With the massive growth of streaming and digital networks, companies like Netflix are bringing tons of international movies out of the vaults to be dubbed into English and other key languages. Although it looks easy, dubbing is an art form in and of itself. It requires training and very specific skills, and there are many ways to do it. Dubbing for films is another part of this massive trend. Today, we take you inside the studio with Daxx George, our 11 year old son, who is dubbing efforts (mostly sounds, very few words), for a kid that was unable to be mic’d because he was riding a bike, and then performed a stunt with wires. You do hear the original actor in production, but the director was unable to use his voice.

The goal of good dubbing is to watch the characters, emulate the way they look, look at your script, and glance back up at the screen, all while fitting the new words right into the character’s mouth without sounding like you are reading.

Oh, and acting! Sound easy? That’s what an actor friend of ours thought at a party.

“You guys get paid for that? It’s so easy.”

Being the kind friends that we are, we invited him to come in to work on a show we cast and give it a shot. He walked into the studio with a puffed out chest. He definitely was going to prove to us how easy dubbing is. We played him the scene, he rubbed his hands together, cracked his neck, planted his feet and after the 3 starting beeps for sound and performance, he froze. “Let’s give this a shot!” he said, not knowing that he missed his first cue. Kindly, we re-rolled. Beep. Beep. Beep. Again, he tried to take the words off the page and get them into the mouth of his character. He trailed behind what the on-screen actor was saying by at least two words and many frames.

“One more shot? Sure thing! We wanted him to see how EASY he said it was.

Third time’s a charm, right? Nope. Epic fail. Although we did want him to succeed, we couldn’t help, but smirk a tiny bit.
Under his breath, he mumbled, (drum roll please…)

“Okay, I’m sorry. This is not as easy as it looks.”

We were good with that. We ended up talking about the skills involved and showed him how to do it. The entire thing felt intimidating to him.

After years of practice, it is a matter of muscle memory and just getting into the groove of knowing your script and watching your character intently. The words and adaptation may not always fit, but as actors, we can help to make the necessary changes and our characters come to life, and in so many instances, make the entire piece better than the original.

Next week, we’ll take you inside of another session where Grant dubs using a band, also known in the dubbing world as Rhythmo Band and Voice Q. This too, is a skill unlike any we have seen. We recently voice casted a high profile film and we had to make sure that every person who was hired knew how to use the band. It has a learning curve that requires strong concentration and focus

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For years, we have booked voice-over jobs together. So much of that is because we possess a genuine chemistry. However, it’s also our ability to commit to our characters and have the moxie to jump off the page, to do improvisation. That’s right, stray a bit from what’s written. We’re not talking about changing the writer’s good words. We are speaking of the in-betweens, buttons, and subtle nuances that our characters would say. If we stuck to the words on the page, they would sound too robotic and stilted, and you know it’s all about being the average Joe. But the average Joe does not speak concisely. Our youngest kid repeats things three times before he actually gets to the point. He’s excited to tell the story, but he’s still formulating his thoughts and buying time in that repetition. It’s quite endearing.

One of the best marathons we ever ran was when we were cross-training with yoga. The more we ran, the more rigid our muscles became. Yoga freed us from that, forcing us to flex our muscles in an entirely different way. Improvisation does the exact same thing. Every piece of copy we get has a place where we can throw in slight nuances that make the piece jump off the page.

This “Moxie” that we mentioned comes with some slight risk-taking and you have to be proficient at it. It’s not about finding the funny. Some of the drollest things that you can add get the biggest laughs. Sometimes funny can fall flat, especially when people are trying to BE funny.

After 30 plus years in the business, we both agree that there are times we have found ourselves getting stale and falling into the same habits. It’s easy to do, especially when we are locked in a booth all day by ourselves with no one to feed off of. So, we further educate ourselves with improvisation classes because there are wise nuggets to be gained from every single person we have had the pleasure of learning from. Shaking things up and learning different techniques is wonderful practice. The training of improvisation is an amazing platform to learn how to stretch your muscles. It teaches you about listening, supporting your fellow performers, and being spontaneous. Since we started with The Second City, we have seen a steady rise in our bookings, our copy feels fresher, and we are more excited to challenge ourselves in becoming our characters. And no exaggeration when we say a good improvisation class is filled with so much love, fun, and laughter that it pours itself into your work and your life.  

To learn more about Jessica and George Grant, visit their website here!

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One of my favorite genres in voice-over is video games. Voicing video games is an opportunity for you to create a 3D character that lives in an alternate universe. Whether the universe created is imaginary or real, the playing environment and the characters living within it are meant to draw the players in.

Many times, we are expected to voice several video game characters in a single recording. Each one needs to sound unique and fully evolved. For example, in a session for DC Universe Online, I recorded lines for three very different characters: Catwoman, Black Canary, and Indigo-1. In order to switch between the three characters, each one needs to be fully realized, grounded, authentic, and most importantly, different than the others.  

Here are three pro tips for voicing video games:

Follow the artist’s lead: Character illustrations give you a lot to go on. Is the character’s chin up, is she proud? Or does she have a smirk on her face, showing she’s the haughty type? Look closely at the character’s facial expression and body language, as well as physical characteristics. Even if you only have one or two stills for reference, the artist’s rendering can tell you a lot about your character’s personality.

Strike a pose: Find a posture that suits your video game character. Black Canary is sassy, and so was my posture in the booth – loose and flirty, with one hand on my hip. Indigo-1 is dignified and serious, so I kept a strong, wide stance throughout my reads. Embody your character physically and the microphone will follow suit.

Do your research: When I know I’m voicing video games for a specific character, I do a lot research in advance to make sure I know the history of the character I’m playing, as well as the world they’re living in. The latest episode that included my character, Catwoman, was a throwback to a World War II-inspired universe. I worked in some subtle differences to convey a vintage feel. It’s all in the details, so learn as much as you can about your character before you arrive for your session.  

If you aren’t provided with any artist renderings, character descriptions, or synopses ahead of time, ask your director specific questions when you arrive. Remember that they are on your side and want you to succeed. Plus, they tend to love to talk about their games and will be flattered that you care enough about your performance to ask.

What video game character would you like to voice?  Leave your comments below!

Want to connect with other voice-over talents? Continue the discussion on our Facebook page!

                                                                            About the Author

Kelley Huston caught the acting bug at the ripe young age of 8 and has been at it ever since. After finishing college with a degree in Theater Arts, she stepped into a vocal booth and felt immediately at home. With over two decades of experience behind her, Kelley brings a sense of approachable confidence and a playful wit to her reads. She is skilled at a range of styles, but is known for her authentic and genuine delivery. Her commercial & narration clients include Adidas, Suburu, Lean Pockets, Fisher-Price, American Greeting Cards, Target, Aquafor and Dell Computers to name a few. She also voiced Catwoman in Sony Online Entertainment’s Playstation game, DC Universe Online and has enormous experience as a narrator for eLearning courses. Kelley also has 10 years of experience as a line producer in the commercial industry, giving her a unique perspective on voiceover within the field of advertising. A few of her production credits include major brands such as Lowe’s, Nike, Purina, Kellogg’s and Anheuser-Busch. She finds coaching to be incredibly rewarding. Being able to share her enthusiasm and experience with students is a real treat.

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First, let’s remind ourselves that:

Each one of us is special and unique. Just by allowing ourselves to relax, we are at an advantage, because doing so allows a little bit of our unique self to shine through in our delivery.

We were booked for good reason. The client considered us perfect for the role, based on our demo, a recommendation, or the stellar voice-over performance we gave in the audition. We can relax now because we’ve already done the work.

Visualization is also a great tool to get our head in “the right place,” before a session. Athletes use this technique and have reported great results. Shouldn’t it work well for performers, too?  

Before a session, try closing your eyes and take several steady deep breaths. While you are in this state of physical relaxation, allow yourself to visualize the details of the session, step by step.

Imagine:

The beginning of the session – You are given a positive and engaging introduction to the people representing the client and/or agency. Perhaps, even visualize them praising your audition or demo.

During your session – See yourself delivering a knockout performance of the script, that feels incredibly connected and “in the zone.” Essentially, you nail it on the first read. Then, imagine the client’s positive reaction. Perhaps they could say, “That was absolutely perfect. Now that we have what we need, feel free to read it a few more times, and bring any ideas you have to the table.”

Ending of your session – Hear their praise on a job well done and how excited they were to work with you. Imagine that everyone is very pleased with you and also with themselves for being smart enough to cast you in this role.  

It may be uncomfortable at first to visualize a voice-over performance this way. However, with practice, it will begin to feel routine and the results can be pretty remarkable. Give it a try and let me know how it goes in the comment area below!  

                                                       About the Author

Kelley Huston caught the acting bug at the ripe young age of 8 and has been at it ever since. After finishing college with a degree in Theater Arts, she stepped into a vocal booth and felt immediately at home. With over two decades of experience behind her, Kelley brings a sense of approachable confidence and a playful wit to her reads. She is skilled at a range of styles, but is known for her authentic and genuine delivery. Her commercial & narration clients include Adidas, Suburu, Lean Pockets, Fisher-Price, American Greeting Cards, Target, Aquafor and Dell Computers to name a few. She also voiced Catwoman in Sony Online Entertainment’s Playstation game, DC Universe Online and has enormous experience as a narrator for eLearning courses. Kelley also has 10 years of experience as a line producer in the commercial industry, giving her a unique perspective on voiceover within the field of advertising. A few of her production credits include major brands such as Lowe’s, Nike, Purina, Kellogg’s and Anheuser-Busch. She finds coaching to be incredibly rewarding. Being able to share her enthusiasm and experience with students is a real treat.

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I love what I do. If you’re reading this article, you likely feel the same! As professional voice actors, we get to be our own boss, for the most part, making our own schedules and deciding when we want to go on vacation. However, it can be a lot of pressure, too. If we drop the ball on one of our tasks, it’s on us. Whether we succeed or fail at making money, doing what we love is entirely up to us. W

Please feel free to alter any of it, so that it works for you. One thing that Heather and I found was that we each work slightly different.  

Here is the general structure of how we tackle our tasks:

• Step 1: Create a folder within a cloud based or online system where you will hold all of your daily  “To Do” lists.
  • Online platforms where you can keep notes: Apple Notes, Google Keep, Evernote
  • The title of the folder should include the year and what will be included inside. For example, “2018 Weekly Task Lists.”

• Step 2:  Create a new note within the folder you created where you write your tasks for each day, the evening prior.  
  • Title the note with the first date of that week (i.e. Week of September 10th)  
  • At the top of the note, bullet point all of your weekly goals and color code each one. See example below:

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2018

General Goals:

1. Take steps toward a career in Audiobooks
2. Stay on top of bookkeeping
3. Increase booking ratio
4. Health & Wellness
5. Acquire agent on the West Coast

Step 3:  Create a task list the night before each work day, so you are able to hit the ground running when you get into your studio. Monday’s list will be directly underneath the weekly goals we discussed, with the rest of the days following, as you move through your week. As previously mentioned, you may have your own system that helps you organize your goals. There are several ways in which you can do so!

Here are a few suggestions to try:

• • Organizing Task List by General Goal Category – This is a great way of making sure that your tasks are inline with your goals, and allows flexibility in what order you approach the tasks.  Feel free to use a bold font on any goals that are a priority.  See below example:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH:

Stay on top of bookkeeping:

• Reconcile payments against invoices
• Invoice Joe Blow Enterprises
• Send commission check to agent

Health & Wellness:

• Set alarm to end work day at 6:30 PM
• Yoga

• • Organizing Task List by Appointments, Studio Recordings and Tasks – This is my preferred way of writing up a daily task list. My day is broken into three basic segments:appointments, studio recordings, and tasks. It makes sense for me to organize my list to reflect that. Plus, I typically do all of my recordings for the day in one time segment. It’s helpful for me to quickly see a list of what needs to be recorded and prioritize it for a time where I can really focus. Again, I tend to color code my tasks to associate them with my weekly goals and use a bold font for priority tasks. If my task list is colorful, I’m sure that I’m touching on all of those goals.

Here’s the breakdown of what’s in each category:

Appointments – List all tasks that have a specific time assigned to it here.

Studio – List all self-directed recordings here (auditions, audiobooks and eLearning courses, typically). Be sure to include the source of the audition (agent name, client name, etc.), the job name, and the deadline when adding the task. See below for an example.

Tasks – List other action items that needs to be accomplished here.  

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH:

Appointments:

9:00 AM  Phone call with 123 Training regarding workflow for elearning course

10:00 AM  Best Agent Session/Priority Bank Commercial Session/$385

12:00 PM  Dentist appointment

Studio:

Best Agent Audition/Dream Team Carpet Cleaning/Due by 12:00 PM

ACX Audition/Business by Day, Romance by Night/No specific deadline

Tasks:

Yoga

Reach out to Jane to ask her if she would please send an email of recommendation for me to her agent, Ear Blast Agency

Try improvisation when appropriate during auditions

Call insurance company to discuss benefits

Print out all bank statements

• • Organizing your Task list by Time Segments – This type of list works great for me, when I need that extra push to get everything done. My accountability partner, Heather Costa, organizes her lists like this every day. It forces you to stay on task, by strategizing the completion of tasks within specific time frames. Organizing the day by time segments is also a great way to quickly see if you are falling behind, which opens the door to finding opportunities to then catch back up. I’ve found that keeping the time segments to no less than fifteen minutes each is most efficient.
    
    Below is an example of what this type of list may look like:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH:

7:00 AM  Morning routine:  Wake up/Shower/Breakfast with family

8:00 AM  Yoga

9:00 AM  Studio:

Best Agent Audition/Dream Team Carpet Cleaning/Due by 12:00 PM

ACX Audition/Business by Day, Romance by Night/No specific deadline

10:00 AM  Best Agent Session/Priority Bank Commercial Session/$385

11:00 AM  Phone call with 123 Training regarding workflow for elearning course

11:15 AM  Reach out to Jane to ask her for a talent agency recommendation

11:30 AM  Call insurance company to discuss benefits

Once you get into the groove of thoughtfully organizing your daily task list based on your broader goals, you will find yourself taking great strides in reaching them. It’s very satisfying to check those boxes off. They work as great incentives.

What doesn’t get accomplished gets moved to the next day. When you see a task item move down your list day after day, it’s time to put that puppy in a bold font and prioritize checking it off. Also, if it seems like you are seeing a pattern of having more boxes unchecked than not at the end of your day, it’s time to scale back. The daily tasks need to leave you feeling accomplished and positive about your workflow. Being realistic about what can actually get accomplished is very important.  

I hope that one of these systems, or a hybrid of them, works to help you organize your goals and remain motivated. Please leave a comment to collaborate, if you have personal tips on tasks that you would like to share.  

Also, I want to give a special thanks to my accountability partner and close friend, Heather Costa. Working with her on our careers these past five years, strategizing our businesses together and keeping each other “on task” has been a privilege and an absolute joy.

To hear Kelley live in action, check out her recording of “How to Tackle Your Tasks & Organize Your Goals Like a Boss”

Also, we always LOVE hearing your feedback about our blog! 

About the Author

Kelley caught the acting bug at the ripe young age of 8 and has been at it ever since. After finishing college with a degree in Theater Arts, she stepped into a vocal booth and felt immediately at home. With over two decades of experience behind her, Kelley brings a sense of approachable confidence and a playful wit to her reads. She is skilled at a range of styles, but is known for her authentic and genuine delivery. Her commercial & narration clients include Adidas, Suburu, Lean Pockets, Fisher-Price, American Greeting Cards, Target, Aquafor and Dell Computers to name a few. She also voiced Catwoman in Sony Online Entertainment’s Playstation game, DC Universe Online and has enormous experience as a narrator for eLearning courses. Kelley also has 10 years of experience as a line producer in the commercial industry, giving her a unique perspective on voiceover within the field of advertising. A few of her production credits include major brands such as Lowe’s, Nike, Purina, Kellogg’s and Anheuser-Busch. She finds coaching to be incredibly rewarding. Being able to share her enthusiasm and experience with students is a real treat.

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When dealing with copy, we sometimes run into tricky words and phrasing that can trip us up. I am providing a few voice-over technique tips and exercises to help overcome such obstacles, especially when you may be dealing with timed copy and hard to pronounce product names.

One of the first things I do with this type of copy is work with over-enunciation. Now I want to be clear that this is an exercise only. New voice actors frequently think they need to pronounce every consonant and vowel they see and be very precise with the script. In reality, this has a robotic effect that can actually distance you from your audience. We want the opposite to be true: these articulation exercises will help hit those consonants naturally and by over-doing the articulation, our mouth will be more relaxed to then read the copy in a natural way. I will repeat a word or phrase I am stumbling on numerous times or use the cork exercise (if you’re a VO Pro member, see Heather Costa’s video in Lesson 1 in the voice-over technique section) to then relax back into my conversational, natural tone.

Another great trick is to mark your script clearly, possibly with hash marks between every word so my eye can clearly see where one word ends and another begins. Start to develop your own shorthand with marking up your script that makes sense to you. Use symbols, smileys, sunshines, stick figures, whatever works for you!

Use “lead-ins” to help get you into the tone of the script. Lead-ins can come in the form of a word,, a phrase, or even a sound (Hmmmm, wow!). Sometimes, you will go back and cut the lead-in OUT of your audition and sometimes, in the case of a short sound or breath, you will leave it in to enhance your read. Remember, breaths and realistic sound cues are only adding to the copy not altering it. I am certainly NOT suggesting changing your copy, but only helping it ‘come to life’ for the listener.

And remember, when in doubt, look it up! If you are unsure how to pronounce something, the internet is your friend! If it’s a product name, you definitely don’t want to take a risk saying it wrong. Look up other commercials to check on pronunciation or even call the company and see how their outgoing message sounds!

Lastly, when dealing with commercials especially for TV,  you may need to get through a tricky phrase quickly due to time restraints of :30 or :15 seconds. Be mindful of your time when rehearsing and be sure to hit the time code if it is being asked of you. Always look on the script to see if it is noted. I have had call backs to be absolutely sure I can hit a :30 second spot in 29 seconds.

Most importantly, practice!! Use these voice-over techniques and add speed to your phrasing as you go through it, then back it up and speak in a natural tone. The more you work on this, the better you will get. Good luck and happy copy reading!!

Also, remember to Rock the Mic TONIGHT at 8pm Eastern with Justine! She’ll be doing a LIVE one-on-one coaching session . You won’t want to miss out on a chance to learn more about voice-over technique!

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