VAM 043 | Interview with Juan Carlos Bagnell, Commercial VO Casting Director, Part 3
Welcome to episode 43 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
This is the final part of my interview with my good friend and commercial voice over casting director, Juan Carlos Bagnell. You can find more of his insights on his blog at www.someaudioguy.com.
To wrap up our discussion Juan explains how to handle seemingly contradictory directions when voice acting in commercials. He stresses the importance of working with what’s actually in the copy and not trying to second guess what you think the producers are looking for. He also explains how to take advantage of the current trend of using celebrities in voice over and how understanding the appeal of celebrity branding can help you position yourself as a voice actor. I’m sure you’ll find it helpful!
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #43 Here (MP3)
Hi Crispin-good morning 🙂 that’s a great interview with Juan, I really like it . On the first part of an interview, I did reply to you after you asked me that I have a second language and I answered no, I’m still American girl with disorder of expressive language since toddler. On the other hand, there is something cool after I listened the two parts with Juan-I was doing a ‘First Impression’ quiz from the book called ‘Your Personality Style’ and there is a question- ‘Which makes you feel more confident?’ your voice, hands, eyes or body – Then, I answered ‘my voice’-if I choose this answer, it means that I can easily influence people and they can follow me. My confidence in my voice means that the first impression on other people can rely on you and trust you. Sounds very interesting and I felt good about it 😀 Thank you so much again and I’m looking forward the next episode
I’m glad you’re enjoying the podcast.
I absolutely loved this interview. Juan’s insights were really informative and entertaining. I also really like the fact that you two are really good friends with each other. Made the interview more of a conversation that just saying information for an invisible audience. Super enjoyable.
Can’t wait till the next podcast!
Thanks Kalyn! So glad you enjoyed it.
This is a very nice podcast Mr. Freeman and Happy Birthday hope you have a safe day.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the episode.
So about celebrity branding, does that mean it would be helpful to see which celebrity brand matches or your’s?
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
What do you think?
You didn’t seem to respond to my question. It was an honest question. What do you think? Do you think it would be helpful to see which celebrity brand matches yours?
Maybe he’s busy or just thinking of answer for your honest question which was a few days ago Mr. Freeman. I mean to be honest some people are busy now and days like you Mr. Freeman. I would like to answer your honest question if Eric doesn’t mind I mean to me I think I would probably agree with that. You wouldn’t know which celebrity might need a back-up for their brand in commercials right… I think… 🙂
I was not trying to rush Eric to answer me, I just wanted to make sure he understood that I was asking him an honest question and not trying to just brush him off. I always encourage my students to think through acting problems for themselves so I can see how they problem solve.
Yes, but it seems to be another level I’ll have to find, like finding my archetype. Similar, but different. I’d love to solve that puzzle, but I’m busy editing a movie and taking care of my other classes. Gonna try to get a internship at FUNimation once I got that IMDB credit under my name.
It is a different mindset. Archetypes are about finding where you fit in storytelling. Branding is about how you can solve problems for advertisers.
Enjoy editing your movie. An internship at FUNimation sounds like a great idea.
Hi Crispin! Have you seen any of Hyouka? It’s pretty great! It’s vaguely similar to Haruhi in the sense of “grumpy protagonist is dragged through club shenanigans”, and I think the main character Houtarou has a Kyon sort of vibe going on. I was thinking, “Crispin Freeman could probably pull this off”.
I have not seen Hyouka. Sounds like an interesting show. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
I know you’ve said before Crispin that discovering your brand is more about your personality as appose to in animation where knowing your range is important. That being said, is there any advice you can give for discovering your brand on your own like the advice you gave on discovering your character types on your own? I hope this question isn’t confusing.
So you’re looking for advice on finding your own commercial “brand” in the same way I recommend finding your character “archetypes” in animation? Honestly, if you’re having a hard time finding your brand, I suggest you take class with someone who can help you discover it. I wasn’t sure of my own commercial brand until I took a couple of commercial voice over classes in LA. I’m sure Juan would be able to tell you pretty quickly what your “brand” is.
Such a great interview! Loved the insight. Keep up the great work, Crispin!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
You know, this interview and mentioning celebrities did remind me something I forgot to ask-if a screen actor decides to do voiceover, do they need a demo or can they show their performances in TV and film before auditioning for a part?
Depends. I don’t think Robert Downey Jr. needed to make a demo before he was hired to do commercials. He has enough of an established brand in the public sphere to be valuable on a commercial level. However, another screen actor who might not be as famous might definitely need to make a demo to showcase their brand to potential employers.
Okay, that makes sense. Also, what’s it called when you’re playing a character who’s in a situation you’ve never been in, and what’s your best advice when working with that? Like if you’re voicing a superhero but have never been a superhero in your life, how could you bring that aspect to life? If my wording is too confusing, let me know
It’s called playing pretend, otherwise known as acting.