when it comes to agency representation, self
marketing, home studios, websites and demo production. That's just the tip
of the iceberg. If you are new to this work, a group class will offer much
more than private coaching and it is much more affordable.
*Q. WHAT SHOULD I BE WARY OF?* *
*1. Any voice over training that is offered by phone! I don't mean
telecasts or other media classes that only disseminate information. I mean
sessions where *you* are reading copy and getting feedback from an
instructor. They are out there. There are a dozen reasons why this is a bad
idea, but mostly because a good instructor needs to see and correct how you
breathe, use your body and facial muscles, while you work. Tension is the
death of voice work. If I can't see it, I can't correct it.
2. Any Voice Over school *visiting* your town for 1 day, telling you that
you have a great voice and can earn a living with only a few weeks of
training. After that 1 day introductory class, you will have to get the
rest of your training out of town and/or over the phone! They
charge*thousands of dollars
*which includes a full length demo that can't possibly compete in the real
world with so little training. Not to mention that these demos entirely too
long and contain little to no production sweetening (sound affects and
music). I've heard these demos from students who come to my class after an
agent told them that their demo won't cut it. This is no way for the novice
voice actor to train.
*
Note:
Your demo is your calling card to the world.* It tells producers that this
is the very best you can do. You should *never *produce a demo until you
have learned and practiced what the pros know about being a voice over
artist. How long do you suppose they spent training? I can assure you, it
was not just a few weeks and they didn't spend thousands of dollars to
produce their demo.
A full length demo* *is a 1 minute mp3 and/or CD, consisting of 8-13 cuts
that you carefully select and rehearsed with an experienced Demo
producer/director, and recorded at a professional recording studio AFTER you
have trained for a bare minimum of 8 weeks if you already have some acting
training and much more, if you don't.*
A demo produced by any reputable producer in Cleveland or Pittsburgh should
cost you no more than $600-$800. * With *Find Your
Voice*<http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com>,
that fee includes between 4-6 hours of preparation, rehearsal, recording
session and post production revisions. If you take the time to do it right,
know one will ever know that you are a newbie and you won't have to revise
your demo for a few years.
3. Beware of an instructor who has only ever been a director, producer,
engineer or ad agency exec, but has never been a voice over artist -
especially if you are new to this sort of acting. Voice over work
*is*acting work, no matter what you are voicing. You'll gain much more
knowledge
from someone who has been successful behind the mic *and* behind the desk.
*Q. DON'T SOME PEOPLE JUST HAVE NATURAL ABILITY?* *
*Even if you are an experienced stage or film actor, there are specific
techniques that you will only learn in a class or on the job. (but trust me,
no one wants to pay you to learn!) Even if you were born with a warm, rich
voice, it doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to interpret the copy with
the proper 'point of view' and acting skills needed. Some of the most
unusual voices work behind a mic because, in part, they have learned to
interpret 1 piece of copy in a variety of ways and how to market themselves
like a business owner.
*Q. WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE CHOOSING A VOICE ACTING CLASS? **
1. *Get a few books on the subject at the Library:
There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is: An Insider’s Guide to a Career in
Voice-Overs<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0823077020/qid=1135127932/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8920921-2465544?v=glance&s=books>—
by Elaine A. Clark
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591810337/qid=1135127932/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-8920921-2465544?v=glance&s=books>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591810337/qid=1135127932/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-8920921-2465544?v=glance&s=books>
Secrets of Voice-Over Success : Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They
Did It<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591810337/qid=1135127932/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-8920921-2465544?v=glance&s=books>—
by Joan Baker
The
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0240804791/qid=1135127932/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/104-8920921-2465544?v=glance&s=books>
* <http://goog_1262915796615>Art of Voice Acting: 2nd Edition** *— by James
Alburger
*
*
*A book won't teach you how to do voice over work*, but it will reinforce
what I'm telling you about training and give you a good idea about the
business end. You'll also read great war stories from the most successful
voices in the business.
*
*2. Listen to professional voice over demos so you can compare any
instructor's demos with the ones from the top artists who are making a
living doing voice overs. *http://talentdemos.com/female_voice_talent.htm *is
a good place to start for Cleveland talent demos.
3. If you are interested in *Find Your Voice-Voice Acting
Institute*<http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com%20>classes,
visit
*http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com *for demos that I've
produced at area recording studios, class info and more.* *
The next class in* Lakewood* is on Mondays, January 11-March 1, 6-9pm and in
*Pittsburgh *on Thursdays, February 4-March 25, 6-9pm at *Donna Belajac
Casting http://www.donnabelajaccasting.com*
*Now, more than ever, your investment should produce measurable results,
whether you pursue a voice over career, or not. *
*Jean Zarzour*
<http://www.lipschtick.com>Lipschtick <http://www.lipschtick.com>*Putting
the SHOW in BUSINESS Nationwide Since 1989!*
* <http://lipschtickblog.blogspot.com/>***
*Ph/Fax 216-521-3831
*
*-- LinkedIn Profile <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanzarzour>*
* <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanzarzour>--<http://jeanzarzour.nowcasting.com/>
Now
Casting Profile <http://jeanzarzour.nowcasting.com/>
*
-- Lipschtick Blog <http://www.lipschtickblog.blogspot.com/>
<http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/>
-- <http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/>Find Your Voice
Blog <http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/>
*Also Founder of~*
<http://www.donnabelajaccasting.com/>Find Your Voice-Voice Acting
Institute <http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/> *Technique
For When You Speak! TV- Radio-Live Presentations.
*
VO Classes - CLEVE:* **********Mondays
*<http://www.findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com>
*PITTS: Thursdays *<http://www.findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com>
**
***Find Your Voice & Market It! Lakewood,Oh 11am-4pm, Saturday, February 20,
2010* <http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/>
** <http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com/>
*What's New~*
** **
*-- Jean appears opposite Jake Gyllenhaal & Hank Azaria in Love and Other
Drugs <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758752/>, in theaters 2010!*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20100108/b9ec198c/attachment-0003.htm>
More information about the NEohioPAL
mailing list