VAM 143 | Interview with Cissy Jones, Part 1
Welcome to episode 143 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 very happy to share with you the first part of my interview with the award-winning voice actress, Cissy Jones! Her list of voice acting roles in video games is impressive! She’s played 7 different characters in the Walking Dead franchise including Katjaa, Jolene, and Bree. She’s worked on such influential independent games as Life is Strange where she played Joyce Price, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine where she played Bertha, and Firewatch where she won a BAFTA award for her performance as Delilah! Cissy’s resume isn’t just limited to games either! She also works extensively in commercials and trailers. In addition, she plays a number of characters in the animated show Little Big Awesome and at the time of this episode, she has a super secret animated project for Disney that she’s working on, but can’t talk about yet!
I was eager to interview Cissy because she started her voice over career in the San Francisco Bay Area and I knew she would have great insights about how to break into the Los Angeles market from outside. In fact, Cissy and I actually met years ago when I used to teach classes at a school in Sausalito, CA called VoiceTrax that she attended. Later, when I discovered that she had left the Bay Area and was able to establish herself as a voice actress in LA, I was very happy for her! When I heard that she’d also won the BAFTA for her performance in the game Firewatch, I was blown away! It’s always wonderful for voice actors to get public acknowledgment for their creative skills and after hearing Cissy’s performance as Delilah, I must say, she clearly deserved it!
In this episode, you’ll discover how a radio interview of the Simpsons’ voice actress Nancy Cartwright changed the course of Cissy’s life! We discuss how Cissy went from helping launch start up companies in Silicon Valley, to immersing herself in all things voice over, and what it took for her to develop her skills to a professional level! Cissy truly jumped into the voice over world with both feet and never looked back! But I’ll let her tell you the story!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #143 Here (MP3)
That’s amazing. I’m actually a little embarrassed that this is the first time of heard of her even though she’s such a award-winning actor.
This is so interesting. I would like to do commercial work so this is helpful.
Thank you and Cissy for your time and wisdom.
Do you know which C414 you used when you recorded your demos? Because there are so many versions of the C414 with different capsules they might not all be great for voice acting. The modern ones all have a big boost in the top end which makes them great for instruments but they might be hit or miss on vocals. The brass and nylon C414s seem pretty well rounded (smooth top end, big low end like you expect from a C12 capsule), but they’re only available used since they’re discontinued and they’re also really expensive if you don’t find a good deal.
If you don’t know which you used, which models would you recommend. I think itsi also worth noting that the C214 is electret and has more high end than the C414 because there’s a capacitor in the C214 and C3000 mics that injects signal there, like the opposite of the high frequency attenuation in the Neumann U87.
This is off topic, but you said best way to ask questions are this way. I was hoping you had knowledge of FL Studios software. I have the basic version, but can upgrade it to allow mic recording (producer edition). Do you by chance know if this is a good software to use to edit voice samples and auditions? Thank you for your time and all your wisdom!
I have no knowledge of FL Studios recording software. However, as I believe I mentioned in the 3 part series I did entitled, “The Computer Skills and Audio Knowledge You Need to Be a Voice Actor” episodes 114, 115, and 116 of the podcast, it doesn’t really matter which recording software you use. The quality of your recording depends much more on the type of microphone you’re using and the quality of your recording space. Use whatever recording software you’re comfortable with, whether that’s the free version of Audacity, Reaper or ProTools.
Thank you for your swift reply. I listened to those three a few times and found them very helpful. Thank you for your additional advice and I hope to one day be able to learn from you in a few classes. I would also like to add, your interview with your mentor Richard was beyond inspiring. Thank you again. (Third times a charm right?)