Ask The Voice Cat

Q: Hello Marc,

—Andrea Bates, Spokane, WA

Continue reading "Do Watermarks Hinder Auditions?" »

Recently, a Voices.com subscriber wrote in asking about direction.

Q: I’m a working voice actor who auditions a lot of different scripts, and I’m not always sure how to deliver the script when direction is provided. Sometimes they’re really explicit in what they want and other times they make no sense at all. I get a lot of copy where they ask for “conversational,” but the copy is all announce-type stuff. It’s very confusing. Also, how do I interpret the script when there’s no direction whatsoever? Any tips?

—Valerie P., Hollywood, CA

Continue reading "How Do I Interpret Scripts When There's No Direction Whatsoever?" »

A pertinent question from a Voices.com subscriber comes in asking about grammar and punctuation.

Q: I’m a working voice actor who’s read hundreds of scripts, and I’ve noticed that copywriters are very inconsistent and confusing with punctuation. Some scripts have words that are all capitalized. Others have directions inserted in the copy. Some scripts seem to have virtually no punctuation, and others have punctuation marks that make no sense. Then, of course, there is the constant, embarrassing misspellings of words or incorrect grammar. Should I change the grammar in these scripts when I audition, or will that piss off the writer? Should I change the punctuation if it doesn’t make any sense?

—Bobby V., Venice, CA

Continue reading "Should Voice Actors Edit Punctuation in Scripts if it Doesn't Make Sense?" »

Hope your holidays were happy and healthy. Here’s a recent question from an aspiring voice actor, asking about articulation.

I call this Pro-nunciation.

Q: I’ve been taking voice acting classes for a number of years and am finally starting to get booked for V-O work. Occasionally, though, clients ask me to articulate certain words they say I’m not speaking clearly. They seem to contradict the direction they give me. For instance, when they ask me to be conversational, and I say the word “to,” it comes out sounding like “ta.” When I say the word “for,” it comes out sounding like “fur.” I don’t want to over-articulate, because then I sound “read,” and therefore not conversational. What do I do in these instances? How can I walk that fine line between over-enunciating and under-enunciating? Help!!!

—Janice W., Hollywood, CA

Continue reading "Help! Advice on Pronunciation for Voice Actors" »

"I have also been wanting to get into voice over/voice acting. As far back as I can remember, people have been telling me that I had a natural talent for mimicry of others as well as doing a wide variety of accents and character voices. When I hear some of the ones that are used in radio or video games as an example, it makes me cringe, because I know I can do a better job. Help! How do I get into this field? It seems to be about the only real “talent” I have. Most of the local radio stations where I live use current on-air talent and I don’t know what to include in a demo or how to get started. Any advice would be appreciated!"

Don

Continue reading "I know I can do a better job than some folks on radio and videogames... how do I start?" »

Hi Marc,

Blair Wilson

Continue reading "Do I have what it takes to do Voiceovers?" »

Read Part II of Auditioning In Your Home Studio!

Continue reading "Auditioning In Your Home Studio, Part II" »