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 40 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 answering questions that my listeners have been leaving me on the podcast voicemail number. I’ve been getting so many good questions lately, that it seemed appropriate to go through a number of them. 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 questions from Jelle Derckx of the Netherlands and Zach from Huntington Beach, CA.

Jelle wants to know what to do when things get awkward during a recording session. Sometimes a director will give a voice actor a note, the voice actor will do their best to incorporate that note into their next take and yet the director still seems to be unsatisfied. Worse yet, the director may seem to want the opposite of what they originally asked for. This is a common occurrence during a recording session so I share some helpful hints about how to get back on track. The secret is giving the director what they want, not what they ask for!

Zach wonders what’s the best way to approach producers as an aspiring voice actor. Should you try to contact them directly via phone or e-mail? What kind of credits do you need on your resume before you approach producers? How do you maintain a professional demeanor when approaching potential employers for voice over work? I answer his question by explaining the professional mindset of a producer. Then, I explain how to make yourself indispensable to a producer so that they’ll search you out for your unique talents and abilities!

I think you’ll find this episode very helpful for developing a truly professional mindset.

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 #40 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 31 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 the discussion I began last time about how to act professionally in a recording studio.

In the last episode of this podcast, I explained how to think and act like a professional when you go into a studio to record. I talked about how important it is to have the right mindset when approaching other people in the industry. This “professional” mindset is the foundation for how to behave in any voice acting situation. If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, I suggest you do so now before continuing with this one.

In this episode I want to walk you through a virtual recording session and give you some helpful “in-studio” tips. I’ll start with your arrival at the studio, continue on to what you should and should not do when you’re in the booth, and I’ll end with how to make a gracious exit. When combined with the professional mindset you learned in the previous episode, this advice will help you behave more like a seasoned veteran.

I hope you find it useful!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #31 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 30 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 wanted to talk about what it means to be professional when you go into a studio to record.

As the cost of recording equipment has dropped, more and more people have decided to enter the voice acting field by creating their own home studio. While this is a wonderful convenience, it does mean that voice actors spend less time going into studio recording booths to audition and perform.

For some who are just starting out, you may not have had as much experience working at a professional studio. You may find the idea of walking into a room with producers, directors and an audio engineer intimidating. I want to help alleviate your fear by giving you some basic tips on how to behave when you visit a professional studio.

More importantly, I want to share with you the mindset you must have in order to act like a professional. Even as a seasoned veteran, I find it helpful to remind myself of this mindset before I walk into the studio to record. It raises my confidence level and puts me more at ease, which then improves the quality of my performances.

In this episode, I’ll focus on and explain the professional mindset, which is the foundation for your success. In the next episode, I’ll share with you some helpful in-studio tips that will improve your recording experience and enhance the impression you make on other industry professionals.

I hope you find it useful!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #30 Here (MP3)

My wonderful friend and colleague, Juan Carlos Bagnell, runs a fantastic blog called, The Ramblings of Some Audio Guy. On it, he posts his wisdom, tips and musings on the world of voice over and recording technology. Juan’s pithy insights into voice over come from his years working both as a voice over agent and more recently as a booth director for voice over projects at The Voicecaster, a famous casting agency in Los Angeles.

Juan just put up a great video post about proximity effect. For those of you who’ve listened to episode 11 and episode 12 of my podcast, I talked at length about microphone technology as well as microphone pickup patterns. I mentioned the fact that a microphone with a cardiod pickup pattern will produce what’s called a proximity effect, meaning that the closer you get to the microphone, the more low end or bass will be amplified by the microphone.

Well Juan has posted a wonderful video demonstration of this phenomenon in action on his blog. It’s entitled, The Proximity Effect and You! I highly recommend you check it out!

Here’s a great blog post from a good friend of mine, Juan Carlos Bagnell. Juan works as a casting director at one of the most prestigious casting offices in LA, the Voicecaster. He uses the online moniker of “SomeAudioGuy” but trust me, he is THE Audio guy. Not only is Juan a fantastic director, but he can articulate how he does what he does which is invaluable!

I highly suggest you check out his blog post on “The Art of the Pick Up” or how to recover once you’ve flubbed a line in the booth. Juan shares some great insight as someone who works with top talent voice actors every day. He sees what works and what doesn’t and his eye for subtlety and nuance never ceases to amaze me. Whenever he’s directing me in the booth, I know I’m in the best hands.

You can also check out his online web series called, Movies You May Have Missed or MYMHM for short. He does wonderful reviews of seldom seen but valuable movies with his show partner, Lee. He’s even done an interview with me about zombies, vampires and other mythological subjects in film and horror.