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Lucien

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:19 pm

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Los Angeles

Think back if you will... to the days when you'd audition for projects at casting offices. When you would find yourself in close proximity of an actor who felt they had to rehearse their lines out loud, or at no fault of their own, their audition could be heard through the thin door that separated the 'booth' and the lobby, was your own choice ever swayed by what you heard? Did you ever find yourself saying "Oh, I was actually going to do something very much like that, perhaps I should do something different.." or alternately "I didn't even think to do it that way..." or did you find such environments simply annoying and/or uncomfortable, putting as much effort to tune out the other voices as possible?

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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 5:10 pm

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!

Lucien wrote:

...was your own choice ever swayed by what you heard?...or did you find such environments simply annoying and/or uncomfortable...

To my Old Time Radio Actor sensibilities, it's akin to leaving a public bathroom door open, when someone openly constructs and rehearses an audition performance - why would anyone not be humiliated to expose all their insecurities and inadequacies, revealing processes and gimmicks they're planning to "win the jackpot" with, in front of a roomful of eager - even occasionally unscrupulous - competitors? Makes no sense to me.

Alternately, when that bathroom door into the recording/control room space has little to no real sonic isolation, I will do my damnedest to avoid hearing any definable performance cues that might influence my audition one way or other. Now, there are some aggressively competitive types who will purposely fill the air with their distracting stories and/or smugly projected rehearsal "takes", just to "mess with minds" and attempt to sabotage other contenders waiting to go in; a VO equivalent of "scent marking" to achieve dominance over the casting office space, and generate "flop sweat" uncertainty amongst less-secure hopefuls. It can be like a formal event gown face-off, when the idea should really be about simply looking your best, regardless of what anyone else chooses to wear. Right? Once you start paying attention to what everyone else is doing, you've already shot down your own performance capabilities by making "strategic" choices, instead of those that bring your greatest and most unique assets to the table.

Alex Weitzman

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:43 am

Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA

CB wrote:

...Once you start paying attention to what everyone else is doing, you've already shot down your own performance capabilities by making "strategic" choices, instead of those that bring your greatest and most unique assets to the table.

If I may, I'd like to just point out that this is excellent audition advice to all actors, be it stage, camera, or voice. The scenarios you describe here are absolutely not unique to voice-over itself, and all forms of acting involve the exact same struggles and requirements in the ever-perilous audition environment. One more small signpost that the world at large should note regarding whether voice-over is "real" acting. No matter the medium, actors require a clear-headed view of the sides and character, and a chance to formulate their own unique takes without accidental or purposeful intrusion by the surroundings.

Lucien

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 1:26 pm

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Los Angeles

CB wrote:

why would anyone not be humiliated to expose all their insecurities and inadequacies, revealing processes and gimmicks they're planning to "win the jackpot" with, in front of a roomful of eager - even occasionally unscrupulous - competitors? Makes no sense to me.

If I may play Devil's advocate, with the voice-over community renown for it's lack of cut-throat competitiveness in favor of a more supportive nature, are such safeguards truly necessary?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:48 am

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!

Lucien wrote:

...with the voice-over community renown for it's lack of cut-throat competitiveness...are such safeguards truly necessary?

There are elements of subterfuge carried over from the worlds of daily Radio personality/staff announcer work and stereotypical On Camera audition "contestant" culture, which occasionally subverts the normally more 'civilized' traditions of the Hollywood Radio Theatre community. Whenever there is a perceived scarcity of employment opportunities, instead of harmonious camaraderie, the focus can suddenly shift from best serving characterization and storytelling craft, to ruthless jockeying for any available well-paying income source. The Old Timers had a supportive sense of "There's always the next one - so it's fine if someone else gets this, and I can do that…"; rather than beating everyone in the room to the paycheck, or go without life's common necessities for the month. Sure enough, it's the more financially secure and currently successful performing talents who land most of the "prize" gigs anyway - the "stay hungry" philosophy doesn't tend to produce "winning" characterizations or great craftsmanship, once it becomes "blood sport".

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