VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Shiromi]

Hi, I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster on VO-BB. I'm also a relative newbie. I come from an acting background and sort of fell into voice over a few years back. I haven't been able to focus on it due to crazy life stuff, but as of the past couple of years, I've been ready to jump in with both feet. After heaps of VO training, I've begun working with a producer on a narration demo.

I would love to get opinions on the demo. It is a little unusual. I use multiple accents in the demo. I'm British but have lived in the U.S. for so long my accent falls into more of a mid-Atlantic. Being located in Seattle, we felt it was best to show both my natural accent, and also my bi-dialectal ability to do British and American accents.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/amho3opz2f7ghtn/Shiromi%20Arserio-Narration%20REVIEW.mp3

Anyway, I would love to get any and all thoughts about the demo. I'm really excited to finally be doing this but want to make sure I put my best foot forward. Thanks!!!

[Bish]

Hi Shiromi, I was sure I responded to this post before (last night). Oh well... the beast that is the inter-webs must have eaten it. First up, welcome to the "Dolphin Pool" as some like to call it. Do go and say "Hi" over on the main chat page (and maybe tell people you've posted here). A lot of people hang out in chat and ignore the other forums unless something is pointed out.

I'm guessing that a) you are a lot younger than me, b) you've been here in the US longer than me. There's a critical period for most people when they move from one culture to another... before it, and the native accent is lost to the adopted one, and after, when the new environment has no impact whatsoever on the native one. You obviously hit the middle period where your accent is a mixture of the two, and you can flip between one and the other with minimal effort.

To me, your American bits sound American, and your Brit bits sound British (and I quite liked your delivery). There were a couple of phrases that seemed unsure of their origin though... they weren't so much transatlantic, as undecided (if you see what I mean).

Now, I have absolutely no US accent skills. When I try to do one, I usually fall into caricatures and stereotypes. When working on them, I usually get tripped up by one or two incongruous words which belie my origin, and my "accent" ends up over the map. Just once or twice I found the origins on your demo a little geographically scattered.

Remember, I'm talking as an ex-pat Brit here, and I'm being hyper-critical about accents. Hopefully someone else will be a little more objective

Cheers
Peter
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[JoeActor]

Hi Shiromi.

I liked the selections - your acting experience really shows through.
It's a strong demo overall, for sure.

For the accents, I thought the British bits were the strongest.

Definitely hearing a Mid-Atlantic on some, but others have a mix of British/American words.

I'd suggest to try to home in on the accent for each piece, and ensure it is consistent.

... and I'm being a bit nit-picky, sure... but you want your demo to really knock their socks off!

Hope this helps,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com

[Shiromi]

Hi Pete, a) yes, I am probably younger than you but b) actually I think I've been here less time. Just over 12 years. I think the real clincher was probably way too much American TV growing up.

Thanks for the suggestion about going to the chat page. I'll have to do that. I just have to get past that intimidated feeling like, I can't really post a comment, i'm to much of a newbie.

Thanks to both you of you guys for taking the trouble to listen and for being so welcoming! I'm relieved to hear my biggest problem are some of those mid-Atlantic pieces. Those should be fairly easy to re-attack for consistency.

[Shiromi]

Don't really expect any more critiques, but since somebody mentioned that with the Dropbox link you have to download the file (duh!!) I created a soundcloud link and figured I may as well throw it up here as well.

http://soundcloud.com/shiromi-arserio/shiromi-arserio-narration/s-T45G6

[Benjamin Stovall]

Hi Shiromi,

To avoid the Dropbox downloading instead of streaming problem, just add

?dl=1

to the end of your link. This only works for files in your public folder, so be sure to put the files you want to stream in that location.
_________________
Ben Stovall Voiceover
http://www.benstovall.com

"When you're nearing the end of your rope, tie a knot. Keep on hanging. Keep on remembering, that there ain't nobody bad like you." -- The Electrifying Mojo

[Shiromi]

Hi Benjamin,

Just saw your post. Cool. I did not know that. Thanks!