VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Sommer · Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:15 am Post subject:

The one thing standing up will do is put motion in your voice. Since it's only our voice that conveys the message and emotion, we need to "Over Act" a little bit, so by getting off our butts and move around, we are able to put movement in our voices.

If you do sit, don't sit back in the chair, move to the edge and be sure to move your upper body. Gesture with your hands-- be physical.

In real life, most our conversations are done sitting down, but the difference is that we are engaged with whom we are talking to. The same is true in Film and TV, most of the conversations take place sitting down but they are engaged with the other actor/ character. That's the difference, we must be engaged and present in the moment. That's what brings reality to our reads.
_________________
The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

captain54 · Lucky 700 Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 744 Location: chicago

Mike Sommer · Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:23 am Post subject:

So as long as you are present and fully engaged with the character you are talking to, to be "In The Moment"- that's what brings life to our characters, and this is what's lacking form many voice actors.

Hand movement is also very important, it's good to be Italian and talk with your hands.

If you're a good actor you can sit or stand, if you're not then you should stand... and not with your hands in your pockets or at your side. MOVE!
_________________
The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

JTVG · Backstage Pass Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 433

I find the opposite to be true for me. I tend to talk with my hands very little or not at all in real life, so trying to do it in the booth actually takes my mind out of the read and puts it onto my hands. Instead of a sub-conscious expression of my thoughts, it becomes a minor focus to make sure my hands match what it is that I'm saying. (IN A WORLD.. *ok, hands should slowly form a sphere here*)

It's possible I may do it here and there without knowing, but that's exactly how it should be. If you're thinking about it while you do it then it's probably going to steal your attention. But if you talk with your hands in real life then do it in the booth too.

As far as standing/sitting, my reads are more controlled when I sit so that's always been my preference. I don't feel I'm any less of an actor for doing so but I can understand why standing might lend itself well to breaking through the glass ceiling on certain reads that just need a little something extra to make them great. In either case, keep that column of air from your throat down through your core nice and straight for maximum airflow.
_________________
Joe Szymanski
http://www.joethevoiceguy.com

Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1638

captain54 · Lucky 700 Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 744 Location: chicago

Beau Weaver posted an interesting comment online concerning the issue of standing vs sitting.... Actually, his comment had more to do with recording sitting in front of a monitor, as opposed to standing away and apart from the computer. His point was, sitting in front of a monitor puts you in "audio engineer" mode, and subconsciously forces to you to judge your performance and technically tweak on the fly, as opposed to standing away from the monitor, which frees up the true "voice actor' part of you.. I never really thought of it that way...

BenWils · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:13 am Post subject:

What Dan said.....

The Read
The Read
The Read

If you want to liven your booth....this is from experience here, add a monitor. Mine has a soft plastic screen (as opposed to one with glass if that exists) and it makes a nice subtle difference in my booth that works. I would call it a soft reflection, that sounds natural and not at all over done.

I have a (treated with traps) single wall GK booth with added heavy load vinyl added for extra sound blocking....and engineers from all over continue to love the sound that comes out of my studio. I think the double walled whisper room presents a lot of problems because of the two walls....and the added resonance you get from that (especially with deeper voices or tones)

Now, if being in the booth is inhibiting you, maybe moving out of it would be good.
_________________
Ben

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

Pam · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:08 pm Post subject:

This topic has moved way off the original intent but I wanted to chime in that I've recently moved from sitting to standing with my auditions and can really hear a difference in my performance. As lazy as I am, I'm a converter to the standing method.
_________________
Pam Tierney
www.pamtierneyvo.com
imdb profile http://imdb.com/name/nm1941932/

Now what did I come in here for?

captain54 · Lucky 700 Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 744 Location: chicago

Hi Pam

I think I remember you from the O'Connor staff.... were you ever there?

I've tried to go back and figure out what percentage of stuff I've booked sitting and what percentage I've booked standing....I found that while the performance might be "better" overall standing, I've booked more from the sitting auditions.

I actually have two studios.... one smaller treated 7'x 9' space where everything is done at the desk, sitting, and one larger 10' x 15' "standing" space that is still sort of a work in progress,

In the "sitting" studio, I can work very quickly and edit in Audtion almost on the fly as I'm recording. In the "standing" studio I need to maneuver a few feet to the desk to do all my editing in Protools. So the "standing" studio doesn't really lend itself that well to knocking out a slew of auditions