How To Get a Callback From an Audition
- October 15, 2008
- Comments (13)
Join Voice Over Expert Marc Graue as he teaches you "How To Get a Callback From an Audition". Learn how to nail an audition by thinking on your feet. Marc encourages you to visualize your character and to come as close as possible to the description of what's being asked of you, even if the description doesn't make much sense.
Download Podcast Episode 66 »
Tags:
Marc Graue, Burbank, Voice Over Studios, Fixinthemix.com, Auditioning, Directors, Callbacks, Producers, Recording Engineers, Voice Actors, Voices.com
Transcript of How To Get a Callback from an Audition
[Opening Music]
Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voiceover Experts brought to you by Voices.com, the number one voiceover marketplace. Voiceover Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voiceover. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voiceover talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.
Marc Graue: Hello my lovelies. This is Marc Graue owner of Marc Graue Voice Over Studios in Burban, California. Today, we're going to talk a little bit about auditioning and how that all works.
Now, here at out Burbank's studios, we have held auditions for everything from HBO's "Happily Ever After" cartoon series to the series that's currently running, "The Life and Times of Tim". We've had auditions for "Tutenstein", for "Jay Jay the Jet Plane". There's also a new series coming up, "The Pink Panther" and "The Anteater". We've been holding auditions for those. In fact, we've been around so long, we go back to the auditions for the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
So we thought we'd give you a little information on how the auditioning process works and how to nail it down so you can receive the magical "call back". Now, once you receive a call back, here in Los Angeles, normally the way the process works is the agent will receive the copy or sides along with the badly photocopied picture of whatever the character is you're doing. And you'll go over that a couple of times obviously to hone it down.
Here's the key though within audition. You don't want to work the copy too much and the reason is this. If you have, say a fat sleazy street rat and all of a sudden everybody's going to be doing the, "Hey, you want to get some cheese? Everything is one of them. And I'll making (indiscernible) let's getting down, you know. Hey, do you want to get some cheese? Life is really good. I love my cheese. I'm a fat rat."
That's great. However, what happens is, is you walk into the booth and they go, "No, we don't want that accent." And all in your brain goes, "(indiscernible) oh, boy." What happens if you work the copy too much is that your brain becomes so accustomed to them. I want to pause in here or a little bit of smile here, a pause there. All of a sudden you're going to choke if that's not what they're looking for.
The key to nailing down and audition is to be thinking on your feet. Now we've had directors that the direction is gone everywhere from, "Perfect! I love the size of him. Now, make it sweatier." So you keep it cool, con face and look at him and go, "Yeah, yeah. Sweatier." Even though your brain is going, "What the hell does that mean?"
Our job as voice actors is to go, "Oh, sweatier! Sure!" And try, anyway to give them a sweaty read. But again, try and come as close as possible to a sweaty read. The one thing you do not want to do is look at the director and go, "I don't understand what you're saying. Sweatier? That makes no sense at all. The way this character is written, he wouldn't be sweatier."
You have to try and give them a read as close as possible to what it is they're looking for. I remember auditioning for the voice of a troll and the direction was that to perfect. Now make it more like a babbling brook. Well, our job is to interpret that and try and think it as close as possible to a babbling brook. Now, if you're auditioning at home, you don't have the luxury obviously of having a director or producer telling you what they want. The upside to having the studio at home is that you can do 5,472 tapes of something. The downside is you can do 5,472 tapes or something and still not be happy with what you're doing.
Don't scrutinize too much. You have to understand that people have a tendency to go over copy and to work and then make sure they get the subtleties and et cetera. The reality is, in a studio situation, you'll walk in the room, Mr. Clock is ticking, let's get on with it. You don't spend that much time on it. If you're on your own and you're using basically self-direction, what you're going to want to do is try and give them a take as close as possible to what the description is even though that many times as we know that's a cross purposes.
And then what you want to do is give them a second take that's way, way out here. It's two takes and don't give them anymore than that because you're not going to listen to it. Ideally, if you're covering both ends of the spectrum somewhere in between there. They're going to hear something that could possibly get you that call back. With animation auditions, you need to be able to think on your feet. Just because you do silly voices doesn't mean that you're doing a lot of animation voices.
Meaning this, a lot of the time you will walk in and they'll say, "I love what you're doing with that character and now I'm making about five years younger and not quite a sinister and be sure and drop the accent. And you need to be able to go, "OK. Great." Not the daring the headlights look with, "Can I come back to this date?"
The bottom line within an audition is in essence the planets are aligning for that 10 or 15 second moment that you're going to do that audition. So you need to have your A-game right up there at the front. Don't get shook about it. Again, at home, it's one of those things that you can go over and over and over but what happens is sometimes you can scrutinize the copy too much and it comes off as very, very stilted. If you're doing a pirate voice, "Give them a pirate voice. What 's the matter with you, boy? And that's as far as you need to go." That's it.
So when they hear that, sitting in the stack of 50 other voices, they go, "Gee, that's really interesting. Let's flag that one." Any time you're doing a character, visualize what it is you're doing. If you're doing an old man, "Then all of a sudden, give him an old and that's ..." While I'm doing that, I'm actually hunched over my eyes, I'll scrunched up and I'll look kind of retarded like I'm having a seizure. That's fine because nobody during the session cares what you look like.
The bottom line is, what it sounds like? Whatever it takes for you to get into that character, that's what you want to do. Is it acting? Absolutely. It's not just doing voices, you need to become that character. And in order to do that, you may be more comfortable taking an acting class. I've had people come in for auditions and go, "Oh, boy. I can't really dive. I'm kind of embarrassed to do the (hut)."
Don't be. And if you have that kind of an attitude, I guarantee a boom! You're going to be out of there instantly.
It's not simply a matter of voice quality, it's a matter of the subtleties within that voice. Is he grittier? Is he more hard core? Is this guy very ornery? Is he very stern? Is he a little bit older? Is he an authority figure? Is he more low-key? Is he very dark? These are all things that come into play and when you do that voice, as these all come into play, this is what's going to make your auditions stand out from all the rest.
Now the A-list VO, guys here in Los Angeles and we're talking about Rob Paulsen, Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings, Jeff Bennett, Dee Bradley Baker, Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen. These guys have mastered the art of knowing exactly how to interpret what a director is asking them to do.
A great example is, doing the voice of a big fat pig, all right. Start out with the big fat pig. Now, we need to make him a little more effeminate. OK, good. No, he needs to be larger than that, make this a 700 pound pig but now I want him to sound stupid.
These are all of the kind of things that will come into play and you need to be able to do that on the spot. When you've mastered that, that's when you're going to start finding the phone is going to be ringing a lot because people like what you're doing. As a voice person, what you want to become is a journeyman voice actor. Meaning that whatever comes up, "Sure man. I'm there and I'll do it" Now, that's not to say that we all do everything. I love it when people come in and go, "What do you do?" "Everything."
Well, nobody with the exception of maybe Frank Welker does everything. You do what you do but take that portion of what you do and make sure you do it better than anyone else does. Grab that copy, bring to it your sensibility, your timing, your comedy abilities and I guarantee you, you're going to be getting more call backs and you're going to start booking some jobs.
As my dear friend, Rob Paulsen says, "How serious can we be? We're all getting paid a lot of money for stuff we got in trouble for in the 7th grade." It's true. What a great job. If you like more information, you can reach me at 818-953-8991. I'd be more than happy to talk to you or you can check out our website at (fixinthenix.com). Thanks a lot.
Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this Voices.com podcast, visit the Voiceover Experts show notes at Podcasts.Voices.com/VoiceoverExperts. Remember to stay subscribed.
If you're a first time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory or by visiting Podcasts.Voices.com. To start your voiceover career online, go to Voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.
[Closing Music]
Links from today's show:
Marc Graue Voice Over Recording Studios
Your Instructor this week:
Marc Graue is the owner of the legendary Marc Graue Voice Over Studios, a Burbank California landmark for more than 25 years. His client list reads like a who's who of the voice over business including the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, HBO, Disney, Warner Bros., Dreamworks, Showtime, MTV, Discovery Channel, ABC, CBS, NBC, HGTV, Activision, Electronic Arts, THQ and many more can be found in the studios daily. As a producer, Marc's voice over demo clients include: EG Daily (Rugrats / Babe), Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons), John Dimaggio (Futurama / Kim Possible), Randy Thomas (Academy Awards / Entertainment Tonight), Brian Baumgartner (The Office) and 100s more!
As a voice over artist Marc has been represented by William-Morris in Beverly Hills for the last 12 years and can be heard on Avatar-The Last Air Bender, Veggie Tales, Code Name: Kids Next Door, Warcraft, Spiderman 3 the Video Game, Ratchett & Clank, GUN, Gothic 3 and on countless trailers and promos.
Enjoyed Marc's episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
Recording Studio Etiquette
- October 16, 2007
- Comments (4)
Join Voice Over Expert Marc Graue as he discusses "Recording Studio Etiquette" (it's very important!). Not only will you be able to learn these protocols without the embarrassment of fumbling, the recording engineers and studio staff will also be impressed by your professionalism and confidence during the session.
Download Podcast Episode 19 »
Tags:
Marc Graue, Burbank, Voice Over Studios, Fixinthemix.com, Studio Etiquette, Producers, Recording Engineers, Voice Actors
Links from today's show:
Marc Graue Voice Over Recording Studios
Transcription of Recording Studio Etiquette
[Opening Music]
Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voiceover Experts brought to you by Voices.com, the number one voiceover marketplace. Voiceover Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voiceover. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voiceover talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.
This week, Voices.com is pleased to present Marc Graue.
Marc Graue: Hello. This is Marc Graue from Marc Graue Voiceover Studios in Burbank, California. And today, we thought we'd cover kind of an interesting subject that a lot of people don't talk about, studio etiquette.
I know it's kind of an odd thing but the fact of the matter is, when you walk into a studio, there are a number of situations and people that will come into play including the receptionist. When you walk in, be polite, just announce yourself, "Hey, man. I'm da-da-da-da-da. I'm here for the session at 3 o'clock."
The reason for this, we've had a number of people who will walk in very arrogantly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a voiceover thespian." Well, that's fine and dandy but if you hand her a demo tape and you've been kind of obnoxious, guess what, your tapes going to end up in the obnoxious file and the trash can on the floor. It's very important to treat everybody with respect. That also lends itself to the session itself.
When you walk into the studio, the engineer will kind of place you on the microphone that he seems to feel is going to fit you best and that's what his job is. So you don't need to go, "Oh, a microphone. That's not a Neumann 87. Oh, you're putting me behind the Sennheiser 416. How dare you. This could have been my finest moment."
He's on the other side of the glass. He's got a completely different set of ears so he will know exactly how to set you up. And you don't need to worry about that. That's not your problem. You are there to perform. You don't need to worry about the technical aspect.
But if your headphones are set up too quietly, you're going to find yourself all of a sudden talking like this. And vice-versa if the headphones are really loud, you're going to be talking like this. So be sure and mention levels to the engineer and find a comfortable level for it, you tell him, "Up there. That's perfect."
If an engineer tells you, "Okay, what are you going to do on this? You run it down for me." That doesn't mean going into a five-minute dissertation. "Well, I was actually thinking about approaching this as a middle aged man that's probably in his mid 40s sitting on the porch watching the traffic go by at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon drinking lemonade." No. What he means is, read the copy the way that you are going to read it. That way in essence, he's got a level set up in the control room. The director assuring what direction you're going and you're getting warmed a little bit and getting familiar with the copy, the same thing as far as levels.
Here, give me a level. Don't go, "Hello. Testing, testing." That's not what we're looking for. On the other side of the glass, he's getting set up on a level as far as exactly how you're going to read. If it's a cartoon character and he's doing, "Hello. How are you doing?" He's going to need to back that off or you're going to be blowing up compressors on the other side of the glass.
If it's very quiet in that luxury Sedan, he's going to be taking care of that on the other side, same thing with pop filters. An engineer will set you up in the studio as how he sees fit and that's what his job is. So you don't need to worry about, "Gee, here, let me grab the mic and move it over here." Because the engineer is in there cringing, going, "Stop that. Quit touching that."
Now, with the interpretation of the copy, everybody - everybody will eventually at least have one pick up in your career, of course. So if you flub the copy, that's fine. That's very much expected. Don't get intense, don't get all like, "Cut, cut! I've done 20 takes." We've had sessions with very pro VO people that have done 40, 50, 60, 70 takes. That depends entirely on whether the director or the client is getting the read that they want.
So if you flub the copy as you're reading, that's fine. Just pick it up right there. Don't lose any time, just go right back in. Pick it up at the beginning of that sentence or at the beginning of that paragraph. Don't go into, "Okay because I should have probably hit that. I didn't really pause there where I should have, huh?"
The reason for that is many commercials, in fact, most of them are pieced together. Very rarely is it a single take all the way through. If you continue at that same pace and same inflection, it will cut right in. If you've messed around and now it gone, "Wait a sec. Okay. No, that really isn't okay. All right now, I'm ready."
It's going to be a completely different inflection, completely different level and the take will not be usable which means you're going to have to go back up to the top which makes the client upset, which makes us happy because we're charging now or at least. So, need the more time you take, that's great but the clients usually aren't quite as understanding about that.
Now, here's something you probably don't give a lot of thought too but you should and that is, hygiene issues. Don't pour on a ton of perfume or put chili oil because people will think you're out in your car and like getting ready for the session.
Studios are very closed quarters. So you may be in a group session with four or five, six other actors. If people are choking going, "Yes".
We had a one voiceover guy who's very popular who had breath like he'd been on the rear end of a horse. It sounds terrible and I know it's funny but how are you walking to very close quarters in a studio and you're smelling this gentleman's breath from across the room, it's not pleasant. Everybody's eyes are watering and it's really hard to perform that way. Of course, nobody wants to say anything. You just find all of the mics or all of a sudden on the other side of the room and you got one guy sitting over here by himself.
And that brings us to what you should wear during a session. Wear clothing that's kind of loose fitting and stuff that's not noisy like nylon, jewelry or a jacket that's constantly making this kind of noise when you talk. It will drive the engineers crazy not to mention that in some cases, it'll make the takes unusable because there's so much noise going out and say, "Oh, that was perfect but we can't edit anything because you got all these noise going."
So, that's again something that you should think about. Now, when you show up at the session, chances are, they will hand you which called the side. That in essence is the copy that you'll be reading. Don't try and bring too much to it before you go into the session and the reason for that is that if you're sitting, you're going, "Okay. This is a fat street rat and the guy's going to talk like this. Yes, okay. The guy's going to talk. Hey, I got it. Okay, this is perfect. This is great! I got the fat rat thing going. This is going to be perfect."
And you walk into the studio and the director goes, "No! That's not what this is at all." And your brain goes, "ha-ha-ha" and you're stuck. It's really, really hard to get yourself out of that position. So try and keep yourself almost as a clean slate. The director is there to direct you. That's what his job is. So he'll tell you exactly what he wants and your job is to interpret that and give him a reading that he's looking for.
Now, realize too during the session, there is a lot of other things taking place than just you reading. There could be a phone patch going on, there might be ISDN or maybe a client in Canada. There may be one on the phone in New York. You've got an engineer, you've got a director, you may have the client sitting at the back of the room, a person from the ad agency. It's very disheartening to be sitting in the booth looking out of the control room and watching people shaking their hands, waving his arms, rapid fire, yelling at the top of his lungs while on the other side of the glass what he's actually saying is, "I didn't order cheese on my hamburger. On this side, you're going, "Oh, my God. My career is over."
Don't worry about that. That's the whole reason they've got talkback. So what you're bringing to a session is what you do. That's why you're there is they like something that they heard, that's why you are there to work. We've had sessions that have gone perfectly, everybody is happy and then the writer shows up and goes, "Well, that's not how I wrote that line at all." And so everybody kind of nods politely and goes back and redo another 40 takes to make sure that now, the writer is getting what he wants.
Another good point is virtually, everyone walks around with a cell phone now. You turn it off during a session. Because even if you leave your phone on vibrate, you'll pick up that noise as well as you'll get cell phone interference going through the board. So just make sure to keep your cell phone off during the session.
When you're recording your VOs during the session, you are relying on people on the other side of the glass. They're going to tell you whether they were happy with that take and they need a little more smile, they need it a little quicker. Can you billboard, et cetera.
So you want to make sure that if the client's happy, you're happy. There's nothing worse than a client goes, "Oh! That was perfect. Thank you." That's the keeper and you have to tell them that goes, "I don't think that really capture the essence that time." It's like you're not there as a critic. You're there as talent. If they're happy, you should be happy.
The key point when you show up for a session, make sure that it's timely. If for some reason like traffic, you're going to be late which we ran into a lot here in Los Angeles, make sure you call the studio and let them know you're going to be about 10 minutes late. Studios are all based on an hourly rate. So if you're late, it's costing the client money and in turn, that could cost you money.
When you're laying down your VOs too, remember, don't argue with the director of the client. I've actually seen sessions where the client will go, "No, that's not quite it." And you tell them that goes, "Well, the way this part is written, he would never say it like that." And that's probably the worse thing you can do because guess what, you can just see your name flying out their (trash pack) because they'll never call you again.
You will have directors who go, "Well, I think what's happening is it's not feeling organic. It's feeling wooden and it's resting up in this area and what we wanted to do is feel more generic, more from down in this area." And your job is to keep a straight face and go, "Oh, yes. Okay." And give them a reading that's as close to that as possible even though inside you're thinking, "This person is making no sense whatsoever."
So you've gone through the audition process, you've actually gotten a call back. Now, you book the job, good for you. So show up early, be ready to do. In essence, whatever it's going to take for the director and the client to be happy, smile at everybody and just be happy that you're getting paid to talk.
Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this Voices.com podcast, visit the Voiceover Experts show notes at Podcasts.Voices.com/VoiceoverExperts. Remember to stay subscribed.
If you're a first time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory or by visiting Podcasts.Voices.com. To start your voiceover career online, go to Voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.
[Closing Music]
Your Instructor this week:
Marc Graue is the owner of the legendary Marc Graue Voice Over Studios, a Burbank California landmark for more than 25 years. His client list reads like a who's who of the voice over business including the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, HBO, Disney, Warner Bros., Dreamworks, Showtime, MTV, Discovery Channel, ABC, CBS, NBC, HGTV, Activision, Electronic Arts, THQ and many more can be found in the studios daily. As a producer, Marc's voice over demo clients include: EG Daily (Rugrats / Babe), Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons), John Dimaggio (Futurama / Kim Possible), Randy Thomas (Academy Awards / Entertainment Tonight), Brian Baumgartner (The Office) and 100's more!
As a voice over artist Marc has been represented by William-Morris in Beverly Hills for the last 12 years and can be heard on Avatar-The Last Air Bender, Veggie Tales, Code Name: Kids Next Door, Warcraft, Spiderman 3 the Video Game, Ratchett & Clank, GUN, Gothic 3 and on countless trailers and promos.
Enjoyed Marc's episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
How To Make an A-List Voice Over Demo
- July 24, 2007
- Comments (5)
Join Voice Over Expert Marc Graue as he shares "How To Make an A-List Demo". Find out what happens behind closed studio doors and get the cold hard facts on what matters, what doesn't and how to grab the attention of prospective clients.
Download Podcast Episode 07 »
Tags:
Marc Graue, Burbank, Voice Over Studios, Fixinthemix.com, A-List, Voice Over Demos, Voices.com.
Links from today's show:
Marc Graue Voice Over Recording Studios
Transcript of How to Make an A-List Voice Over Demo
[music]
Julia-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voice Over Experts, brought to you by voices.com, the number one voice over market place. Voice Over Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom, and techniques from top instructors, authors, and performers in the field of voice over. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft, and prosper as a career voice over talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and at your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.
This week voices.com is pleased to present Marc Graue.
Marc Graue: This is Marc Graue, the owner of Marc Graue Voice Over Recording Studios, in Burbank, California. We have been immersed in the voice over business for, goodness gracious, probably 25 years here in the Los Angeles area. So, we kind of got a handle on what's going on with stuff, and today, we thought we would talk a little bit to you about your voice over demo, and how important that is. A lot of people put an immense amount of store in a demo; this is your calling card, this is what's going to initially grab a client's attention and really make them either stand up and go, "Holy-moly! Come in my office and listen to this guy," or "Yeah, that was great, Pete. We'll call yeah."
"My name's Bob."
"Aa, whatever, we'll call yeah."
The important thing with the demo is you're not there to go "Whoa! That spot sucks. Listen to the one after this."
You need to make sure that everything on there is A-list, and it's really going to grab them, and hold their attention span. So, it's a combination of good copy, good reads, obviously, but also good production values. I can't tell you how many tapes we receive here weekly of people that basically hooked a microphone up to their computer and went through a litany of not particularly good voices. That doesn't grab your attention.
We have one in particular; I won't mention her name, because it would be mean, but who calls pretty frequently asking us if we've played it to anybody, and of course we tell her, on a weekly basis, "Yes, we've played it to everybody." Not really telling her what context we played it to everyone, but everyone finds it a very comical tape even though I don't think she meant it that way.
What you want to do with a demo is bring to the party what you do, and what you do well. That doesn't mean you have to be jack-of-all-trades. If you're doing a promo reel, it doesn't mean you have to do Don LaFontaine and Ashton Reeds. You know, there're a lot of different things. Promos doesn't mean that you have to be hung like a moose and have the voice of God; not at all. There's a lot of lighter kind of copy. Do what you do. There's nothing worse than somebody straining to hit something, you can tell, they're not comfortable doing. Well, what happens is, you've just created a, "Gee, he's certainly not Don LaFontaine."
Another thing with demos is people have a tendency to go overboard with packaging. We receive a number of demos here weekly, and I have to be honest: packaging does nothing. It doesn't make you listen to the tape. It doesn't make you go, "O, cute! Look at the candy bar!"
That has no bearing on it. Or, little catch phrases, etc. That's fine if you want to do that. Bottom line is, make it very, very clear when you do a demo, as to what it is, whether it be commercial, animation, narration, promos, etc. Make it very clear and legible. Just simply, you know, "Introducing the voice of..." or "So and So Commercial Reads". You know, dah-dah-dah, you know. Animation, cartoon voices, whatever you want to do. But, cutesy stuff, I have to be honest, really doesn't do a lot for people, which brings us to another situation as well. And that is, staying in touch with potential clients. It's certainly fine to send a demo, send an MP3, or actually send a hard copy - a CD - and do a follow-up call, or a card. And that's fine. But, leave it at that. What happens is you start becoming obnoxious. Be assertive. But again, just draw that line where you don't get too pushy with things.
Now, one of the most important things you want to do with a demo is to do something that really draws attention. The quote-unquote signature voice or voice quality, yes, that's important. But, realize you need to do something to grab a client's attention. What we're trying to do with a demo tape is to create an aura of "Wow! What's coming up next? I'm really excited about this. I want to hear more."
And then create one of two instances - either, "Back it up and let me hear that part again!" or, "My God, that was wonderful! Let's have them come in and read for this."
You don't want so much material that half way through the tape they're doing the infamous, "Yeah, that's marvelous. Love what you did, Dave. We'll call ya."
You can't do that. It all needs to be A-list, and Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! So, it creates a sense of excitement and something they realize you have production values on there. What you're trying to do, in essence, is create a demo that they wouldn't know whether these spots were real or weren't real.
It's also very important to keep your demo updated. There's nothing worse than when somebody sends a demo and they're talking about "the new 1978 Buick." That kind of loses something and you realize, "Wait. Either they've been dead the last 20 years or their career has been." It's really important to keep that updated, and fresh. That doesn't mean having to go in and redo everything from scratch. Invariably, there's going to be a couple of commercials on there or cartoon voices, etc, that you really, really like. But, keep it fresh.
You need to be, you know, brutally honest with yourself, too, as far as what your capabilities are on a demo. A demo tape is a sampler. And what you simply want to do is give them enough that they want to hear more, but you don't want to put too much on a demo. This is only a sampler of your talent. It's not a resume. So, what you're trying to do is create enough excitement that they will call you in for a job specifically. If you're doing character voices, think about it. There's not a huge market for a gay Jamaican voice. If you want to do it, knock yourself out, but I don't imagine that Disney's going to be doing a gay Jamaican feature soon.
Now, there's a lot of people that like doing a story line with animation reels; meaning that "the little girl is in the forest..." or "we're talking with a psychiatrist..." and they're going through a litany of voices. Interestingly enough, most VO directors, especially in Los Angeles, cringe when they hear this. It's too cutesy. That's not what they're looking for. They want to hear voice quality. I've heard a lot of people outside of the Los Angeles area go, "But, the demos are so fast. They're cut so quickly. And they move so fast." Again, it's a sampler. You want to hit them with Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! If the client likes something, let them pay you to sustain the character. This is not you're "greatest moment as a thespian." So, once again, just make sure that you include your very best stuff on a demo. And if you do, and get it in to the right person's hands, chances are you stand to make some money.
If you'd like a little more information about myself or the studio facilities and what we do, or you'd like a good laugh, 'cause there's some great out takes up there also, you can visit our web site at www.fixinthemix.com Thanks! And hopefully we'll be talking again, soon. Thanks a lot. Bye bye.
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Julia-Ann: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this voices.com podcast, visit the Voice Over Experts show notes at podcasts.voices.com/voiceoverexperts. Remember to stay subscribed. If you're a first-time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory, or by visiting podcasts.voices.com. To start your voice over career online, go to voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.
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Your Instructor this week:
Marc Graue is the owner of the legendary Marc Graue Voice Over Studios, a Burbank California landmark for more than 25 years. His client list reads like a who's who of the voice over business including the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, HBO, Disney, Warner Bros., Dreamworks, Showtime, MTV, Discovery Channel, ABC, CBS, NBC, HGTV, Activision, Electronic Arts, THQ and many more can be found in the studios daily. As a producer, Marc's voice over demo clients include: EG Daily (Rugrats / Babe), Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons), John Dimaggio (Futurama / Kim Possible), Randy Thomas (Academy Awards / Entertainment Tonight), Brian Baumgartner (The Office) and 100's more!
As a voice over artist Marc has been represented by William-Morris in Beverly Hills for the last 12 years and can be heard on Avatar-The Last Air Bender, Veggie Tales, Code Name: Kids Next Door, Warcraft, Spiderman 3 the Video Game, Ratchett & Clank, GUN, Gothic 3 and on countless trailers and promos.
