If you do, I’d love to add you to this nifty little list that I’m creating over on the right side of this page. I’ve already added the blogs that I’ve visited a few times. Show me what you got!
Tags: blogging
So, I had a gig today where I had to be a sound alike for a young girl in a Canadian cartoon. I found myself doing several odd things to completely alter my voice to sound like her. I would stand with my feet out a bit further than usual, clench my fists, and scrunch up my nose. I would say a series of lines that I had auditioned with originally to “get back into character” and would go from there.
Looking at other characters that I’ve voiced, I’ve found that there is often one thing or a series of things that I would do to get that character voice back. For example, there is a cartoon that I did where I had to be 2 teenage girls and have a 5 minute conversation back and forth between the two. Their voices are complete opposite sides of the spectrum and I found myself posing different ways for each character. It’s a split second change, my posture, my facial expressions, and even my hand movements. But it works because I become the different characters and don’t have to worry about one voice leaking into the other.
For another character that I voice, I have to take off my shoes and put the microphone slightly too high so that I have to stand on my tippy toes for each line. Hey it works!
I’m thinking this goes back to my animation training. Whenever I would be drawing a new character, a lot of the time I found myself making several funny faces and posing even though I couldn’t see myself unless I had a mirror. For some odd reason, it made me picture the character better in my head before putting it on paper.
So, does anyone out there have odd things that they do to get into character? Tell me about them!
Tags: characters, voice acting
So, I recently talked to my new friend Dave McRae (an awesome voice talent, and gifted filmmaker), and we started chatting about how important positive thinking is in this career. It is what will take you to the next level and allow you to succeed.
If you go through life saying, this is too hard, I wish I could get my big break, why do I have so many auditions and so few callbacks, you will NEVER get anywhere. But, if you go through life saying, this is hard work but it’s worth it, any of these gigs can lead to my big break, I will get chosen for this next gig, then you will succeed. All you need is faith.
When I went on one of my first auditions, I had only had 2 weeks of voice acting experience. The world should have been against me, but I went in there knowing that THAT would be my big break. That week, I would not let any doubt enter my mind. When I got the phone call that I was offered the lead role, everything just came together.
I’ve kept that same mindset and my career has really started to take off. I know that this year will truly solidify my career and it is going to be an incredible experience!
Tell me your stories.
Here’s to the power of positive thinking!
Tags: positive, voice acting
Today marks the beginning of my first full year of voice acting. I have no idea what 2009 has in store for me, but I’m looking forward to every day. December was a great month for my career. I’ve made so many new friends in the industry, have been cast in yet another cartoon, and have enjoyed every audition that has come my way. In 2009, I plan on attending some workshops and improv classes to really hone my skills. I will complete my animation demo and rework my commercial demo. About mid year I’m hoping to have these complete so I can start sending out my demos to talent agents.
One of my new year’s resolutions has been to get my life more organized. Running a business now takes so much work and I want to make it as streamlined as possible. I want to make the most of this year, and organization is the key.
Another resolution that I have in mind is to blog more often. I want to be able to look back and remember every step of my journey as a voice actress.
Here’s to an incredible 2009!
Tags: new year, voice acting
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