VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[patfraley]

My VO buddy, Rich Martinsen is down from Bay Area this weekend, and we're thinking about going down to LAX (arggh) and rescuing a few from the Summit for dinner. Lots of familiar faces down there this weekend, including my stellar business advisor, Kristine Oller, who is talking to the group. PF

[bobsouer]

[Deirdre]

Holy crap--

Genghis Cohen is priceless.
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[TC]

Thanks for sharing all of this, Bob. Very generous of you.

[bobsouer]

[Audiogal]

Bob, thanks for sharing your notes with us!
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Mary

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

Bob, I've really enjoyed reading your posts from the Summit. Thanks for posting them.
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[Deirdre]

[tammymcd]

Thanks so much for posting your notes...and for taking so many great ones! And your pix are very.....special and interesting as well. It's really hard to get decent lighting in those places and considering your constraints I thought they were great. Anyway - I'm also going to print them out. See - I told you that this group was fantastic. You don't see websites like this for utility workers believe me!
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Life is what happens when you're making other plans.

[bobsouer]

The morning began with a 3 hour session from Dave Foxx, creative services director with Z100 in New York City on how to build station promos. There was relatively little valuable material for us in the voiceover world, though he did pick me as one of his volunteer voices for a promo. He said he would send a copy of the promo to us (there were 3 voices in all) and if and when that audio arrives, I will add a post to this thread with a link to the audio so you can hear it. But, I must say it was a real kick to work with this guy. He is one of the very best at what he does.


This is Dan O'Day and Dave Foxx chatting just before Dave started his session.

Dave challenged us with this thought, just as he started his session: "If you learn anything at this conference, you owe a solemn debt to pass along to someone else at least some of the things you've learned."

It seems to me that's almost the theme of this board. There's a lot of helping of one another here. I remain grateful to be here and a member of the family.

[edit] Here's the finished promo he used my voice on. I'm the "announcer."
http://bobsouer.com/pix/Z100_Summit_VOD_Promo.mp3


This is the ProTools gear Dave used during his session, in case any of the geeks on the board want a look.


Following lunch, we were treated to a panel discussion about casting, agents and voiceover. Very good stuff was discussed.


From the left, this is Dan O'Day; Terry Berland (a major casting director for not only voiceover, but film and television); Mary Ellen Lord (talent agent for many voice artists, including Joe Cipriano); and David Lawrence (casting director for some major Union game projects as well as a voice actor in his own right).

Everyone on the panel comments on the massive changes that have taken place in the voiceover industry in the last 20 years. Technology has changed everything. But casting is the area that has changed the most by technology. As an aside note, in this part of the discussion it was agreed that every agent, even in LA, now works with non-union as wel as union talent. This is another major change.

The panel talked about the perception that the "golden age of voiceover" is over. Reactions: It depends on who you talk to. Everyone only has a certain season when they are at their peak for earning. Now top talent can work from anywhere which means that we (yes, including every one of us on this board) are competing with the top talent for major jobs. The top talent are even competing for the middle level jobs, which put even more presssure on the rest of us. But this has also resulted in a flattening of rates. The ceiling isn't as high as it once was.

Further, our attitude makes a huge difference in how well our auditions are received. We have to believe the job is right for us and that we are right for the job. Also there is no room for prima donnas anymore. Negativity will get you out of a job faster than almost anything else, because there are so many other very talented people who are willing and able to do the work. (Celebrities are something of an exception to this rule.)

Terry spoke about how she had at times in the past helped someone who has a good voice get through an audition. But she doesn't do this anymore because when they are cast and actually at the session these people often can't deliver the goods. This is where workshops are so valuable, because at a workshop we can gain experience behind the mike so we can deliver the goods in the booth.

We have to be able to take direction. This might seem like it goes without saying, but there are a lot of people trying to do voiceover work who don't know how to take direction during a session. At the same time some of the best stuff comes after the direction is done. While working in a recording studio we have to let go of control and allow the producers, directors and engineers to do their work and just concentrate on delivering the copy the way we're being directed.

Being directable means not only being willing to receive direction, it means being able to actually follow through on that direction and often the direction is very subtle. So the changes we make need to be just as subtle.

Suggestions about demos: If we're going to use a CD, identify ourselves on the packaging. (NOT a headshot, but our names, and using a design that's consistent with what we do.) The demo should be no more than a minute. Voicebank.net has many, many examples of of signed talent. Listen and learn from the best. Long is more than 1 minute. NEVER prepare a demo and save the best for last. If we only have 30 seconds of good, then only use 30 seconds. Mary Ellen doesn't even listen to CDs anymore. (She says there is a stack of them next to her desk which she will never hear.) The demo should demonstrate our range. Don't let everything sound the same.

When auditioning, even the slating of our names is important. Put your best foot forward. All the time.


The last segment of the day was what's called the Critique-a-spot-a-thon. Those of us who wanted to (about 2 dozen) uploaded a spot to Dan O'Day's site prior to the Summit. Dan then listened to the spots, took notes and then played them back today one at a time, offering his comments, critiques and suggestions.

I did submit a spot. Before you listen, you need to know that I work full-time as writer, producer and voice-talent for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, so this spot is one I wrote and produced for them:

http://bobsouer.com/pix/LyleDorsettMX.mp3

After the spot played, and I was the only person he did this with, Dan asked me to go to the mike and directed me to see if I could connect emotionally with this guy that I'm describing. Our conversation was recoded and in a few weeks I'll be able to post a clip here of his comments and my performance in that moment. But, I don't have it right now. In any case, I thought his suggestions were 100% on the money. I didn't delivery this copy with as much empathy and conviction as I could have.

In addition to my full-time job, I also work pretty close to a second full-time job as a freelance voiceover talent. And the rest of my life I spend with my family and get a few hours of sleep each night.

There are a few other things I'd like to add, to this report (e.g.: some audio from Howard Hoffman that he used at the closed door session on Thursday afternoon, but I want to be sure I have permission first. As well as the promo for Dave Foxx and the clip of Dan and me talking.)

I hope these thoughts and posts have been helpful. This is a truly remarkable event, though keep in mind it's about voiceover only half (or some years less than half) of the time. Since I do all of those other things, it's always been a great deal of both fun and learning for me. Still, there's no question that my voiceover work has improved a great deal from what I've learned in the last 10 years.

So let me close with this story. In 1997, the first year I attended, Dick Orkin with still involved with this Summit. (He co-founded the even with Dan O'Day.) For a reason God alone knows, Dick picked me to be one of the people he worked with during a voiceover session that year. It was one of the most profound experiences of my professional life. And I learned more in that 90 minute session that I had in the prior 14 years of professional voiceover work. You never know what's going to happen. Not just at this event, but at all kinds of classes, casting calls, seminars and so on. But, whatever you do, when the door opens, don't hold back. Walk through it. You won't be sorry.[/url]
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[BenWils]

Great info Bob! You are good guy for sure. Thanks for sharing with us.
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Ben


"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

[bobsouer]

I've done an edit to my long post above, but since it's buried in a lot of text and images, I hope you won't mind if I put this shorter post up with this quick link. Dave Foxx just sent me the audio from the Z100 promo he produced using me as the announcer on Saturday morning:

http://bobsouer.com/pix/Z100_Summit_VOD_Promo.mp3
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Frank F]

One word: HOT!!!!!!

Toodles

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[bobsouer]

[Hart]

Very nice! Bob, thanks so much for sharing with us.
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