Decisions

Ok. Now that I've decided to really launch my interest, I have to decide about where and how I want to study the art of voice overs. After taking the introductory workshop with John Burr, I ordered a book from Amazon called There's Money Where Your Mouth Is: An Insider's Guide to a Career in Voice-Overs by Elaine A. Clark. One of the things she stresses is finding a teacher who will help develop one's acting skills as well as one's ability to produce a finished sound. She talks about using one's body in voice work. I'm interested in that--the body-voice connection. I will have to work to lose my self-consciousness about moving while reading--seems like an unnatural thing, but there is the acting part of voice acting.

Back to deciding who I want to study with...
I liked Burr. He had an edginess--a willingness to honestly say what people were lacking in their reads. His feedback to students about emotionality and hitting the right words were right on. In every case, when students implemented his suggestions, the next read was markedly better. It was cool to see an actor's read become stronger after just three reads and specific steering from Burr. I also loved how much he spoke about language. Direct objects need a punch. Strings of prep phrases affect where the "hit" in a sentence lies. Pronouns that begin a sentence are hit only if it's their first mention. I wished my English students could hear grammar in action this way. I wondered how many in the room remembered what infinitives and colloquial phrasings were .

Last weekend, my husband and I stumbled across an online voice over instruction company. On their website, the owner of the company offered a 34 minute video about voice over work. It was a shortened version of Burr's workshop in which he demonstrated what teaching is involved in learning the craft. He had two students in his studio who he invited to read some copy. He then gave them feedback as a teacher or producer might do. The feedback was good. He was honest with them. I found my ear tuned in to the areas in need of development for both voices. Easy to be critical when it's not you!

At the end of the video, the teacher invites the viewer to submit a sound sample to his website. He offers five scripts. You choose one, make a call, and record your sample. Within five days, someone from the organization phones back to give you your evaluation and invite you, or supposedly NOT invite you if you lack talent, to sign up for one of their packages. The prices for the packages are comparable to prices quoted by John Burr--actually a bit less expensive. Each package includes voice training (done over the phone with an experienced voice talent), production of demo (created in person), and some webinar support in marketing techniques. It also includes the creation of a webpage on their site that links your demos for download and lifetime support (access to paying for more lessons or webinars?).

So now I have to decide what to do. Do I stick with the instructor I've had some exposure to and like--one who I can work with in person locally. Or do I go for the telephone instruction with the 22-year old company that offers some other web resources?

Early Inklings

I have been in an unusual voice school for most of my life. First I learned narration through stories my parents read aloud to me. My father used voices for characters and great energy in his reads. As I learned to read, I copied Dan's dramatic interpretations of stories with kids I babysat for and in school.

In college, loving stories and the best writing, I was drawn to English as a major. My favorite classes were my writing classes, especially poetry where my professors encouraged charismatic reads as well as sharp writing. When I graduated from college, I returned home to Chicago with the hopes of finding similar opportunities to engage with writing and voice as I had found in school.

I wanted to continue my work with poetry but had little notion about how to do that. Many people advised me to pursue teaching where I could create a world of language and literature that could inspire others. But I wasn't interested in teaching, initially. I decided advertising was the best show going for writers getting paid to be creative. Without a degree in business, however, I found the competition out of my reach. For one position of copy writer at the prestigious Leo Burnett in Chicago, three thousand applicants submitted their portfolios.

After a short stint working in a diner, I headed down to Miami where my mom lived to find my way...somewhere. I got a job bar tending in a touristy outdoor mall. It didn't take me long to decide I needed to get back to school. I took the GRE exam, got accepted at the local public university, and got back to English classes. At some point an adviser counseled me to consider teaching. There it was again. Without any other plan, I agreed to pursue a MS degree in secondary English education.

After graduating, I landed a job in a prep school south of Miami. Finally I found I could get paid to read and talk!

I have been teaching for the past 15 years now. I still find that inner voice calling, however. One morning, I read in the paper that a voice coach was offering an inexpensive workshop to people interested in exploring voice overs. I signed up and immediately loved the class. As the teacher guided each student, he spoke about writing, grammar, and reading comprehension. He talked about emotionally charged language and writer's intentions. Most attractively, he spoke passionately about the art of reading aloud.

Now I am a student of John Burr, a former sound engineer and producer who works with emerging talent in the field of voice overs. Though many in my academic family are skeptical of this departure from the stable and predictable world of teaching, I am excited about the new path, a path I feel I've been traveling towards from an early stage in my awareness of language.

I look forward to learning more and getting experience in the field.