What You Should Know Before Studying
VO!
I am very excited to be in the midst of my 8th year
teaching Voice Acting Classes under the Find Your Voice-Voice Acting
Institute
shingle in Cleveland and at Donna
Belajac Casting
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.
Browse this
blog or www.jeanzarzour.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.
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.
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
$700-$900. With Find Your Voice, that fee
includes between 4-6 hours of preparation, rehearsal, recording session,
sweetening (sound effects and music) and post production revisions. If you take
the time to do it right, no 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.
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 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.
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 - by Elaine A. Clark
- Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over
Actors Reveal How They Did It - by Joan Baker
- The Art of
Voice Acting - 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 classes, visit http://findyourvoice-voiceactinginstitute.blogspot.com
for class description, demos that I've produced at area
recording studios, class info and more.
Now, more than ever, your investment
should produce measurable results, whether you pursue a voice acting
career, or not.
The Next 8 week Voice Acting Class in Lakewood, Ohio runs Monday's 2/3-3/24 2014 6-9pm. Click the link at the top of this home page for details about that class.
The Next 8 week Voice Acting Class at Donna Belajac Casting in Pittsburgh runs Tuesday's 2/4-3/25 6-9pm. Visit www.donnabelajaccasting.com for details and registration.
