Voiceover
Posts 1-3 of 3
-
Peter DrewThe company name is only visible to registered members.Peter Drew introduction to group
Greetings!
Thanks to Peter Varady for inviting me to join the group. I noticed that an introduction is requested, so I'll take advantage of the intro guideline questions provided by Peter.
Q: Do you do a lot of freelancing to professional studios/audio production houses.
A: I very rarely go to studios anymore.
Q: Do you usually work in your home studio?
A: Yes!
Q: D you own/run that studio/audio talent agency yourself?
A: I own my own personal studio, of course, but it would be fun to open a voice talent casting site.
Q: Do you ever work remotely via an ISDN/Internet connection.
A: ISDN on a regular basis.
Q: Should audio books be voiced by highly-paid celebrities or low-cost voiceover talent?
A: Depends on the book, the audience for the book, and the budget! If getting a celeb actor to voice a bestselling novel is going to sell a lot more books, then can we blame the publisher for hiring the celeb?
Q: Are voiceover unions generally a good idea?
A: Yes, they're generally a good idea. Are they practical now with the advent of remote recording and Internet casting and file delivery? If the unions can find a way to organize voice talents who own their own studios in far-flung locations, then that would be great. Plus major media centers need to be willing to cast and record remotely via ISDN or Source Connect. There's still quite a bit of resistance to casting remotely, especially at large ad agencies in New York, Chicago, and LA here in the States. Many large ad agencies still want to cast locally, so they can sit across the glass from the talent at a production house and give direction. Here in the US, I went financial core, so I can do both union and non-union work. Do a web search on "financial core" for an explanation of why selecting that status allows me to work both sides.
Q: Do you think the web brought dramatic changes into how we do business in the voiceover industry?
A: One real change has been physical location. Now we can voice things anywhere and send them anywhere. And speed and ease of communication, makes it easier to locate and market one's services. It's practical now to have not one, but numerous talent agents in various cities across the US. In physically smaller countries, that might not be necessary, but in the US it's helpful. But regardless of the changes, the 80/20 rule still applies. 80 percent of the business is marketing yourself and 20 percent is actually doing voice work.
Q: Do you find demo CDs/DVDs sent to clients or web-based voiceover samples a better marketing tool?
A: I send out very few CDs nowadays. Voice talent still need them on hand because some producers still prefer the physical medium. Plus, it's always good to give potential clients a choice.
Q: Do you think voiceover artists should always carry their own microphones to all the studios they usually work with. As if there is only one type of microphone that is really, really suitable for one's voice?
A: I've never done that. I think a recording engineer at a production house would be a bit offended if I brought my own mic into the studio. After all, it's the engineer's job to select the mic that best suits the recording. At the minimum, I think a talent would be viewed as a bit pretentious for insisting on using his/her own mic. I know there are famous singers that will use only one particular mic, e.g., a Neumann U-47 and they own one, which they take to studios. That should be the singer's choice. It's the singer's record, after all! But for a voice talent hired to record a commercial for soap powder? That would be a bit pretentious.
Q: We would like to know a lot about you!! Anything else?
A: I'm a big fan of Japanese anime. I watch the original Japanese acting, with English subtitles. The best Japanese seiyuu (voice actors) are excellent and in many cases are the best in the world in bringing an animated character to life. Animation does require a specific set of skills to make a character believable. There are Hollywood actors that do a great job with animation, but I've certainly heard some pretty wooden performances. It's probably because actors that sound flat in animation depend so much on their physicality on screen to convey emotion. An unseen actor has only his/her voice to do the job. Going back to the audio book question, any celeb actor hired to voice a book should be able to use his/her voice and not rely on physicality.
Well, that's probably more than anyone wants to know about me, so thanks again, Peter, for inviting me to the group. I look forward to checking in to see what's going on.
Cheers,
Peter Drew
http://www.peterdrewvo.com
- 14 Sep 2008, 03:57 am
-
- 14 Sep 2008, 08:28 am
-
Peter DrewThe company name is only visible to registered members.
Re^2: Peter Drew introduction to group
Peter Varady wrote:
Thank you for this valuable input.
Peter Varady
You're very welcome, Peter!
- 14 Sep 2008, 4:13 pm
