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Maggie's Voice
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 588
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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007, 05:29 (GMT) Post subject: |
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Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible - Anonymous
SaVoa Member 07023
Last edited by Maggie's Voice on Tue Nov 20, 2007, 03:38 (GMT); edited 1 time in total |
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Anthony Williams
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
Posts: 663
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Ronald T Robinson
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 22 Apr 2004
Posts: 1008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007, 14:30 (GMT) Post subject: |
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As "Backpeddlin' Bob" has intimated: These sites are great for practice, the odd surprise and heavy schmoozing.
Otherwise, there's taller cotton to be picked elsewhere.  |
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Dina Monaco-Boland
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 671
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007, 12:52 (GMT) Post subject: |
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| Just tell me where the fields are Ron... where are the fields? |
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James Donaldson
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 06 Aug 2003
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007, 18:00 (GMT) Post subject: Re: God-given or developed? |
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| Code: | | [quote="Bob Bergen"] |
....I can see the "it" factor the first time a student is at the mic. It is a God given talent. That said, even a God given talent needs to be given the chance to thrive. That's where the classes come in. 30 years ago, voice-over was announcing. Today, it's acting. [quote="Bob Bergen"]
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Two thoughts to add: Rod Serling who was my writing teacher in college once said in reply to a similar question about writing, (rough quote here): ..I believe writers are born, not made. You can teach a student craft, discipline, all the nitty gritty things that shape a writer. But the actual ability to tell a story -and tell it well- even if the color you tell it in is purple....that is God given - not something you can pick up in class. {end quote}
God blessed me with a set of pipes, as they say, and I have tried to use them accordingly. As a deejay, radio news, and now -finally- as a voice over craftsman. (I reserve the term artist for those such as Peter Thomas Sr, or the late, lamented Alexander Scourby who truly are...) And in some ways I think I have worked (so far) harder at polishing this craft than I ever did at the others. Reading forums, practicing, studying - and listening....always listening to those who are getting the work. Not to demean their skills....but to hear what it is the client liked about their read.
Here in NY it's often youth vs age in getting the gigs....and the sound, pacing, is casual conversation employing (methinks) ... a non-professional, 'street' sound that is hot ... right now. In fact, I just talked this weekend with a friend who has been a very big gun in a certain type of market (can't say more than that) for nearly a quarter-century - and whose mid-life crisis is that he's in the midst of his worst year ever. Making a third of the money....and far less auditions. Took his agency producer into the studio and he's re-inventing himself. Has to. I guess my point is that nothing in this business is ever for certain, either, and the learning is always curving......
Second thing - a minor disagreement with Mr Bergen over the state of the art. I think it's always been about acting! Sure there have always been a few announcers in the fold - but when I first came to NY and was producing promos and sports spots to get rolling, I used those well-established old-timers I had grown up listening to - Bob Marcato, Fred Collins, Norman Rose, etc - and where did they get their training? Radio drama...they were actors. And could bring nuance to a reading that I didn't even know was in my copy. Gradually, I added younger vo guys such as my friend, (and one gal), to the mix....but I still loved what those old-timers could do.
One vo artist gave me his spin on the types of craftsmen making the rounds at the time (the 80's)- Hal Douglas. Hal always swore there were basically three types of announcers working at any one time- the converted radio deejays who more often than not read their commercials that same frenetic way. Second, were the actors/actresses trying to survive between "gigs" doing voiceovers, who brought interpretation and improv to a session. The third group (which I told him that he fell easily into) were, as Hal calls them: The Voices. Talent whose sound is so unique - that's what you hire them for. LaFontaine....Alan Bleviss (a big, cuddly, slightly raspy, teddy bear). You hear him on Enterprise ads. Hal- the deepest, richest baritone I've ever heard. He's like a mountain breaking through the earth and rising. ..... Scourby- the ultimate voice of God. His narrative on the High Flight short (here on the web in a couple of locations) is breath-taking. It goes on and on.....
Hal Douglas still does a lot of Broadway spots. He started off as an agency producer. And he'd record the "scratch track" himself in house. Take it to the studio and re-record with talent. Not a few folks told him his demo was better than the voice they cast. So he began going to auditions on his lunch hour. Eventually, making more money in that "extended" hour than in a week's plugging away at the agency. So he left. And the rest is vo history.
My lone gal by the way was Joyce Gordon who could wrap herself around a script and give you the best "insititutional" read you'll ever hear - in two takes.
That was always important to me as a producer - the takes. I had a half-hour booked with a bump, usually, and I needed that copy read cold and well. On average, I had what I needed from these folks in four takes tops, the last being my signature "posterity" read. And that's one reason they got all my network's business. With this voice 123 system it is now possible for everyone to do it in 4 takes (edited!) - unless, of course, it's a phone patch or ISDN session - or even one of my "cell-phone eavesdrops", as I call them.
And so forth .... and so on. Best of luck .....
Jim D
Scribbler Ink |
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scott feighner
Voice Seeker
Joined: 25 Feb 2006
Posts: 227
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007, 19:00 (GMT) Post subject: Re: God-given or developed? |
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| September Day Leach wrote: | | so is being a good VO a God-given talent? can anyone do it with the right training? How many of you have had formal training and how many are self-taught? |
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is a combination of both factors. It is both god given, and you have to work at it yourself.
You can, I think, develop a lot of your skill on your own. IF, and I mean IF, you are brutally honest in your assesment of what you're doing. Don't just record something, or read something, and say it's good. Is it good? Would someone really want to give you money for what you did. Or are you being dishonest with yourself. That's where the need of a coach comes in. Someone who can stand back and listen and respond honestly. Then give appropriate feedback on how to improve and grow.
I don't know where you live, so I can get you pointed in the right direction. But try to find a coach who specializes in voice-acting. Someone who can help pull out of you what is already there, but just needs training.
For my own part, I had a certain skill level to begin with. Plus, I had the motivation. My first inklin was to be in radio as a DJ. To that end I woudl record myself and play music, give weather forecasts etc into a rather cheapie cassette recorder. I was horrible. No really. I was horrible. Stilted and stagy and awkward. BUT, I got better. I hung out with a couple of DJ's from the Houghton Lake radio station. They helped a bit. Later when I FINALLY got on the air at the radio station in West Branch, MI I was given great guidance by Van Rohr, the staion PD at the time. After a good 7 year stint, I decided I had had enough and "retired"
A few years ago I decided ti was time to perhaps look into VO. During this time I've taken course with James Alburger & Penny Abshire from San Diego. Bettye Zoller & Bob Magruder, both out of Dallas. I've studied and read and listened and built a studio. While I still can't walk away from my day job, I am doing 5 figures a year. (barely so dont' be too impressed) Could I have done it without training and studying? Doubful. Could I have learned if I didn't have the voice and the motivation to train? Again, doubtful. If you want to do it, you'll find a way to do VO and use what you're starting with.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.
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Scott F. Feighner
Only Time Will Tell... |
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September Day Leach
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1526
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007, 19:07 (GMT) Post subject: |
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| thanks for all your input everyone! This thread has been so informative! |
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scott feighner
Voice Seeker
Joined: 25 Feb 2006
Posts: 227
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007, 19:40 (GMT) Post subject: |
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| September Day Leach wrote: | | thanks for all your input everyone! This thread has been so informative! |
We're here to help each other....either with each others careers, or helping to slay dragons when need arises.
_________________
Scott F. Feighner
Only Time Will Tell... |
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Gregory Houser
Talent and/or Voice Producer
Joined: 15 May 2005
Posts: 177
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007, 15:30 (GMT) Post subject: Re: God-given or developed? |
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| Scott Feighner wrote: |
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is a combination of both factors. It is both god given, and you have to work at it yourself.
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DING*DING*DING!!!
We have a winner.
Even being an announcer requires some acting skill. As one pre-eminent scout told me last week, it's not just about the voice anymore, and it hasn't been for quite some time.
To hone the skills you need, there's got to be some initial talent there, however you're going to have to spend a lot of time training, working your craft, selling your business, and pounding the pavement making a name for yourself and networking with others. |
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