What qualifies a person to voice act?

Questions, skill improvement, and respectful critique involving music, sound, and movies.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
aprilights
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:00 pm
Contact:

What qualifies a person to voice act?

#1 Post by aprilights »

Originally, my question had been "what is voice acting?" but that was kind of vague, so...
Anyway, I'm new to Lemma Soft forums (as you can tell by my post count, lol) (voice actors, please don't kill me >.< I'm just confused and probably don't know what I'm talking about) but, as I was browsing the recruitment threads, I was confused as to what, exactly, qualifies a person to be a voice actor/actress? Like, what's the difference between a person reading out the lines of a visual novel and a person voice acting? If I owned a good microphone, had an okay voice, and could speak in something other than a monotone (talking hypothetically here xD) could I voice act for VNs?
Last edited by aprilights on Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
trooper6
Lemma-Class Veteran
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:33 pm
Projects: A Close Shave
Location: Medford, MA
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#2 Post by trooper6 »

Voice acting is a skill, much like stage or film acting is a skill. It is also not an easy skill, because unlike stage actors you don't have a set and fellow actors to help you with being in character and portraying the emotions effectively. I have done voice acting as well as stage and some TV. I find voice/radio to be the most difficult...although much easier if your fellow actors are with you and you are acting in real time not just saying you disconnected lines.

Just in the same way as most average Joes and Janes with no practice or training in acting are often just not very good, so, too, voice actors with no practice or training in using the instrument that is their voice are often just not very good.

Go to the website Audio Atrocities to hear what happens when video game makers hire people who are not trained voice actors to voice their video games. It isn't pretty.
A Close Shave:
*Last Thing Done (Aug 17): Finished coding emotions and camera for 4/10 main labels.
*Currently Doing: Coding of emotions and camera for the labels--On 5/10
*First Next thing to do: Code in all CG and special animation stuff
*Next Next thing to do: Set up film animation
*Other Thing to Do: Do SFX and Score (maybe think about eye blinks?)
Check out My Clock Cookbook Recipe: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 51&t=21978

User avatar
kitsubasa
Regular
Posts: 148
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:29 pm
Projects: Inverness Nights
Tumblr: kitsubasa
Location: New Zealand
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#3 Post by kitsubasa »

I haven't VAed in any visual novels as of yet, but I've been in other projects (fandubs, other game voicework, etc etc), and generally for VAing online you need three things:

1) Acting skills (obviously)
2) A good microphone
3) Editing abilities (enough to cut lines and edit any sound quality issues)

The first hinges on practice, training and talent; just like any other form of acting. The second... hinges on buying a decent mic and knowing how to prep it/the area around it so that your sound quality is decent. The third is just a matter of downloading Audacity (or having access to a commercial editing program) and playing around with cutting, noise removal, and volume mixing.

Once you've got those three things, you have the ability to voice act... at which point, it's down to getting cast. For that, look around on here, or other forums like Voice Acting Alliance or Voice Acting Club for open auditions. Check through those, see what roles you can find that match your voice type/range, and follow whatever the listed audition guidelines are. Some projects it'll just be a matter of recording some lines and sending them to an email address, others will want a demo reel sent in. Demo reels are a whole 'nother kettle of fish, but the projects that want them are usually commercial and you're better to shoot for unpaid work at first anyway.

So, you've done all that, now what? Well, now it's a matter of getting cast. My VA buddies generally put our estimates of getting cast at 1/10th of the projects you audition for, so you have to go in prepared for a lot of rejection. With enough work, practice, and luck, you'll start getting roles-- build a resume with those slowly, and you'll find it easier and easier to get work, as you get a good reputation for reliability, quality, and all those other nice things people want in their actors. Until that point, it's an uphill slog: but it's a fun one, and the friends you make on projects will make the effort all the more worthwhile.

The main things you've got to keep in mind on the journey are...

-Never, ever be rude to people who have rejected your auditions. If you get a rep for badmouthing directors, it'll potentially travel a long, long way.

-On the same topic, always be gracious when people offer you feedback or criticism. You have to be willing to admit your flaws, because if you don't, you'll never improve-- and you'll be cutting yourself off from opportunities that improvement would net you! Some of my actor friends have had trouble taking criticism in the past (I probably have too, at points) but it's the most valuable thing you can be given, so you gotta learn to love it. : )

-Keeping up with deadlines on ongoing projects is an important skill (which I need to work on because I've been awful at it lately). If you can turn your lines in on-time every-time, you're way more likely to be recommended to other directors. When I'm leading projects, I have so many people say 'I'd recommend X to you for casting, but they've been slack on lines recently'-- so there you go.

-Be proactive in auditioning! It sounds like you want to put up a thread on LSF to try and get some work, which is awesome, but (unless this is just me and my experience) you won't get a huge amount of people scouting you from it. Go out, look for projects on VAA/VAC/LSF/wherever, and audition for them! Not only will it get you more parts, it'll give you much more experience working around your range, and trying out things you wouldn't think of on your own. For example, there's a comic dub project I'm in where I auditioned for two character types I'd normally voice, and a kind of bookish nerd girl who I normally wouldn't. Guess which part I got? Out of dozens upon dozens of audition for her, no less. Yup. Try all kinds of things-- you never know what you're good at until you try it.

I've probably forgot a ton of other advice for novice VAs, but there's the basics, and if it still sounds like a cool thing you'd like to do, you should totally go out and do it. I've made my best friends and had some great times through VAing online, and I don't regret a minute of it. : D (Additional note if you want it; I've been VAing online for approx 3 years at this point, so I'm still fairly inexperienced, but I've been trying my best to learn the ins and outs of it and I know the logistical basics of it now, just not the nitty-gritty of 'how to be the best amateur VA ever')
Image

User avatar
aprilights
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:00 pm
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#4 Post by aprilights »

kitsubasa, thanks for the advice (I'm sure it'll help people who are looking to become voice actors/actresses-- it's very detailed and I gained some insight into how the profession worked), but I was speaking hypothetically xD (My voice is really terrible, and I speak pretty much monotone >.<) I was just wondering what set voice actors specifically apart from people who seem to be just volunteering their voice for free projects. After hearing some of the "Audio Atrocities" that trooper6 had linked me to, I at least begin to see the difference (although 50% of the time I still can't tell why some of the atrocities are atrocities upon listening and need to read the description :/)

And trooper6, thanks for the link ^-^

User avatar
kitsubasa
Regular
Posts: 148
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:29 pm
Projects: Inverness Nights
Tumblr: kitsubasa
Location: New Zealand
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#5 Post by kitsubasa »

Ah, I getcha! Sorry I misinterpreted your question.

Okay, well the main separation between people being voice actors and people just reading things is (shock horror) in the acting. Anyone can do a voice (put on an accent, pitch themselves higher up/lower down, make themselves sound more nasal, etc etc) but voice acting is about understanding emotion, timing, and how to keep auditory interest. When you listen through sites like Audio Atrocities, the main issues are usually either misplaced emotion (think of all the reads on there where people are supposed to be sad, and they start laughing/screaming), lack of emotion (go to the page for Chaos Wars for an ABUNDANCE of this one) or an inability to time reads properly and keep interest.

To be a good voice actor, you have to read with appropriate feeling at a good pace, and know the right timing for things so you can avoid non-sequitur sounding lines. And to do all that? You just need practice and/or training. The thing is, if you're looking at it like 'I speak in monotone so I can't be a VA'-- well, you might be able to be a VA, but like with art or writing or any other creative endeavour, you gotta practice and work first before you can rule it out, because it might just be you lack the experience so far to know how to read things well. That said, there are a few things that kill performances. Voice acting needs to be audible, so people with speech impediments generally won't do well in it (unless you stumble on a part that asks for one). It also needs to be listenable, and if you've got a more unique voice you'd probably only end up getting very specific parts-- most roles call for conventionally enjoyable voices, for obvious reasons, and parts (thus, experience) for people with screechy, mumbling or otherwise hard-to-listen-to voices are hard to come by. Also, in online VAing, having an American accent or being able to convincingly fake one is usually critical in getting any roles ever (I'm from New Zealand so I have to fake the 'Merican when I work). So, those're the vocal qualities that'll nerf your ability to be a successful VA, in most cases. Obviously there are exceptions but they're kind of rare.
Image

User avatar
aprilights
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:00 pm
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#6 Post by aprilights »

No, no, it's fine :D You really explained it well, how the profession works, how a person becomes a voice actor, tips to be successful... Basically, some really interesting things about the industry.

I see what you mean by the main separation- voice acting is kind of like the other theater/acting fields (I'm thinking of like awkward English class Shakespeare plays versus a production by like Hollywood Studios or something), but without visuals, so emotions are more difficult to convey (I think I lost myself there. Anyway-)

Well, my voice is kind of lowish and nonfeminine compared to most of my friends, and it's also been described as "impassive" by people who wanted to be nice xD so no chance to actually voice act commercially, but the reason why I had brought up this topic of qualifications for voice acting was because I wanted to help out and volunteer my voice to projects on Lemma Soft, but wasn't sure if I was even qualified to volunteer.

And about the "from New Zealand" part: Are American accents favored in the voice acting industry as opposed to New Zealand ones(I actually have no idea what a New Zealand accent sounds like. I imagine it's a bit Australian given New Zealand's proximity, though I probably am wrong)? Just curious as to why you'd need to change the way you speak just to get a role.

User avatar
sake-bento
Eileen-Class Veteran
Posts: 1909
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 5:58 pm
Completed: http://sakevisual.com/games.html
Projects: Every Sunrise, Shinsei
Organization: sakevisual
Tumblr: sakevisual
Deviantart: sakevisual
itch: sakevisual
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#7 Post by sake-bento »

There's a place for every voice type. A lot of women in the industry make most of their bones playing young male characters. Just because you don't sound like a moe school girl doesn't mean there's no hope for you.

That being said, I think anyone is qualified to volunteer. We've got amateur artists, writers, composers, and everything else in between, so there's nothing wrong with volunteering your voice for anyone who's interested.

User avatar
Zootower
Regular
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:51 am
Location: New York, New York, USA
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#8 Post by Zootower »

Uta Hagen's "Respect for Acting" is a pretty good text if you want an introduction to using one's voice as a main tool for performance, in spite of it not being a book written for voice actors per se. Most of my acting student colleagues had it as a required text in their conservatory training, and it's often apparent to me when working in film which people actually take the principles to heart.

As far as a mic goes, I end up dubbing some audio in post production when he environment isn't ideal. A really solid mic for that kind of stuff is made by RODE. It may be a bit pricy for some folks depending how much they're willing to drop for a hobby/craft, but I can speak for the quality. Links below:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... details&Q=

User avatar
trooper6
Lemma-Class Veteran
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:33 pm
Projects: A Close Shave
Location: Medford, MA
Contact:

Re: What qualifies a person to voice act?

#9 Post by trooper6 »

I really love Uta Hagen's work.
A Close Shave:
*Last Thing Done (Aug 17): Finished coding emotions and camera for 4/10 main labels.
*Currently Doing: Coding of emotions and camera for the labels--On 5/10
*First Next thing to do: Code in all CG and special animation stuff
*Next Next thing to do: Set up film animation
*Other Thing to Do: Do SFX and Score (maybe think about eye blinks?)
Check out My Clock Cookbook Recipe: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 51&t=21978

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users