Welcome to episode 72 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 from my podcast audience! For those who may not be as familiar with the podcast, in past episodes, I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question about voice acting 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 Ted from Florida and Sam from San Lorenzo, CA.

Ted wants to know if there is such a thing as a good or a bad voice for voice acting.

His question is one that I get asked quite often. Let me answer it as concisely as possible.

No, I do not believe there are good and bad voices. However, there are good and bad actors. Also, some people are more or less good at identifying what type of voice over work may suit their voice the best. Developing competent voice acting skills as well as the ability to cast yourself appropriately are far more important than having a certain type of voice.

I explain to Ted in more detail what it takes to know how and when to use your voice so you can work consistently as a voice actor.

Sam is excited about pursuing a voice acting career, but wants to know if he’s doing it for the right reasons.

Sam has been told by friends and acquaintances that his voice is distinctive and that maybe he should pursue voice acting. This has made Sam excited about the possibility of starting his own voice acting business.

However, like most people, Sam also has doubts about the feasibility of pursuing a voice acting career. Unfortunately, a quote that I like to share with aspiring voice actors has added to his confusion. The quote is originally from the great acting teacher Stanislavski, but I modify it slightly from the original. My version of it goes like this: “I believe it is important to love the art in yourself more than yourself in the art.”

Sam is worried that he may be pursuing voice acting for the wrong reasons. I’m very happy to explain in more detail what I mean by that quote and to reassure him that it was never my intention to discourage anyone from pursuing their inspiration.

I hope you find the answers useful in your own voice acting endeavors!

If any of my listeners would like to call in with your own thoughts, thank you’s or questions, the number 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 #72 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 71 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 fourth and final part of my interview with my good friend, the incredibly talented voice director, Andrea Toyias. Andrea works for Blizzard Entertainment and has voice directed on such high profile titles as World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo III. We first met while working on Diablo III, where I played the voice of the Male Wizard. We’ve admired each other’s work ever since.

As we wrap up our discussion, Andrea talks about what it took for her to develop her fantastic directing skills. She also recounts how challenging it was for her when she tried her hand at acting. Her experiences in acting class increased her appreciation for the craft of acting immensely. She also shares with me her final advice to voice actors and why the skill she is looking for in people who audition for her is called “voice acting” and not “voice reading”.

It’s not every day you get such intimate knowledge of what is going on in a director’s head. I’m incredibly grateful to Andrea for being so honest and generous in sharing her challenges and her insights as a director with us.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #71 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 70 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 third part of my interview with my good friend, the incredibly talented voice director, Andrea Toyias. Andrea works for Blizzard Entertainment and has voice directed on such high profile titles as World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo III. We first met while working on Diablo III, where I played the voice of the Male Wizard. We’ve admired each other’s work ever since.

In the last episode, Andrea shared with us what she’s looking for from a voice actor when they audition for her. She discussed how important it is for an actor have a playful nature.  She also talked about how helpful it is when an actor truly understands the style or the genre of the project they’re working on and she shared an amazing story of working with the legendary voice actor, Frank Welker.

In this episode, Andrea and I talk about the challenges that a voice director faces when trying to guide a project so that it comes out well. There are many people and many personalities a voice director needs to manage in order to ensure that she captures believable performances that will work well together in the final product. Andrea and I also discuss the nature of collaboration and what it takes to work with other artists in order to create storytelling that is captivating and appealing.

Later, I share with Andrea what I appreciate about talented directors like her and how they help make my work as a voice actor easier and more satisfying. Listening to this segment will really give you an insight into the mind of a voice director so you can understand what challenges they face and how to interact with them more effectively.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #70 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 69 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 second part of my interview with my good friend, the incredibly talented voice director, Andrea Toyias. Andrea works for Blizzard Entertainment and has voice directed on such high profile titles as World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo III. We first met while working on Diablo III, where I played the voice of the Male Wizard. We’ve admired each other’s work ever since.

In the last episode, Andrea discussed how she started out as a production assistant at a video game company and worked her way up through the ranks. She edited dialogue, then became a recording engineer and eventually a voice director. She’s worked on almost every aspect of the process of recording voice actors from the ground up, which gives her an invaluable perspective on what video game companies are looking for in performers.

In this episode, Andrea shares with me what skills, abilities and mindset she looks for for when casting a voice actor. If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes through the head of someone who decides which voice actor to hire for a project, you’re about to get the inside scoop from Andrea!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #69 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 68 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 of the podcast, I’m honored to be able to interview the incredibly talented voice director, Andrea Toyias.

Andrea works for Blizzard Entertainment, one of the most successful video game production companies on the planet. She’s directed voice actors on such high profile titles as World of Warcraft: Cataclysm as well as Diablo III. It was on Diablo III, where I was cast as the Male Wizard, that I first got to know and admire Andrea, not only for her wonderful directing skills, but also for her incredibly supportive and generous personality. I’ve been eager to get her on the podcast for some time now and I’m happy to be able to share our in-depth conversation with all of my listeners.

I think it’s vitally important for all voice actors to understand not only what a voice director is looking for in an actor, but also what challenges the director faces when trying to make an artistic project come together well. I cannot overemphasize the importance of learning how to collaborate effectively with voice directors if you want to have a successful voice acting career. Andrea has a lot of wisdom to share on this subject, and I’m sure you’ll benefit from her insights.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #68 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 67 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 explain to you how to become a voice actor. Now, you might think it ironic that it’s taken 67 episodes of this podcast for me to finally address this topic directly. The fact of the matter is that over the last 66 episodes I’ve been doing my best to explain to you what it takes to become a professional voice actor. I’ve shared acting techniques, mindset tips, technical information and extensive interviews with industry insiders

However, even with all those episodes and all that information available, I still get asked the same question by new and aspiring actors: What do I need to do to become a voice actor? My usual response is to tell them to listen to every episode of my podcast from the beginning. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to satisfy some of them. While they do realize the podcast contains useful information, what they really want to know is if there is some “secret” or magic formula for becoming a voice actor. Surely there’s some checklist or a recipe, some guaranteed course of action one can take in order to become a voice actor, isn’t there?

Well, it turns out, there is. There is a simple, straightforward solution to becoming a voice actor. It’s not a checklist or a recipe. It’s a one-step process and I’m going to share it with you in this episode. But prepare yourself. It’s probably not what you’re expecting!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #67 Here (MP3)