VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Neil K. Hess · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:41 pm Post subject: How many lessons?

How many VO lessons did you all take before you were ready to record your first demo? How long a period of time was that (Months? Years?)?
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:49 pm Post subject:

I've had zero VO specific training, but I grew up in the theater.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject:

I studied with a coach for a couple of years, took acting classes, a couple of VO bootcamps; but I had already started doing VO when I worked with the coach. I still take classes from time to time... refreshers, improv, that sort of thing.
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Frank F · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 8:02 pm Post subject:

The rule of thumb about demo's is: You are ready when you are ready; not a moment before.

If the VO coach says you are ready - get another VO coach. If you say you are ready and the VO coach says you are not - listen to the VO coach. If both of you say you are ready - do it.

Frank F
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cyclometh · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:21 pm Post subject:

I've taken some VO classes, but like Jeff I had some theater background. Being a teacher for a few years helped too, I think. I mean, a big part of voice acting is performance, and you get a lot of practice at that trying to keep rooms full of grownups engaged. Smile

It's an evolution; there's no litmus test for when you're ready, no grasshopper to snatch from the hand, and no diploma that says you're qualified.

By way of example- until switching to full-time voice work, I was a software developer. For more than twenty years. I'm not boasting when I say that I was really, really good- among the best you could find, at least within the areas I specialized in. But it wasn't like I reached a point and took a test to determine that status; it was years of work, research, reading and training to make that happen.

At the beginning I was inexperienced and made a lot of mistakes- and the work I got reflected that. But I learned, got better and kept at it, and the work improved. At some point I looked at it and said "huh, I actually turned that into a career. Who'd have thunk it?" Now I'm repeating that process with my new career- but it's the same process. And it's fun to make a new set of mistakes. Wink

The work we do as voice talent is in some sense the same; we're continuously improving, learning and refining our technique, chops, experience, and knowledge. We work hard, learn and study and hopefully get better at our chosen fields.
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Bish · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:26 pm Post subject:

This is very much a "how long is a piece of string" question. You'll get many different and varied answers. My own training started in the corporate world where I was given formal training in presentation skills, interpreting educational material, and developing and running training courses in a multinational environment. I'd been working in the corporate world for decades before leaving... since then I've done cold-reading and acting classes locally. I really want to take some improv classes, but as yet have not taken any formal one-on-one VO training. I feel that Nancy may be on my horizon.

I had a straight corporate narration and an audiobook reel for the audition sites and managed to get a fair amount of work in education and web stuff from those, but it was a few years before I had a commercial demo I deemed worthy of presenting to an agent. I'm glad I waited because if I'd done it prior to that it would not have worked. As it was, I had to be bullied (by another VO) into sending my reel to the agent!
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Michael Schoen · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:24 pm Post subject:

I have to agree -- you are ready when you are ready, there is no specific amount of time with or without training, coaching or whatever..
Some people can study a ton and never get there.
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Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1638

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:51 am Post subject:

No idea so sorry about that.

One thing to consider is how you learn. Some people assimilate information all day every day whilst others need to be told everything 7 times before 30% sinks in. Do you fool yourself that you're learning something when the reality is that the information is "invalueless". I know one LA based coach who runs weekend "How to ..." classes and he turns up, in effect, unprepared. Yes, for your $800 he's just gonna busk it. Here's the power, almost every VO turns up unprepared too! He kids himself he's teaching and they kid themselves they are learning.

Know you and how you tick.
Know what it is that you need to know.
Know who is best to teach you.
Know when NOT to take the Grand Master's word for it.

You're ready when .........

You record some commercials off a quality radio station. Record you doing a commerical. Construct an ad break and drop your commercial in position 3 of 5.

LISTEN.

Do you sound completely out of place? You ain't ready.
Does the ad break sound like an ad break? You're ready.

If you read the above and didn't understand a single word you are definitely not ready Laugh

Chuck Davis · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:21 am Post subject:

It's natural to be a little impatient. By now, with the words of everyone who's posted here already, gotten the idea that this can be a long term process at the start. It absolutely is, even once you have have that demo.

A good actor continues to seek out coaching, training and more education to continue the growth.

Learn all you can and dive into the pool when you know for certain that you're ready. A good/reputable coach will help you make that determination.

The roadside in this business is littered with recording gear and Pay to Play subscriptions of folks who went off half-cocked, auditioned like mad, booked nothing and gave up in disappointment.

Do it right at the beginning and you'll be better prepared to make intelligent choices when you approach a script and submit professional quality auditions.
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Bruce · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:35 am Post subject:

I started as the class clown/ham which led to doing plays in grade and high school. I jumped into radio at 19, building myself up in ability and experience for ten years. All the while I kept doing theater and eventually TV and films.

I've had almost no formal training, but I've had plenty of mentors/bosses/directors/program directors who gave me guidance.

Radio is not a good bet right now to get the experiences you need, but theater is always a good bet. It teaches you to open yourself up, lose fear, gain confidence. It makes you a better actor, and we do often call our business voice "acting".

Best of all, for me anyway, is I'm a careful listener and mimic. When I've heard a read I like, an accent I like, I would perform it back out loud, a lot. I've practiced in showers, cars, open fields, anywhere where I can't embarrass myself too badly.

B
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Karen Souer · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:58 am Post subject:

I'm not a VO, but speaking for my Dad, he was a singer, and then did radio for forever and a day, and branched out into voiceovers from there. I know that learning and education are important to him, and he regularly attends classes and workshops from those teachers he finds worthwhile.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:51 am Post subject:

Space abhors a vacuum and the VOs who work year in year out bring more to the party than the rumble, smooch, sparkle or purr. The good 'uns bring everything they have ever done, read, thought. They're interested FIRST and interesting SECOND ....

Holistic Voices ..Very Zen

Here's an example of what someone REALLY brings to the party ...

Alastair James Belshaw Hay (born 10 May 1968) was born at Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, only son of Lieutenant Colonel Ingram Bernard Hay Murray (a great-great-great-great-grandson of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl who married Charlotte, Baroness Strange) and Juliet Anne Thackeray, née Ritchie (a great-great-granddaughter of William Makepeace Thackeray). His grandfather, the diplomat Sir Ralph Murray was a scion of Scottish nobility who married into the von Kuenburg family, aristocrats from Austria. His ancestral background affords him a privileged insight into European culture and heritage.

He was educated at Bedford School, before going up to St Edmund Hall, Oxford, graduating with the degree of MA in Modern History.

What does this great man do? He is known to millions as Al Murray - The Pub Landlord. His stand up comedy character is a boorish, sexist, racist, homophobic cockney. If you listen to him carefully his education and quick wit shines through.

Now, VO ...what about you?

ccpetersen · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:57 am Post subject:

My first coach said that you bring everything you've ever done or experienced to the studio. And, that includes all the stuff that happens when you aren't in class, training, or practicing. You gotta live your life while you're preparing to do these things.

I have a recurring part in a long-running radio play and there isn't a recording session that goes by that I don't call on something that happened to me IRL to help bring my character alive.

To get back to the original topic: there's no magic number, no royal road to geometry (an historical reference to a king once asking his mathematician for an easy way to learn the subject).
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Bish · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:54 am Post subject:

To over-simplfy Philip's last post: Can white men sing The Blues?

Well, yes, in my opinion they can, but this argument raged for years between fans and purists. What can you bring to the table? This is always difficult for younger VOs... they don't have a long personal history to draw from, and to a certain extent have to fake it with what they do have.... but there again, is anyone looking for the "voice of experience" when looking for a fresh-sounding twenty-something? In some respects, that innocence is your experience.

... and as an added bonus, Philip's last message (as well as making his point well) is an excellent piece of copy to read out-loud. It's something I do all the time. If I see something that looks a little challenging, then it's good copy to practice with!
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