Voicebank.net’s VoiceRegistry Blog

What Do You Do When You Don’t Have Any Ideas? Improv Class part 2

In yesterday’s Voice Registry blog I described my evening at Bill Applebaum’s improv class. We did warm-ups, then slowly graduated to more involved improvisations; A stream of consciousness circle with each player adding their words. Then we got up one by one doing sort of a monologue of stream of consciousness words.

So, how is this all related to voice over? How many times in an audition (or even at the job) have you needed to come up with a “button” (a phrase or word at the end) to add sizzle to the spot? Or perhaps your own unique verbal stamp that could get you the job? How many times did you feel like you couldn’t think of anything?

These stream of consciousness exercises loosen up our idea muscle so we free ourselves of too much judgment opening the flood gates of creativity. As the class went on we got more and more comfortable with just letting it flow. And what I found is, the more you take your creative self out for a test ride, the better you run. Voice over is like any creative career, the more we bring ourselves (that truthful, authentic one) into the mix, the more successful we can be.

For our final stream of consciousness exercise, we had to get up and deliver a story (made up or true) by just letting our ideas stream into one another, trusting that they’d just build into an improv monologue. The audience helped with a “location” or “object” suggestion to launch us.

It was my turn. I kept thinking (more like over thinking) “should I choose a location or an object?” Stressing a little about wanting to be perfect (death to improv).

“A bank” someone yelled out. Yikes! what could I say about a bank? How can I do this? I grabbed a chair, sat in it backwards (I think I felt protected by the wooden slats) and just started talking. Then my worst fear emerged. I just couldn’t think of anything. I felt myself sinking into nothingness, repeating empty words. I was about to say it aloud. “I can’t do this!” Then something happened. The more I just relaxed, talked and allowed myself to fail, the more I started to succeed, launching into this story I’d forgotten about. A story I loved telling. I pretended to be a home buyer on an open house Sunday in Brentwood, sharing a tall tale with the realtor. That was improv in itself.

At the end, I felt creatively satiated, and grateful for the opportunity to test myself, to fail and get up again. I realized it was that stumble that gave me more confidence than if I had sailed through this improv with loads of ideas from the start.

So, what do you do when you don’t have any ideas? Trust. Open your mind. See what happens and try not to say, “I can’t think of anything.” Because you can. Yes you can.

-Tracy Pattin

Improv Helps You Connect With Your Listener and more…

The other night I was at Bill Applebaum’s Improv Class at Compost Productions in North Hollywood. I wanted to experience just how improv can help the voice actor. Improv and voice acting isn’t mentioned a lot. Maybe it’s because VO is so specific; analyzing & reading copy, mic technique etc. But there is room in the booth for this unique skill.

We started the class doing warm-ups by walking around the room making eye contact, then Bill added emotions and physicality like “now you’re really cold, you’re hot and sweaty.” The purpose? Connecting. Okay, there is a connection to voice over here. As voice talent we must be able to connect with another voice actor in dialogue spots, that’s obvious, but we also need to connect through that microphone to the listener, and that starts with us. But it’s got to be organic. Hence the improv warm-up we did.

Then we moved into stream of consciousness exercises. We were given a place or object and we had to run with it, speaking off-the-cuff, allowing whatever came into our mind. Another connection to voice over. When you’re in the booth, needing ideas for your read, this ability to trust your instincts could come in handy. It was my turn, and I was a little scared. What if I couldn’t think of anything? Ah ha! Just the point. Turns out this experience was one of those Ah ha! moments.

Check in tomorrow’s Voice Registry blog to find out what happens.

-Tracy Pattin

Voice Registry Podcast- Tracy Pattin Talks To “The Voice Over Doctor”

Bill Holmes is “The Voice Over Doctor” in Voice Registry’s  NEW podcast series. The “Doctor” will be taking voice over students through the paces of an audition, from a cold read to a hot performance. Bill is an award winning director who has freelanced with casting houses over the past 15 years including, The Voicecaster, Sight n’ Sound Casting, Sheila Manning Casting, Danny Goldman Casting as well as his own company Compost Productions. Not only has he been working very successfully in the voice over business for the past 25 years but he has been teaching commercial voice over classes for the last 15 as well. Currently Bill can be heard on radio and TV commercials nationwide. This guy doesn’t mess around! He knows how to drill in and find the truth of it all. It’s an entertaining and educational experience you really don’t want to miss!

Right+Click here to download podcast (4.8 MB)

“The Voice Over Doctor” New Voice Registry Podcast series

The big question in voice over (besides “how do I make millions?”) is “how do I deliver a strong performance to get the job?” No worries! “The Doctor” is in. Voice Registry is launching it’s new series, The Voice Over Doctor.

Los Angeles VO Teacher extraordinaire, Bill Holmes (a.k.a. The Voice Over Doctor- not really a doctor, he just plays one in this podcast) takes you through the paces of a cold read to a winning audition.

Tomorrow’s Voice Registry podcast (Tuesday July 15th) is the first in a 3 part online session where The Voice Over Doctor treats student, Bill Miltenberger, taking him from a cold read to a winning audition.

-Tracy Pattin

Strike.TV Makes It’s Debut

That old (slightly tired) saying, “Make lemons out of lemonade” is exactly what some striking writers did during the 3 month writer’s strike. They wanted to continue writing in spite of this giant screech in Hollywood, so Strike.TV was created.

-Tracy Pattin

LAist had this to say:

“During the Writers Strike, a group of creatives got together to make Strike.TV and began to develop 40 projects that are expected to debut starting today (as of this writing on the morning of July 4th, only the above teaser has been launched).

One of their promises is “to demonstrate that it was possible for Hollywood professionals to coexist and flourish with the studio system that has supported them for so long while bringing their talents to an emerging medium and doing so in a way that helps everyone,” explains their press release. “Strike.TV chose to be on the forefront as the industry goes through the necessary changes that inevitably arise with any new technology. Every industry and economy is impacted by change. And change is sometimes painful or difficult.”

Another Kung Fu Panda Review… “Where we are really let down is in the casting”

Animation features continue to be very alive and well, but there seems to be a growing debate about the need for celebrity voices. Could this be a trend? Could it be an emerging opportunity for the slew of “unknown” voice talent to replace the need for a name? Maybe all they really do need is a voice….a great, skilled, talented…voice.

-Tracy Pattin

Check out the review in Live Journal.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Where we are really let down is in the casting. The voice actors, in real life, look and speak in a way similar to the characters they portray in this movie - when you see the Tigress, you can see Angelina Jolie. However, there is no benefit to this - any number of voice actors could have competently carried out these roles. I can’t imagine how many hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars were wasted using Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and Dustin Hoffman when they presumably could have hired relative unknowns for the same roles at much less expense. You don’t see an animated movie because Angelina Jolie is in it, do you?”

What do I put on my voice over demo?

Hi there! I’m asked this question a LOT - ‘What do I put on my demo’? First, you need to know that there are many different ‘categories’ (commercial, promo, narration, animation/character, trailers, radio imaging, languages/accents, etc.) in voice over. What areas are of interest to you? What highlights your talent? Once you know these answers, you’ll know what to put on your demo(s). You’ll find the answers to these questions by studying, practicing and listening. Here are some ideas on where to do just that…

STUDY & PRACTICE

• Take classes, attend workshops (voice-over, acting, improv). READ Tracy’s post on the topic of VO classes/workshops.
• Listen to Tracy’s interview with Bill Applebaum (Play Part 1 & Play Part 2) who explains how improv classes can help VO artists.
• Study one-on-one with a VO Coach. But, remember Tracy’s advice that she mentioned in one of her earlier posts, “Don’t latch on to one teacher for years. You need a variety of techniques and feedback.”

LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN

• Listen to currently running spots while watching TV
• Search the Internet. There are hundreds of voice over spots that you can listen to online.
• Try visiting websites like the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic, etc. to listen to narration, for example.
• Listen to other talent’s voice over demos. There are over 70, 000 demos on Voicebank.net’s website that you can listen to for free. Click HERE and then simply click on a Talent Agency’s name and then on any folder - the folders are named by category like ‘Commercial Men’, ‘Promo Women’, for example.

Remember, being prepared is essential to a successful voice over career. Please post your comments/ideas!

- Amber Dahlin

Voice Registry Podcast- Tracy Pattin Talks To New Media Expert Doug Welch

Doug Welch has been podcasting since September 24, 2004, making him a veteran in the New Media industry. He is the founder of the New Media Interchange and is the producer and co-host of Mortgages Made Simple with Rick Gundzik. He also co-teaches with his TV writer wife, Rosanne Welch, at UCLA for Podcast and New Media for Writers, a 10-week course educating writers and others how podcasting, YouTube, Facebook and others can be used to further work and career.

right + click here to download podcast (9.8 MB)

New Media=New Voice Over Opportunities

Podcast veteran and New Media expert, Doug Welch, says this is just the beginning for the slew of opportunities heading towards producers, writers, actors AND voice talent!

So what exactly is podcasting? Doug answers that question in my Voice Registry podcast interview tomorrow (Tuesday July 7th) and other questions about this wild west emerging industry.

When I asked him, “What are the opportunities for voice talent?”, Doug says podcast producers need voices to do their “bumpers” (intros and outros). He also suggests creating your own show to get exposure. “It’s about attracting attention to yourself.”

This new distribution can be an extension of your voice over marketing strategy. The agent, the casting director AND your New Media presence can give you a more powerful toolbox, and it’s inexpensive!

Find out more about Doug Welch’s perspective on New Media and the voice over industry in Tuesday’s podcast.

-Tracy Pattin

Internet Radio….A New Opportunity To Get Your Voice Out There

A few days ago I was part of an internet radio play, Prelude To Revolution, in honor of The 4th of July holiday (written by Michael Lawshe and Keri Dearborn). Voices from all walks of life were there. Some with acting backgrounds, some with audio engineering backgrounds and others just there for the experience. It was aired live over TalkShoe and Eclipse-1 New Media. (“TalkShoe is a service that enables anyone to easily create, join, or listen to Live Interactive Discussions, Conversations, Podcasts
and Audioblogs.”)

It was amazing to see (and hear) all these voices (many meeting for the first time) come together without a rehearsal. It’s very different from the BBC Radio and LA Theatre Works radio plays I’ve been involved in. This was much more casual, all because it’s distributed from a living room, over the internet.

Watching Michael Lawshe, create his recording magic in his living room, when he normally works in the sophisticated audio environments at Warner Bros. as a Sound Supervisor, speaks volumes about the effect of technology and the internet. We can now create and distribute from anywhere with very little financial investment.

Still the question is, what does this mean for the voice actor? One thing, it’s a great opportunity to cut your teeth as a new voice talent. There isn’t the money in doing a regular voice over gig, but getting the experience and just getting up and doing it, can help your career in the long run. And who knows? You may meet a studio Sound Supervisor or two along the way.

Check out my upcoming Voice Registry interview with Prelude to Revolution’s Director/Producer, Michael Lawshe and Tech Advisor, Doug Welch.

-Tracy Pattin