This has been percolating in my head for a long time. This is a post about a concept whose time has been coming for a while, yet few actors seem to really speak it out loud, as if it were some underground, occult actor secret... and maybe it is. But most of us have already figured it out, so I'm going to spell it out for you guys here very plainly:
Agents are, slowly but surely, becoming the great dinosaur of the Voiceover Industry. Hell, maybe for the entire entertainment industry, but that's another post for another time. Right now, I'm focused on VO.
Let me give you a little perspective:
The other night I was GChatting with a friend/ mentor of mine who's an independent VO Artist and Producer. I was basically bouncing questions off of him regarding the solo quest for work, and when the subject of Agents came up, he had this to say: "I have SIX agents spread across the US... maybe 5% of my work comes from them." Now, this is paraphrased, but you get the gist, right? This guy, much like myself and many successful freelancers I know, we have agents, sure, but more and more, lately, it's all feeling like that's a sort of "keeping up appearances" type of thing, not a career necessity.
Let me put something else in the spotlight for you... My agent has increased the percentage of her take TWICE since I've been her client. She now receives TWENTY PERCENT of whatever dosh I earn using my voice... TWENTY PERCENT... So, say I land a national ad, say it pays about, oh, let's say $800.00. Now, deduct 20% from that, and then deduct what Uncle Sam takes away, and you start to see another great argument for going about the game on your own.
But, what about finding the work? Aren't agents great for that?
Well, you'd think so, and yes, agents do still, to a degree, have greater connections than most freelance actors... but (there's always a but) let's take a look at some facts:
About sixteen months ago I went to my agent and practically begged her to get me Audiobook work. She scoffed, and sort of chuckled and said something to the tune of, "Oh, that! You mean that work that you do for hours, and maybe make $50 and hour doing it?! Oh, I don't really see the point, Chris."
Oh, well okay, then let me take matters into my own hands, thank you!
I started sending out my demo to Audiobook publishers, and sixteen months later, about half my income comes from Audiobook Narration. And guess what? My agent gets NONE of that money!
Apart from that, the aggressive, freelance Voice Talent can make amazing things happen for him or herself, especially with a strong web presence, a good website, solid demos to showcase, and a (basic, at least) home studio setup. Another little factoid about my career... It's what? Late February? And I've already landed three Haunted House clients for the 2012 Halloween season. How did I do this? I found a list online of every known Haunted House Attraction in America, and I've contacted them with a little info and a link to my website. Even if I only land, say, five Haunted Houses out of this search, that will be five new clients that I've gained, on my own, whose money is all mine. Also, just to show you how things can snowball, one of the Haunted Houses is in a small town in Kansas, and they've recently told me that their City Manager is aware of what I'm doing for their Haunted Attraction, and wants to start using my voice in different city campaigns. Work breeds work! Energy attracts energy!
So, with websites like Voice123, Voices.com, and aggressive Freelance VO Talents all over the country starting to take the market into their own hands, where does this leave agents? I really don't know. And I'm starting to wonder if things won't start (if they haven't already) heading in this direction for the entire entertainment industry. As a stage actor, I get all my work on my own, ditto most of my VO work, and I have to think that models, musicians, on-camera actors and writers are all discovering the same thing: In the age of web 2.0 and beyond, we are seeing the dawn of the truly Independent Artist!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
On the Malady of Mouth Noises
My first post, regretfully, is on an unfortunate, ugly, sticky subject. Yet, it is a subject that must be addressed if one is serious about VO work:
MOUTH NOISES.
Also known as clicks, pops, smacks, and pains-in-engineers-asses.
Some of you may have never noticed these noises before, or the lack of them in any given piece of audio, or rather, you may think you not have noticed. But if a recording is redolent with smacky, poppy, sticky noise sounds, it can become a distraction, sometimes even an irritation.
First, it's good to know what causes these bothersome sounds, so that voice talent can better know how to diminish them. What this does is save engineers hours of editing time. Imagine having to use your editing program to search for the exact nanosecond between each work or utterance where an annoying SMACK happens... anyway, I digress.
What's actually causing these sounds is dry mouth. Dry mouth, that is, producing bubbles in the mouth, the bubbles, when the mouth is in motion, pop, and the result is the dreaded mouth noise upon which this entire entry is based.
Sooo.
What can you (or anyone) do about this situation?
Well, as is the answer with so many other things to do with health and the voice, it all comes down to the big H20, and the basic need to hydrate. Dry mouth can be caused by many things, ranging from medication to excessive caffeine intake, but can, of course, be remedied by drinking plenty of water. And by plenty, I mean about 40 - 70 ounces a day, not a glass here or there.
For a quick fix, you can take a few bites of a green apple. Now, I don't really know how this works, but I've read that it has something to do with balancing the PH in the mouth. And related to that, you can try a product such as Biotene Oral Balence, which works well in a pinch, but, of course, is no substitute for the good 'ol standby, WATER.
As a voice artist, or just a "regular joe or joanne", it's a good sign when your mouth, in general, is not making poppy, smacky noises. You need to be hydrated. Your cells need to be hydrated. It's kinda... how they function and such. So, listen while you talk, just in everyday life, and check if your mouth is making a lot of excess noise. If it is, you might want to look into drinking more water, and thinking about if you're a chronic dry mouth sufferer. I'm of the opinion that dehydration, along with sugar consumption, are becoming two of the largest nutritional plagues of the modern age. If everybody dropped their sugar intake, and upped their protein and water intake, I think not only our vocal health, but our health in general, would improve.
Didn't mean to rant, but after having just gone through two audiobook narration sessions with very bad dry mouth, I wanted to make sure this was the first topic I tackled on this blog!
luvz!
Chris
MOUTH NOISES.
Also known as clicks, pops, smacks, and pains-in-engineers-asses.
Some of you may have never noticed these noises before, or the lack of them in any given piece of audio, or rather, you may think you not have noticed. But if a recording is redolent with smacky, poppy, sticky noise sounds, it can become a distraction, sometimes even an irritation.
First, it's good to know what causes these bothersome sounds, so that voice talent can better know how to diminish them. What this does is save engineers hours of editing time. Imagine having to use your editing program to search for the exact nanosecond between each work or utterance where an annoying SMACK happens... anyway, I digress.
What's actually causing these sounds is dry mouth. Dry mouth, that is, producing bubbles in the mouth, the bubbles, when the mouth is in motion, pop, and the result is the dreaded mouth noise upon which this entire entry is based.
Sooo.
What can you (or anyone) do about this situation?
Well, as is the answer with so many other things to do with health and the voice, it all comes down to the big H20, and the basic need to hydrate. Dry mouth can be caused by many things, ranging from medication to excessive caffeine intake, but can, of course, be remedied by drinking plenty of water. And by plenty, I mean about 40 - 70 ounces a day, not a glass here or there.
For a quick fix, you can take a few bites of a green apple. Now, I don't really know how this works, but I've read that it has something to do with balancing the PH in the mouth. And related to that, you can try a product such as Biotene Oral Balence, which works well in a pinch, but, of course, is no substitute for the good 'ol standby, WATER.
As a voice artist, or just a "regular joe or joanne", it's a good sign when your mouth, in general, is not making poppy, smacky noises. You need to be hydrated. Your cells need to be hydrated. It's kinda... how they function and such. So, listen while you talk, just in everyday life, and check if your mouth is making a lot of excess noise. If it is, you might want to look into drinking more water, and thinking about if you're a chronic dry mouth sufferer. I'm of the opinion that dehydration, along with sugar consumption, are becoming two of the largest nutritional plagues of the modern age. If everybody dropped their sugar intake, and upped their protein and water intake, I think not only our vocal health, but our health in general, would improve.
Didn't mean to rant, but after having just gone through two audiobook narration sessions with very bad dry mouth, I wanted to make sure this was the first topic I tackled on this blog!
luvz!
Chris
Definitive Intro
So, this is it!
I decided that if I was going to keep a regular blog, I would have to do it with a target audience and subject in mind. Blogging for my own sake often becomes meandering, masturbatory and then, sadly, infrequent and uncreative.
To the end of blogging regularity (insert constipation joke here), this will be THE PLACE where I post my thoughts, musings, tips, tricks, insights and more into the world of Voiceover, and Acting in general.
If there are certain topics I'm not hitting on that you'd like to see discussed, by all means tell me! Let me know! Virtually smack me about a bit... okay, that may be a bit far, but you get the gist, yes? Yes.
Good, so let the blogging begin!
I decided that if I was going to keep a regular blog, I would have to do it with a target audience and subject in mind. Blogging for my own sake often becomes meandering, masturbatory and then, sadly, infrequent and uncreative.
To the end of blogging regularity (insert constipation joke here), this will be THE PLACE where I post my thoughts, musings, tips, tricks, insights and more into the world of Voiceover, and Acting in general.
If there are certain topics I'm not hitting on that you'd like to see discussed, by all means tell me! Let me know! Virtually smack me about a bit... okay, that may be a bit far, but you get the gist, yes? Yes.
Good, so let the blogging begin!
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