VAM 140 | Interview with Fred Tatasciore, Part 1
Welcome to episode 140 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
Welcome to the first part of my interview with the incredible Fred Tatasciore! Fred’s body of work is enormous. At the time of this interview, he has almost 700 credits listed on his resume at the Internet Movie Database. The character he is probably most famous for playing is the Incredible Hulk whom he has voiced in numerous animated incarnations. Some of Fred’s other familiar characters include Saren Arterius in the Mass Effect series of games, Master Shifu in the animated TV series, Kung-Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Zeratul in the StarCraft Franchise, and one of my personal favorites: Soldier 76 in the game Overwatch.
Fred is well known for his creature voices, especially the large screaming ones! In addition, because of Fred’s vocal flexibility, he’s also a good utility player, meaning that he can play many different parts when a show or a game requires it. However, it was his standout solo performance as Soldier 76 in Overwatch that really got my attention. I was so impressed with the sensitivity and vulnerability he brought to that character, I just knew I had to bring him on the podcast.
In this first episode, we talk about how Fred broke into voice acting. He had a pretty unique journey! When he was young, he not only spent time recording himself doing funny voices, but he was also pursuing art and drawing as well! During his time in school, Fred was never quite sure whether he was going to pursue an animation career or a voice acting career! Having such a broad educational background enriched his understanding of playing characters immensely and I’m very excited to share his journey and his insights with you! Let’s get started!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #140 Here (MP3)
VAM 139 | Interview with Keythe Farley, Part 3
Welcome to episode 139 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
Welcome to the third part of my interview with the amazingly talented and astoundingly accomplished, Keythe Farley! He’s acted on stage, on screen and in front of the microphone. You may be familiar with his voice acting work as Thane Krios in the Mass Effect series of games, the villainous Kellog in Fallout 4 as well as Eruptor in the Skylanders series of games. He’s also voice directed the incredibly popular animated show the Rugrats for the animation studio Klasky/Csupo. He’s voice directed such high profile game franchises as God of War, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Final Fantasy 15.
In the previous episode, we discussed how Keythe’s passion for storytelling motivated him to become involved in the performing arts. We also talked about his approach to the character of Thane Krios in the Mass Effect series of games.
In this episode I ask Keythe what advice he has for aspiring voice actors. He’s got some wonderful insight on the topic because of his extensive experience directing some of the best voice actors in the industry! We also talk about the unique challenges that new voice actors face when it comes to emoting, which is the ability to allow your emotions to express themselves freely through your body and voice. Too often, beginning voice actors attempt to demonstrate their emotions while acting, rather than sharing their feelings in a more authentic way. This can lead to performances that sound forced or self-conscious instead of being believable to an audience. To help address this, Keythe and I dig deep into some of the most challenging aspects of learning to act, and I’m excited to share the final part of our talk together!
To learn more about Keythe and his VO Lounge, visit his website at:
www.KeytheFarley.com
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #139 Here (MP3)
VAM 138 | Interview with Keythe Farley, Part 2
Welcome to episode 138 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
Welcome to the second part of my interview with the amazingly talented and astoundingly accomplished, Keythe Farley! He’s acted on stage, on screen and in front of the microphone. You may be familiar with his voice acting work as Thane Krios in the Mass Effect series of games, the villainous Kellog in Fallout 4 as well as Eruptor in the Skylanders series of games. He’s also voice directed the incredibly popular animated show the Rugrats for the animation studio Klasky/Csupo. He’s voice directed such high profile game franchises as God of War, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Final Fantasy 15.
In the previous episode, Keythe and I focused on the early part of his career and how he broke in to both voice acting and voice directing. In this episode, we delve into what motivated Keythe to become a performer in the first place. We discuss Keythe’s obsession with storytelling and how serving the story is his first priority, regardless of his position on a project, whether he is acting as a character, directing other actors, or even writing the dialogue. We also talk about how he approached creating the character of Thane Krios for the Mass Effect series of video games. Then we dive even deeper and discuss how Keythe would approach the character of Thane differently if he was directing someone else in the role rather than attempting to embody the character himself! It’s a fascinating insight into the creative differences between acting and directing! I think you’ll find it very enlightening!
To learn more about Keythe and his VO Lounge, visit his website at:
www.KeytheFarley.com
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #138 Here (MP3)
VAM 137 | Interview with Keythe Farley, Part 1
Welcome to episode 137 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode, I’m happy to share with you part one of my interview with the amazingly talented and astoundingly accomplished, Keythe Farley! Keythe’s work is so varied that it’s difficult to reduce him to categories! He’s acted on stage, on screen and in front of the microphone. He’s voice directed animation and video games. He’s also one of the creators of the hit musical Bat Boy. He’s even produced an animated series version of the Spy vs. Spy comics from Mad Magazine! You may be familiar with his voice acting work as Thane Krios in the Mass Effect series of games, the villainous Kellog in Fallout 4 as well as Eruptor in the Skylanders series of games. He’s also voice directed the incredibly popular animated show the Rugrats for the animation studio Klasky/Csupo. When the Rugrats video game was in development, Keythe was asked to voice direct it and so began his work in Interactive media. He’s voice directed such high profile game franchises as God of War, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Final Fantasy 15. And those are just the highlights of his work in games and animation! His theatrical and radio accomplishments are too numerous to mention here! Suffice it to say, I was very eager to sit down with Keythe and get his insight into the voice over world.
In the first part of our discussion, we talk about the early part of Keythe’s career and how his passion for Top 40 radio hits eventually led him towards storytelling and theater. His love of story in all its forms is what gave him the flexibility to be open to whatever entertainment opportunity came his way, whether it was an acting job or some other position in production. In fact, it was his willingness to take a relatively low level production assistant job at an animation studio that allowed him to learn the process of creating cartoons. The education he got from that experience not only lead to more and better opportunities at the studio, but it has helped him immensely in all aspects of his career. I really admire Keythe’s openness and his humility when it comes to working in an industry that can often be emotionally challenging, and I’m eager to share his wisdom with you!
To learn more about Keythe and his VO Lounge, visit his website at:
www.KeytheFarley.com
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #137 Here (MP3)
VAMFR 030 | Interview with Taliesin Jaffe, Part 1
VAMFR 030 | Interview with Taliesin Jaffe, Part 1
Welcome to episode 30 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!
You can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.vamfieldreport.com/podcast
Recently, our correspondent DanWill McCann had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the very skilled and experienced Voice Actor and Voice Director, Taliesin Jaffe. Taliesin began his acting career on camera when he was very young, starring in commercials, movies, and TV Shows. You may be familiar with his performance as Kenny Butler in the film Mr. Mom. where his character was deeply attached to his security blanket or “wubby” as it was called. As a young adult, Taliesin’s love of Anime drew him to Voice Acting and since then, he has provided over 100 voices for Anime and Video games, as well as adapted scripts, cast voice actors, and directed a multitude of projects. You can hear him as the Flash in the Injustice 2 video game. He also directed the English dub of the anime series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate. Currently he is on the popular Geek & Sundry series Critical Role, a show where voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons together and act out the characters in real time. In campaign 1 he played as the character Percy, and now in campaign 2 he is playing as Mollymauk.
In this first segment of our interview, DanWill spoke with Taliesin about his career path. He and DanWill have actually been friends for more than half of DanWill’s life and DW finds his journey both fascinating and inspiring. When DanWill decided to pursue Voice Acting as a career, Taliesin was the first person DW turned to for advice. DanWill has always admired that Taliesin is a consummate professional in addition to being a huge fan of animation and games. Taliesin’s respect for characters and storytelling drives him to always do his best. He not only strives to create fantastic art, but he also tries to raise the bar of artistic achievement, both for himself and those he works with. We hope you will find Taliesin as inspiring as DanWill does!
The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!
Download VAM Field Report Episode #30 Here (MP3)
VAM 131 | Interview with Eliza Jane Schneider, Part 1
Welcome to episode 131 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
Welcome to first part of my interview with voice actor and dialect expert, Eliza Jane Schneider! You may remember in my previous interview with Zach Hanks how he mentioned how much he appreciated Eliza’s comprehensive dialect classes. Based on Zach’s comments, I thought it would be apropos to have Eliza on the podcast to speak with us! Eliza has an amazingly long and diverse acting career. She started very young as an actress in both school and community theaters. She parlayed her theatrical experience into on-camera acting jobs in college and eventually into voice acting. She’s probably most famous for portraying almost all of the female characters on the animated series South Park in the years between 1999 and 2003. More recently she’s the voice of Agent Rama in the Agents of Mayhem video game, she’s played numerous characters in the animated series Sanjay and Craig, and she’s also in the animated series Breadwinners playing the Tooth Fairy. In addition, Eliza and I have also been in a number of projects together including Diablo III where I played the Male Wizard and she played the Female Necromancer, and also the Pirates of the Caribbean video games where I voice match Orlando Bloom to play Will Turner while she voice matches Keira Knightly to play Elizabeth Swann.
In addition to her many acting accomplishments, Eliza is incredibly dedicated to the study and mastery of English language dialects. While she was still in college, she bought an ambulance and travelled around the country recording people speaking in their native accents. She’s turned many of these interviews into one-woman theater performances where she reenacts her interview subjects on stage. She also studied with Robert Easton, a master of dialects who was once dubbed the Henry Higgins of Hollywood for his ability to train actors. Eliza has taken everything she’s learned from Robert and created her own unique approach to dialects and accents. I’m very happy to have her on the podcast to share her insight and expertise with all my listeners!
In this first episode, we explore how Eliza broke into the entertainment industry. We discuss her desire to be an actress from a very young age and how her experiences in the theater helped shape her approach to acting. It’s amazing how resourceful and ambitious she was in her efforts to tell stories and perform. I think my listeners can learn a lot about tenacity from hearing Eliza’s story!
If you would like to learn more about Eliza’s dialect training, please visit her website at:
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #131 Here (MP3)