I have used this term (complete voice over talent) in the past figuring it would be pretty self explanatory, though for those who choose not to read into the words for what they are, I figured a definition was in order. When I use the term I am referring to a voice talent who when they enter the market place, is equipped and outfitted with all of the necessary tools this business requires.
Many on the path to getting started bypass several steps in an effort to get where they think they are headed more quickly. This usually places them into the market place lacking experience and ill prepared for its reality. It sometimes leads to frustration and bitterness, but almost always leads to a very uneventful entry and often an early exit from the business.
What you have to realize if you want to get into voice over is that producers and others who hire voice talent have absolutely no time for someone who isn’t completely prepared to function in this business. They don’t have the time to coach you or explain things to you. They expect if you are offering services such as commercial voice over and narration that you know what it is you are doing when you get to the studio. If when you get there and you are unable to take direction, unable to interpret the script, unable to breathe properly (unable to perform like a professional voice talent), you have just wasted their time and money. It is almost exclusively for these reasons rookies have a hard time getting in the door.
Quite frequently I encounter want-to-be voice talent who feel that simply because they have announced themselves to the world as a voice over guy or girl they deserve to be hired. I have seen them get downright indignant; writing letters to agents and producers or two mile long blog submissions about how they are good and should be hired but can’t seem to find any work. They blame people for not hiring them. They blame people for not recognizing the talent they have convinced themselves they have. Casting stones in all directions at the very people they wish they could work for. All the while not considering their actions are quickly turning them into what I liken to a certain type of voice over superhero, one with a big letter B on the chest plate of the uniform which stands for Buffoon.
This behavior is not proprietary of voice over talent. Often times, people will attempt to become something or gain employment in a field without taking the necessary steps to gain that position or employment. There are several well-documented cases of young volunteer fire fighters setting fire to buildings, and then calling in the alarm in an effort to get recognized. An act so stupid it is hard to comprehend, nevertheless an act that happens with such frequency arson investigators now routinely include volunteer organizations in their investigations.
In many of these “Look at me, I was first on the scene” cases, the suspects had a long history of attempting to become professional fire fighters but were continually rejected or overlooked for one reason or another. After being rejected so many times and reaching a point of overwhelming frustration, they went out and caused a scene or lashed out at the people they felt were rejecting them. Sound familiar?
As with any job but certainly with this one, no one owes you anything. Just because you have spent time, money, effort or any other commodity trying to become part of the elite and privileged few, it doesn’t automatically entitle you to a seat at the table with the big kids. Many of the people that are at the table with the big kids have spent much more and struggled much harder than you. And that is just a fact of life. Not only have they spent more and worked harder, they are sitting at that table because they have in their possession all the necessary tools required for the job and when hired, remember to bring their toolbox to work.
They own their own studio and know how to operate every piece of equipment in it. They are proficient at audio recording, editing and production. They are well versed in several different types of scripts and writing formats. They have the ability to correctly interpret the copy the first time. They know how to stand in front of a microphone. They know the correct pacing, inflection and feeling of their reads. They are ready to perform at the drop of a hat. They understood almost every aspect of this business before they tried to force themselves onto the plates of major market consumers of their product. They took the time to perfect their craft (remember this is an art form, not something you just sign up and do.) They understand that even with all of those skills in their repertoire they are still not owed anything by anyone.
On a daily basis, the kids at the big kids table, practice and get better at the things that got them to the table in the first place. Trying to break into this business without ever possessing the required equipment and skills is just like attempting to perform surgery on people when you only have a minor background in auto mechanics. However, because this isn’t a life or death situation people tend to take a much more cavalier approach to it.
Stop and think of the number of theatre actors and actresses that have been plugging away at the business of acting for years and years and still fail to land any major roles or be recognized by their peers. Think of how many people trip over themselves to take any small role that comes along in order to get a chance at the big time. Think of all of those people over all of those years and then think about how few of them have ever made it. Those are the same odds facing you when you try to venture forward in the business of commercial or industrial voice over. By making it I mean attaining a level where producers are ringing you on the phone and you have the liberty of picking it up or not. Getting to a point where they want you more than you need them. That is a thing of beauty in the voice over world and very few people actually have that luxury.
Now think of all of those actors and actresses that have trained and gone to classes and acted for so many years in productions so far off Broadway they rode to the theatre in rickshaws. Think about how many years of experience they bring to the table when called upon. Even with all of that experience, there are many of them that never get noticed. Do you think the world owes them anything? If you do, you might want to look into volunteer firefighting.
The world owes them nothing. Just as much as the world owes nothing to the legions of voice talent that have trained for years and are near masters of their craft, the world owes less than nothing to the oceans of young want-to-be voice over people who perennially attempt to circumvent the known business process by attempting to jump up on the laps of the kids at the big table and run away with the spoon without any type of formal training. These are often the little kids that are told to sit in the corner and not come out until they learn how to behave like real voice over talent. Like most, they sit and gripe and pout and declare that when they get out of the corner “they’ll show us all”. Funny, funny stuff.
What I and many others who participate in this craft on a daily basis want, is for those who do decide to jump into it be trained, complete voice over talent. Not halfway there, but complete. If every time a job was listed all the people submitting auditions were at least at a par level of experience we would all shine a little bit brighter. Though for one of the hardest, most competitive jobs in the world a lot of people just show up on the steps of the arena and figure their mere presence is enough to get a spot on the team. Nothing could be less truthful, yet amazingly enough, I see it every day.
There are two options facing people who want to be in voice over, and find themselves standing at the entrance to the dinning room looking in at the big kids table:
#1. Get some formal, traditional voice training, purchase professional studio equipment and learn how to use it, and only after being trained produce a demo tape and maybe just maybe when someone is late for the meal you will be invited to come sit at the table.
#2. You can receive no training, make your own demo at home in your living room and find yourself running around the legs of the people seated at the table, poking them with the sharpened end of a #2 pencil hoping one of them might leave their seat out of frustration. (Trust me, I know voice talent, this won’t happen.) With this approach the most you can hope for is to sit under the table waiting for one of them to drop some food. This is also not very likely considering most of the kids at the big kids table are rather tidy eaters and are known for licking their plates clean and occasionally sneaking an extra roll when one of the other kids isn’t looking.
This is one of the most competitive businesses in the world. When you submit your demo or audition to people, you are submitting along side people that have been doing this a long time and are very proficient at their craft. If you want to ride along side them, you are going to need a significant portion of the knowledge and tools they have in order to compete. Otherwise you aren’t even riding sidesaddle, you are the guy walking behind the horses with the shovel. It is much more comfortable up in the covered wagon I can assure you.
Lets think of a few other competitive pursuits in the world for a moment. A few people in history have walked into the NFL. They have only succeeded when they possessed extremely rare, exceptional talent. Even with that talent, they didn’t just walk onto the field without ever studying the game. Some of the world’s most athletic soldiers try each year to become U.S. Navy Seals; BUD/S training sees to it that only a select few make it through. If you have never witnessed BUD/S training I can only sum it up in the words of Chief Dan George, “Get ready little lady, Hell’s coming to breakfast.” Dialog taken from the 1976 Clint Eastwood movie, “The Outlaw Josie Wales”. Though only a few are selected as eligible for the training, you can’t just walk into BUD/S School. You must already be trained to a certain level in some other wing of the military.
Of all of the actors and actresses in the world, there is a reason you only hear about the same 30 people all the time, because there is so little room at the top. Out of all those actors, in certain years they only found 1 Kevin Costner, 1 Richard Gere, and 1.3 Alec Baldwin’s. As big of a draw as they are at the box office they are merely nipping at the ankles of Dustin Hoffman when it comes to true talent and dedication to their craft. But none of them would have achieved the success they have without being shown how to do it. They are all, though on different levels of skill and raw talent, complete. They understand their craft, they know how to hit their mark, and they understand and can deal with the doldrums of filmmaking. (If you have never been a participant on the set of a motion picture or television show, just repeat Chief Dan George’s words again. It is very vexatious work.)
The simple fact is they are where they are because of the level of experience they bring to the table. None of them got there by showing up on the doorstep with a bag over their shoulder like Felicity, saying, “The people I work with say I have a nice voice, I should be in radio…Please hire me.” But that is what want-to-be voice talent continue to do on a daily basis. They continue to claim to be heart surgeons, without ever once holding a scalpel.
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