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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jun 8, 2017 22:50:27 GMT -8
This topic is always so divided whenever it comes up in voice acting groups, so I'm curious as to what everyone's preferences are.
In my opinion, there's no set right or wrong answer, aside from "look at the audition instructions" because some will specify whether or not they want you to. Some request that you slate with both your name and the role you are auditioning for, others with name only. Agency submissions tend to require slating; not so much for online casting calls and the like where your files will already be labeled with your name anyway.
Personally, I tend not to slate unless I'm asked to, but I know quite a few other voice actors who say "oh, I ALWAYS slate unless they tell me not to!" A few people have said they slate in-character as the role they are auditioning for, but I'd say avoid this as it's better for them to hear your natural voice as a baseline before you go into your audition lines. Others say they slate in different ways depending on what they're auditioning for. By the way, a slate shouldn't consist of more than your name and possibly the role you are reading for (although certain agencies will ask you to slate the agency name as well, so again, always follow directions)---even "Hi, my name is ____ and I'm reading for _____" is okay, but no rambling introductions; keep it short and sweet.
So, what do you do? And for those of you who also cast, do you prefer that your actors slate their auditions or no?
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Post by Lumisau on Jun 9, 2017 0:13:36 GMT -8
This is a totally unprofessional opinion here, since I haven't been around the deeper pro level stuff that much. But I personally find that unless it's a bigger audition where the casting director can expect auditions in the hundreds through email, it sort of seems like a waste of time and space. Especially on sites where things are better organised than a folder of .wavs - like, I've seen people slate on CCC and you can see their username and what character they're going for at a glance. I personally just wanna hear the audition, and I'd assume a lot of casting directors would too.
Since slating is uncommon online, I find few amateurs really know how to do it. People get into the rambling kind of slate because they think that's what you've gotta do and you just sorta turn off their audition. I've been taught "Name, [for] character[, take if needed]". I guess people need to learn it's like a demo reel, where if you bore the casting director they're not going to be willing to sit through it all. But... people who do this kinda thing usually don't know about that, either. I think the world needs some more good online VA tutorials like the soulbrothanumbuh3 series (though a little less caustic even if I totally relate to that).
So basically I'm of the "slate if I'm asked to, but don't if there's nothing in the audition guidelines" persuasion.
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Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Jun 9, 2017 3:20:10 GMT -8
I only slate when asked to. I've only cast for hobby projects so far, but when I do, slating doesn't really do anything for me. I don't like to stress out people who may potentially be auditioning for their first project ever with a lot of rules/instructions that I don't need to, so I really don't care if they *do* slate, it just doesn't matter to me either way. Overall, though, rambling OR 8 thousand takes on the audition lines are a bit hard, just because if I've got more than a couple auditions to compare, I'd rather keep my listening time shorter.
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Post by JonoVO on Jun 9, 2017 4:45:15 GMT -8
Only when asked to as well. As long as it's in the instructions, I will do it, reading the instructions is one of the important steps in auditioning I'm sure in a professional environment it is absolutely necessary to slate.
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Post by Kyotosomo on Jun 9, 2017 10:37:34 GMT -8
Slating is an old practice from before the whole online voice acting scene, they did it because they needed to (there wasn't all this information you could send along with your audition or demo). But now that there is an online voice acting scene (where you can easily leave information along with your demo) and we're in it, there's almost never a reason to. The only exceptions are MAYBE you think it can make you look more professional OR maybe the casting director isn't actually looking at any of the information coming along with the audition but instead just bulk collecting them for mass review later. You have to realize though We live in an age where people have shorter attention spans than ever, like you can flop an audition just for doing too many takes per line even if you can literally count said amount of takes with your fingers on one hand. I really don't think it's a wise idea to take the risk and waste someone's time with your information when they already know what it is (especially since they have to go through so many auditions and if everybody is slating that wasted time of theirs adds up). In addition, some people might even go as far as to consider it self righteous and assume you have a personality they don't want to deal with. I think on very rare occasions it is necessary, but overall it's best not to slate.
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Post by benedict on Jun 9, 2017 13:57:42 GMT -8
Newbie questions: Since you can pack a lot of metadata into the header of an audio file, regardless of format, is it common practice to put your slating information (name, character you're slating for) in the header? Or are headers left blank in favor of putting that info in the filename (if the naming scheme for the project allows for it)?
I've been reading (and re-reading) the various opinions on slating over the past couple of weeks, and while I understand both sides of the question, I keep wondering what combination of circumstances it would take for someone's audition to come unglued from their name and the character they're auditioning for.
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Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Jun 9, 2017 15:09:14 GMT -8
I've been reading (and re-reading) the various opinions on slating over the past couple of weeks, and while I understand both sides of the question, I keep wondering what combination of circumstances it would take for someone's audition to come unglued from their name and the character they're auditioning for. I guess that would be possible in theory, especially if you have hundreds of people auditioning for something, but I've never personally heard of that happening. Honestly, if a casting director isn't keeping good records to start with, it makes the job even harder. So I'm not trying to lay the responsibility on directors here, but I think you pretty much *have* to have a system to keep track or you'd go nuts.
For example, I usually have a single folder dedicated to holding audition lines for a project, a text file or word pad listing auditions received by name, username, and e-mail address (or other contact method) as well as what site they came through (posted on Casting Call or BTVA or e-mail submission through VAC), and keep all the original e-mails grouped together in a folder if I get more than 3 or 4 submissions through e-mail. When downloading files, I rename them as needed, which sometimes happens more than once if I change around how I want things. (Putting a tilde ~ in front of a file name, BTW, sorts it to the top of the alphabetical list for the ones I'm favoring during the casting phase.)
So I don't think auditions getting shuffled and lost would happen too much, and maybe more likely on someone's very, very first project? Or alternately, if someone is getting several hundred auditions possibly? Though for projects THAT large, unless that kind of response is a huge surprise to the director, I'd imagine they'd have people in place already to help organize stuff.
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jun 11, 2017 16:38:17 GMT -8
Overall, though, rambling OR 8 thousand takes on the audition lines are a bit hard, just because if I've got more than a couple auditions to compare, I'd rather keep my listening time shorter. I feel you on the 8000 takes! In my auditioning guide recently, I advised people to do no more than three takes per character (unless for some odd reason, the casting director requests more than that, which is quite rare unless the character only speaks one line in the whole project and they want a big variety to pick from), and that if you are going to include those other takes they should actually sound like a different option and not just virtually identical reads for each. (They don't necessarily need to be different *voices*, but distinct acting choices, for example: one take with subtle/natural emotion and another with bigger emotion is fine.) You have to realize though We live in an age where people have shorter attention spans than ever, like you can flop an audition just for doing too many takes per line even if you can literally count said amount of takes with your fingers on one hand. I really don't think it's a wise idea to take the risk and waste someone's time with your information when they already know what it is (especially since they have to go through so many auditions and if everybody is slating that wasted time of theirs adds up). To be fair, if you're just slating your first and last name then going straight into your audition, it only takes up 1-2 seconds. And since slating IS fairly common practice for professional/agency auditions, it's hard to imagine someone rejecting an audition simply because they slated, unless the audition instructions specifically say not to. I can maybe see them closing out an audition if someone does the rambling intro at the beginning or have a bunch of deadspace, but a simple "Firstname Lastname" is almost always safe (though as you mentioned, not really necessary if not requested.)
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Post by Kyotosomo on Jun 12, 2017 10:15:29 GMT -8
That's actually a fair enough that it doesn't take very long if you just say your name, although as said some people have surprisingly short attention spans. I'm thinking more so in terms of the unprofessional online voice acting setting where the casting directors themselves may be less professional and they also may dealing with a lot of auditions (and have to sift through a lot that are actually bad wearing down on their patience). Ugh when people ramble at the beginning though that's definitely a deal breaker. In the vast majority of cases I'm sure slating wouldn't result in someone getting rejected, it's just it may create some sort of negative association on the subconscious level with the person reviewing all the auditions so I figure why risk it when there's no need to slate (unless it's a case where there is although that's rare). Plus it's partially a common courteousy thing, two seconds on it's own isn't a lot but if a hundred people do it then that's several minutes of pure slating the casting director has to listen to.
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Mike V
Member
Posts: 54
I Am A(n): Semi-Professional Voice Actor
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Post by Mike V on Jun 22, 2017 4:35:24 GMT -8
Unless I'm asked to. Just earlier, I had to do a slate for two reasons. Not getting into why because of confidentiality, but it was probably a first for me in the 9 years I've been at this. I mean, if it does help, I'll do it
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A-Log
Member
Posts: 184
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Creator/Producer, Voice/Casting Director, Writer
Pronouns: he/him
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Post by A-Log on Jun 22, 2017 21:45:57 GMT -8
Funny thing about my slate is that I usually open my demos up with a clip from Dr. Demento when he announced my name (nickname and all) on the air. Does that count?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2017 21:48:09 GMT -8
I don't personally slate because I've never needed to- the majority of the projects I audition for are fan projects and passion projects on online casting sites like Casting Call Club and Behind The Voice Actors, but when I start branching out into more professional work I do plan on slating on a more regular basis.
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Post by davidlanzafame on Jul 12, 2017 10:27:34 GMT -8
Ever since I was represented by Bit Mouth Talent, I've been receiving some auditions that ask for the slate. But for the most part, I don't slate unless instructed to. I do however make sure to include my full name with my audition file, which is something most auditions already ask for.
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Post by spearcarrier on Aug 9, 2017 9:37:30 GMT -8
So, this thread turned out to be an educational adventure for me. I had read through it a few days ago, and thus learned about slating. Then in the online "class" I take, slating came up.
The reason you slate, especially with your character reel (it was explained), is so the director(s) can hear how you talk normally before you begin. This gives them a better idea of your talent. And yes, it also tells people who you are when they're listening. Maybe the idea of being told who you are is nearly obsolete these days, but I like the idea myself. I've been slating ever since.
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