Vox Daily

David Boreanaz voices the "Quest For The Cup" commercial series profiling each of the Stanley Cup contending teams as they strive for greatness this NHL playoff season.

Have you seen these promos yet?

If you're a Bones (TV show) or a Buffalo Sabres fan, here's an opportunity to get an inside look at what makes David tick.

When you think of actor David Boreanaz, you're likely thinking of his on-camera character roles as Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar (1997 - 2003) or in his current role as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth on the FOX drama Bones.

That may be the case for almost all of us, but now we have another item to associate with David and his voice specifically.

David Boreanaz is now the current promo voice for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, narrating :30 spots that depict the unique journeys of the teams who made it thus far, sharing their stories on the road to glory.

A native of Buffalo, NY and longtime Sabres fan, David has embraced his new role as promo voice in the battle for Lord Stanley's Cup with a new vigor and athletic intensity.

David's voice will be heard on the "Quest For The Cup" commercials and for as long as the Buffalo Sabres are still in the playoffs, he'll be writing the Buffalo Sabres celebrity blog at NHL.com.

Has anyone seen these promos yet? If so, what do you think?

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. We've also got a Sabres voice over connection at Voices.com - Ralph Hass! You can watch a video of Ralph doing his Buffalo Sabres VO gig here.

Photo of David Boreanaz courtesy David's Buffalo Sabres blog on NHL.com.

Giving and receiving feedback is an important part of any business transaction. As either a buyer or seller at Voices.com, feedback is used to show your professionalism and provide a measure trust.

Feedback Manager

As mentioned earlier, you'll have a central location ( within your Profile ) to manage all feedback received, and all feedback given. In the Feedback manager, you can see exactly who has left you a feedback rating ( the 5 stars ), and their review ( the text portion ). You can also reply by returning feedback by clicking "Respond" in the "Action" column. Once you've responded, the text will say "Done" and the icon changes to a check mark, letting you know the process is complete.

General Feedback

By default all feedback is published on your website, however you can delete any feedback that is not related to a financial transaction. This still lets you receive feedback from auditions, and gives you a better idea of who is listening to your demos or considering hiring you for work. If you feel the feedback given was unfair, you can either delete the feedback or respond by leaving feedback for the client.

Payment Feedback

Payment feedback operates in a similar manner and allows you to send and receive feedback when a deal is done and a job actually completed. Payment Feedback is identified by a ($) icon.

Important Changes Starting Today

In the past, we've allowed anonymous website visitors to leave feedback ratings for voice talents at Voices.com. We've since limited to feedback only to registered users leaving feedback for each other.

For the updated feedback system to remain trustworthy, we will be removing all anonymous feedback ratings from the system. As a result, your star ratings, VoiceRank, and position on the Top 100 will likely change. There is no need for concern, as this is a change for the good and will provide greater transparency for the community of members. We appreciate your understanding.

Your Professional Image

We understand how important it is for you to maintain a professional image, and believe that these changes will improve the integrity and accountability of Voices.com and the community of people like you who use the website as their primary point of business.

If you have a question, concern or comment, share your thoughts below.

Have a great day!

David

Never get stiffed or hear "The check's in the mail" again!

When you work with clients using our new SurePay system at Voices.com to get the job done right, good things will happen.

Want to learn more?

This is by most accounts the crown jewel in our newest generation :)

I'd like to introduce SurePay to you, something that will make your life a lot easier and payments steadfast.

SurePay is an online payment system developed by Voices.com for the voice over marketplace. It allows clients to quickly and easily hire you for voice-over work.

Let's break it down, step by step:

The Job Offer

The process starts with a “Job Offer”. Job offers originate from one of three places. You can receive a job offer:

1. After responding to a “Public Lead” that many people have received being selected as the voice talent the client desires to work with.

2. After responding to a “Private Lead” that a few people were invited to being selected as the voice talent the client desires to work with.

3. Directly from your personal website at Voices.com. Clients often listen to several voice talents when they first visit Voices.com then contact the person they’d like to work with. In this situation, there is no need for an audition (they already love your voice), so the client can simply send you a “Job Offer”.

Viewing the Job Offer

You can view all “Job Offers” under the new “Jobs” tab within your account at Voices.com.

The Job Offer consists of four unique sections:

Contact Information

Complete contact information is displayed from both parties (you and the client), so you’ll know who is offering you the contract and which company they work for. If you need to clarify some details you can pick a phone and call them or send them an email.

Job Details

Each job has a unique ID as well as the job title and final script as a file attachment. It’s recommended that you download the script and read it in its entirety before accepting any job offers.

Payment Details

In this section, you’ll see the deadline for completing the work, terms of payment and your professional fee (ex. $1000.00). You’ll also see the SurePay Escrow fee, which is 10% added on top of your professional fee (ex $100.00) and the total to be deposited by the client ($1100.00).

Agreement Details

If the client has any special instructions regarding technical requirements or artistic direction, you’ll see those comments here.

Take a look!

Take Action

At the bottom of the “Job Offer” are three buttons; “Yes, I Accept”, “Make Counter Offer”, and “Sorry, I Decline”.

By clicking “Yes, I Accept”, you now have a legally binding agreement between you and the client. This will keep everyone accountable, and will avoid misunderstandings about the original project requirements. Congratulations, you’ve landed a job!

By clicking “Make Counter Offer”, you have the opportunity to reply to the client and may suggest changes to any of the Job Offer details, such as terms of payment, number of included revisions if applicable, deadline or even price. When you make a counter offer, you can also leave comments below the clients comments, similar to a thread. This thread is your communication history and is always attached to the job details.

By clicking “ Sorry, I Decline”, it’s recommended you let the client know why you declined their job offer. Perhaps you weren’t comfortable recording their material, or maybe you are simply too busy or better yet, on vacation. Whatever the reason, have the courtesy to leave a one or two sentence reason as to why you had to decline the project. By doing so, you’ll show them that the professionals at Voices.com know how to communicate, and you’ll keep the door open for future opportunities should they be given.

The Counter Offer

If you’ve sent a “Counter Offer” back to the client, they now have the option to click “Yes, I Accept”, “Make Counter Offer” or “Sorry, I Decline”.

- When the client clicks “Yes, I Accept”, you’ve got a deal!

- When the client clicks “Make Counter Offer”, the counter offer is sent back to you and the cycle continues, until you reach a deal by someone clicking “Yes, I Accept”. If you’ve ever purchased a home, this is often how the transaction occurs. This is negotiation in its
simplest form.

- If no deal can be reached, either party can click “Sorry, I Decline” at anytime, and the negotiation is terminated.

Most jobs will result in a fair agreement (you did negotiate after all) and so the next step is for the client to make a deposit.


The Deposit

The deposit is for the full amount as displayed in the “Payment Details” of the agreement. In our example, this amount would be USD $1100.00.

Your client is prompted to send a deposit of $1100.00 to Voices.com’s secure escrow account. This is a neutral bank account that will hold the money in trust until the job is completed.

As soon as we’ve received the deposit, you’ll receive an email notification informing you that “You Have New Funds” being held in trust. With the deposit managed by Voices.com, you can record the work with the confidence that you'll get paid.

The Recording & File Delivery

Same as you do currently, you’ll record the script in your recording studio (or at a local recording studio). If the job requires music and sound effects, you’re responsible for adding those too.

Once the recording is complete, you simply login to Voices.com, click on “Jobs” and you’ll see that your next step is to “Upload Files”. You can upload a single file, or continue to upload multiple files if need be. When you’re done uploading the entire project, just click “I’m Done Uploading”.


Downloading the Files & Accepting The Work

You’ve fulfilled your end of the agreement, and now the client just needs to download the material and accept your work as complete.

An email notification is sent to the client letting them know that their files are ready for download.

They login to their account at Voices.com, and proceed to download all the files. After they’ve listened to your work and have confirmed that you’ve done an excellent job, the client completes the process by clicking “I Accept”.

If they are not completely satisfied and require a revision (or need changes made), the client will click "Request an Edit".

Your Payment

When the client clicks “I Accept” this action also notifies Voices.com to release your payment, which is sent to you by PayPal.

PayPal is fast, easy and secure. It’s free to set-up a PayPal account if you don’t already have one. Payments sent to your PayPal account through Voices.com are then withdrawn into your personal or business bank account.

Giving & Receiving Feedback

The final step is for you to leave feedback on the financial transaction.

Giving and receiving feedback is an important part of any business transaction. As either a buyer or a seller within an online marketplace, feedback is often used to see if the other person is trustworthy and operates their business with integrity.

Your Feedback consists of a “Rating”, a 5-star rating with 1 being a poor experience, and a 5 being an excellent experience, as well as a “Review”. “Reviews” are written comments offering an explanation and reasoning for the above “Rating”.

Congratulations!

You made it! You’ve reached the end of the SurePay process and the end of this post.

If you like the idea, let us know by leaving a comment below.

Have a great day,

Stephanie

New vocab lessons from Voices.com!

To get comfortable with the future lingo ahead of time, read this brief glossary of terms.

Thanks for your great responses so far to our innovations!

Today we're announcing some new terminology for you that will be introduced in the new generation of the Voices.com website.

Leads: Formerly known as "Jobs", the Leads tab includes all public and private work opportunities created by clients that you can respond to.

Responses: Clients manage your auditions in an area called "Responses". From this single view, they can Send an Email, Add to Favorites and Select this Voice - which means they select you and make a formal "Job Offer". Clients can even leave you a Feedback Rating & Review by jotting down some comments in a text area. It's never been easier for busy clients to give you some suggestions or let you know how much they appreciate your interest in their projects.

Jobs: These are actual Jobs that you are working on for a client at Voices.com. The process starts with a "Job Offer", which is created when a client selects you as their voice of choice. Clients can create Job Offers from (1) within their Responses to their postings, (2) directly from the search results and (3) directly on your personal website at Voices.com. The "Jobs" section lets you view a "Job Offer", negotiate back and forth, reach a deal, then accept a deposit. With the deposit managed by Voices.com, you can record the work with the confidence that you'll get paid. Once the recording is complete, you simply upload your finished audio files through Voices.com, and the payment is released to you. No more need for FTP servers or sending large files via email.

Payments: Payments are actual financial transactions processed through Voices.com. You can view "Jobs" with "Deposits" (money held in a secure Escrow account) as well as "Invoices" that have been paid in full. Clients, not voice talents, will be charged a nominal fee for Voices.com to manage the delivery of audio files and process the financial transaction. As a voice talent, there is no added cost to you, and you're guaranteed to be paid for your work.

At this point, I'm sure there will be plenty of questions. If so, leave us a comment so we can better address any concerns you may have.

We'll share more with you in the coming days!

Best,

Stephanie

What will your Voices.com website look like?

Well, that's up to you!

Discover some updates to the Profile, Files, Themes and Feedback Sections - you're going to love it!

Your Website

All voice talent websites are getting a fresh, updated look!

The core elements will remain the same with a few slick additions.

We've added the ability for clients to "Request a Quote", which sends you a Private Lead, or, clients can immediately make you a "Job Offer" (more on this later), literally bypassing the entire auditioning process, making the hiring experience easier and more enjoyable for both you and your clients.

You'll also notice a number in brackets beside your star rating. Clicking on the number lets you and other visitors see who has rated you and what they said. We call this feature "Ratings & Reviews". You will be able to manage everything related to those items in the Feedback section of your Profile.

Check out this voice talent website at Voices.com to get an idea of how you could fashion your own website using the new tools that will be made available to you.

Profile

We added some on-page help that provides suggestions on how best to complete your Profile.

We've even added sample voice descriptions such as:

Sample 1: Jim's voice is quite versatile and has been referred to as genuine, charismatic, and hilarious. Ranging from characters such as the stereotypical football coach to a doting father, Jim is able to cater his performance into a voiceover that works perfectly for your project.

Sample 2: Annette has a wide spectrum of vocal capabilities. Trained as a classical singer, Annette's vocal elasticity and burnished tone color shines brilliantly through commercials, telephone recordings, and children's audiobook narration projects.

Files

The Studio will be organized under the "Profile" tab. Note the change!

This will help you to edit all elements of your website in the same place - convenience at it's best.

All the same functionality applies, and with a new wide-screen design, it's easier to see all your files on a single page. If you have more than 10 files, we've added "Next 10" and "Previous 10" buttons, so you can navigate through all your multimedia files.

As a security measure, we've limited file uploads to .mp3, .wav, and .aif files for audio and banned potentially malicious file extensions such as .exe, .php, .asp and dozens of others.

Sticking to MP3 is a great idea for your demos. They'll play better in the Flash Player as well as take less time to load.

Themes

The color themes for your website were extremely popular, so we decided to add more for you to choose from.

Not only are there new designs, but background images, too.

Here's a sneak peek:

Feedback

One of the most requested features is the ability to see who is rating you. Well, this is now a reality. You'll be able to see the name of the person who gave you a star rating, as well as any comments they left you in the form of a review. You'll have the option to "Publish" these comments or to keep them hidden.

That does it for today's updates for the Profile. If you have any ideas or recommendations, leave a comment below.

Cheers,

Stephanie

The next generation of the Voices.com website is almost upon us!

If you'd like to participate in our Beta program starting this Friday, we'd love to have your input and recommendations on how the website should operate!

Want to join us?

Interested in lending a hand as a Beta Tester at Voices.com?

Aside from getting an inside look at how the website will better able to serve you and meet your needs, you'll have the opportunity to make a direct impact the online voice over industry!

Ready to hear more?

Here's what you'll be doing as a Beta Tester:

• Accessing our development environment ( a secret URL )
• Logging in to your account
• Trying out the new features
• Making changes to your profile
• Viewing your website on different browsers ( Internet Explorer or FireFox )
• Replying to some test job postings
• Uploading files, editing file names, deleting files
• Offering general suggestions and recommendations
• Reporting any bugs that you find by sending us a brief email

The testing experience should take less than 30 minutes, although you are welcome to login as many times as you'd like to get used to the new system.

If you'd like to participate in the Beta Testing, simply leave a comment below, and we'll send you an invitation to login via email.

Thank you for your participation!

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Oksana Struk

Moving forward, the new generation of Voices.com will not only be equipped with VeriSign Security, but also an SSL Certificate.

Now folks, that's some heavy duty security and peace of mind.

But, just what is SSL? Find out here!

While many of you are familiar with the VeriSign Secure seal that you see on our website, the term SSL may be new to you.

What does SSL mean?

Definition of SSL: A security protocol that provides communication privacy.

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission over the Internet.

Secure Sockets Layer protocol is a method of passing sensitive information, such as credit card details, over the Internet. All communication is encrypted to prevent eavesdropping. An SSL URL is preceded by https:// instead of http://.

You might recognize the https:// from banking websites you may use. As mentioned before, the https:// signifies greater security and encryption.

Here's a picture of what the Voices.com website will look like with the new SSL certificate.

Along with the new SSL certificate, we'll have a VeriSign Secured™ Seal.

The VeriSign Secured Seal is the number one sign of trust on the Internet. Recognized worldwide, the VeriSign Secured Seal appears on Web pages secured by VeriSign SSL Certificates as a dynamic, animated graphic. Site visitors can click on the seal to verify website information in real time.

The next generation of Voices.com is coming soon, so keep your eyes out for it!

Best,

Stephanie

Is your voice on a current television commercial or movie trailer?

Are you being recognized in grocery stores for your commercial voice talent?

Whether it be local, regional or national coverage that your voice is enjoying right now, leave a note on the blog!

Seeing people from TV and being able to recognize them is one thing, however, it is much more of an acquired sense and talent to be able to identify the vocal talents of someone on the street as a member of the viewing audience.

Once in New York City I was with a tour group out on the town before a Broadway show walking around and taking in the sights.

One of those sights happened to be Katie Holmes (now also known as Mrs. Tom Cruise) walking discreetly down the street back in the good old days of the teen television drama "Dawson's Creek". Needless to say, it was quite the experience for several in our entourage who caught a glimpse and a snapshot of her.

While it's quite surreal to see celebrities out and about, it is equally if not more surprising to hear and recognize celebrities that you don't have a name to put to let alone a face.

One of the reasons why it is harder to spot a voice talent and commend them on their work is because oftentimes, you aren't "promoting" a product when you are going about your normal routine.

Unless you put on that voice that people would be familiar with, you may go unnoticed, that is, unless you use your signature voice at all times regardless of where you are and what you are doing.

For instance, many have realized that the bee in the Nasonex commercial is voiced by Antonio Banderas. Some voices are more easily recognized than others. The voice over Antonio performed in the Nasonex commercial is his signature voice.

Just as actors physically sell the products and persuade people to make purchases your voice sells to them on a number of different levels and often seals the deal with a tag or closing line that makes people remember that particular ad out of the thousands they are exposed to on a daily basis.

Your voice is working it too!

That brings me to my question:

Is your voice in the limelight right now?

Leave a comment with the market your voice is airing in, the product and any experiences you've had with fans :)

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Oleg Prikhodko

Rome wasn't built in a day, so we're going to need some time over the weekend to finish testing. Some areas of the Voices.com website will be inaccessible from late Friday April 20th through Sunday April 22nd in order to make a successful migration to the new, more secure servers.

What Next?

We're also preparing for the next generation of Voices.com, including dozens of new features and new ways to get hired that we'll show you next week!

So, that being said, please read the blogs at your earliest convenience! They may not be available this weekend, so if you're a VOX Daily fan or VOX Talk podcast fan (Episode 25 is now out!), get your fix sooner than later by visiting today.

Relax this weekend (we'll be slaving away, but you should go out and enjoy the sunshine!).

Best wishes,

Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

What comes after the job offer?

Does it always involve negotiation or do you accept the first offer that is presented to you?

Whether it's smooth sailing or back to the drawing board a few times, we want to hear from you!

We've all been there.

Negotiation is a part of life and is necessary when conducting business.

For those of you who do negotiate, how do you negotiate and what items are you usually negotiating?

Some aspects of negotiation may include:

Payment

How much you are being compensated?
When is payment sent?

Ex.
100% payment upfront, 50% payment up front and 50% upon completion, or 100% upon completion...

Usage rights

How will the audio be used and for how long?

Ex.
Unlimited usage - full buyout, Limited usage (13 week cycle for radio or television commercials), or internal corporate presentation only.

Turnaround time

When is the audio expected? Is it a short interval or do you have plenty of time?

Revisions

Are revisions included in the overall fee or are they additional?

Some food for thought.

So, how do you negotiate? What items do you stand firm on, and where do you compromise?

Have you ever had to simply make the decision to walk away from a deal?

Looking forward to reading about how you are empowered as a negotiator :)

Take care,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Chen Fu Soh

PayPal, check, money order, cash, credit card...

The list goes on!

How do you accept payment for your voice over services?

Leave a comment at VOX Daily!

After hearing some of your stories from the previous post, it's no wonder so many people are turning to new methods of invoicing clients and accepting payments for voice over services.

Does a check in the mail suffice when you're working with a new client, or do you need the extra cushion and comfort of being paid upfront for your work through online payment gateways like PayPal?

Leave your preferred billing methods in your comment. Also, if you use different methods for different clients, note that too.

It's good to know what your best practices are so that others can learn how to avoid being stiffed as well as establish a payment paradigm that works best for the voice over industry, especially online.

Let the conversation begin!

Cheers,

Stephanie

Ever had a client who didn't pay you for your work?

What did you do?

Did you ever get paid?

Share your VO trials and payment tribulations here.

It's probably happened to many of you at least once.

A job offer looks good, an agreement is made, the client promises to pay upon receipt of invoice, and wham... months later, you realize that the "check in the mail" never came.

Maybe for some of you, it's a bit more complicated than that.

Whatever your story is, we want to hear about it!

Share your story by leaving a comment on this article.

Best,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Christine Glade

Do you know how to interpret the signs?

Are clients easy to read?

Just when do you know that you've nailed a contract?

Share your stories at VOX Daily!

When you're working on a prospect or lead, sometimes there's a glimmer of hope or obvious indication that you will indeed be their voice of choice.

All of the pieces may seem to fit together - all they need to do is let you know verbally or in writing that you have their business.

The question is, just HOW do you know that you've nailed the job?

What clinches it for you?

This should be very interesting!

Looking forward to reading about your victories :)

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/John Kounadeas

Email?

FTP?

CD in the mail?

Where there is a will, there's a way!

Share how you get your finished digital audio products to clients.

In the new age of digital technology and email, we'd like to ask you how you deliver audio files to your clients.

As was mentioned earlier, you may employ email, FTP (file transfer protocol), or ship a CD in the mail with the finished work in the format and fidelity your client requires.

There's also a new piece of software out there called "Source Connect" by Source Elements LLC. From what I understand, you need to have ProTools and so does the person you are sending your audio to. This method is heralded as a potential solution to replace expensive ISDN sessions.

Perhaps you mix these up and it really depends upon each particular client and their needs...

Let us know!

Looking forward to reading your answers,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Feng Yu

On Saturday April 14, 2007 at 8:33 P.M. EST, the Voices.com website experienced an individual or group of individuals gaining unauthorized access to one of the Voices.com servers.

The people involved proceeded to delete website files such as the home page, sign-up page, post a job page and the search engine.

As a result, most website visitors are experiencing a "File Not Found" error message or a blank white page.

FeedBurner Alerts to the Rescue

Moments after unauthorized access, Voices.com administrators received an email notification from FeedBurner Alerts, notifying us that our RSS feeds were unavailable. The blogs, podcasts, videos and all images associated with Voices.com were also deleted.

Is Your Information Safe?

Yes. The database is complete secure and all your customer information is encrypted. The server that was hacked was the "Application Server" which has all of the pages and software code NOT the database server that contains member information. Your personal information is safe!

The Investigation

We called our web host, Rackspace, who immediately started their investigation. Rackspace is the most respected and trusted web hosting company utilized by banks, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. In short, we are in good hands.

What Next?

Rackspace and Voices.com coordinated a "server restore" which will restore all the files on our servers from the previous days backup. The server restore is currently in progress and expected to be completed on Sunday April 15, 2007 at 11:59 PM EST.

Why did it take 12 hours for this message to go up?

Just moments ago, Movable Type, our blog publishing platform came back online.

We Need Your Help

1. We are executing on our procedures, so please be patient. We are fully aware of the situation and are working tirelessly to deliver the service you have come to expect from us.

2. If you have any information as to who did this or the parties involved, please let us know. Although we cannot say precisely who orchestrated this act of war, we do have suspicions, suspicions that may very well be confirmed with your additional information.

3. Smile as there are worse things happening in the world.

If you have any tips or leads regarding this corporate sabotage attempt, please email me at stephanie@voices.com.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

P.S. We'll keep you updated as we find out more information.

UPDATE 1: The technicians at Rackspace ( our web hosting company ) have confirmed that the restoration process is complete.

UPDATE 2: We are currently testing our website and verifying all systems are a "Go"! The audio Flash player is now visible and we are currently linking the player with your voice-over demos hosted on the server. This process could take some time. Stay tuned...

UPDATE 3: Audio, video, text and image files are 50% recovered and everything is looking good.

UPDATE 4: Audio, video, text and image files are 100% recovered. The search engine has also been restored.

What's the life of a video game voice actor like?

Does it pay be a union talent in the field of video game voice acting?

Find answers to these questions and more by checking out the Voices.com interview with David Sobolov at VOX Daily.

If you're a voice actor who provides vocal talents for video games, you may be able to relate to David Sobolov, a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and active video game voice actor.

This week, I had the opportunity to interview David about SAG related video game voice acting work and asked some key questions that may reveal some of the answers you've been looking for if you are wondering if you should be in the union to do this sort of work.

Here's my interview with David Sobolov. Enjoy!

Stephanie: How did you get your first SAG voice acting job for video games?

David: Auditioning via my agent in Los Angeles.

Stephanie: What is an average recording session for video game voice acting like? Can you record some of these jobs from your own studio?

David: The sessions are booked for four hours and what happens during that time varies wildly depending on the project. Sometime I have game play to record, disjoined lines my character says, sometimes 40 pages! Other times there's a substantial amount of dialogue for cut scenes. That's happening more and more. It took four sessions to record my part for Sony's Rogue Galaxy but my three parts in Fantastic Four took less than an hour! These gigs are almost never done from a home studio. They like to see you in person.

Stephanie: What percentage of your voice over work consists of video game voice acting with SAG contracts?

David: All my video game work is on a union contract. I'd say videogames make up about 1/2 my work these days.

Stephanie: Are many of these SAG video game voice acting contracts based upon ongoing work with past clients or does the work come from mainly new business and or referrals?

David: More and more past clients are calling me in or auditioning and bringing me in for multiple games. Just like any other part of the business, it's all about relationships and about the producers knowing you can give them what they need in a pinch. Once they figure out what you can offer and they like it you'll often hear from them again and again.

Stephanie: Have you ever been able to turn a non-union voice acting job into a SAG voice acting job for video games? If so, do you find it is an easy task?

David: YES! I recently turned down some non-union work and then the company called me a few weeks later to ask me to help them sign a SAG contract.

Stephanie: Is most of your work local (LA)? Does living in major hotbeds for union and video game voice acting work play a significant role in whether you are hired for a SAG voice acting job where video games are concerned?

David: Yes, most of my work is based in Los Angeles. I agree, you are much more employable doing SAG videogame work if you live in a major production center like L.A. or NYC.

Stephanie: Do people hire you directly for your video game voice acting work or do they go through your agent?

David: Happily, I have some very good relationships with casting directors I've worked with in the past and sometimes we email 'out of school' - although they always call my agent to book. That's the protocol out here.

Stephanie: What was your favorite SAG voice acting job in video games?

David: I loved playing the delicious villain Malebolgia in Spawn!

Stephanie: Have you worked on franchise / legacy games? If so, do you enjoy returning to characters you have voiced in the past? Are there any challenges where this is concerned?

David: I've been cast in games they intended to be legacy (such as Advent Rising) but sequels weren't meant to be. The only recurring role I've had on a videogame was in the game version of the TV series I did called Sabrina The Animated Series. They had me back to voice the role of Spookie Jar in the game.

Although I might not remember what I did on a particular day a few days later (because I create characters on the fly - a skill you really need to develop if you want to work in games) - I can give them what we did before in multiple sessions if they play a snippet of what we did the last time.

Stephanie: Finally, do you have any advice for people who aspire to be a member of SAG in pursuit of video game voice acting?

David: Voice acting is not just about putting on a fun character voice like a coat... you need to be a very good actor to work consistently. Keep acting whenever and wherever you can!

We'll close with that thought.

Are you a voice actor who records for video games or a fan of David's work?

If so, please leave a comment with your thoughts about this interview. We'd love to hear from you!

Best,

Stephanie

Want to be a video game voice actor?

Learn the biz of video game voice acting and secrets on how to keep Gamers happy with your performance by reading this wonderful article about DB Cooper's VOICE 2007 lecture "Infinite Ammo".

Get ready to rock!

On Friday afternoon, the delightful DB Cooper presented on video game voice overs. Her lecture was entitled "Infinite Ammo".

I'm happy to share some excerpts from this highly entertaining and illuminating presentation.

DB revealed that the place of voice acting in video games is evolving because the entire process of audio in video games is evolving.

As game design advanced, so did the place of audio. It became more sophisticated. For example, the music in Final Fantasy 7 was phenomenal.

In the infancy of video game voice overs, some of the voice acting was absolutely atrocious. Don't believe me?

Visit AudioAtrocities.com.

Infinite Ammo means...

That the importance of audio in gaming and voice over needs to be taken seriously.

Games begin their lives under a great deal of negotiation: disk space, bandwidth, budget and so forth. At present, only 20% of an entire budget is allotted for audio (this includes music and VO).

At this time, DB cued a cut scene for us to watch on the projector.

A Cut Scene is a brief movie that plays within the game that moves the plot ahead.

Everything sounds the same. Voice acting gets squeezed as the game is produced. Since the majority of video games are produced in Asia, the English versions need to be dubbed (or localized), including all of the dialog, street signs, and so on.

Fact: Everything in audio is rushed regarding the implementation of the creative into video games.

Question: "Is music a rush job too?" (sent in an email from DB to a composer friend)

Answer from pro composer: "No time to write, really, I have to do all the music for kids games ASAP with a tight deadline."

The gaming industry needs to realize that audio is important, and to the North American market, is almost more so than the visuals that the creators take such pride in at their studios in Asia.

Another Fact: All too often, the script is not even heard aloud until the day of the professional recording.

Imagine not having anyone read a script aloud after it has been localized from another language. Scary territory!

Video game dialog management is not fun. Video game voice acting "communications" is about how to save the most paper or make file naming consistent, not focusing on proper sentence structure and the seamless flow of dialog.

Oftentimes, the only requirement of the audio directors is to “just make it work”. Quite the task if you ask me!

Ideally, the audio director should be familiar with the script, understand the flow of the scenes he or she is directing, and will have a distinct idea of the best way lines will work in a scene. Unfortunately, there are times where the audio director doesn’t see the script much earlier than the actors do.

Audio directors are always brought into the game very late. After all, it would be absolutely senseless to make the audio director a part of the development team, would it not?

So, we've briefly covered the development of video games and where audio fits into the equation.

Now, let's talk about the art form of video game voice acting itself.

Less is More

When performing VO for video games, less is more.

Vocal acting for interactives (simulation-style teaching programs, video games, and Interactive tutorials) requires being LESS larger-than-life than most VO work. You need very little to convey a lot.

Cartoon voice acting is to video game voice acting as stage acting is to film acting.

Gamers really care about the critical quality of voice overs. If they don’t like the voice overs, they chat about it all over the web. There are websites and forums dedicated to ripping apart voice actors in video games - I mentioned one of them earlier in this post.

Here's a quote from DB Cooper on the subject:

"Gamers spend a great deal of time in the intimate company of the characters in a game, and can get very wrapped up in their characters’ lives, and the emotional bonds can be terrific. I enjoyed over 200 hours with Final Fantasy X, a game whose story had me in tears several times. Final Fantasy XII took nearly 160 hours to go through ONCE . In fact, I just finished the game a couple of weeks ago-- and it came out November. Believe me, if a game is well written, a gamer has a great deal invested in the protagonists. And Gamers really care about the critical quality of the acting. If it’s not up to snuff, trust me--the VO gets skewered across the globe via game message boards and chat groups."

How do we avoid this scenario?

Firstly, you should avoid “indicating”.

Indicating is a term used to describe the presentation of an emotion. In many cases, it's what you think it "looks like", especially when demonstrating the emotion on-camera or in person.

In the case of voice actors, what we think is what it "sounds like". It's playing the symptoms, not the cause.

“Breathing as acting” doesn’t sit well with anyone. If your character has been exerting himself, then coming into a conversation with authentic panting is fine for the first line or two, but no one wants to hear huffing and puffing throughout dialog, whether from physical exertion or emotion. . . it’s just too transparent an attempt.

Do you have a favorite television character or character from comic book or piece of literature? If you do, you are most likely attached to the main characters, or protagonists.

To give you an idea of how this concept translates to video game characters, the people who play the games, or Gamers as they are called, are very attached to their protagonists.

Gamers can smell bad voice acting techniques a mile away. As DB said, breathing as acting doesn’t work under any circumstances. Nobody wants to hear fake voices. People, particularly Gamers, prefer authenticity.

Exertion Sounds (Directly from DB's notes)

Exertion vocalizations are the HARDEST PART according to the voice directors.

Does your character handle weapons?

Practice with weights that match your weapon. Swing a 20 pound dumbbell to see what kind of effort a broadsword would require. Learn, if you can, when it is like to shoot a gun. Have you taken a martial arts class? What does it feel like to throw a punch, or to be hit? You need to be able to honestly “fight” because so many games include battles of one kind or another.

I know during the filming of Marathon man, Sir Lawrence Olivier supposedly chided Dustin Hoffman for staying up all night so that his character would look exhausted, saying “WHY NOT TRY ACTING”?

I say, why not try authenticity? Do some physical preparation.

~~

Now, some thoughts on Microphone technique

• Film actors are better at video game microphone technique and Additional Dialogue Replacement (ADR)
• To be a voice actor for video games, you have to be able to scream.
• Use the most imagination for the tiniest of lines. This will determine if your voice is loved or annoying.
• Exertion audio is the hardest to do but the most important and numerous of voice over lines in video games
• If you are familiar with martial arts, gun shooting or fighting, it will help you to prepare for a role.
• If you’re going for a role in an ongoing game series, research the games that came before your game.

Circling back to screaming, keep these facts in mind:

This is not an easy feat, or pleasant for that matter. Screaming uses the same muscles that you use when you throw up. You should back away from the microphone when called to do this.

Hot tip: Learn about the characters and the recurring roles if you're auditioning for a series. Gamers expect you to respect the characters and plot as well as the history of the series.

DB related, "You may wonder why there aren’t rehearsals for such a complex dramatic form."

When she began her research, she asked audio directors about rehearsals and the consistent answer was “There are none.” It’s all about cost constraint.

This is why being familiar with games is such a valuable asset.

This is also why you need to be ready to "act on a dime”.

When making a video game voice acting demo, Include instructions for how to play the game. This will show that you understand the game as well as researched it thoroughly.

Quick vocab lesson: A side is a script that only has one character in it.

To wrap up, Audio directors need VAs (voice actors) to do two things:

1. Give them a line reading
2. Improvise / ad lib

Don't know what line reading is?

A "line reading" is where you repeat a line exactly the way the director reads it TO YOU. It's like being a parrot.

Sometimes, the directors have a very specific way they want a line said, and they just need it in the character's voice. It's the opposite of improv.

Pat Fraley’s "series of three" combos are valuable because sometimes you’re unsure of what’s going on in a scene or if you don’t know your proximity to the other characters.

• Best, Contrast, Best
• Goldilocks (too hot, too cold, just right)
• Like the person you’re speaking to, don’t like, are very close to.

It’s a great way to give the director a bouquet of line choices and hone your skills as a video game voice actor.

Wow! We've finished covering all of the lectures from VOICE 2007.

What do you think of DB Cooper's lecture? Has it helped you in any way?

Leave a comment for DB here on the blog :)

Best,

Stephanie

Ever been on an animation weekend?

How about a voice-over intensive one?

If you live on the East coast, you have the opportunity to do so early this May 2007!

Join Bob Bergen for a weekend you'll never forget in New York City May 5 & 6.

While we're talking about Bob, he has a wonderful animation voice over weekend coming up in New York!

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday May 5 and Sunday May 6, 2007
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Startrax Recording Studio, New York City, NY
Tuition: $400 total (includes both Saturday and Sunday)

* A non-refundable $100 deposit is necessary to reserve a spot (check or money orders - no credit cards, please) with the balance due at the start of the seminar.

Once the class is full, if you'd like to audit / observe the workshop you may do so for $75 per day.

You'll learn:

• Mic audition techniques
• How to create and sustain characters
• Do's and Don'ts of demos
• Tips on the business of the business
• Agent / Client relationships

and much, much more!

For booking information, contact Bob Bergen at bob (@) bobbergen.com

Note: Please include "NYC Weekend Workshop" in the subject line.

Who is the real Porky Pig?

How did he get there?

What keeps him going?

Read about Bob Bergen's extraordinary one man show "Not Just Another Pretty Voice" here at VOX Daily.

Growing up, Bob Bergen (then known as Bobby Bergen) was always doing voices, whether he knew it or not.

Bob's main goal in life from as early on as his 'tween years was to become the next voice of Porky Pig - a character voice acting role defined by Mel Blanc - a role Bob was determined to inherit from the master himself.

As most fans do, Bob picked up his telephone book and sought out every M Blanc in the phone book, hoping that he'd be able to speak with his hero and voice acting role model.

Not having much luck, he remembered that Mel's wife's name was Estelle, so he dialed up all the E Blanc's he could locate, and wham, Bobby Bergen found himself on the phone chatting with Mel Blanc.

The conversation (which was taped at the time) was interesting, revealing even.

Bob found out that Mel was to record at a particular studio the following week. After the conversation ended, as most fans would do, Bob then looked up the studio in the phone book and called in to "confirm" Mel's recording session - the receptionist then confirmed the time and date of the session, and, you guessed it, Bobby Bergen and his mother played hooky from school to go watch Mel Blanc in action.

At the age of fourteen, Bob Bergen already knew what he wanted to do, and that was to be the voice of Porky Pig. What better opportunity to glean those skills than to watch Mel Blanc in the booth?

Upon arriving at the studio, the secretary asked Bob why he was there. He answered that he was friends of the producers and they invited him to sit in. Satisfied, the secretary let him in to the room.

Once in the room, the producer asked him why he was there. Bob then told the producer that he was friend of the secretary. Again, the producer took no notice of the white lie and directed Bob to a place where he could watch the session from.

Finally, a budding Porky Pig got to see the legend perform live.

When he started recording, there was something odd about his technique. In one hand, Mel held a cigarette, in the other, some oxygen. In between takes, he would alternate between the two substances while young Bobby watched on, slightly confused.

It was said that Mel was told once that if he ever combined the two (cigarettes and oxygen), he'd be blown sky high, hence why he was so meticulous about keeping them apart. That may also just be commonsense, but still a good thing to be reminded of in the event those two should interact.

That wasn't the only thing out of line during the session.

After takes of Porky Pig and Tweety, the engineer would "speed up" Mel's voice.

Astounding!

While we're on the topic, Bob's Porky is not sped up, but his Tweety is to better match Mel's renditions.

Okay, back to the story at hand.

This must have been absolutely horrifying for Bob.

Bearing witness to substance abuse, recklessness and production tricks all at once that equally involved Mel Blanc in a recording booth doing the voices he knew and loved would drive him to say nearly anything.

In Bob's case, once Mel had exited the booth and approached him, his gut reaction was to say "You're not as good as I thought you were".

Open mouth, insert foot!

After that, Mel was out of the picture, minus the tape Bob replayed so many times that it finally broke. Remember, this was in the era of splicing and dicing with tapes, not digital wizardry.

Heart broken, Bobby moved on, grew up and eventually got the call to be the voice of Porky Pig and Tweety on Tiny Toon Adventures (a show I happen to have been in the demographic for, as Bob noted later that evening).

Bob has voiced the character of Porky Pig for over 14 years.

What keeps him going?

Maintaining the integrity of each character and paying tribute to Mel Blanc for the groundwork that he laid for future voice actors.

Now, that's only a snippet of the hilarious, side-splitting, tear jerking performance. If you go to Bob's show "Not Just Another Pretty Voice" at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood later this month through the end of May, you'll get to see what we all were privy to at VOICE 2007.

What I can reveal, however, is that there is a happy ending for taped telephone conversation recording.

Several years ago, Bob's mom called and asked him if there was any significance to this old tape she found packed away called "Phone Conversation with Mel Blanc".

Bob couldn't believe it. Back then, there was no hope that the recording could have ever been salvaged, but now, in this wonderful age of technology, it was only a studio visit away from being fixed.

And, that's what he did.

You can listen to the phone conversation between Mel Blanc and Bobby Bergen on Bob's website. They talk about the creation of voices.

So, what do you think?

The moral of the story is if you work hard enough, you will achieve your dreams. Bob did, and not every boy can grow up to become Porky Pig!

Please leave a comment with your thoughts and or feedback for Bob.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. I am listening to Bob's conversation with Mel right now and it is giving me goose bumps! I'm nervous for Bob more than 25 years after the fact, but it all worked out swimmingly :)

Looking for a Character workout?

MJ Lallo brought the house down with her comedic personality and unique character voice acting techniques.

Learn some tips on how to make the most of your character voice acting career from a pro's point of view.

MJ Lallo's lecture on the Friday was all about putting technique into practice!

I'd like to focus in on several topics that MJ covered, including the Animation Advisor's organization, why it is so very important that you hire talented people to provide character voice acting services, and some techniques for you to try.

Animation Advisors

Animation Advisors is an organization MJ is involved with.

A part of what the Animation Advisors do is provide people with the steps they need to take to produce their animation project. They also strongly suggest that room for good voice talents is included in the budget.

You will save when you hire talented people

If you don’t hire talented people and hire other less talented people for less money (or for free), you will pay exponentially more in studio fees because the person you hired doesn’t know how to act!

Avenues for Work in Character Voices for Animation

Singing

Be sure that you can sing in different characters. Sometimes people hire actors who can’t sing (this happens more often that you would think) and they need to find a voice for those parts.

Being able to sing in character is a specialty skill - not everyone can do it.

Location

You don’t have to be in Los Angeles to get character work

Women Need to Step Up and Write!

Women need to start writing and producing more parts for other women’s voices. That's how the roles for women in animation voice overs will increase over time.

When creating a character, remember these points:

• Think like an animator
• Always think over the top in animation
• Nothing politically incorrect in animation

Idea: Explore all of the voices you have that stem from different parts of your body.

• Talk out one side of your mouth and then the other side
• Under bite
• Buck Teeth

You need to develop a vocal range in all of your characters and an arc in each character. The challenge after you’ve created that voice is that you then have to act.

Something to remember is that anytime you are not using your regular voice, you are doing a character voice over, even if it is a commercial.

Most importantly, try to relate to the people you are working with or talking to and your best performances will come through!

If you enjoyed MJ's lecture, please leave a comment on the blog!

Stephanie

Wine, cheese, Don...

Couldn't get much better than that!

Want to know more?

Keep reading!

Discover the magic that is Don LaFontaine, the King of Voice Overs.

As a young man, Don LaFontaine wanted to be taller (and, also an actor).

Along the way, he ended up in the army and somehow picked up the tools of the recording trade while working for the government.

Once those skills were honed, Don moved to New York and got a job at a recording studio. This is the very beginning of Don's journey to voice over.

Nowadays, Don is known for his voice, however, back in the very early '60s, he was known for his copy writing skills, crafting the movie trailers that he would one day be the voice of, part of a select group of entrepreneurs in the new world of movie advertising on radio and television stations.

One fateful day in 1962, an unnamed voice talent did not show up for their session to record a movie trailer voice over. Don being where he was at the time with the knowledge that he had (being the writer and all) was asked to be a substitute in his place to record the voice over.

It was the easiest $82.00 he had ever made and the first of millions.

For twenty years, Don was a casual announcer and producer. Then, he moved to Los Angeles and was able to work on movie trailers full time. 3,500 trailers later, Don sat confidently in his chair on the stage at VOICE 2007.

Now that we're through with our history lesson, let's dig in to what Don shared last week, shall we?

First off, Don said that all voice over work has a rhythm and you have to give it its proper weight. Just as in music, there is a rhythm to voice over performance.

Some voice talent are endurance runners while others prefer to sprint. Find your rhythm.

A quote from Don LaFontaine:

"If you are going to be successful, you have to have veracity and honesty - if you can fake that, you've got it made. Your heart needs to be fully behind what you read. Devote yourself to the service of words and you're halfway there."

Silence followed for a brief moment, then the inevitable question, "What's the other half, Don?"

"Wait 'til I die", delivered in true Don LaFontaine fashion.

To continue on that train of thought, Don encouraged writing to help develop the entire side of your creative personality. It's when your personal feelings ring through that veracity is realized.

Two of Don's favorite movies to work on were The Terminator and The Elephant Man.

When asked about his busiest days as a voice talent, Don stated that once he had 26 separate recording sessions, 200 spots in a day, including an entire season of spots for Cops! It's a wonder Don has time to sleep!

On another note, the room applauded when Don said that he was the biggest champion of women working in voice over. He also noted that the time is coming for women to really step up in the industry and record voice overs traditionally recorded by men.

Producers need to change their mindsets when in comes to trailers, that is to say, be more open minded when it comes to hiring women. Amen to that!

After the interview was completed, audience members were able to line up to ask questions of Don.

Of all the questions posed, the one with the answer that most piqued my interest was about maintaining vocal health.

Many of the suggestions Don gave were very similar to what the Vocal Department at UWO's Don Wright Faculty of Music presents to new voice students.

Here's a short list straight from Don LaFontaine:

• Don't abuse your voice
• Don't smoke
• Don't drink excessively
• Don't raise your voice
• Hydrate (drink water) frequently
• Don't overwork your voice

Don was also asked if his career could ever be duplicated. Will there ever be another superstar like him?

His answer was no, there likely will not be another person who reaches the same summits in their career and there certainly won't be another Don LaFontaine.

Don started out in the infancy of an industry and had the chance to help build and shape it. He wrote his own work and was the only one recording movie trailers for years. No, his career could not be duplicated.

The amazing thing is that Don had no formal voice over training. He worked hard for everything that he has. It is his determination, honesty, and instincts that have positioned him in the role he finds himself in today.

After 43 years of doing voice over, Don admitted that he has never grown tired of his job. He regards each page of copy as a new page. Each page is different.

Don's 43 years of voice over experience comes coupled with 43 years of AFTRA membership. Don revealed that eventually, if you are successful, you will find it necessary to join the union. Being a member of the union affords certain