Let's talk acting

Diane Havens · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008, 12:54 (GMT) Post subject: Let's talk acting

Enough chit chat about this and that -- let's talk acting. I've been thinking about the passion for it that has brought me this way.

Voice acting is a different animal from live. But what's at the heart of that difference? I have not done film, but I have done a bit of stage acting in a former incarnation (it seems). I would venture to say it's what happens in the pauses. Obviously with your body you can convey much -- facially, with posture, with distance from the other actors,etc. How then, with what process, do you fill those pauses? Fill them, that is, with other than music and sound f/x. Fill them with total immersion in the character.

I think your breaths become more important, a slight and very subtle attack at the next phrase, be it hesitant or strong. I totally physicalize the character anyway, even if the character is a middle aged woman such as myself. I have to think then what makes me most quintessentially me. I always do some relaxation first, like I did in my stage acting days, and of course, vocal warmups are even more vital.

Then there is the emotion in the piece (hopefully, there is some.) Method? Stanislavski/Adler? This is how I learned, and I've worked with some excellent actors back in the day. This is key -- it's like playing tennis with someone much better -- it absolutely improves your game. Now, if I have time, I even might improv the text to myself, using my own words, and then it makes more sense to me, and I can internalize it -- even if it's badly written (did I say "if"?)

Stage work is hard work, as any of you who have done it know. But in some ways, it's like bringing up a child. Lots of pain, but lots of gain. On the stage, there's no question how you're doing, and when you're doing well -- there's no high like it. I still do live storytelling on a semi-regular basis -- for kids mostly. I learn much in those sessions, about just what works, but -- though it's mostly my voice doing the telling --my body is there to back it up, to underscore it, to illustrate it.

I love acting -- I still don't know just how much I love the mic -- but it's growing on me. It's just, well... different.

Michael J. Schoen · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008, 14:06 (GMT) Post subject:

Diane,
Good insights.
We always talk about this as "voice acting", but sometimes we radio types can get into the mind set of "knocking off a few spots" as in the way it's done at radio stations.
I haven't done any live stage acting since College -- which is a good while ago.
But I have had a number of public speaking engagements where something very different takes hold.
I has to do with both the body and the audience in front of you that creates a unique reality.
I do a lot of movement when doing VO.
Sometimes for me warm up is take one and take two -- and then something better takes hold for take 3.

Diane Havens · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008, 13:28 (GMT) Post subject:

I didn't mean to get all Bohemian on you, but sometimes I miss the stage, and wondered just how much of it I can bring to voice acting. Somewhat along the lines of what one needs to lose of radio announcing.

Allison Scussel · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008, 04:37 (GMT) Post subject:

Diane,

First and foremost, I love your post because you make radio ppl like myself THINK about what we can improve our own acting. Applause

In a completely different thread a while back, many of us were talking about our favorite movies. Mrs Doubtfire was mentioned in that thread b'c Robin Williams character was a voice over actor. I love that movie and remember in the beginning he was using his hands alot while voicing a character during a recording session.

That has become my off screen crutch. I use my hands! Now, I have no stage experience nor do I have interest in persuing that avenue, but when I'm on the air or in production, I stand and use my hands while verbally describing copy and it seems to be working. It helps me feel the copy as I'm reading it and it's coming across more natural.

Just because the listener can't see your acting, you can still allow them to feel it. Whether you're in the privacy of your own studio or at an audion, feel free to wave the hands and move your body when reading a script. It really helps your delivery.

~Allison~

Diane Havens · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008, 11:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Allison --

Hands -- yes! I sure do use them. Sometimes I knock the pop screen all out of whack. Laughing

But, of course, that's because I'm an Italian girl!!

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008, 12:31 (GMT) Post subject:

I can't resist this thread since acting is a passion that has coursed thru my veins since I was about 10 years old. I did my first community theater play at age 12 ("Inherit the Wind"), and am currently directing my second show ("Wait Until Dark") that opens this coming Thursday (if any Atlantans are interested in coming. I know 'Ember and her fiance are. www.newnantheatre.com )

As a kid, my dream was to be an actor and while I never made it to the 'big time' since I didn't actively pursue that route, I've enjoyed and loved every minute of performing on stage for decades now. By the way, I watched a movie last night (finally) that I was an extra in a couple of years ago, "We Are Marshall" (no, you can't really see me in it unless you know when and where to look and squint).

I truly believe in my heart that my acting ability is the single most important aspect of what has made me moderately successful in voiceover. It's the comfort of being able to take words on a piece of paper and read beyond the print into what is trying to be conveyed. It's being able to see, in my mind, who might be speaking those words, why they're saying them, and who they're speaking them to.

Beyond that, probably more than anything on the planet, my PASSION is acting. I do community theatre purely for the love of it. There is no pay. I eagerly look forward to the next role I can audition for and go into it confidently and with excitement. And that's another thing... being on stage builds confidence. "I know I can do this!" which goes a LONG way in auditioning, whether for v/o or on-camera.

And, like you ladies above me, I, too, physically move when I read copy here at home, using my hands and often my body to help me deliver the words the way I feel them.

Anyway... that's my babble about this.

Diane Havens · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008, 12:45 (GMT) Post subject:

Yes, Scott. It is something that has been with me also since childhood. I did my first play in the First Grade -- a leading role. But even then, alas, I was playing older. I was the Mom. Damn.

Well, anyway, I'm glad you brought up directing. I had a chance to direct during and shortly after grad school in Illinois.And for years I directed kids while I was teaching. I actually prefer it slightly over acting. I guess because I'm a control freak! Or maybe really because I've worked with some bad directors.

Directing is in some ways an even greater preparation for the lonely work of voice over. You need to have a concept for the copy, whatever it is, and know your audience, however unseen.

And one of my very favorite things to do is to sit around with my actor friends, those much more experienced and knowledgeable than myself, over drinks or coffee, and talk about acting. Most of them do both voice and stage/film -- so I've learned much from them, if only anecdotally.

So please, Scott -- Babble on!

John Bigl · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008, 21:59 (GMT) Post subject:

pardon my chronic insecurities, tho i have been told its quite common amongst folks in the performing arts but, my acting teacher says i can act.. so, what is it w/in me that still doubts this?

what characteristic am i using defectively that puts a huge anvil on my chest each time i crank up my signal chain to do a demo?

just as a candid observation, back when i was a lush i had no problem 'performing'... i really don't want to repeat that chapter in my book just to rid myself of a blasted insecurity when it comes to performing, acting, VO, or subtle growling while walking up to the podium to give a little speech.

I'M POSSESSED !!!! Wink

Be Well

Diane Havens · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008, 12:49 (GMT) Post subject:

John, you are not alone. I think you'd have to have one gigantic ego ( and I do think there are definitely some so "blessed" with one) not to feel insecure about it. No matter what you've already done or accomplished.

I'll use tennis again -- the only game I play. (Disclaimer: I am terrible at it.) However, I am taking lessons. We were working on my forehand, when I hit a beautiful shot - it popped off the racket in the sweet spot, blazed across the net in perfect placement. The pro exclaimed "Gorgeous shot! Did you feel what you did then? Do it again."

Acting is much the same. You can't over think it. You have to feel it.

Music analogy. In the movie, The Visitor, an uptight white guy wants to play the African drums. His friend is teaching him, and at first he hits it too hard and so the teacher tells him not to think. On a second try, he lets go, and it's better.

Acting is the same. Let go.

None of this is easy, of course. To get to the point where things become organic. Like riding a bike. Like dancing. Like making love. All of it, when overthought, is never any good, and even worse, not fun.

Bob Bergen · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008, 21:27 (GMT) Post subject:

John,

Here's about $20 worth of my VO workshop on the house. Wink

If every actor is honest, they are all insecure. Read Michael J Fox's autobiography. He mentions that every time he accepted an Emmy for Family Ties, he was in fear that someone was going to catch on that he had absolutely NO idea what he was doing.

The most insecure actors in the world are those who are accepting Oscars or Emmys. They know that it's their next project that REALLY matters. The award they are accepting reflects a gig they did 1-2 years earlier. They may know in their heart that their current project sucks. Think Haley Barry. She accepted an Oscar knowing full well the next day she was filming Catwoman.

As for a huge ego, you cannot make it as an actor without one. This isn't being cocky. It's being honest.

You cannot audition to please the listener/buyer. You must audition to please yourself, while being available for direction. But if you go into the read trying to do what you think "they" want, your performance will be lacking. It won't be solid. You'll be in your head. You'll doubt. You'll waiver.

But if you approach the work to please yourself, to have fun, to make the performance your own, there will be no doubts.

Take the need to be accepted by others out of the equation.

This takes ego. But it's an essential part of success. Ego in performance is fine. Ego in personality outside the work is obnoxious. There is a huge difference.

Diane Havens · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008, 22:27 (GMT) Post subject:

Bob -- So true about pleasing yourself in an audition. Having fun with it, believing in what you're doing is key. Great advice. I guess I always thought of that more as confidence than ego. (That kind of thinking may even improve my tennis game!)

Bob Bergen · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008, 22:44 (GMT) Post subject:

Lee Gordon · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008, 01:05 (GMT) Post subject:

Bob Bergen · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008, 01:12 (GMT) Post subject:

John Bigl · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008, 17:57 (GMT) Post subject:

thanks Diane and Bob .. your replies to my post were very helpful ...

after all my years of Zen practice i hadn't thought of using it for VO or acting.. your analogies and observations guided me to some useful insights regards letting go, getting out of my head, and not being focused on acceptance and outcome...

thanks !!!

Be Well