Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs
Voice-over acting is no longer all about having that “announcer-y” boom or classic fireside radio voice. More and more casting directors are looking for regular, “conversational” voices to represent a product in a commercial or to play the animated moose in a new Hollywood flick, but the competition is fiercer now than ever before. In a business that is “more risk than reward, more heartbreak than success,” author Talon Beeson will show you in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs how to beat the odds, improve your skills, make the right connections, and build a career in the voice-over business. Some of the topics covered in this book include:

Warm-up exercises for the voice
Reading everything—jokes, telephone numbers, video games, commercials, feature films, and more
Cold reads
Analyzing scenes and translating that analysis to voice
Creating demo tapes
Representing and marketing yourself effectively
Equipment and recording at home
And many more!

This instructional book for professionals presents readers with varying techniques, exercises, and theories to practice—a vocational foundation guaranteed to elevate an actor’s game. In an ingenious and instructive way, Beeson relates voice work to the greatest dramatist of all times, William Shakespeare. This is an added bonus for the classically inclined individual and provides excellent training for every actor. This intellectually informed book is designed improve your voice skills and teach you the basics of the business—the ultimate preparation for any serious actor seeking to pursue this field. Surrounded by microphones, voice-over actors are a unique breed who require additional and different skills to create their reality, and Talon Beeson shows you how to do just that in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.
1118593395
Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs
Voice-over acting is no longer all about having that “announcer-y” boom or classic fireside radio voice. More and more casting directors are looking for regular, “conversational” voices to represent a product in a commercial or to play the animated moose in a new Hollywood flick, but the competition is fiercer now than ever before. In a business that is “more risk than reward, more heartbreak than success,” author Talon Beeson will show you in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs how to beat the odds, improve your skills, make the right connections, and build a career in the voice-over business. Some of the topics covered in this book include:

Warm-up exercises for the voice
Reading everything—jokes, telephone numbers, video games, commercials, feature films, and more
Cold reads
Analyzing scenes and translating that analysis to voice
Creating demo tapes
Representing and marketing yourself effectively
Equipment and recording at home
And many more!

This instructional book for professionals presents readers with varying techniques, exercises, and theories to practice—a vocational foundation guaranteed to elevate an actor’s game. In an ingenious and instructive way, Beeson relates voice work to the greatest dramatist of all times, William Shakespeare. This is an added bonus for the classically inclined individual and provides excellent training for every actor. This intellectually informed book is designed improve your voice skills and teach you the basics of the business—the ultimate preparation for any serious actor seeking to pursue this field. Surrounded by microphones, voice-over actors are a unique breed who require additional and different skills to create their reality, and Talon Beeson shows you how to do just that in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.
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Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs

Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs

by Talon Beeson
Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs

Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs

by Talon Beeson

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$16.95 
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Overview

Voice-over acting is no longer all about having that “announcer-y” boom or classic fireside radio voice. More and more casting directors are looking for regular, “conversational” voices to represent a product in a commercial or to play the animated moose in a new Hollywood flick, but the competition is fiercer now than ever before. In a business that is “more risk than reward, more heartbreak than success,” author Talon Beeson will show you in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs how to beat the odds, improve your skills, make the right connections, and build a career in the voice-over business. Some of the topics covered in this book include:

Warm-up exercises for the voice
Reading everything—jokes, telephone numbers, video games, commercials, feature films, and more
Cold reads
Analyzing scenes and translating that analysis to voice
Creating demo tapes
Representing and marketing yourself effectively
Equipment and recording at home
And many more!

This instructional book for professionals presents readers with varying techniques, exercises, and theories to practice—a vocational foundation guaranteed to elevate an actor’s game. In an ingenious and instructive way, Beeson relates voice work to the greatest dramatist of all times, William Shakespeare. This is an added bonus for the classically inclined individual and provides excellent training for every actor. This intellectually informed book is designed improve your voice skills and teach you the basics of the business—the ultimate preparation for any serious actor seeking to pursue this field. Surrounded by microphones, voice-over actors are a unique breed who require additional and different skills to create their reality, and Talon Beeson shows you how to do just that in Starting Your Career in Voice-Overs.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781621534365
Publisher: Allworth
Publication date: 10/21/2014
Series: Starting Your Career
Pages: 208
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Talon Beeson is an actor, director, and teacher. Talon received his BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory and his MFA in Acting from DePaul University. After years on stage, he started working in voice-over in 2000 and has been heard in many commercials including DeVry, Johnsonville, Kingsford, and several others. Currently he is the narrator of the syndicated TV show Divorce Court, the voice director for the hit HGTV show You Live in What?, and his voice can be heard in the game Grand Theft Auto V. He teaches privately at the SAG Conservatory and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Prologue: So You Want to Be a Voice-Over Actor? ix

Part 1 Commercial Theory … the ABCs of Commercial VO

Chapter 1

Warm-Up 3

Short Form Warm-Up 7

Long Form Warm-Up 10

Chapter 2

What Is Commercial Theory? Wow, What a Great Question 22

Problem-Solution 23

Laundry Lists 24

Taglines 25

Product/Company 30

Phone Numbers/Websites 30

Tone 32

Chapter 3

Shakespeare Sold Soap Flakes … or He Should Have! Part 1: The Folioization Parenthetical Phrases 42

Alliteration 44

Repetition 45

Opposites (or Comparison and Contrast) 45

Rhymes 46

Chapter 4

Shakespeare Sold Soap Flakes … or He Should Have! Part 2: The Commercialization 48

Spelling and Capitalization 50

Punctuation 52

Parenthetical Phrases 54

Alliteration 55

Repetition 56

Opposites (or Comparison and Contrast) 57

Rhymes 58

Chapter 5

Shakespearean Archetypes 60

Chapter 6

Commercial Theory Archetypes 67

Archetypes for Men 68

Celebrity 76

Archetypes for Women 76

Chapter 7

Choices 82

Who Are You? 83

Who Are You Talking To? 84

Why Are You Talking? (What Just Happened?) 85

What Is Your Specific Opinion about the Company? 86

What Is Your Specific Opinion about the Competition? 87

Chapter 8

Music 91

Chapter 9

Quick Review 95

Things to Ask Yourself before Reading Copy 96

Part 2 Movin' on Up … Taking the Next Baby Steps

Chapter 10

Workouts and Classes 105

Chapter 11

The Demo: What It Is, What It Should Do, and How Much You Should Pay 115

Chapter 12

Before You Run a Marathon, Prepare 129

Chapter 13

Other Than Sending It to Your Parents … What Do You Do with Your Demo Now? 134

Chapter 14

Home Studios, Other Areas of VO, and Stuff … Oh My! 144

Mics and Home Studios 144

Other Areas of VO 147

Chapter 15

Of Auditions, Mic Work, and Other Such Things: Techniques and Etiquette 155

Chapter 16

Keep Flexing That Muscle! 164

Chapter 17

The Island 169

Afterword 175

Glossary of VO Terms 178

Index 193

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