How to Get Started as a Voice Actor - Panel Notes from Con-Volution 2015
This was the kind of panel I attend because it's a subject about which I am Totally Clueless. It was totally worth it. Xander Jeanneret and Bonnie Gordon are voice actors who started in in theater, and now do voicing. As the Library Bards, they sing nerdy parodies of current hit songs.
Main points:
Main points:
- Major markets can be split into: Commercial, industrial, games, anime. Usually commercial and industrial pay the best - and may require Union membership. They may also pay residuals i.e. like royalties every time the sound clip is used. (The relevant Union is SAG-AFTRA.) Anime, games, cartoons tend to pay a one-time fee and that's it.
- You need to be able to record and edit your own clips. They recommended Audacity and a good microphone that plugs into your laptop. They use a Snowball mic. (I've done Audacity once, and it wasn't easy - but I could see how it could become so with practice.)
- You don't need a home studio, you can improvise. A closet makes a good studio, because the clothes damp the sound and improve the acoustics. In an emergency (like recording in a hotel room), you can throw a blanket or towel over your head, the mic and the laptop. Audacity has a noise reduction option; if you give it a few minutes of silence before you start recording, that defines a background "noise" to get rid of.
- Sometimes, local studios are available for rental by the hour.
- You can do a lot of voices by changing speed, level, pitch, or adding a speech impediment. T.C. Helicon audio equipment can help change pitch.
- You absolutely need a "reel" - a demonstration MP3. Some voice actors include actual work they've done. People who are just starting out can invent their own - read some stuff out loud and show the voices you can do. (Tip: Do not do existing commercials! But you can make up your own commercial for a fictitious product.) Xander recommends putting your reel on Youtube with a headshot so it's easy to share.
- You can get projects on the internet. The three sites they mentioned were Voices.com (free), Voices123 (which charges a fee), and ACX.com which is an Amazon audio-book site.
- You can get voiceover agents, but Bonnie didn't feel it was very valuable for her. This was in part because she took on a lot of very small projects, mostly from Voices.com
- Bonnie recommended taking all the gigs you can get initially - even unpaid ones - to build your contacts. Sometimes, you can do voice work for someone as a favor, and they can give you some professional help.
- Union membership is a double-edged sword. Union jobs pay better, but there aren't that many of them - and especially people who are starting out need to do non-Union jobs to build their networks. If you're Union, you can do a non-Union job, though it's frowned on; but if you're not in the Union you aren't eligible for Union gigs.
- Screen actors are beginning to do voice-acting work and are in demand because of the name recognition. Not all of them are good voice actors, though!
- Voice acting usually requires exaggeration, not perfect realism. One of the best ways to learn is to listen. Watch the commercials, listen to how they do it.
- They recommended Dee Bradley Baker's blog, I want to be a Voice Actor as a good place for beginners.