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Post by Ice Queen on Jan 15, 2017 12:56:41 GMT -8
Was it because of interest? Or because of another voice actor? Other factors? I would love to hear everyone's stories
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Post by peterjvo on Jan 16, 2017 1:39:13 GMT -8
I started to do it because I just bought a microphone and went with it. I had some idea of what acting was like through a college class and I was told I had potential. But the more I studied about it, the more acting was about getting in touch with my emotions and getting back in touch with my inner child. Emotions don't come easily to me because I have a natural inclination to perceive things objectively through my brain, rather than subjectively with my body. Acting, to me, is about gaining control of those emotions and breaking down years of socialization that has told me that it's not okay to show emotion. As for why specifically voice acting, that's just the closest niche I've been exposed to. I also do improv comedy shows. I must be entertaining, because we've had repeat audience members (some coming specifically for me). That validation doesn't hurt either.
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Post by sonicmega on Jan 16, 2017 8:55:35 GMT -8
I got bored of Neopets at about 3 in the morning and Adult Swim wouldn't stop pushing their website within advertisements so I decided to humour them and check it out, coming across a performance video of Troy Baker in the process.
Yes, that is literally how it started.
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Post by JonoVO on Jan 16, 2017 12:32:16 GMT -8
I started voice over because I wanted to give it a shot, kinda danced around it for several years and finally buckled and bought a cheap $10 desktop mic and never looked back.
Also, with my friend passing away gave me the motivation to start taking this profession seriously. And I swore I'd be in a mech anime or game for him. I haven't done one yet and I am hoping to being cast in one in the future for him and myself.
Love everything about the business and I have a lot of fun doing so, cast or not cast.
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Post by StringStorm on Jan 16, 2017 16:09:41 GMT -8
The old reason: Hahaha! Its so fun! VOICE ACT ALL THE THINGS!!1!111! The new reason: I needed money. When you're in a situation where no job wants to accept you because of some shit medical reason and having just gotten out of being homeless, you have this urge to squeeze out every penny you can on whatever platform you're on. I applied for partnership on youtube, I started selling my songs thrice the effort for cheaper, I called out for help (and to my eternal gratitude, many have answered my cry. These lot are the only thing that keeps me from being down in the shitter again), and finally, I marketed my voice over as hard as I could, which yielded me sporadic results. Some amazing, some decent.
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NAL
Member
Jay Baruchel In Disguise
Posts: 8
I Am A(n): Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Creator/Producer, Writer
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Post by NAL on Jan 17, 2017 0:58:28 GMT -8
It's been so long that I honestly can't even remember what EXACTLY made me want to do voice over, but I'll try!
I can tell you that, like many other VAs both old and new, I started out doing voices as a kid. Grew up in, what I believe, is the golden age of televised cartoons. I was born in the early 90s so, I had the mid to late 90s/early 2000s/80s to early 90s reruns and all that during that time. Absorbed it all. One of the biggest influences, as far as "You can actually perform those voices for people yourself", was Dave Coulier on Full House. Every time he impersonated Popeye, Bullwinkle, or any cartoon character from that era, I was enamored. My first real look at someone actually DOING those voices. It's candy to a kid's innate desire to learn how things are done. I was always the type of kid who took things apart just to see how they worked and if I can put them back together. Seeing someone being able to recreate a thing I've never even thought about doing was amazing. (And then when he impersonated real actors/celebrities, that fueled my passion for impressions after that. Don't get me started on that though. xD)
So, after or during all that, I started mimicking my favorites at the time. Bullwinkle, Stitch, Daffy Duck, Goofy, Yakko Warner, Jackie Chan Adventures, Pokemon, Digimon, etc. Now, what's key to all of this is that no one told me I sucked or wasn't close or anything negative during those years that I was forming this passion. And I wholeheartedly believe that's what kept me going when I was younger. Don't destroy a child's dream or passion while they're learning it or grasping the concept. Just nudge them in the right direction. This was a dumb hobby, at the time, to annoy or entertain family and friends. Then I got to a point where people finally gave me criticisms and that's what pushed me now to hone all that stuff and learn everything I could. I'll let you know that in my elementary school yearbook we had to write down our desired profession and submit it before it was published and I wrote down Voice Actor. Ya boy was young, but informed! Take that, classmates who wrote down doctor, dentist, lawyer, and jobs that actually pay you money! Who's laughing now?! ...into a microphone... alone. xD
BUT I DIGRESS. I'm getting lengthy. I apologize. I'm thinking as I go. Haha.
Somewhere along the lines I became aware that my older brother was doing voice over in the back of the living room after school all the time. Don't ask me how I realized that, but I apparently did because as he was graduating high school and stepping back from VO, he showed me the VAA and helped usher me into the world I am consumed by today. He stopped and I started my journey. I GUESS I owe a lot to him, but whatevs. Haha.
Obviously, throughout this entire time, I looked up every voice actor I could. Studied who they were, what they did. Looked up casting directors, companies, and all that. Just for the sheer fun of it. I was a walking voice actor trivial pursuit back in the day. My memory has not sustained as years gone by. But hey, I can remember things. Like the days before Troy Baker and Nolan North, for one. xD Also, somewhere along the line with the rise of youtube, I was able to finally see the master behind the Looney Tunes. Game changer, really. He's the best, the legend, for a reason.
All of this culminated in my eventual love of the craft, I suppose. Long story short and all that.
Uhh... Not even sure I answered the question correctly. I sat here trying to think of where to start and I might've rambled. No, no, I definitely rambled. Haha. I like typing. I'm sorry. xD
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Post by SirPeteThe1st on Jan 18, 2017 15:41:31 GMT -8
I decided to attempt voice-acting because my family and my therapist have both told me that I have a very distinct voice that could lend itself to such a practice. I just signed up with Librivox and set up my mic to their specifications, so all I have to do now is find a project, and start recording.
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Post by CodePhoenixVA on Jan 18, 2017 18:03:44 GMT -8
I originally started out doing song covers on youtube for fun back in high school, and then was randomly recruited to a fandubbing group. Never done it before so I thought I'd give it a try and everything sorta spiraled on from there lol. I started looking into voice acting some more, getting a better mic and soundproofing my room, auditioning for more projects, even taking acting classes in college, and now I can't really see myself stepping away from it at all!
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Post by Deven on Jan 18, 2017 18:54:51 GMT -8
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Post by MaidenLynn on Feb 2, 2017 8:51:32 GMT -8
One of the big things for me is I loved bringing characters to life. I loved theatre and all, pursued and studied it, but the stories often times became the same. We did the same plays, the same shows, and due to my voice type and body type, it was easy to get pigeon holed based on appearance. Indie games and anime had so many diverse and interesting appearing characters. I never had to worry about my face being associate, just my talent, and I could explore and appreciate other people's creativity. One of the biggest things in theatre is that we were intrepretting someone's work without them there. This isn't to say this doesn't happen in the anime industry as well... but indie games, often times you are working right with the creator, which is really cool.
The developmental/creative process is just more rewarding and intimate in the booth setting. You aren't a face in a chorus, you aren't a number set to appear for 5 seconds.Theres just a period of time where its you, the director and the engineer working together which is really cool. I love collaborative experiences.
The more personal element of this is that videogames actually really helped me deal with depression and anxiety after a big falling out with friends in high school. I felt alone, alienated, but I played a game called Samurai Warriors... and I fell in absolute love with the characters Okuni and Keiji Maeda, in the die hard fangirl shipping sort of way. I'd play it over and over, whenever I was sad, and just hearing the voice and watching the characters made me happy. I think that escapism is why so many us love and enjoy anime as well, it makes us happy, the characters make us fall in love with them and their voices/personalities are part of that. Whether it be Japanese or English, whatever your preference, its why we are drawn to them. I wanted to eventually do that for someone else. Be that part of a creation that made someone smile when they were having a really awful day that they could just escape into.
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Post by axellenobody on Feb 19, 2017 0:43:02 GMT -8
A youtuber i liked had open Auditions for his Minecraft RP series called Bobbys world. And I said F it and sent in a sample of one of the voices i can do and turns out it was exactly what he was looking for. I ended up being a Semi main charater before it got Cancield. It was a directed improv show so it was fun comming up with the lines and bouncing off the other actors while playing the game.
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Post by cbdroege on Feb 19, 2017 2:24:36 GMT -8
Back in the 80's, when I was a little guy, my Opa - my paternal grandfather, got real sick. It was colon cancer - the disease would would eventually kill him, though this did not turn out to be his last battle with it. He was really far away, and we couldn't afford the flight to go see him. If you don't remember the 80's, phone calls to far away places were also very expensive. My dad paid for his own phone calls to his dad, but it was too expensive to let me prattle on at him for .70$/min. The solution we found was a tape-recorder. My dad bought me the General Electric Kid-corder with microphone. (Here's a picture I found on GIS, not mine, but that's what mine looked like: img0.etsystatic.com/070/0/6690050/il_570xN.805521682_1cka.jpg ) It was the first time I was ever able to record and listen to my own voice. I used it to record all the things I wanted to say to my Opa. And then we mailed the tape to him. He made a recording back, and mailed it back again, and we went back and forth like that for a month while he was at death's door. Looking back, I wish we'd used new tapes each time, instead of recording over the same one... After that, I never stopped playing with that thing. over the years my equipment got upgraded, but all through my childhood, I never stopped recording my voice. I would tell stories, pretend to be a radio DJ, put on radio plays, host pretend variety shows (I loved listening to and imitating Garrison Keillor). Sometimes, I would just pick up a nearby book, and start reading it (recently, I found a long-lost tape of 11-year-old me reading the entirety of the product descriptions from a LEGO catalog). In school, it helped me get through my reading assignments when I would read them into the recorder. That was much more fun than just sitting and reading! My teachers noticed eventually, and started giving me assignments that incorporated vocal performances (It was pretty tough to get me motivated in the classroom), and freshman year, the school principal asked if I would like to take over doing the morning announcements each day for the school. It was a dream. Every morning, the whole school would get their news from my voice. I developed a style, and got a lot of great practice. I did that through highschool, and it led - eventually - to my first pro jobs in sports announcing for some local amature teams.
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celewo2
Member
Posts: 24
I Am A(n): Aspiring Voice Actor
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Post by celewo2 on Feb 27, 2017 7:25:22 GMT -8
I'm not a professional in any way, but I already mentioned this in my introduction part: Tress MacNeille's voice as Gadget and basically everything else she's done such as Dot, Babs Bunny, Daisy Duck etc. Tried to imitate those characters as best as I could, which was considerably hard since I was just a kid at that time. I still do imitations from time to time and maybe if I'll get confident enough, I'll post some of it online. Cartoons and games have been a great part in my life and will always be!
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Post by Anairis Q on Mar 1, 2017 9:50:16 GMT -8
I think I started because of Youtube casting calls, lol. It gave me an interest. And then I remember watching the commentary of FMA: Conqueror of Shamballa, and listening to Laura Bailey discuss her process. Things sort of clicked from there! It was an on and off hobby, and I realized I liked it more than I thought, and now I'm aiming for it to be my career. I know as a child, I'd act out scenes by myself. I watched tapes of myself when I was younger and I had a tendency to manipulate my voice. I used a tape recorder all the time. And apparently a microphone fell on my head when I was 2. So it was just a sequence of events~
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Post by Tomar on Mar 16, 2017 11:56:54 GMT -8
I blame anime. As a weeby high school freshman, I convinced myself that I could sound enough like Steve Blum's Onizuka (GTO) that I too could be a cool bad-ass anime voice actor some day. Since then, my interests have definitely expanded beyond just anime dubbing, but anime in general and its profound effect on my teens years was definitely the impetus to the voice acting adventure that has happened over the past 15 years of my life.
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