VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[cyclometh]

Hey folks- As a result of a recent class I took, I came out realizing I had a lot of work still to do. I blogged about it here: http://cyclometh.com/?p=121

The upshot is that basically I don't have the depth or range I want, and a large part of that is my ability to just relax behind the mic. I also need to develop general acting and character chops. It has been suggested I take improv and acting classes, which are absolutely on the agenda- however, I get up at 5 AM and home at 8, leaving little time to carve between my family and such endeavors, not to mention funds (I am the sole wage earner in my household).

In order to be able to move forward with improving my skills while not breaking the bank or risking my job (until maybe someday I can do this full-time!) I took a page from Kari Byron of Mythbusters, who as an artist creates some piece of art every day. As a voice actor, I've elected to create a daily and very short (5-10 minutes) voice blog, in which I do something every day to improve my reading skills, my ability to be natural behind a mic, and my characterization abilities.

While not exactly the same thing as "please critique my demo reel" requests, and by design this is much more "raw" than anything you'd hear when someone is auditioning, I still think there would be value in hearing from folks in the field over time. This is very much an endeavor of improving my skills, not selling my ability (yet). It has been useful already in terms of feedback and connections with other voice artists, so I'm seeing value already.

I post daily updates around 10 PM Pacific Time to my blog. The feed of the daily blog entries: http://cyclometh.com/?cat=9

I'm not going to spam or bump this thread, but I will continue to post 5 minute voice blogs every day, so if you have a moment please give it a listen, and maybe come back in a few weeks to see if I've made any improvement!

Thanks very much for your indulgence.
_________________
Corey "Vox Man" Snow
http://voxman.net

[audio'connell]

Hi Corey,

First, I want to congratulate you on your efforts to begin a voiceover career in the midst an already busy life. Thinking about a dream has little value, chasing it in my mind has more merit.

Secondly, I like the manner in which you choose to begin your training under the constraints you outlined. If this is what the funds and time allow, then to it because you are doing something.

What I might advise is to tweak your efforts a little bit. Note: you may be doing this already as I only listened to episode 10 and about 1/2 of that.

Why not make each day of the week a VO module like: Mondays are commercial read modules, Tuesdays are narrations, Wednesdays are character voices etc.

For one month, pick the same copy for each module and perform it weekly on the assigned module day.

See if you can gauge over the month if your performance improved on that copy, how it improved. Do you interpret the copy better on the third Tuesday of the month better than the first? How, why? Listen to your progression across those four weeks in each of those modules, listen for what you think you need to improve on.

And feel free to ask in this forum for a review of the month's work...where you succeeded and where you fell short (and we ALL fall short somewhere).

In my mind, this will give you a voice over objective in these audio posts that will help you see your improvements.

This doesn't mean I think you should stop your narrative, as you are doing now. In fact, it might make you understand what you are thinking a few months from now if you talk through your thoughts before or after you read a piece for your month's modules.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Good luck on your journey.

Best always,
- Peter
_________________
- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

[cyclometh]

Thanks for the feedback, Peter. The concept has been growing organically for me and I was giving some thought to something similar to what you describe yesterday right after I finished recording episode 10.

Now that there's a rhythym to it, I realized I could get more value out of it by actually having something I can track over time. Your comments definitely reinforce that conclusion; it's always good to have independent confirmation of your ideas!

I've been getting a lot out of it, although it may not seem like it to an outside observer.

I thank you sincerely for listening and for your feedback.
_________________
Corey "Vox Man" Snow
http://voxman.net