VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[bstphnsn]

Greetings fellow (and lady) VO-BBers...I'm trying to make that leap into Full Time using my voice and I would love to get some honest critique on my demos. Thank you for any time and effort on this. I've got three demos and you'll find them at my web site listed here. It is greatly appreciated!
Bob Stephenson

www.BobStephensonVoiceActor.com

[Oddio]

Hi Bob,
It looks like no one's jumped in here so I thought I'd open the door and offer my feeble opinion(s).
First of all...I love your voice, have to agree with the folks on your testimonials...it's got a reassuring quality and very warm. You sound like you've been doing this a long time.
For your Commercial reel:
The first spot (Chicago Bears) sounds more like a promo to me. In this genre-specific world of VO...that is a big no no. It may BE a commercial, but the music and your tone of voice said "Promo." So that should go on another demo.
The second spot (Drive...) went by too fast for me to capture who the spot was for. It would have been nice to hear a client name, especially if it's to sound like a national spot.
Third spot...(Goodwill) Nice. This sounds like what would be considered your "core" voice out of all the spots so far. It's a bit choppy, like how a magazine ad would read though. I think your SMC/Families spot later in the demo came even closer to what would be considered your core voice.
(American Outlaw) Nice!...sounds like a real spot. I'm assuming these ARE...but you just never know. You are able to pull off the growly voice and have it sound organic.
(SMC/Family) Again, I think this showcases your natural friendly guy voice and perhaps you should open the reel with it.
(Toyota) I guess this would be your even MORE-growly guy! You pull it off though. Good that you separated this with the SMC spot.
You've got the :40 second length thing going on too!
My overall feel is that you sound like you've been doing this a long time, but that could also be a bit of a detriment. The spots don't sound all THAT current. I don't mean this to be a slam, believe me...I'm trying to offer my generous observations. I've studied some with Nancy Wolfson, Pat Fraley and other lesser-known voiceover professionals. Rather than regurgitate what they've said I'd invite you to check out their websites and sit a spell!

As for your character/animation demo...DEFINITELY visit Patfraley.com and listen to some of his free tutorials. I'm guessing he'd say your reel is too cartoony. You have some great characters and are very talented. Much of animation today is about just being real. I love doing wacky characters too...but those type of voices are practically dinosaurs today. ( Dino excluded. He always was!)
I cringed a bit too with you opening up and closing as Homer Simpson. OK, with their current contract negotiations...maybe they WILL be casting for a new Homer. But why offer up the same voice every guy in the office does? Come up with something new that'll blow a producers socks off! Because...after all, producers have nice feet and the world needs to see them.

Narration: I would have liked to heard maybe one more segment in the demo. The first cut (Leadership) went way too long for me...:24 seconds. Also...your read had an unusual/sort of choppy cadence to it. The Catalina Island script flowed a lot smoother. Plus...just three cuts? I would put as much time and energy into your narration as you do with the commercial reel. A casting director at a recording studio in Seattle said she often casts commercials off of peoples NARRATION demos since the commercial ones are too varied in styles. Something to think about. Plus you have a really great voice for narration. I would have liked to hear some more conversational reads.
THAT's what everyone seems to request on their specs anyway.
I hope I haven't doused your flame. I just wish the best for people...and hope the favor will be returned in kind!
Thanks for allowing me in. You will do well!
Scott
_________________
Scott Burns
scott@bookscottburns.com
www.bookscottburns.com