VAM 010 | How to Practice Voice Acting Anywhere

VAM 010 | How to Practice Voice Acting Anywhere

Welcome to episode 10 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode, I give practical advice on how to practice your voice acting skills no matter where you are.

So many of my listeners have told me how much they enjoy the podcast. Some listeners espouse a belief that because they’re not located in the right area that they are unable to improve their voice acting skills. I decided to dedicate this entire episode to giving you practical ideas about how to practice voice acting no matter where you’re located.

The truth of the matter is, if you really want to do something, nothing will stop you. This is true in all aspects of life. A burning desire to achieve a goal will inspire a resourcefulness in you that will surprise you.

One of the most important aspects is identifying yourself as a voice actor and then asking yourself a series of logical questions:

  • I am a voice actor. What does a voice actor do?
  • A voice actor acts. What is acting?
  • Acting is playing pretend so believably that people will pay you to do it. How do you achieve that level of skill?
  • By practicing. Where does one practice acting?

That is the question I spend most of the episode answering. There are all sorts of places you can practice your acting skills and I address many of them in this podcast including:

  1. Classes: High School, College and Community College
  2. Community Theater: Acting with a multi-generational troupe of performers is enlightening
  3. Online Voice Acting Communities: Websites where you can post your work and get feedback
  4. Individual Study: Mimicking other voice actors can help you expand your range

I’m sure many of you out there have even more ideas about how one can practice their voice acting no matter where you’re located. I look forward to your suggestions, advice and comments here on the blog!

If you have any questions, please post your question as a comment to this blog post. Chances are, someone else has a similar question. By posting your question here on the blog, I get to communicate with all of you at once.

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #10 Here (MP3)

 

55 Responses to “VAM 010 | How to Practice Voice Acting Anywhere”

  1. Dave says:

    Greetings Mr. Freeman! I just wanted to thank you for sharing your story via this podcast. All of the technique/equipment/confidence information is invaluable as well, of course. However, I think it was the simple sharing of your journey as an actor that has helped me the most. I was first introduced to your work on Adult Swim circa 2004, when the lineup included Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell SAC, The Big O, etc., and most recently, I’ve rescued all of the Crispin Freemans who were political prisoners in Arkham City. Anyway, it was somewhat disheartening to assume that the man behind this voice that I was hearing everywhere had simply “gotten lucky” career-wise. Likewise, it was very encouraging to hear that your success was built on the back of decades of theatrical training. Again, thank you so much for sharing your story, and for creating this podcast.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Thanks for rescuing me in Arkham City! I appreciate it!

      I’m also glad that you not only enjoy the podcast, but that you found my personal story helpful. I’m happy to share my story of how I got where I am so that others can follow.

  2. Kalyn McCabe says:

    I’ve been a member of the VAA for 4+ years now. My username is TwilitWing. Ever since I joined, I have grown so much as a voice actor.

    There’s also VoiceHollywood.com, granted it’s not as large as the VAA, but it’s still good.

    A word of caution about online communities though. Certain voice actors have their own “circles” of people they like to dub with and know their reliable. A way to build VAing cred is to have a short return rate on lines. I usually record lines the same day I get the script or within the week.

    A good mic to start with for recording lines is a Rockband mic combined with Audacity. Which is what I have. Some of the more “famous” VAAers have Yetis or Snowballs or higher quality mics. So don’t be intimidated to come on the VAA. I mentored a newcomer to the VAA, and now he’s on the rosters at Studio Center Total Production!

    I’m more than willing to mentor newcomers. It’s fun meeting new people and voices.

    Excellent podcast as always Mr. Freeman! Though I would advise to emphasize the acting style than the “imitation” aspect. There is a fine line when it comes to “imitation”.

    I was thinking you could put up a list of terms commonly found in the voice acting world. Like “Pick-Pocketing” I have never heard before.

    See you next podcast!

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Glad to have a member of the VAA giving us valuable info! I was not familiar with VoiceHollywood. I’ll have to check it out!

      It’s true that people will sometimes play favorites, but that can be true in the professional industry as well. Might as well learn how to navigate those waters early!

      Great advice about having quick turn around times! These days, it seems like the voice over world is going at light speed! I’m having to get auditions back to my agent same day! Crazy!

      Thanks for offering to mentor newcomers! That’s very generous of you. Is there any where we can check out some of your work on the VAA?

      It is true that acting is far more than imitation. Sometimes matching other voices as exactly as possible can help break you out of your habitual patterns of performing and broaden your range. But you’re right, it’s never good to go around just aping other people’s performances. In the end, you have to develop your own artistry!

      What do you mean by “pick-pocketing”? I’m not familiar with how that term applies to voice acting.

      Thanks for your wonderful comments!

      • Kalyn McCabe says:

        You used “pick-pocketing” in the Wes Davis interview. I guess it’s more on the industry side than the acting side! Sorry! Ahaha.

        As for recent things that I’ve done, I’ve done more mixing than acting lately. I just recently gotten Sony Vegas and testing out my mixing talents.

        All of my stuff can be found on my Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/VioletxWing

        There you can find my most recent demo reel, my covers, mini-dubs, and my mixing. All of the most recent dubs I’ve been in are at the top of my uploads and favorites list.

  3. Wes Davis says:

    Really enjoyed this segment. Practicing is so important in such an ultra competitive field like voice over. If you’re not putting in the effort, you can be sure someone else out there is. And they’re going to have that much more going for them when you’re auditioning against them.

    I can’t agree more about the importance of improv training. Being able to think quick on your feet is great when your faced with cold copy, auditions that you don’t have much time to prepare for.

    Also it’s helped me get over being worried about screwing stuff up. Not everything I would do in improv would hit, but because of the fast pace I didn’t have time to dwell on it and worry about how I might of screwed things up, I had to move on. I’ve tried and learned about things I could do that I might never have attempted if it wasn’t for improv to force me to try it.

    Being a bit outside of LA I’m always looking for ways to practice on my own. A fun way I like to practice new character voices when I’m on my own is to use comics books. The nice thing about a comic book is that it’s basically a storyboarded cartoon show. Not only do you get the character’s lines but you also get to see what’s going on, something you don’t always know when you’re auditioning.

    Personally I try to pick characters that I haven’t seen in video games or television before. I find that otherwise I might be too focused on attempting to copy what another actor has done with the character as opposed to creating something that is my own.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Comic books are a great idea! You can even bring them on the desert island with you! 🙂

      Thanks for all your great insight Wes. It’s great for everyone to hear how much Improv has helped you in your acting. It certainly freed up my acting as well!

      Thanks again for commenting!

  4. Maurice Cooper says:

    I really enjoyed this episode. The one other thing I do if I don’t have any type of recording equipment available is that I will stand in a corner in my house and I will perform a monologue.

    Your voice will bounce on the walls and back into your ears so you kind of have a good idea on how your voice sound like without a voice recorder.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Very smart! Performing into the corner of a room can definitely help you hear what your voice sounds like, even without a recording device. Thanks for the tip!

  5. Mitchell Spiegel says:

    Practice is important. Awhile back my friend came up with his own method for practicing voice acting. What he would do is record episodes of anime on his TV. Then get out recording gear on his laptop. Watch a bit of the anime, find a character he liked or thought he could portray pretty well. Find a scene, watch it and try to memorize as many lines as he could in one sitting. Rewind the anime to the beginning of the scene or episode. Mute the TV. Then improve/recite the lines and try to match the lip movements. If he couldn’t he would rewind and rerecord and at times he would rerecord anyways taking different approaches or fixing mistakes.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Voice acting obviously means a lot to your friend, otherwise he wouldn’t be so resourceful about practicing! That’s exactly what I advise my students to do who want to practice dubbing or ADR on their own. I’m sure your friend is learning a lot from practicing that way! Thanks for sharing!

  6. Nickolas Samaniego says:

    This is the best podcast very simple but
    informative, Mr Freeman you mention on how the person should impersonate/practice the character they see on TV, for me i impersonate comedians I try to see if im close to what they are doing, its not cloes but I look back at it and try again its all about practicing, looking forward to the next podcast

  7. Taylor Carlson says:

    Hi Mr. Freeman/readers/listeners!

    I just wanted to say that it’s SO encouraging to hear a notable professional voice actor supporting resources such as the Voice Acting Alliance. For someone like me who had NO idea where to start, it’s been a big help (that coupled with YouTube and Skype, which is a great resource in which to have really in depth conversations with peers and mentors). It’s totally true what you said about building a network of friends, practicing, and getting wonderful feedback. I’m still fairly new to the game (I joined the VAA back in March of this year), but I’ve already learned so much about my voice!

    I think that’s another reason why practicing voice acting is important. As a voice actor, you have to know your voice very well. You have to know where and how different voices might come out of your mouth. After practicing for a bit, I’ve been able to do voices I never would have thought possible for me.

    This podcast is wonderful, I especially liked how last episode you said that being nervous before you perform shows that you really care about the craft. I never really understood why after being on stage a lot I still get nervous every time I perform. For a blossoming actress who is just starting to learn how to have confidence in herself, your advice is really wonderful and encouraging!

    Thank you so much! I hope to see you in the booth one day (or well I guess technically not since most of the time we record one at a time haha)! *cheesy anime-style salute* Take care!

  8. Sam Saif says:

    Hello Crispin!

    I’m a fan of your voice acting work and I’ve been interested in Voice Over since I was little. It wasn’t until 2 years ago that I decided I wanted to become a voice actor.

    I love that you mention the VAA where I’ve been a member for several years (known as Senpai), though I’d like to raise a few questions that are slightly off topic and a suggestion for a community to practice VA.

    The VAA is a dedicated VA forum, though most of the content is dedicated to fan productions (Same as VAC). While I agree that doing fan work is a great way to boost your acting skill, I don’t think it’s necessarily a good outlet to use. I’ve had fan productions taken down for copyright laws and that’s very disheartening for those who’ve worked hard on their projects (despite any legal rammifications).

    While there are original works on the VAA, they don’t get nearly as much attention as the Anime and Games fan productions, which is what leads me to my suggestion.

    http://www.newgrounds.com is a flash animation/game portal where most work tends to be original. The forums there have an audio section where people can find projects that require voice actors. I feel this is a great way to get your voice heard and a nice way to get work under your belt. I’d figure that fandubs aren’t something you can snap onto a resume.

    So in short, I’d like to hear your opinion on fan productions and their validity in the Voice acting world, and I’d like to suggest Newgrounds.com and an open source for voice actors to not only practice their trade, but be able to write it down in a resume.

    Like I said, a bit off the mark when it comes to the topic, but it’s still VA talk all the same.

    Thanks for your time.
    – Sam Saif

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Hey there Sam! Thanks for the wonderful suggestion! While I was aware of New Grounds, I had no idea they had an audio section on their forums! For those who are curious, here’s a direct link to the audio forum on New Grounds:
      http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/forum/13

      I would agree with your assessment of fan art or fan dubs: they can be very good practice, but they’re not really appropriate to go on your demo and definitely not on your resume. There are many problems with using fandubs to represent yourself professionally, not the least of which is copyright infringement. The other problem is that someone has already played that character, and if industry people are familiar with the original actor, they’ll spend the whole time comparing your performance to the original rather than evaluating your acting on its own merits.

      So yes, it’s better to have your own original characters and original projects in your demo and resume. However, it can be extremely helpful as a learning experience to do fandubs or to try to mimic successful performers. Just realize that when you present your own professional persona, it needs to be uniquely you, not a copy of someone else’s work.

      Hope that clarifies a bit. Thanks so much for the New Grounds idea! That’s really helpful!

  9. Angelican Marcos says:

    This was a great podcast I didn’t know you can voice act everywhere as long is secluded right no commotion at all but its really nice though thank you for sharing this podcast (p.s. Have fun with voice acting Alucard my master [short giggles]) 😉

  10. CJ Johnson says:

    Another great installment! Been a member of VAA for quite some time, although I only participate in originals (both audio and video), I completely understand what you say in these podcasts! They are very inspirational and have (on more than one occasion) kept me from quitting. I have had a couple of auditions at FUNimation Flower Mound, although there havent been any callbacks yet, you have been keeping my hopes up and giving me the drive to keep trying till I get even a small part! Looking for a chance to prove myself is my next goal in my plan.
    Thank you for all of your advice so far, and for telling everyone who is striving to enter the professional world of Voice Over.
    Like Kalyn, I’m also willing to work with others to help improve! I dont claim to be an expert, but I try to keep, “To teach is to learn,” as my philosophy.

    Thanks for everything, Mr. Freeman,
    Here’s to hoping I am able to rise to the challenge of being a professional Voice Over Artist!
    Keep an eye out for me 😉 I wont quit till I’m satisfied with my success!
    ~Cody J Johnson

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Thanks so much Cody! It’s true that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else! Good for you for auditioning for FUNimation!

      Best of luck in your voice acting endeavors!

  11. Roy Mills says:

    Great podcast as always Mr. Freeman. I find your expertise in this field I love very useful and helpful. I’m also on the VAA. I’m relatively new to it, my handle is ReelWolfe. Remember an email I sent to you concerning microphones, it’s been a while back. But, I have found one for my budget and it is related to a mic you mentioned in your preference guide. It’s a Audio-Technica ATR2500-USB. Amazon quotes it as a cardioid, but I checked with AT’s site and found it to be a Condenser.

    I have found some other sources for learning the craft of acting. And it brought to us courtesy of iTunes. It’s called iTunesU. Basically it lets people “sit in” on classes from a variety of fields, and it’s free. You can look up the seminars from various institutions from America, and take your pick on the class you’d like to listen to and watch. Another source I like is book written by Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt called “Voice-Over Voice Actor” it’s also a good source of info. Although I don’t recall running into the term “pick pocketing”. I would love to learn more valuable terms in the business.

    Thanks for your help.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      So glad you like the podcast!

      Just to clarify, it is possible for a microphone to be both a cardiod and a condenser microphone. Caridiod refers to its pick-up pattern whereas condenser refers to the technology behind the microphone. There are dynamic cardiod microphones (I use one when I travel) and omnidirectional pattern condensers (I use a lavalier microphone that’s omnidirectional and a condenser.)

      Also, no one actually said “pick-pocketing” in the podcast, the term was “hip-pocketing” which is what happens when an agent wants to work with you but is not ready to sign you yet to a contract.

      Thanks for the training recommendations!

  12. Erika I. says:

    Hello Mr. Freeman, I spoke with you at Long Beach Con and have finally caught up with the podcasts. I have found them immensely useful and inspiring. Thank you.

    I was wondering if you have had or planned to have any involvement with the Don LaFontaine Voiceover Lab program in LA. I think all aspiring and even experienced voice actors would really benefit from a workshop with you.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      So glad you enjoy the workshop!

      I have not explored the Don La Fontaine Voiceover Lab. If you have any contacts there or any links I should follow up on, I’d be happy to check them out! Thanks!

  13. Roy Mills says:

    yeah, sorry about that I wrote the wrong word concerning the mic. But, Amazon is posting as a Dynamic, but the AT website is listing it as a Condenser.

    Here are the links to show what I mean.
    http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2500-USB-Cardioid-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B004QJREXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321315032&sr=8-1

    Here’s the AT website listing
    http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/38847e6f71eb2784/index.html

    And thank you for correcting my terminology there on on hip pocketing. I am interested in how one can do that. And if other agencies outside of LA have similar circumstances. Anyway thanks Mr. Freeman.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Yeah, that’s weird. I don’t know why Amazon lists it as Dynamic when it’s a Condenser. Almost every USB mic I’ve ever seen is a condenser.

      No worries on the hip pocketing misinterpretation. It’s a new term for many people!

  14. Lindsay Zana says:

    Hi Crispin!

    First of all I just wanted to tell you how helpful this Podcast has been. I’m learning new things about voice acting as well as tweaking things I’ve been doing based on information I’ve learned from you.

    I am also a member of VAA and have been for a few years now. It’s really what got me started in my very first days of delving into voice over. It’s a wonderful place to practice and there are all sorts of projects to submit for.

    I am currently casting a few characters in an independent voice over project that I’m producing and have posted information on VAA. We have only received two auditions so far and I’d love to hear as many people as possible!

    The project is called Girls Next Door and it’s an audio dub of a webcomic of the same name. I am co-producer/director as well as the voice of Sarah.

    The audition thread on VAA can be found by copy/pasting the address below:

    http://voiceactingalliance.com/board/showthread.php?68547-Girls-Next-Door-Webcomic-Dub-Casting-More-Characters!-M-F

    If you would like to see some of the episodes that are already online, check out our YouTube channel:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/girlsnextdoorcomic

    We would love to hear as many voices as we can!

  15. amanda says:

    I too wish to thank you for posting these you seem to really want to help those who’s dream is to voice act, though that is not mine, my brother though is dreaming away and don’t have means for funds to get going these podcast helps him to start somewhere and as for me the stage is my dream so is an art gallery and i think these help anyone in the arts, though it be more then just voice. thanks again and i am glad to know of you and hear your helpful tips.

  16. Eric says:

    Hello there Mr. Freeman

    I’m a 21 year old college student from South Texas with hopes of working in FUNimation as a voice actor. I plan on moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area when I graduate college.

    My plan is to work in Texas but I know that there are also a lot of opportunities in California. I guess I’m asking, will a career in Texas be enough for a career or will moving to California be necessary sometime down the line?

    Thank you for your time.

    P.S.

    You were awesome as Electro in Spectacular Spider-Man! That show was great!

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      So glad you liked my work as Electro! That show was a lot of fun!

      I guess you have to answer that question for yourself: will your career in Texas be enough for you? There are plenty of voice actors who work out of Texas and seem to be enjoying quite successful careers with no indication that they’d like to leave. There are other voice actors who started working in Texas and eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue voice acting here. It’s totally up to you. Where would you like to work and live? It’s sort of up to your personal preferences. Clearly it’s possible to make a living voice acting in either locale.

  17. Charles says:

    Considering that acting is part of storytelling, I had an idea for another episode: acting in a way that shows many ways the character thinks, like in your work in Castlevania Curse of Darkness, Hector wants to kill Issac for causing him sadness, would killing Issac cause “The Hamlet Cycle,” would his torment end or would he be more like the one he betrayed, Dracula without knowing it. Even then, Dracula might have wanted Hector to know what tragedy feels like and to see if Hector would take a different turn than he did when Elisabetha and Lisa were taken from him.

  18. Kelly says:

    Hello again crispin! Thank u again for the advice on voice acting!
    Thank you for showing me that taking improv classes and outside community clases are a good idea. I am currently in an improv club that my good friend does, and I’ve been commited to that so I.now know its an aweosme idea to stay with it. I’ve been sad lately because my drama club at school has been canceled because the teacher was “too busy” (he was basically fired for an incedent last year.) My friend was sad so she made so the improv club. My principle is saying we will do a show for Christmas, the christmas carol, but he is so busy and unorganized and laid back I doubt that will happen…
    So anyway now I think ill join a community acting program that aught to help alot!!

    There is a cool website that I think is good for people to see its called
    http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/
    It says the work of many if almost every voice actor, and recently had a voice acting contest with good contenders. Now I haven’t seen the other sites you’ve mentioned yet, so for all I know this could.be cr*p
    Also one question. Is it a good idea to help other actors as a helper for my elementry schools drama club. It’s where I started, but even though I am a junior now Ive never helped.because of my high schools drama club (practices on the same day). Now improv club is on wednsday too. So its all crammed. I know this is my own schedualing problem I just want your opinion. All start at 3:00 as well…

    Thanks again 🙂

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      It’s always a good idea to help others with their acting. One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to other people. You end up having to clarify your own thoughts on a subject when others are looking to you for explanations.

      • Kelly says:

        thanks thats good to know! I think I’ll do improv but leave early to help with my elementry schools production, well at least until this cristmas carol show rolls by 🙂

        Thanks again for the advice! Can’t wait to see more podcasts. Also i fixed the pirates movie problem. I edited your wikipedia page, and then the Imdb page changed as well! Hope thats ok..

  19. Daniel says:

    Hi

    Not sure if this would be the right place to ask this, but what’s a good way to learn how to scream/yell when voice acting. (I’ve never really been able yell ’cause I was never allowed to yell when I was younger)

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      It sounds like you just need to give yourself permission to yell.

      There’s no voice acting exercise I can think of that will force you technically to do something you’re resisting emotionally. Even if there were, I would never advise you to force yourself to do something physically that you’re not ready for emotionally.

      You have to allow yourself the emotional space to explore using your voice loudly. Find someplace where you can yell without bothering anyone else and let it rip. Closets tend to be good for this sort of thing. Also, being alone in your car driving down the highway.

      Hope that helps.

      • Daniel says:

        That does help, but I think the thing is, sense I’m not use to yelling, my voice finds it hard to do without sounding forced and horrible, do know any tutorials or anything like that on how to teach you’re voice how to yell?

        • Crispin Freeman says:

          So what you’re asking is how do you yell without sounding strained? The best way to yell is to make sure that the back of your throat is open and not constricted. Too often when we yell, we tighten the muscles in the back of our throat out of emotion or stress. You can really hurt your voice by trying to push a large volume of air pressure through tense vocal cords.

          Instead, open the back of your throat as if you’re saying “Aaaaah!”. Now try to yell as loudly as you can on an “Aaaah!” sound. It’s much harder to hurt yourself yelling on an “Aaaah!” then on other sounds. You still can hurt yourself, so be careful, but the “Aaaah!” mouth shape will start to teach you how produce a lot of sound without tensing the back of your throat.

          You may want to approach a voice or singing coach to help you out more specifically. All I can do is give you general ideas. A coach can listen to what you’re doing in the moment and give personalized advice.

          Hope that helps.

  20. Thalia says:

    Hello, Mr. Freeman,

    I’m really big on making characters. I have been for as long as I can remember. I love to draw them, write about them, and act them out. Within the past couple of years, I’ve grown to love anime (almost as much as languages) and hearing so many amazing voices has inspired me. Voice acting has become my dream career now and I’m finding this podcast to be ever so helpful. I’m so glad I found it. Being the self-conscious, shy person that I am, I’ve always found it hard to convince myself I can do things. The episode 9 really helped me with that. I think that next year I will try out for my school’s Fall Play now that I have the courage.

    Anyway, about this episode. Do you think that making up a character and then interviewing that character is an effective way to practice voice acting? That’s what I do (when I’m not trying to imitate Integra Hellsing) since I don’t have too many opportunities to practice. I’ve been thinking of joining VAA, but I’m not sure I’m ready to. I feel like I still have a few things to learn before I really start getting engaged in the voice acting community.

    As an added note, I really admire your work as Alucard and Itachi.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast!

      I think interviewing your characters is a great way to flesh out their personalities. I’ve also found that if you can sing as the character, then you’ve really internalized their voice.

      Hope that helps!

  21. Jeff Cummings says:

    First off let me start by saying Thank you for doing this pod cast series, it has given me a lot of helpful insight into the world of voice acting. The tips on finding a way to practice no matter where you are have been very encouraging, as I’ve gotten to the point where I’ll start trying lines & Voices out of no where while I’m shopping, or even hanging out with my friends (needless to say they give me some weird looks.) Another way to help get your voice out there through the internet is through Abridging (i.e. DBZ Abridged)Thanks to some of the tips I’ve received here an abridger that I talk to quite frequently has given me a shot at a spot on his next project.I’ve know for a long time that I want to do voice acting, and you are one of the voice actors that helped fuel that passion, ever since I first heard you as the voice of Alucard in Hellsing, I have been a fan of your work. Thank you for being an inspiration.

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast! Congrats on being able to work on a fan project. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot!

  22. Kristen Patton says:

    Well, I’m an avid roleplayer. And I find that helps me to get into a character, and, as I’ve been hearing, if you get into a character well, you learn how they work, how they think, how they act, and how they would say something. So, if anything, that would help you in the area of voice acting, wouldn’t it? Because being able to appropriately act as a character will help you to appropriately think like the character and, therefore, speak as you think the character would honestly and sincerely! I think it all ties in together perfectly, because roleplaying is acting in a way, and I’ve done that all my life, too, and it’s helped me utilize my English to the fullest so that I could write and read and become a good actor in my drama classes. What do you think?

    • Crispin Freeman says:

      Roleplaying is absolutely related to understanding a character and learning how to think like them. I’m sure it can help with developing your acting skills. However, acting requires more than just gaming style roleplaying. Acting requires developing your voice as an instrument, developing your ability to express different emotions and to embody different types of characters so believably you don’t “look” like you’re acting. So while roleplaying is a good starting point, it is no substitute for actually getting up with a script and trying to perform in front of an audience and see if your performance communicates.

  23. Samantha says:

    Another great podcast! Your expertise and advice are greatly appreciated =)

  24. Dajia says:

    If you could have only seen my face when I came upon your website haha! I am sooo happy I discovered it! I’m a new aspiring vocal actress and so I’ve really been using all of the information you give to the best of my ability. Lately, I’ve been feeling a little lost. I kept wondering how I was suppose to create the voices and develop them better because I didn’t know how. I kind of felt like I was wondering around aimlessly and if I tried to do a voice that I would just end up looking stupid in front of everyone. Then today (June 23rd 2013) a silly thought hit my mind: Maybe I’m not cut out to be a vocal actress. When I thought this about myself I got just so….angry. I felt like a quitter, loser, and any other name you can think of that is the epitome of a failure. After a long self to self talk I realized that vocal acting is were I want to be; it’s where I want to STAY. Also I said to myself that its really about imagination and I’m a pretty creative kid if I do say so myself :). Voices then started just flooding my mind and I would really love to upload them on some of the sites you listed! I have never felt so free, whimsical, and comfortable with myself in my life since I started vocal acting. I feel like I don’t have to change myself to fit what the media finds acceptable or beautiful even, because all they need is my voice 🙂 haha. I really enjoy being in theater class in school, I take it every year and have it every semester. My only downfall is that I care too much about what other people think if I mess up and I also care to much about them not wanting me for a show because I don’t look like a character. I think that is the worst aspect of the acting industry. You could perform a role so well and feel great about it and have them reject you just because you don’t fit the image. Those two reasons are the main reasons why I give it my all and feel so comfortable with vocal acting. There’s no one there to judge me about what I can’t change. Anyways, I’m sorry for writing you a novel here! It’s just that your a huge inspiration to me and for you to teach and post podcast about the world of vocal acting is just amazing. I just know that someday I’ll reach my dream and perform with the best of the best like yourself! I will never quit, I practice everyday, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me. People like you are my motivation to keep moving forward. I love you so much and I promise I will make you proud and you’ll see my name: Dajia Kirkland in the credits of a cartoon show for a vocal actress. BBBBBBELIEVE IT! haha ^_^

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