VAM 148 | Interview with Dee Bradley Baker, Part 3
Welcome to episode 148 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
Welcome to the third and final part of my interview with the mind-bogglingly talented Dee Bradley Baker! Dee has worked on hundreds of animated movies and shows including Cow and Chicken, Dexter’s Lab, The Box Trolls, American Dad, Avatar the Last Airbender, and Star Wars: the Clone Wars just to name a few! Dee has a special affinity for creature voices. He’s often called in to voice characters that don’t speak a human language, but communicate through non-verbal sounds.
In the previous episode, Dee and I discussed what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. We talked about his passion for monster movies and how that helped him find his special niche doing creature voices in animation and games. Dee also explained how important it is to replenish your own well of creativity by pursuing artistic projects that you find satisfying. He compared it to cultivating a terrarium where new ideas can sprout and grow. For Dee, his terrarium includes his fascination with macro-photography which he shares at deebakerphotography.com. Being playful and creative with photography has helped Dee nurture his own psyche and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the professional demands of being a voice actor.
As we wrap up our interview, I ask Dee to be more specific about how he’s able to pull ideas from his artistic terrarium. How does that process actually work? In response, Dee shares with me his concept of a ladder of ability. It’s an incredibly useful metaphor to help you understand your own growth as an artist and to be able to chart your progress along the way to mastery in any artistic field. We then dive into Dee’s advice to aspiring actors. As I’ve mentioned in previous episodes, much of Dee’s advice can be found on his website, iwanttobeavoiceactor.com. I ask Dee about this amazing resource for actors and find out what information on his website is too often overlooked. Dee’s comments are both thoughtful and generous and I can’t wait to share them with you!
In the interview, we talk about Dee’s creative projects outside of voice acting. You should totally check them out!
Dee’s Macro Photography can be found at:
www.deebakerphotography.com
Pictures of Dee’s Halloween yard decorations can be found at:
creepyyard.com
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #148 Here (MP3)
Hello Mr. Freeman, This podcast has been extremely helpful in discovering exactly what it takes to become a successful voice actor. You are truly a titan of the industry. An attribute of an amazing voice actor is when you get the “What?! He voiced Itachi and Winston from OW? They sound nothing alike!” moment. I have been told that I have a nice broadcasting voice by certain people and even one person told me that I should be a voice actor. I never really noticed or cared about how my voice sounded and never really payed it any mind because it never seemed to me that I could get anywhere from that. I have acted in various, Mandatory, plays for my schools and that has been about the most for that career. It was only after I watched an anime film behind the scenes on dubbing that I saw how fun and entertaining it is to be apart of the voice acting family. I know now how hard this road is and how much effort needs to be involved and as a graduating senior in high school I assumed that this career was basically out of reach. However I want to keep going and putting my acting to the test in college and beyond so that I can pursue my goals. I had one very odd question to ask that I am not sure if you have ever been asked. Do you think that most voice actors should get their tonsils removed if they haven’t already, to increase their vocal space and range? Strange question I know but I fee like the voices I do tend to strain my throat and I also feel like they hinder my ability for vocal range. However I am someone who loves to find excuses to worry and don’t even know if it is valid. Thank you and best of luck on your voice acting endeavors.