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Hi!
Dec 20, 2016 4:39:36 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 20, 2016 4:39:36 GMT -8
Hi! I think that's probably enough comic sans to last a lifetime =P
Anyway, I'm Hope, and I'm currently in the middle of creating an audio drama called 'The Stagnant Earth' about what happens after all the not-quite-zombies die, think a kind of post-post-apocalypse type thing. It centres around a community of survivors living in seperate 'bunkers' who communicate with each other solely by radio. I'm a writer, and the script for the series is my own work (although the episodes aren't quite finished yet), and it will be my first project of this kind, so obviously I'm super excited =D
I found this site looking for voice-actors, and would be thrilled if anyone was interested in my project, or just wanted to say hi =) I don't have the thread for auditions set up quite yet, so if you're interested just message me, and I'll link you to it when it's set up =) A;so if you just wanted to say hi (preferably not in 36pt comic sans though =P)
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Hi!
Dec 20, 2016 14:19:18 GMT -8
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Dec 20, 2016 14:19:18 GMT -8
Uh oh, a duck is watching me!
JK. Welcome to the boards!
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duffyweber
Member
Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
Pronouns: Any OK
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Hi!
Dec 22, 2016 5:44:26 GMT -8
Post by duffyweber on Dec 22, 2016 5:44:26 GMT -8
Hello! I had to stop and say that both the drama concept AND your username are awesome. XD If you need pointers for some authentic radio FX, gimme a shout.
Rock on,
-Duffy
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Hi!
Dec 22, 2016 15:03:00 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 22, 2016 15:03:00 GMT -8
Uh oh, a duck is watching me! JK. Welcome to the boards! Thanks =D I'm looking forward to being here =)
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Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 22, 2016 15:17:54 GMT -8
Hello! I had to stop and say that both the drama concept AND your username are awesome. XD If you need pointers for some authentic radio FX, gimme a shout. Rock on, -Duffy Thanks =D The username came from a joke with my friend irl =) And the project's kind of been my baby for the last few years, I was kind of inspired by my biology teacher talking about prions, and I figured that if the zombie infection was transmittable by food but not saliva, it would probably have quite a limited run. T hen I started thinking how interesting it would be to follow a group of people who are around at the end of such a run, and what it would be like trying to transfer back to living on the surface/not in abject terror after what is basically a whole new culture has evolved from living in constant mortal peril and communicating with other human beings only by radio. And that was probably more info than you were interested in, sorry =P And pointers on anything audio-ish would be amazing and I would probably owe you a life debt. I am completely useless at anything even remotely technical =P Thank you so much for offering =D =D =D
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duffyweber
Member
Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
Pronouns: Any OK
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Post by duffyweber on Dec 22, 2016 15:48:37 GMT -8
No probs! When you do get ready to cast, I feel you're gonna have a lot of talented people with an interest in a story like that! I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for it.
What might also help you is to peruse some of the articles geared toward helping amateur VAs to not make common, basic screw-ups. That will help you, when you start casting, be able to immediately *identify* common, basic screw-ups and the people who aren't diligent enough to avoid them yet. ; )
Not that that means they're bad VAs - a lot of talented people just starting out are well worth a shot! But if they say they've "been doing it for 4 years," and there are still those basic flaws in their auditions, it might be very significant to you as a casting director.
If you have technical questions, don't hesitate. We're here to make each other better all all this.
Cheers!
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Hi!
Dec 22, 2016 20:03:07 GMT -8
Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Dec 22, 2016 20:03:07 GMT -8
I agree -- I'd also add that just like how a chef can run a kitchen better if they have done all the jobs (prep, dishes, etc.), and how a nurse can be a better nurse for working as a nurse's aide first, as a director you may find it useful to understand the VA side of things by getting involved AS a voice actor for even one or two small roles. =) Nothing quite like *being* directed to help you know just what would be the most helpful kind of things to hear from a director to get your best performance! =)
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Hi!
Dec 23, 2016 4:21:57 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 23, 2016 4:21:57 GMT -8
No probs! When you do get ready to cast, I feel you're gonna have a lot of talented people with an interest in a story like that! I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for it. What might also help you is to peruse some of the articles geared toward helping amateur VAs to not make common, basic screw-ups. That will help you, when you start casting, be able to immediately *identify* common, basic screw-ups and the people who aren't diligent enough to avoid them yet. ; ) Not that that means they're bad VAs - a lot of talented people just starting out are well worth a shot! But if they say they've "been doing it for 4 years," and there are still those basic flaws in their auditions, it might be very significant to you as a casting director. If you have technical questions, don't hesitate. We're here to make each other better all all this. Cheers! That's actually a pretty good idea, thanks =) I'll take a look =D And I actually put the audition thread up a day or two ago, but it's in the unpaid section because I have no budget as I'm still in 6th form on a zero hour contract with minimum wage =/ Of course, the plan is to get patreon and the like set up as soon as I have the pilot ready, which should allow me to do things like pay VAs for their time and possibly someone who can do sound stuff for the rest of the episodes (although there's something about the DIY approach that makes it seem vaguely romantic =P), but obviously that's 250% dependant on the fickle tastes of the internet. But yeah, that unnecessarily long explanation is probably why you haven't seen my audition thread. Of the auditions I have received, they all seem really good, and I legit have no idea how to pick people =P So your advice is probably going to turn out to be super helpful =) I've given myself a deadline to finalise casting choices by mid Feb. though, by which time the first four-ish eps will be at a drafting stage that'll be pretty appropriate to start production with. It's actually surprisingly helpful to hear peoples auditions when I'm writing though, as it's giving me a much clearer idea about the characters' voices, which is super awesome! =D But yeah, I did have a point to what I was just saying, but I went off on a bit of a tangent, sorry! If you had any articles in mind I'd be super grateful if you could point me in the right direction, if you didn't don't worry about it of course, you've already been really helpful =)
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Hi!
Dec 23, 2016 4:29:29 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 23, 2016 4:29:29 GMT -8
I agree -- I'd also add that just like how a chef can run a kitchen better if they have done all the jobs (prep, dishes, etc.), and how a nurse can be a better nurse for working as a nurse's aide first, as a director you may find it useful to understand the VA side of things by getting involved AS a voice actor for even one or two small roles. =) Nothing quite like *being* directed to help you know just what would be the most helpful kind of things to hear from a director to get your best performance! =) I was actually thinking about doing that, but my mic is actually terrible, and I have a kind of really weird North-West England regional accent so all my vowels sound the same, and whenever I say 'D' it sounds like 'St' (seriously, my last name is 'Davis', but everyone who's not from my really specific area thinks I'm saying 'Stevens', and somebody actually thought my first name was 'Hoop' once, as in 'hula-hoop' ), so I doubt anyone would be interested =/ And I can't for the life of me do other accents =P Thanks for the suggestion though =)
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duffyweber
Member
Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
Pronouns: Any OK
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Hi!
Dec 23, 2016 5:35:31 GMT -8
Post by duffyweber on Dec 23, 2016 5:35:31 GMT -8
I agree -- I'd also add that just like how a chef can run a kitchen better if they have done all the jobs (prep, dishes, etc.), and how a nurse can be a better nurse for working as a nurse's aide first, as a director you may find it useful to understand the VA side of things by getting involved AS a voice actor for even one or two small roles. =) Nothing quite like *being* directed to help you know just what would be the most helpful kind of things to hear from a director to get your best performance! =) I was actually thinking about doing that, but my mic is actually terrible, and I have a kind of really weird North-West England regional accent so all my vowels sound the same, and whenever I say 'D' it sounds like 'St' (seriously, my last name is 'Davis', but everyone who's not from my really specific area thinks I'm saying 'Stevens', and somebody actually thought my first name was 'Hoop' once, as in 'hula-hoop' ), so I doubt anyone would be interested =/ And I can't for the life of me do other accents =P Thanks for the suggestion though =) You kidding? Regional accents like that are PERFECT for character voices! I call upon local accents of places I've lived to create characters, like ALL the time! You should use your own accent because I guarantee it'll add something truly unique. (Yours is harder to emulate than some, and a lot of people emulate RP or Cockney, and ignore the 50 others you guys have in England.) A tip when using other people's accents, though: ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL. I try to emulate genuinely, and never to make fun of the accent itself, even if the character is a goofball. XD
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Hi!
Dec 23, 2016 6:23:26 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 23, 2016 6:23:26 GMT -8
I was actually thinking about doing that, but my mic is actually terrible, and I have a kind of really weird North-West England regional accent so all my vowels sound the same, and whenever I say 'D' it sounds like 'St' (seriously, my last name is 'Davis', but everyone who's not from my really specific area thinks I'm saying 'Stevens', and somebody actually thought my first name was 'Hoop' once, as in 'hula-hoop' ), so I doubt anyone would be interested =/ And I can't for the life of me do other accents =P Thanks for the suggestion though =) You kidding? Regional accents like that are PERFECT for character voices! I call upon local accents of places I've lived to create characters, like ALL the time! You should use your own accent because I guarantee it'll add something truly unique. (Yours is harder to emulate than some, and a lot of people emulate RP or Cockney, and ignore the 50 others you guys have in England.) A tip when using other people's accents, though: ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL. I try to emulate genuinely, and never to make fun of the accent itself, even if the character is a goofball. XD Do you think? My accent's probably less 'comforting northerner' more 'Sheryl-Cole getting kicked off american X-Factor because none of them could understand what she's saying', not that I'm scouse, but I live quite near there so obviously there's some carryover. My Dad actually tried to teach me how to speak RP/Queen's English when I was little so that Unis would like me more =P Although seeing as he's from St. Helens you can probably guess how that worked out =P A lot of people on here seem to want TV american accents though =/ And people automatically seem to take 'British' as RP, although I guess I could try to audition for a couple of things =) I'd feel pretty bad if I got cast as a stereotype-type character though, there's quite a lot of classism tied to accents, and a lot of people I know don't really want to go to Oxford/go for a really good job because they think they won't be taken seriously due to stigma etc., and I really wouldn't want to contribute to that by having my voice used for something that's going to contribute to that idea =/ (If that makes any sense?) But I guess that's just a reason to carefully think about things before auditioning for them =)
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duffyweber
Member
Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
Pronouns: Any OK
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Hi!
Dec 23, 2016 8:12:09 GMT -8
Post by duffyweber on Dec 23, 2016 8:12:09 GMT -8
You kidding? Regional accents like that are PERFECT for character voices! I call upon local accents of places I've lived to create characters, like ALL the time! You should use your own accent because I guarantee it'll add something truly unique. (Yours is harder to emulate than some, and a lot of people emulate RP or Cockney, and ignore the 50 others you guys have in England.) A tip when using other people's accents, though: ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL. I try to emulate genuinely, and never to make fun of the accent itself, even if the character is a goofball. XD Do you think? My accent's probably less 'comforting northerner' more 'Sheryl-Cole getting kicked off american X-Factor because none of them could understand what she's saying', not that I'm scouse, but I live quite near there so obviously there's some carryover. My Dad actually tried to teach me how to speak RP/Queen's English when I was little so that Unis would like me more =P Although seeing as he's from St. Helens you can probably guess how that worked out =P A lot of people on here seem to want TV american accents though =/ And people automatically seem to take 'British' as RP, although I guess I could try to audition for a couple of things =) I'd feel pretty bad if I got cast as a stereotype-type character though, there's quite a lot of classism tied to accents, and a lot of people I know don't really want to go to Oxford/go for a really good job because they think they won't be taken seriously due to stigma etc., and I really wouldn't want to contribute to that by having my voice used for something that's going to contribute to that idea =/ (If that makes any sense?) But I guess that's just a reason to carefully think about things before auditioning for them =) You're absolutely right! That also goes back to what I said about using accents respectfully. If you're auditioning as a voice actor, you have a right to not audition for parts that you think would compromise your pride, principles, or integrity. That said, I think if you landed a few parts and showcased your accent as a lovable character, or even a scholarly one, you could do just the opposite and show it in a different light. It's all in the delivery. Watch what happens when I use something like a 1940's gangster style voice, but apply it to a forensics scientist: hulahulamoocow.com/auditionbin/gangstersci.mp3And, one of the most brilliant chemists I know in real life sounds EXACTLY like this: hulahulamoocow.com/auditionbin/southernsci.mp3 and let me tell you - he has NEVER worried about what anyone thought of his accent. (Although I love it so much I could eat it with a spoon.) (Sorry - these are not polished, and it's off the cuff, but you get what I mean.) ; ) EDIT/NOTE: Back to the respect for accents thing, I call it a "Gangster" accent because it's a Hollywood mashup of like 70% New York, 30% Chicago that they used pretty much exclusively for Dick Tracy movies and the like. I am in no way implying people from the Northeastern US are all gangsters. XD P.S. Is your accent anything like a Lancashire dialect? Because if so, OMG- AWESOME!
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Hi!
Dec 24, 2016 14:53:07 GMT -8
Post by aduckiswatchingyou on Dec 24, 2016 14:53:07 GMT -8
Do you think? My accent's probably less 'comforting northerner' more 'Sheryl-Cole getting kicked off american X-Factor because none of them could understand what she's saying', not that I'm scouse, but I live quite near there so obviously there's some carryover. My Dad actually tried to teach me how to speak RP/Queen's English when I was little so that Unis would like me more =P Although seeing as he's from St. Helens you can probably guess how that worked out =P A lot of people on here seem to want TV american accents though =/ And people automatically seem to take 'British' as RP, although I guess I could try to audition for a couple of things =) I'd feel pretty bad if I got cast as a stereotype-type character though, there's quite a lot of classism tied to accents, and a lot of people I know don't really want to go to Oxford/go for a really good job because they think they won't be taken seriously due to stigma etc., and I really wouldn't want to contribute to that by having my voice used for something that's going to contribute to that idea =/ (If that makes any sense?) But I guess that's just a reason to carefully think about things before auditioning for them =) You're absolutely right! That also goes back to what I said about using accents respectfully. If you're auditioning as a voice actor, you have a right to not audition for parts that you think would compromise your pride, principles, or integrity. That said, I think if you landed a few parts and showcased your accent as a lovable character, or even a scholarly one, you could do just the opposite and show it in a different light. It's all in the delivery. Watch what happens when I use something like a 1940's gangster style voice, but apply it to a forensics scientist: hulahulamoocow.com/auditionbin/gangstersci.mp3And, one of the most brilliant chemists I know in real life sounds EXACTLY like this: hulahulamoocow.com/auditionbin/southernsci.mp3 and let me tell you - he has NEVER worried about what anyone thought of his accent. (Although I love it so much I could eat it with a spoon.) (Sorry - these are not polished, and it's off the cuff, but you get what I mean.) ; ) EDIT/NOTE: Back to the respect for accents thing, I call it a "Gangster" accent because it's a Hollywood mashup of like 70% New York, 30% Chicago that they used pretty much exclusively for Dick Tracy movies and the like. I am in no way implying people from the Northeastern US are all gangsters. XD P.S. Is your accent anything like a Lancashire dialect? Because if so, OMG- AWESOME! I completely get your point about the delivery. And my accents not nearly so nice as the Lancashire one =P Thing Mancunian, but not as harsh sounding (still quite harsh compared to a lot of other Nothern accents though, and we tend to speak quite a bit quicker than a lot of other Northern accents. So maybe the tone of the Manchester accent, but with the speed and slight lilt of the Liverpool accent). My accent's not as strong as a lot of people's accents, but it's still not one you'd be likely to hear on the TV outside of a program set in the area or a walk on 'thug/chav' type character. There are some characters with more Northern accents on TV, but they tend to be more North than where I am, and oddly enough, when there are TV programs set near where I live, they have the characters default to a really weird generic type accent, which makes no sense, especially seeing as people's accents can differ by a matter of miles, and in really quite distinctive ways as well. And I love your friend's accent, and it's cool that he never let it hamper him =) Although I'm assuming it's probably different in the US, purely due to the fact that there are a lot more of you guys than there are of us, and in a much bigger area. One of your states is about the same size as our whole country =P
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The Uncertain Man
Member
Looking for some gentle feedback on how to improve my demo.
Posts: 164
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Hi!
Dec 24, 2016 15:11:08 GMT -8
Post by The Uncertain Man on Dec 24, 2016 15:11:08 GMT -8
Hey aduckiswatchingyou ! Always good to meet another northerner here. You should be proud of your accent! I'm from the Teesside area in the north east, so I'm certainly far from RP. If you ever fancy trying your hand at VA you should just audition for every British role you fancy, even if you think they're looking for a typical posh accent. People sometimes overlook the accent if your delivery catches their attention, and if not - sod them. Are you a Cumberland or Northumberland lass? ~Edit~ Also the link to your Google+ account seems to be broken.
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duffyweber
Member
Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
Pronouns: Any OK
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Hi!
Dec 24, 2016 16:03:09 GMT -8
Post by duffyweber on Dec 24, 2016 16:03:09 GMT -8
If you're self-conscious, audition for American projects seeking a British accent. Their usual evaluation will likely be along the lines of "Yup. That's a British accent! Probably."
Mind you, this will probably also be their evaluation if you're from New Zealand. XD
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