Just a few more hours...

...roughly 1 hour actually. And then it's the third session. Last one before my demo. Time has just flown by these past few weeks.

I've been busy with non-voice over things more than my homework, and am a little behind, though not by much.

Just got two new jobs. Well, one part time job and one internship. It'll be very crazy come January with 80 hours/7 days a week, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

Back to VoiceOver stuffs. My recording myself project was interesting. And fun. I had some issues with my microphone (still not sure what's wrong with it) which ended up being what I talked about. It took me six or seven tries before I sounded almost like I did the first time. It wasn't perfect, but nearly so.

Most of what I've been practicing is the build up to what I need for my demo, and by extension, the working world. I got to pick copies to practice and go over today. Which is fun. :) I had to pick at least 14 commercial copies and 9 narrative copies. I ended up having a few more, but that is always a good thing.

I had to make sure that I had a lot of diversity, so I did my best to. Two of the narrative copies I'm going to do are very technical heavy, but thanks to my new job, totally doable. Yesss. One good thing about being a customer service health specialist.

I'm beginning to get butterflies, so I'm going to stop writing for now, and I'll update around 1, when I'll be done with my session. -Mae

Session 2

My second session was this past Friday. It was a blast. Robin seriously makes everything super relaxed and extrmely fun. This session focused on reading conversationally. As did the class that she recommended that I finish before the session. 

The class that I made sure to finish was called Exploring Motivational Assignment. It covered how we speak, the process we go through to make the decision to speak, and how reading differs from speaking. It was mostly a video class and learning different techniques about how to read like your speaking was fascinating. 

One of the things that you can do is to imagine, or even write down, the silent questions that you are responding to. 

In most commercial copies, you want to sound like you are talking to a person, not selling to the public. The silent questions are those that you imagine the person you are speaking you to be asking as you read. You want to figure out who you are first, then who you are talking to, then what you are talking about, so that you can correctly emote what the client wants as realistically as possible. 

This was just a precurser to the session with Robin. With her, I got to go much more indepth than just with commericals and reading conversationally. We went into the differences between speaking and reading, pitch, diction, timing, and other things that can help with sounding real, such as movement and sounds. 

Pitch is an intricate part of our speech. In normal conversation we almost always rise in pitch on the last word. For monosyllabic words this is the rule, but multi-syllabic words are slightly different. The first (or sometimes the second) syllable is the one that will go up in pitch while the last syllable drops pitch. This is something we do subconsciously when we speak and to bring that consciously into reading is key. You do have to watch out for making each sentence into a question. That would be very bad. Another thing that goes hand in hand with pitch is volume. We rarely get very loud, even with intense emotions. Our volume might rise, but the more intense the emotion, the quieter we get sometimes. This of course varries with the emotion, situation, and the person we are talking to. 

Diction is HUGELY important. You need to make sure that you are clear and understandable, but still feel real. Certain words, such as "especially" and "probably," you want to always dictate clearly and enunciate. Other words, you can lapse into the vowel shifts to create the realism. With diction you also want to focus on word emhasis. This ties in with your speed and timing. 

With timing, you taking into account everything else, and then add in verbal sounds that fit with the copy, such as sighs or laughter, even stuttering as long as you use the words that are in the copy and it fits with the feeling of what you are trying to portray. Things you want to think about with timing are the emotions, how intense they are, the extra sounds, diction, and pitch. 

Another technique that helps make reading converstationally sound like an actual conversation is movement. Most people talk with their hands. In voice overs, adding that element makes you sound even more realistic and personable. 

This past session was a LOT of fun. :) I do have quite a bit of homework to do though. More of my reading out loud, emotion card game (which is a blast to do with friends, especially when a bottle of peppermint schapps and some coffee is involved), and more of the modivational assignment (taking a copy and writing out the questions and practicing converstational reading and adding in those questions silently, without writing them down). 

New homework is to choose at least (I can do more if I want!) 14 commerical copies from the library and 7 narrative copies that fit my voice and favorite them and print them out for my next session. I also have the opportunity to bring to the table any of my personal writing if I choose to (for my demo) and I need to find something in Japanese. The other assignment is that I have to record myself telling a story. I then have to listen to the recording, writing down everything I said. Then I have to read the copy that just wrote and try to sound EXACTLY as I did when I first told the story. It'll be a challenge, but fun and totally worth it. 

This past session was a blast, and the next one looks to be the prep work and practice for my in-studio immersion and demo. Which will be extremely helpful. 

I'll try to update more on my homework as I complete it. Keyword here being try, as my life is getting quite a bit more busy. 

Until next time - Mae

I'm a little behind...

...with keeping things updated.

I had my first session last week. I was so excited and was really starting to get nervous as I waited for 4p to roll around. My phone rang on the dot, almost literally as the numbers changed. My heart leapt, I took a deep breath, and then everything was normal.

I had a bit of a phone malfunction with my cell. It just did not want to find reception. Any where. But thankfully Robin, who was the one doing my evaluation, was alright with calling my house line and things went smoothly from there.

Robin was quite fantastic in just making very thing normal. It felt less like a evaluation than a conversation with a friend. Obviously, there we elements of the evaluation, but she just made everything so comfortable. It was a joy to work with her.

I got my results back within the hour, and had all goods and normals (the highest and desired scores) except for one area that I need to work on- natural timing. Basically, I talk to fast. And can't figure out how to slow myself down very well.

And practicing it is. I have to work on adjusting timing and conversational reading. I have quite a few fun exercises that I get to do as well as "homework". The online classes that I take along side this training have a lot of reading, but it's all extremely informative and great information to know and learn.

My next session is in two weeks. I'm excited, but I need to remember to keep up on my homework and practicing. Reading out loud 15-20mins a day is surprisingly difficult to accomplish!

Hopefully I'll update again sooner, and with more on how the homework and online classes are going.

Ta-Mae

Down the Rabbit Hole

Today was the beginning of what is looking to be a long and incredible journy. I finally got off my ass and signed up for voice over training - with the best in the world. On top of that, I only did this because I was recommended by one of the top producers in the company to do so.

That said, it makes me feel like I have a lot to work for. This has been a dream of mine for so long, it's almost unbelievable that it is finally and actually a reality.

This tale really began yesterday when I attended a continued education class at the community college in town. The class, Intro to Voice Overs, was run by John Gallogly. His seminar was really informative, fun, and resparked the interest and desire that I had. Around 9a this morning I got a call from a man named Don (who's been in the buisness for 47 years!) and he gave me my feedback and let me know the details about the trainings that they offer.

In pretty much a split second I just knew that this was what I was going to be doing. And here I am, not even a full day into joining the program, bursting with excitement.

The only downside, is I'm not 100% in just yet.

For the first session, you basically do a test of sorts. Readings, commercial and narrative, to see if my voice is even good enough, just based on raw talent. If I pass the test, I get to continue on and do the next three sessions, the final of which I get to be in the studio and make a demo.

Tomorrow I have plans to start on the online classes that go hand in hand with the sessions. I want to start as soon as possible and next Friday, October 5 can not get here sooner. I have every confidence in myself and my abilities, but prayer is still there to help me calm my nerves and center myself.

That'll be my unpdate for now. It's late and I'm quite tired. I'll do my best to post often and keep things updated. This blog is going to be part of my training in that I want to be held accountable, at least to myself. So writing this all down, keeping up with things, and just getting out there and making sure I'm spending some time each week marketing is a start. And helpful.

If you're reading along, thanks for being here on my journy with me, even if just in spirit.

That's it for now. Night.

To introduce oneself is usually a good place to start a conversation...

...and a conversation is what I hope to have with you.

Hello readers.

This blog is to be my soundboard for my thoughts, experiences, and whatever else that decides to leak out through my ears.

To start I should probably tell you a bit about myself, but I'll probably tell you more than you ever want to know, and yet nothing at the same time. If you can't tell already, I like to talk and write...well a lot. Pretty much all of my free time is spent practicing those two abilities of mine. The rest of my free time is spent bouldering at the rock climbing gym, spending time with my dearest boyfriend Jimothy, and partaking in all sorts of shenanigans with my friends.

I might sound like the average high schooler or college aged person, and that is mostly true. At twenty three I've graduated with a degree in communications, and will be going back for another in January. In the meantime I work two part time jobs, am looking for a full time one and will begin voice over training at the end of the summer.

If I haven't bored you to death yet, I have to say that you should feel mildly accompished. I have a tendency to ramble on for hours about insignificant things.

This is not my only blog, my other being The End Table - http://theendtable.blogspot.com/. There is where I am posting my short story exercises that I do with my friend and fellow writer Sora. I don't believe she has a blog, or I'd post the link. We are both currently in the midst of novels. Our own and a collaborated one (possibly two as of last night). My main work is titled The Night is Darkest. I'll be sure to post the links to my shorts and excerpts as I make them available on The End Table.

This particular entry is just intended to be an introduction, and seeing as I've finally created it, I'll post again later with my odd poetic thoughts and bombard you with all manner of nonsensical dribble.

I hope dearly that you've made it all the way to the end here. And that you continue to come back and read. I do my best to always respond to all comments and will most likely follow your blogs (if you have one) as well.

For now I'm off to get more coffee, as what's left in my cup is now cold. Ta.