Congrats Bob!!

-Tracy Pattin

1. Describe your first Porky audition.

Well, my first audition was in my agent’s (Arlene Thornton at the time) office.  The first callback was for the fabulous Andrea Romano.  I had several callbacks for various WB execs.  Chuck Jones (co-creator of the Looney Tunes) was at my final callback.  I tell this story in my one man show.  I rarely get nervous at auditions, but when I went to shake Chuck’s hand my hand was shaking like Katharine Hepbern.  Chuck asked me why I was so nervous.  I told him, “I’m about to do Porky Pig for Chuck Jones.  It’s like doing Jesus for God!!

2. How did you even get the chance to audition for this big role?

I’d already been in the business for about 8 years.  So fortunately, having an agent (and an agent who knew I wanted this part badly!!) I was able to read for the part.  But I often think about the odds.  And there are many.  I was born in the Midwest.  The fact that I eventually got to LA, was able to secure an agent, AND was able to even do the character at the exact time WB needed to replace Mel Blanc…well, all I can say is I knock wood daily!!!  I never take anything for granted and I’m count my blessings”

Stay Tuned for part 2.

-Tracy Pattin

Voice Talent Dick Ervasti thinks each audition should follow these three important steps:

3 Steps to Improving Your VO Audition Technique: “Now that we all seem to be connected via SocNet, everyone is pouring their hearts out online about the frustrating process of auditioning for voiceover work. For years, I used to share the feeling until one day, in 2003, I turned a corner on the whole matter. Since then my Audition Conversion Metric (ACM) has tripled, and I also get way more FIGs (Found-Gigs, where they just called and booked without any audition) than I used to.” Click here for Dick Ervasti’s 3 steps…

In tomorrow’s podcast (part 4) Hispanic (and English speaking) voice over actor, Gustavo Rex talks about:

•The different (and) Spanish accents and how Hispanic Voice Actors deal with this

•The difference between Spanish VO sessions and English sessions

•Whether the Hispanic market is a great opportunity for Spanish voice talent

•Current trends in the Hispanic market

and more….

-Tracy Patitn

“I met Bert de Coutere at Online Education in December. He chaired the Battle of the Bloggers in which I participated.

Recently Bert sent me a copy of his intriguingly titled Homo Competens (Beta Book, 2009), an exploration of competence and how humans acquire this. I only got so far as page 31, when I encountered the following analysis by Bert of the stages in the building of competence.”  Read more.

-Tracy Pattin

Just like the mainstream voice over market in the U.S. the Hispanic voice over market has its set of challenges. In tomorrow’s podcast (part 3) Hispanic (and mainstream) voice talent, Gustavo Rex, talks about:

•How he markets to advertising agencies

•Why the Hispanic voice over market is struggling

•Issues with the Unions

•NBC and Telemundo

•Advice for emerging Hispanic voice talent

•Differences between East Coast & West Coast accents

-And much more…

-Tracy Pattin

Click here for:

•Gustavo Rex part 1

•Gustavo Rex part 2

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about live streaming (The Stream.TV), a new way to distribute content and its possibilities for voice actors. Turns out The Stream had two voice actors on one of their shows, Coin-OP TV.

-Tracy Pattin

The interesting thing is they engage their viewing audience from the get-go making them the perennial guest. One person on each show sits at the computer with a camera overhead, reading and reacting to the plethora of comments from the chat room proving to be as entertaining as what the hosts are saying and who they’re interviewing.

They have sponsors but it’s still an uphill climb. According to LiveStream. Tv’s Brian Grammo, “It’s a technology that is still working out the kinks but it’s getting better and better.”

So what are the possibilities for voice talent? Perhaps they’ll be used for promos just like broadcast television. And if advertising kicks in, then that’s a whole new opportunity for voice actors.

Just like so much of this emerging technology, it’s a wait and see.

-Tracy Pattin

I was at Real Time with Bill Maher at CBS Studios last night for the first episode of season 8. Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane was a guest. Bill Maher asked him about the Sarah Palin controversy over Down’s Syndrome Voice Actor, Andrea McFarlane played a Down’s Syndrome person. Sarah Palin was outraged and felt that Family Guy and that character was making fun of her Down’s Syndrome son Trig.

McFarlane defended the character choice of using a person with Down’s Syndrome to play the role, saying that Andrea “loves her life as a voice actor and is proud to be part of the show.” As a sister of a Down’s Syndrome person, this was great to hear!

-Tracy Pattin

Compost Productions is at it again with their infamous Margaritas, Mojitos and Microphones class this Friday, February 19 in Los Angeles. Once again the fabulous Bob Bergen is teaching the class. (check out my post when I attended one of the MM&M classes.)

-Tracy Pattin

Here’s the blurb for the class:

VO actor and coach Bob Bergen and an L.A. based VO agent will be here at Compost Productions directing this special event. Bob’s credit list is huge, but he is most famous for being the voice of “Porky Pig.”  Our other guest director worked for over 25 years as an audio director/producer and currently works as a VO agent at an L.A. agency.

The focus of the evening will be on voiceovers for animation and promo.  The event will last five hours, and include a Q & A with the directors at the end of the evening. The cost is $150 and payment is required in advance to secure a spot in the class.  For your convenience, you can pay online via paypal at our website, http://compostproductions.com/Classes.html.  Just find the Margaritas, Mojitos, and Microphones poster and click the “Buy Now” button.  Space is limited and enrollment is on a first come first serve basis.  Email us at composthq@gmail.com or call us at (818) 567-1489 for more information.

Don’t miss out on the first session of 2010!  This is your chance to partake in a fun night of hard work and hard alcohol!

What:             “Margaritas, Mojitos, and Microphones”

Who:               Directed by:

Bob Bergen (“Porky Pig” among thousands of others)

&

An L.A. Based VO Agent

Where:             10707 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood

When:             Friday, February 19th

6-11pm

Cost:                $150

Tomorrow you’ll find out:

•How classical Spanish theatre helped him in voice over

•How doing “oohs and ahhs” began his VO career

•How he had to relearn his Spanish accent although Spanish was his first language.

•What was his first big break in the Hispanic commercial voice over market

and much more…

-Tracy Pattin

After the play is recorded, then starts another huge process; post production. Sound Engineer, Mark Holden, owner of The Invisible Studios, works with the director (Rosalind Ayres) to piece together all the scenes, the best takes. Part of this process is music and sound effects. With sound effects, there are two kinds; computer generated and live foley.

For our foley session, Ros brings in a box filled with potential sounds to go with each scene. She’s marked in the script exactly where those sounds are required. Then we got to work.

Foley is fascinating and fun. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Ros and husband Martin Jarvis (Jarvis Ayres productions) on many foley sessions. You’d be amazed at what makes a particular sound.

First we had to replicate long woolen clothing (these Moliere plays were period pieces taking place in 16oo). Ros had a large woolen scarf that I draped in front of me walking slowing from a corner of the room up to the mic. Suddenly I was transformed back to that time, imagining a woman walking in that clothing.

Next, was a man in armor. Ros used large aluminum cooking pot tops and chains. I had to walk in a masculine way holding the tops against my body with the chains hanging in front. Once again, I became that man in 1600 in armor as I approached the mic. (Ros was in hysterics in the corner because it sounded so real!).

We went on to create a necklace dropping on a cobblestone street, a man in street clothing and a special box with a love letter being looked at then passed along to one of the characters.

When we were done, I felt like I was transported back to the scenes in School For Husbands and Imaginary Cuckold.

Just as the voices bring the play to life for the listener, the sound effects act as other characters, all creating this wonderful aural magic genre of entertainment.

These LA Theatre Works radio plays will go on the air across the Country in the next couple of months. Go to www.LATW.org for more information.

The plays were recorded at The Invisible Studios in West Hollywood, California.

-Tracy Pattin

I have in-studio managed many of these plays, often with high profile casts (Alfred Molina, Michael York, Brendan Fraser, Hector Elizondo, Juliet Mills, Stacy Keach and many others) and I’m  constantly amazed at the magic that’s created all in a recording studio, all behind a microphone.

The process begins with a table read-through a day or two before the recording. Rosalind Ayres, the director on this project, explained to the actors what the set-up would be in the studio. I marveled at how this was like a film set. She described how they would come up close to the mic for the “close-up” scenes where the character reveals his private thoughts and they would step back from the mic for a “wide shot” when they wanted everyone to hear them. Since many in this cast are film actors, they immediately understood the analogy.

Although they’d always have script-in-hand at the recording, it’s very important that the actors work out the scenes with the other actors so they’re ready to record when they go into the studio. Time is money. And there’s rarely time for a lot of takes.

Once they’re in the studio, just like a film set has marks on the floor, the rug has strips of tape, almost like sun rays streaming out from the microphone as markers. Where they stand and how they move gives the illusion different sized environments, entrances and exits and any other situations to create a particular scene.

Before the actual recording, the actors then do a rehearsal (as done on a film or TV set) and finally they lay down the scenes, usually doing around 3 takes.

So you see, a radio play isn’t always actors standing at the mic, it’s much more complex than that.

Find out in part 3 about creating live sound effects in the post production phase of this fascinating process.

-Tracy Pattin

To hear this play go to the LA Theatre Works website. Moliere’s School for Husbands and Imaginary Cuckold will be airing across the country in the coming months. These plays were recorded at The Invisible Studios in West Hollywood, CA.

There is a whole other world for voice talent. It’s the radio play. This past week I was the in-studio manager for LA Theatre Works’ productions of Moliere plays, “School For Husbands” and “Imaginary Cuckold.”  Both were all British casts, except two American actors who can do perfect British Accents.

In Tuesday’s podcast, Amy Stoller, talks about accents and audio books. This is one of the areas where  a voice actor doesn’t have to have an authentic accent. It’s more about the characters and attitudes than a perfect accent. But there are exceptions.  Because these casts were all British, it was important that the two American actors have spot on British accents. Which they did. The Brits were impressed!

Speaking of the Brits, the radio play is alive and thriving in England. Seems British audiences grew up with the radio play and still love the medium. Why not in America? After all, before television, there was radio. It was THE place for information and entertainment (in addition of course to the newspaper) So why has it not withstood the test of time? (check out an upcoming blog post)

Listening to (and watching) these marvelous actors, Juliet Mills, Emily Bergl, Lloyd Owen, Brian Bedford to name a few voice their characters,  makes us realize the magic and power of the voice.

In Part 2 about the LA Theatre Works Moliere radio play recordings, find out how director, Rosalind Ayres works with the actors and how similar it is to a film set.

-Tracy Pattin

Mary McKitrick responded to the Amy Stoller podcast with these resourceful comments:

“Doing VO with accents can be great fun, and it is definitely worth pursuing this kind of work if one enjoys it and has an aptitude for it. Some relatively low cost approaches if you just want to explore: 1) Gillian Lane-Plescia at http://www.dialectresource.com/ has a series of Dialects for Actors CDs that are very helpful; 2) youtube is a bountiful resource – if you have an actor in mind (e.g., Billy Boyd, Scottish; Simon Baker, Australian) you can look up interviews; 3) Films: e.g. My Left Foot, Dublin); 4) accent archives such as http://accent.gmu.edu/ and http://web.ku.edu/~idea/ 5) theater department at the local college. I was lucky to find a course at a nearby university called Dialects for Actors. Taking language classes from native speakers is a great investment. I’ve been auditing French, German and Spanish classes at the college in my town for years (you have to forget about the fact that you might be 2-3 times older than anybody in the class – ha!). Concentrate on a few accents with which you have some facility, work on perfecting them, read out loud with them, work with a dialect coach like Amy and, ultimately, market them – and have a blast!”

Thanks Mary!

Listen to the Amy Stoller podcasts:

Amy Stoller podcast part 1

Amy Stoller podcast part 2

-Tracy Pattin

In tomorrow’s podcast interview with Amy Stoller (part 2) she talks about:

-Authentic accents vs. character accents

-When is an authentic accent required?

-When is a character accent okay? (a “good enough accent”)

-Do accents need to be perfect for audio books?

-What are the current trends with accents and audio book narration?

And much more…

-Tracy Pattin

Check out my upcoming podcast with Gustavo where he talks about his longtime career, how he got started, and how he’s able to be in both the English speaking VO market and the Hispanic market.

-Tracy Pattin

Top voice talent and voice over teacher, Pat Fraley is teaching an advanced seminar February 19th. Not only is Pat a voice actor and teacher, he’s a clever marketer. Notice the audio sample in the blog post, where he’s telling potential attendees about the class. We voice actors have an extra marketing advantage using our voices to sell ourselves! Click here for more info about Fraley’s upcoming class:

Pat Fraley Advanced VO Seminar

-Tracy Pattin

In tomorrow’s podcast, Dialect coach and Designer, Amy Stoller of Stoller System.com, talks about accents and the voice over actor.

Find out:

• What techniques are used to perfect an accent
• If the ability to do other accents is innate or can it be learned?
• Trends in audiobook narration and accents
• Why a perfect accent isn’t always necessary

And much more…

-Tracy Pattin

No, it’s not a look at voice over and cartoon characters. And it’s not even about marketing strategies per se. It’s what’s in-between, the absence of, the gap between doing and being that can give us insights into expanding our careers. It’s sort of a new kind of marketing strategy. An UN-strategy.

Top notch blogger and marketing expert, Seth Godin shares his insights on building a business and getting the word out:

In Between Frames

-Tracy Pattin

I attended a screening at the Egyptian Theatre in LA last night for Fantastic Mr. Fox. Great movie! One of the best animation features I’ve seen with a great story about taking risks, believing in yourself and connection. (the plot is a sly fox going up against 3 angry farmers)� And of course, it’s always good to have so many voices hired in addition to the celebrities.

After the movie, director Wes Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach came out for the Q&A. The first question to Anderson was how he came to do this project. He said with a chuckle, “I love puppets with fur.” Then he went on to talk about his love of the Roald Dahl book. There were a few questions about the voice talent ( I tried to ask one) mainly about Bill Murray and would Anderson be directing Ghost Busters IV, a humorous reference to the fact that Anderson was supposedly on the “rejected list” for Spiderman IV.

Longtime co-writers, Anderson and Baumbach talked about their writing process. “Most of our projects come from just hanging out together.” (a good reason to hang out with friends!). Then, a 10 year old stood up raving about the movie asking, “How did you make the movie so funny?” They talked about the challenge of trying to balance humor with the serious moments, not wanting to ruin the funny moments with serious dialogue and the reverse.

When asked about the casting, Wes did say that he likes to work with the same actors over and over but he also likes to bring in new talent. Wonder if that means non-celebrity voice talent?

He talked about the recording process and that they recorded a lot of it on a Farm outside.� A lot of the dialogue was a collaborative process with the actors. Wes often records all the parts himself first before bringing in the actors.

On directing the actors in an animation feature Anderson says, “It’s freeing because they have just the paper in hand. There’s no lighting, costumes, makeup,� they can just go.”

I kept thinking throughout, how much fun it would be to perform in such a wonderful project like Fantastic Mr. Fox. Here’s to many more of these wonderful projects and opportunities for non-celebrity voice talent!

-Tracy Pattin

The Voice Over Industry is filled with disappointment lows and the highs of success. But the key is to keep going, flow with the lows and BRIEFLY ride those highs. Internet marketing expert, Seth Godin discovered this about creative geniuses who had many unrealized projects as well as the big reality of the green light, seeing other creative endeavors to success.

Click below to read Seth’s blog:

Unrealized Projects

-Tracy Pattin

In tomorrow’s podcast, and the final part 5 of my interview with Chris Allport, he talks about the impact of Facebook on voice talent.

We discuss:

�How to build your brand on Facebook

�Tips and insights for creating buzz on Facebook

�The future of Social Media for Voice talent

and more…

Click below to listen to the previous Chris Allport podcasts:

Chris Allport part 1

Chris Allport part 2

Chris Allport part 3

Chris Allport part 4

We all know when shooting video, sound is everything. And of course, when recording audio, sound is the ONLY thing. So whether you’re doing an audio or video project, here are some tips on the ubiquitous Lavalier Microphone from the Izzy Video site:

Izzy Video. Big Tips to Get Great Audio from Lavalier Microphones.

-Tracy Pattin

In tomorrow’s podcast (part 4) producer, director, voice actor Chris Allport talks about the voice over audition process and when you get the job.

You’ll hear about:

�Advice when you’re auditioning for casting directors. The most important things to do.

�How to self-direct

�Dealing with commercial specs. How to utilize them adding your own twist.

�How to integrate improv at the audition.

and more…

Click below to listen to parts 1-3

Chris Allport podcast part 1

Chris Allport podcast part 2

Chris Allport podcast part 3

-Tracy Pattin

The other day, I was interviewed (it was great to be the interviewee for a change!) by author Barbara Berg on her internet radio show about my book and website, theYES!book, Sizzle in the Middle.com. We talked about healthy lifestyles and adding more adventure to our lives.

It was great to see how internet radio works. It got me wondering if this is a place for we voice over actors to build our brand and get our voices out to more listeners. So where is internet radio going? Is it here to stay?

Here’s an excerpt from the HealthyLife.Net’s website on the beginnings of this internet radio network:

“In September 2001, realizing that local radio stations and quality non-sensational information was becoming nonexistent, Linda Mackenzie planned and implemented in October, 2002, one of the first “Live” all positive radio stations on the Internet – HealthyLife.Net. The radio network broadcasts over the Internet and is now syndicated on many Internet Radio streams, private radio networks and is available on Wifi, PDAs and Smartphones.” Click here to read more about HealthyLife.Net.

-Tracy Pattin

Bob Souer posted a great video on his blog site recently. It’s a behind the scenes look (and listen) at the voices for the video game, Trauma Team . This group of voice talent talks about how they do it, why they love it and advice for other voice over talent looking to get into doing characters for video games.

-Tracy Pattin

In tomorrow’s podcast (Part 3) with director, performer, producer, Chris Allport, he talks about advertising and voice over acting and his directing techniques.

You’ll find out:

�What advertising executives need most from voice talent

�How significant price points are in commercial copy

�What directing techniques he uses in a voice over session and which ones work best.

And more…

-Tracy Pattin

Click here for parts 1 & 2 of the Chris Allport podcast interview:

Chris Allport podcast Part 1

Chris Allport podcast Part 2

On Sunday last, New Media Interchange Founder Douglas E. Welch, held his 4th Annual LIVE Reading of Charles Dickens� �A Christmas Carol� and the audio is now available for your holiday pleasure.

It wasn�t your typical live reading of a play. Not a radio play or a televised reading. It was an internet play distributed through the internet�s U-Stream.TV. I had the opportunity to use my voice to be part of this holiday project. Top Warner Brothers sound engineer, Michael Lawshe and New Media Expert Doug Welch team up several times a year to produce these readings. I interviewed Doug about the production. In part 1 he talked about the genesis of the project and the recording process. In part 2, he talked about the editing process and U-Stream�s internet technology for a live show. In part 3 (below) he gives advice on how to produce your own live streaming show.

TJP: Any advice for others who want to produce a recording for the internet?

DW: First, have fun. This is the main reason we do our reading each year. We treat it like a small party with everyone bringing treats and we usually cook a big pasta meal afterward. Schedule your live show when the most people will be available to listen or watch. We chose the Sunday before Christmas at 3PM Pacific Time (6 PM Eastern) for just that reason.

TJP: What about glitches and technical issues?

DW: Don’t worry about stumbles and technical issues. This is part of doing a live show. Most issues can be resolved with some light editing, if needed, for the recorded version. We love introducing our non-theater, non-industry friends to the fun of performing a script, so we often have new readers who need a little coaxing and understanding. For me, this is simply another part of the fun. Invariably, after the show, they say “I didn’t know this was so much fun!”.

For the more professionally minded, you will nearly always be able to pull an excerpt from the show that you can use as a sample on your web site or reel, even if the complete show has some issues.

Record to multiple devices whenever possible. Had all our local recording options failed for some odd reason, we still would have been able to use the audio captured by uStream.tv to create a podcast afterward. That said, recording locally will always produce the best results.

TJP: Do you think this UStream technology could help voice talent. How will it impact their career?

DW: Live streaming services like uStream provide a method of making what you do, and how well you do it, accessible to the world at large. Even better, you can produce shows, readings, dramatizations on your own without the need for large budgets or large amounts of people. You can create more audio and video that can be seen by more people than might be possible otherwise. This provides you the freedom to do projects that you want to do, rather than only those for which you get paid.

-Tracy Pattin

(Doug Welch reading �A Christmas Carol�)On Sunday last, New Media Interchange Founder Douglas E. Welch, held his 4th Annual LIVE Reading of Charles Dickens� �A Christmas Carol� and the audio is now available for your holiday pleasure.It wasn�t your typical live reading of a play. Not a radio play or a televised reading. It was an internet play distributed through the internet�s U-Stream.TV. I had the opportunity to use my voice to be part of this holiday project. Top Warner Brothers sound engineer, Michael Lawshe and New Media Expert Doug Welch team up several times a year to produce these readings. In part1 Doug talks about the recording process. In part 2 he talked about the editing process and uStream.tv technology. In part 3, Doug gives advice on how to do your own live streaming project.

In today’s podcast, (Part 2) voice talent Chris Allport continues talking about his multi-faceted career as voice talent, director and producer.

Chris shares insights on:

�The history of the announcer voice

�What directors really mean about the “Non-Announcery reads” spec

�How he found the child voice for the Democratic National Convention

and more…

-Tracy Pattin