Welcome to episode 44 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 want to ask you a serious question:

Do you think like an artist?

The reason I believe this question is so important is because often I find that many people who are attracted to voice acting, especially for animation and video games, started out as fans of those artistic mediums. That was certainly the case with me. Much of my desire to work as a voice actor was because of my love for animated storytelling. However, as I pursued my dreams of becoming a professional actor, first in theater and then in voice acting, I had to make a mental shift from thinking about working on stories from a fan’s point of view to thinking about collaborating on those stories from an artist’s point of view. You could also think of it as the difference between being a consumer and being a creator.

Consumers and creators don’t just think differently, they think opposite from each other. The best way I know to articulate this difference in mindset is to quote the famous acting teacher and father of modern acting styles, Konstantin Stanislavski. In giving advice to aspiring actors, Stanislavski once told them,

“Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.”

A pithy statement to be sure, but one that deserves a more detailed explanation. I spend this episode exploring that advice in depth and explain how important it is to have a truly artistic mindset if you want to succeed in voice acting!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #44 Here (MP3)

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)

Welcome to episode 42 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 continue 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. In this segment, we discuss some of the most common misconceptions about commercial voice over and how to avoid them. Including:

• The “quality” of your voice is not as important as having a business mindset.
• Does your plan for getting into voice over pass the “bank loan” test?
• There is no sound bite solution to becoming successful in professional voice over.

Later, we talk about Juan’s approach to teaching how to succeed in commercials, including his method of analyzing scripts and the importance of understanding the advertising mindset. It’s very insightful!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #42 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 41 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

For this episode, I’m going to be interviewing my good friend and commercial voice over casting director, Juan Carlos Bagnell. Juan is perfectly positioned to give some amazing insight on what it takes to be successful as a voice actor in commercials. He started working at Abrams Artists, one of the top voice over agencies in Los Angeles, and then became a casting director at one of the top voice over casting offices in LA, the Voicecaster in Burbank. Juan has worked with some of the most talented voice actors in the business and he’s fantastic at articulating his ideas and advice on voice acting. I’m honored to have him on the podcast, and I hope you enjoy hearing from him too!

One of the best things you can do to improve your chances of booking a voice over job is to understand the mindset of the people producing and casting a project. Juan has been part of that process thousands of times and has learned his lessons in the trenches. His knowledge of the current trends in commercials comes from hands-on experience. He also runs a fantastic blog on voice over at www.someaudioguy.com. You should definitely check it out! In the next interview, Juan and I will address some common misconceptions about commercial voice over, and we’ll discuss some important ideas to keep in mind as you approach commercials.

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #41 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 38 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

For this episode, I thought I would play another of the voicemail questions that I’ve been getting from my listeners and do my best to answer it. For those who don’t know, in past episodes,  I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.

For this round of Q & A, I answer a question from Charles of Reno, NV. Charles wants to know how to find reputable coaches and classes who can help him develop both his voice acting craft and his knowledge of the business, including information about demos.

Charles may not have realized it, but his question speaks to the emotional core of why I created this blog and podcast in the first place. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a number of amazing teachers in my life to whom I am eternally grateful, and as a teacher myself, I take the student-teacher relationship very seriously. If an earnest, sincere student comes to a teacher for guidance and training, then I believe it is vitally important for the teacher to do their very best, using whatever skills they have, to help that student grow as much as possible. So I spend this episode answering Charles’ question in detail. I hope you and the many others I have encountered who have asked this same question will find my response useful.

In this podcast, I not only explain how to find coaches and classes, I also outline 4 criteria for evaluating them:

1. Does the coach work in the field you’re pursuing?
2. Does the coach’s teaching style appeal to you?
3. Do other people recommend that coach?
4. Be wary of all-in-one courses that offer you a demo at the end of the course.

I think you’ll find my in-depth explanation of these criteria very helpful.

As a reminder, the number where you can call in and ask your question is:

323-696-2655.

Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

I also reference a number of websites in my podcast. I’ll list those websites here:

Voice Over Resource Guide (VORG): http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com
Internet Movie Database (IMDB): http://www.imdb.com
Voice Acting Alliance (VAA): http://www.voiceactingalliance.com
UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that the Voice Acting Alliance is no longer functional. However there is a new message board called:
VoiceActing.Space: http://voiceacting.space
Voice Acting Club (VAC): http://www.voiceactingclub.com
Voiceover Universe (VU): http://www.voiceoveruniverse.com

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #38 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 32 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

For this episode, I thought I would answer some more of the voicemail questions that I’ve been getting from my listeners.

For those who don’t know, in episode 28 I gave out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.

For this round of Q & A, I answer two of my listeners, Taylor from Bardstown, KY and Beau from Soham, England.

1. Taylor asks me what should she put on her first demo, original characters or pre-established ones that agents are familiar with?
2. Beau asks me what do I do when I have to play a character and I don’t understand the story?

I think you’ll find the answers very helpful.

As a reminder, the number where you can call in and ask your question is:

323-696-2655.

Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #32 Here (MP3)