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critiques welcome

 
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Lynne Alston
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 743

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2007, 23:34 (GMT)    Post subject: critiques welcome Reply with quote

As a newbie I have been reluctant to post due to being totally aware of how far I have to go as a voice over. Am currently working with a voice coach and am Interested in some feedback from others in the voice field, especially Phyllis because I believe that it is important to touch bases with what is going on under the surface.
Lynne


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Phyllis K. Day
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 251

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2007, 23:47 (GMT)    Post subject: Re: critiques welcome Reply with quote

Lynne Alston wrote:
I am currently working with a voice coach and am Interested in some feedback from others in the voice field, especially Phyllis because I believe that it is important to touch bases with what is going on under the surface.


I see your voice as having very little, if anything, in its way. I see it as spheres, like bubbles, floating clear and softly. It’s very nice. If I didn’t see your voice in addition to hearing it, I’d say you have a clear, nicely toned voice. This will make everything much easier because you already have, for the most part, an unimpeded voice. I think you need to use your lips a little differently, (no stiff upper lips allowed!) by making sure that you’re always using all the skin on your lips to pronounce your words. No part of your mouth should be “coming along for the ride.” You’ll need to make faces sometimes, too – like raising an eyebrow or both, while reading.

Because you have the spheres lolling around, you have to guide them. The way you breathe is affecting how they flow; sometimes they don’t flow naturally, like maybe you’re a little nervous or intimidated or just plain uncomfortable with the medium that is a grey thing you have to talk into. It’s also called trying to be natural in an unnatural situation. It creates a kind of delivery that rides up and down in a sing-song way that can wear you out doing it; being yourself is much easier but then, there’s that grey thing again! This kind of issue goes away with practice and you’ll eventually feel very comfortable in front of a microphone.

Also, let all the feeling come forward when you are reading, not a controlled show of feeling but something that transcends the piece of paper you are reading from. You don’t have a wall up, but you’re not allowing yourself to let down and be you. This kind of thing comes from something emotional that needs to come out. Something is mis-directing you, or maybe someone. You’re not a naïve, young girl. You’ve raised kids and are still raising them. By the time a woman is your age (which, while still younger that I am, so I am not saying that you’re old), she has gone through a lot of emotionally difficult things, ranging from fear, heartache, childbirth, dealing with a husband, living so far from home, traveling, moving, kid’s issues, unresolved issues that she thought she’d resolved and so on. Use them to enrich your delivery. Even if you go before the mic angry, and have to read a happy spot, you can direct that energy into your voice and come away with a smashing read.

Healing and learning that leads to wisdom, and an active ability to use what you now know has to come with hard work and suffering as part of the growth process, there just isn’t an easy way around it. Of course, a positive attitude makes all the difference, and you have that positive attitude, but you can’t heal from a broken leg without painful physical therapy and learning to walk again. Time, effort and being honest with yourself will make a change. Please understand that I am not saying you haven’t done these things; I am saying you have to bring “that person” who has done these things in front of the mic. You have to be honest with “that person” about how you feel, that some days, nothing works and you hate that feeling and it is okay to feel that bad feeling.

As an actor, you have to take off the mask covering that real, vulnerable, strong, scared, scarred, etc. person, and put on the face of the person you are when reading the copy – and let your voice “swoon” with feeling. When I hear your voice, it’s lovely – and I want to aurally come up to you and grab the sound and pull it wider and higher because I know, I can see, that you can go there! And whether it means you’ll do it on a voiceover, or in some other situation, you’ll do it in a way that is compelling and unforgettable and your life will be enriched for the experience and hard work. YOU GO GIRL!

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Phyllis K.
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Lynne Alston
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 743

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2007, 23:58 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phyllis, that was so on, I'd think you witnessed my life. As to the British upper lip thing, tis true, we are bought up with 'what goes on behind closed doors" well, you know the saying.

I thank you for clearing the way to let loose that which is in me.

Lynne

By the way, the breath. Two days after this demo was made I was diagnosed with severe Iron deficiency, which causes among other things a lack of oxygen, you are truly gifted!
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Phyllis K. Day
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 251

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 02:55 (GMT)    Post subject: Lynn's Voice Reply with quote

Lynne Alston wrote:
Phyllis, that was so on, I'd think you witnessed my life. By the way, the breath. Two days after this demo was made I was diagnosed with severe Iron deficiency, which causes among other things a lack of oxygen, you are truly gifted!


Embarassed

Lynne, and anyone else reading along, seeing things heard is really just the sense of hearing and seeing joined. It really is just an unusual but normal part of some brains. Sure, any "talent" is a gift - it is all a gift - but I don't have special power. To me it's just like reading a piece of paper with information on it. I don't own the information, I am just reporting it. I have no special hook-up with spirits or anything like that, no no nooooo. When I was a child, I thought everyone could do it. (Imagine my shock at 28 when I realized I was wrong.)

Having the advantage of the visual part helps a lot - but anyone listening to your demo can hear that your breath isn't regulated. The visual I gave you of your spheres moving up and around unnaturally gave you something more concrete to focus on. You are most kind and considerate to accept this critique, I am glad to know that I am helping you.

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Phyllis K.
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George Karnes
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 26 Dec 2006
Posts: 905

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 04:05 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lynne-
She has special powers and hookups.....and humility.

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Lynne Alston
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 743

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 04:15 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

I totally agree, I think everyone who is new to this business should have phyllis's input, we can study all we want, take as many lessons as we can afford, but none of it can compare to the resource we have right here in phyllis.

Voice 123, look at this incredible teaching tool, I think you should snatch her up before the competition does.
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Scott Pollak
Talent and/or Voice Producer - Voice Seeker



Joined: 05 Mar 2004
Posts: 3828

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 11:29 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well Lynne, when I hear your voice, I start seeing tapioca pudding. Not a huge, heaping bowl, mind you, but a delicate demitasse' sized serving with a few of those nice little ladyfinger cookies poignantly arranged throughout. The question is... do you want those cookies to be vanilla or chocolate?
Wink
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Phyllis K. Day
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 251

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 13:19 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scott Pollak wrote:
Well Lynne, when I hear your voice, I start seeing a delicate demitasse' sized serving [of tapioca pudding] with a few of those nice little ladyfinger cookies poignantly arranged throughout. The question is... do you want those cookies to be vanilla or chocolate? Wink


You're busted Scott, because anyone can see the cookies are almond!

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Lynne Alston
Talent and/or Voice Producer



Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 743

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 14:48 (GMT)    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Scott for offering to take me out for dessert, but have to pass this time.

Oh, maybe it was a complement, thanks,

but if it was a joke, its over my head!
as I've said somewhere else, I really DONT get American humor.

Lynne
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