VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

roger · Last edited by roger on Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Fellow novices on the journey to a VO career:

Often the task at hand seems so overwhelming you feel discouraged and that you're the only one that's having trouble getting going.
Whether it's lack of start-up capital for training, demos, equipment or lack of direction, most everyone goes through the same thing.
I'm with you and just thought sharing some newbie observations
while I'm experiencing them might make you feel less alone and be of some encouragement.
I originally recorded these ramblings for the VOX Talk podcast at Voices.com
where it has has been languishing in the in-box for many months.
So I thought I'd brush the cobwebs off and share it here.
Don't expect an award wining and wise tome, just thoughts from a guy going through the stuff you are. We'll share it together.
Thanks for listening to me and contact me anytime to listen to you and your progress.

Listen

Break a lip,
-roger
_________________
Roger Tremaine
www.MyFavoriteVoice.com
http://rogertremaine.voices.com/
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. AESOP (The Lion and the Mouse)

bobsouer · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:14 pm Post subject:

Roger,

I'm getting a "file not found" error.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

Bish · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:20 pm Post subject:

Roger, as a novice I read your words with interest. I'm always looking for other people's experiences and words of wisdom about lessons learned. Expectation was high... a magic pill maybe? I was dashed on the rocks of disappointment when the link lead to a "File Not Found" page on Voices Gasp

Edit ... Ooops... Bob posted the same while I was composing Rolls Eyes

Second edit... Hey Bob... Roger said for newbies only... you don't qualify Laugh

_________________
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.

roger · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:24 pm Post subject:

Sorry mates, I believe it's repaired now.
_________________
Roger Tremaine
www.MyFavoriteVoice.com
http://rogertremaine.voices.com/
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. AESOP (The Lion and the Mouse)

bobsouer · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:41 pm Post subject:

Lisa A · Guest

Roger,

I loved it. Thanks so much for posting.

RD Levine · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:00 pm Post subject:

Roger thanks for this. It is a very well done insight into your journey in the VO industry. I would hope that Stephanie will release if not, I like Bob's idea.
_________________
Ron Levine
http://www.ronlevinevoiceactor.com

Mike Harrison · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:06 pm Post subject:

Great stuff, Roger.

And... what Bob said:

NEVER
STOP
LEARNING
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Bish · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:17 pm Post subject:

Roger, that was very interesting (and very listenable as well). I like your approach and philosophy.

Bob, my tongue was planted firmly in my cheek. I know that this type of thing is of interest (and value) to everyone... whatever stage of their career they may be at.
_________________
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.

Michael Schoen · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:50 pm Post subject:

Enjoyed listening to you, Roger.
I agree Return on investment should always be first in line -- spend money wisely.
_________________
http://MichaelSchoen.com

Brett GeRue · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 9 Location: Rockford, IL

Thanks for posting Roger.

As a fellow "novice" I found it very encouraging. I have been taking the economical approach by listening to podcasts, free teleseminars/webinars, as well as this wonderful site and everyone's individual websites/blogs.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more on your journey and hopefully being able to share some of mine.

Chrissy · Guest

Thanks Roger. This is a great title for a book or your own blog. Keep on talkin, kid. Wink

Tony Neptune · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:05 am Post subject:

Roger, thank you for the newbie encouragement. I personally needed to hear it.

It seems like time flies these days, and I have found myself staring down yet another January telling myself "20xx will be the year I finally take some classes and make a demo." For me, lack of start-up capital for training and demos is the biggest obstacle, but as you said where there's a will there's a way.

Dare I say it...2010 will be the year I take some training classes and a make a demo!

Thanks again
_________________
Tony

Bish · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:00 am Post subject:

What I think Roger highlighted nicely, was that what are sometimes seen as major barriers are only small hurdles that we can overcome with some common sense and application. If we tell ourselves that the VO path must start with at least a grand's worth of hardware and a couple of grand's worth of formal VO training & demo production, then we set our own (financial) barriers. I, for one, don't have three grand laying around.

What I do have however, is a desire to follow this path and time to invest. I'm sure that there are a lot of newbs who have exactly the same resources at their disposal. Cold reading scripts, practicing enunciation and microphone technique as much as possible is how I spend a lot of my day. The only good thing I ever got from V123 was a constant supply of scripts (albeit sometimes of dubious quality) which fed me daily challenges.

What we need is an honest feedback path. By honest, I mean from someone who isn't financially invested in telling us what we want to hear. Friends and family will always be supportive (God bless 'em) but as with all things, sometimes you have to follow the money to understand someone's motivation. I'm lucky enough to live within striking distance of NYC, so I have a plethora of reputable coaches to choose from... but I also have a local acting school. Cold reading in a group, taking direction and getting immediate feedback is extremely valuable. OK, it's not geared towards making short commercials or radio bumpers... but I don't think that's my path anyway.

So far I've been lucky enough to get a couple of small phone system jobs. Couple that with the call-backs (requested re-reads) from V123, and I feel that I owe it to myself to push forward and invest more time. Which, paradoxically, is the most abundant, yet most valuable resource I have.

I like the current VO-BB meme... "stop faffing about"... that's what I'm trying to do Laugh

_________________
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.

JBarrett · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:40 pm Post subject:

Wonderful piece, Roger! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.

Regarding its inclusion in the VOX Talk podcast, I asked Stephanie Ciccarelli about said podcast when she was in Dallas for the Voices.com mixer this past weekend. She explained that they were frequently producing the podcast from home after hours, and it ended up cutting into their personal lives so much that they just had to pull back. However, she said that they plan on restarting the podcast once they can get a better production schedule worked out, though she didn't give any indication of when that might be.
_________________
Justin S. Barrett
http://www.justinsbarrett.com/