The Character is You
You’re right. I recently received an e-mail from one of our "Voice Class" students reminding me that this is a "Voice Blog" and I should be talking about doing voice overs. Fine! I can do that.
One of the things I start out teaching in my class is that it’s always easier to hide behind a character voice. You know what I’m talking about. You always add a little more energy and fun to any "fake" voice you might be doing. It seems that doing someone else’s voice makes it okay to do a little more acting, add a little more pizzazz. And that’s fine. But the call for character voices is miniscule compared to the need to find real people who can interpret a script.
If you’re interested in becoming a voice actor, I would recommend you pick up any piece of script and perform it in your real voice, then as your favorite character. If you can afford one of those cheap digital recorders, it’s always a good idea to record yourself and listen back. You’ll usually find that the character voice has a little more fun to it. So, what does that teach us? That we’re more comfortable being someone else. Believe me, it’s universal.
I tell my students to create a character…that’s you. Honest, it works. You don’t have to come up with a back story, because you already know it. But this forces you to step outside yourself and see you as a commodity. If you owned a business, would you hire you to do your commercials? How can you improve on you? Your voice that is. Do you sound like you’re reading the script, or do you sound as if you really believe what you’re saying?
Spend some time listening to the pros on radio and t.v. commercials. What is it about their performance that you like, or don’t like. Try emulating them in the privacy of your car on your way to work or running errands. It’s a great way to find out if you might have what it takes to be in this crazy business.
Now, get back to having fun, keep practicing your communication skills and we’ll leave the mic on for ya.
One of the things I start out teaching in my class is that it’s always easier to hide behind a character voice. You know what I’m talking about. You always add a little more energy and fun to any "fake" voice you might be doing. It seems that doing someone else’s voice makes it okay to do a little more acting, add a little more pizzazz. And that’s fine. But the call for character voices is miniscule compared to the need to find real people who can interpret a script.
If you’re interested in becoming a voice actor, I would recommend you pick up any piece of script and perform it in your real voice, then as your favorite character. If you can afford one of those cheap digital recorders, it’s always a good idea to record yourself and listen back. You’ll usually find that the character voice has a little more fun to it. So, what does that teach us? That we’re more comfortable being someone else. Believe me, it’s universal.
I tell my students to create a character…that’s you. Honest, it works. You don’t have to come up with a back story, because you already know it. But this forces you to step outside yourself and see you as a commodity. If you owned a business, would you hire you to do your commercials? How can you improve on you? Your voice that is. Do you sound like you’re reading the script, or do you sound as if you really believe what you’re saying?
Spend some time listening to the pros on radio and t.v. commercials. What is it about their performance that you like, or don’t like. Try emulating them in the privacy of your car on your way to work or running errands. It’s a great way to find out if you might have what it takes to be in this crazy business.
Now, get back to having fun, keep practicing your communication skills and we’ll leave the mic on for ya.
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