Peace Time

It's been very quiet over the last week, and I'm not sure how I feel about that hehe!

It's nice to have a break, and I know work won't always be there, but it does get me worried.

I have a lot of editing work to do though, so it's a perfect time to get on with that. And my lines for the next part of a youtube serial.

Anyways, hopefully I'll have more interesting things to update on soon!

Work

Well, it's been an exciting few weeks really! I've done a lot of work which I'm really pleased with. I can't wait until they're all ready so I can post them!

I did an audio book which was a great project for me. I've added some music to my files before, but this project meant I had to compose from music (Many thanks to Paul for help on that one!) and also add a tonne of sound effects. The finished result was much better than even I expected! All this experience really helps!

I've also done a couple of video games too which was excellent - this is the area I'm really hoping to get into - video games and animation.

Watch this space!

Here is an animation I did for a student a few months ago.

I did this for free, and as such I now have a great video I can use for auditions!

Sometimes, doing work just to help people out leads to great opportunities. Never turn them down without seriously considering it. Sometimes just making contacts and demos are more important than hunting down paid work.

This is Hope, by Targo Sirol.

Start

Since officially making this my career (about two weeks ago!!) Things have been going quite well! I've had one audio book job which I have just finished (more info soon!), I've got a computer game coming up, and today I received a call about a TV commercial here in the UK!

That last one was the most exciting I think, in that I was actually approached by the client through a professionals site and it wasn't something I auditioned for. That in itself is such a confidence boost!

Missing!

Well, for some reason my very first post seems to have disappeared - oops!

This blog is set up to talk all things Voice Artist related! Plus perhaps the occasional update about my own first steps into this profession.

I have been a VA for a few years now, but summer 2012 is my first steps into making this my full time profession. Will I make it? We'll see!

No Accent!

I thought I'd start my first blog post with something that really irritates me.

Casting calls need to be written right. You want to get auditions that really encapsulate your character, and auditionees want a great chance to succeed. To do this is simple - write your casting calls properly and completely...and avoid the 'No Accent' comment like the plague.

The simple fact of the matter is, there is no such thing as 'no accents'! Everybody has an accent, it's just different depending on who is hearing it.

Many times I have skipped over an audition simply because I had no idea what accent they WERE looking for. Sometimes, if a part looks particularly interesting, I might drop a message to find out what they are after. But as a casting person, you can avoid endless questions and just cut to the auditions if you make your instructions clear and precise.

The best way to do this is to add a simple line or two describing what voice you want. For example

Voice Type; Young teenager (13-14 years), unbroken male voice, North American accent.

or

Voice Type; British 'Essex Girl' type voice (high and ditzy/giggly), female in her 20s

The bottom line here is - specify your accents. We all have one!