As promised here’s the voice over I did for the character Lazarus in an audio series titled The Last Dire. Lazarus is the mentally unstable antagonist of the series. He constantly has a change of mood due to his insanity, because of this he was a very fun character to play. Below is chapter 4 of the series where my character is introduced.
‘Til next time folks! Adios amigos!
Howdy folks! I’m finally back with a post to do with all things voice over. Right bang on my birthday! The last time I did that was when it was warm i.e. summer! It’s actually rather warm again, with the hottest day of the year recorded at the weekend just past.
So, voice over huh? You still doing that? Answer: Yep! Although I’ve been absent blogging wise, I’ve managed to work on a few projects. I recently finished doing a coupe of character voice overs and a voice over for a webinar.
Shattered Realm. It’s a story about how two sisters are thrown into the midst of a war between two worlds. They were mysteriously separated and find themselves in the two different worlds. They have to figure out a way to reunite and make peace. Little do they know, they may just be fulfilling a prophecy. Check out the pilot video above!
I voiced the character ‘Razakel’. It was fun but boy oh boy did it take a long time to record. This was due to having a stop-start recording session. I recorded in my room, like I always do, but I had to stop at times due to background noise (talking, vehicles etc) and then record a little later. It was a little bit frustrating and I was a little worried about the consistency. The longer it took the more tired I got. The creator hit me up and asked if I could deliver the lines sooner than originally planned so I stayed up all night recording the lines. All in all however, It was really fun doing the voice over for Razakel. He’s an egotistical,short-tempered and power hungry character so I had fun being just that.
Above: Voice over I did for the YouTube channel smartandrelentless. They’re a YouTube channel that deals with topics surrounding Christianity. I’ve done a couple of voice overs for them.
What else? Well, I’ve done a few Librivox readings which was fun and always a good way to practice and I just finished recording for an audio series which should be completed in the near future. When it’s done, I’ll make a post. So, my voice over journey continues. ‘Til next time!
Howdy, so a few things have happened since my last post on voice over. As mentioned in a previous post(I think) I have been working on a few Librivox projects and I’m luvin’ it(Mcdonald’s style).
I’ve literally just finished recording a dramatic reading where I played a character named Walter Blythe in Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 – 1942). It was really fun. A lot of work but fun. Walter is a thoughtful, philosophical young university student and poet who eventually volunteers to fight in WWI. The project isn’t finished but once it is I’ll make a quick post about it to share the link.
I have however been involved in three completed projects and one of them being a collaborative project based on a volume of poems by Mary Ann Bigelow. Here are a few of those poems:
I’m surprised at how much I really enjoy dramatic & poetry reading. I feel as free as a bird, well more free than when I’ve done voice over for the online courses for example. I guess it’s down to the content, right now I’m working on a GMAT course which isn’t exactly fun and games but it’s still good VO practice. I need the practice. That’s what it’s all about for me at the moment, gaining experience and practicing.
You can listen to the rest of the poems from the project here.
…For a character in an upcoming YouTube series. The series is called ‘The Forbidden’ and I will play a character named Link. Link is a creepy and rather weird character who is deemed insane. I really enjoyed auditioning for him, I had license to go over the top and play around a bit which was awesome!
Here’s the audition of the creepy and rather insane character ‘Link’.
Yes, that’s right. I got paid for doing a voice over project. Was it as a narrator, no a movie trailer voice over? No, I got it, a cartoon character?!…Well, no it wasn’t. It was actually for testing purposes. I came across the project on the gumtree site. It read ‘Voice Recording Job for UK market’. They needed someone with a British accent to record 2000 prompts(phrases). So it wasn’t a ‘voice over artist’ role per-say, they simply needed someone with a British accent.
Above are screenshots of my phone of some of the prompts/phrases I recorded. Some of them got me chuckling. I had to use my android phone to utilise the software. All in all It was a rather fun experience.
Howdy, how’s it going? As promised, my next post is all about my latest projects. What’s been going on with you Michael? What have you been getting up to? Come on, let’s see those videos…okay, no-one actually asked these questions but I do have a few videos to show and tell. Without further ado, below are my latest projects.
This is a voice over I did for iMarketer Training. I tried to make it conversational and fun, well if not conversational then I tried to have a relaxed tone to it. I think it goes well with the light hearted soundtrack.
Above: Another sample for the voice over for iMarketer Training, this time for the course titled ‘Word of Mouth Marketing’. I realise that it’s important to take your time and prepare before doing voice overs. Vocal warm ups help. I say this because for a few of the courses, when first starting out, I went in without preparing and struggled with steady breathing for example. I struggled on this course and still struggle but it will improve.
I did another character audition for a YouTube series I was part of previously titled ‘Feral Pride’ but this time for a different character. The character is a cat named Marble who is described as being a devious, sly creature who would do anything to get what he wants. I really had fun portraying my version of the character! I took inspirations from Scar and other similar characters but mostly from Saturn i.e. the devil who is known as being the serpent in the Bible and for having a very sly deceitful but tricky and clever attitude so I listened to the Bible Experience audio book(which is great!) and listened to his voice, tone and the way he said things. I realised that it really helps to do some research and try and surround yourself with things that inspire you to create the character, the voice in this context. I really tried to take this seriously and I’m happy with the result.
So, the journey as a voice over artist continues. See you in the next post. Ciao for now.
Bonjour. Hola. Ciao. Kon’nichiwa. Okay, I used Google Translate, only for the last three words mind you. But I do know how to say hello in French. Honest. But yes, that’s right. This is indeed a post on voice over. I know, it’s been a good while since my last post on this topic. So I thought it a good idea to give you the story so far of yours truly.
So, a little bit about myself when it comes to voice over. If you didn’t know, I’m a beginner when it comes to doing voice over, and have only been doing it for a short while. First time I did a voice over was for my final major project in university. It was a web based game I created for children. I loved it! It was so much fun to work on your very own project and do your very own voice overs. It was awesome. Hmm, never quite got to finishing that game off. I really should go back to it, unfortunately I’ve pretty much forgot how to use the software. That’s the trouble when you stop using something you just learnt, you can lose the skill quickly.
Above: Behind the scenes of the voice over work for my final major project.
Anyhow, My next stint at doing a voice over was for a YouTube series titled Feral Pride. I came across the series by accident. I was merely searching for a video to watch on the topic of wolves and I found Feral Pride. I saw that auditions were taking place for new characters so I jumped in, got the part and did the voice overs. It was fun and this is where I got my first experience of reading a script.
Above: I did the voice of Saurus. The grey Australian cattle dog struggling on the ground.
After this I saw an ad on Gumtree where a company was looking for ‘beginner voice over artists’ I thought that’s perfect! I replied to the ad stating that I had I done some voice over before and they later sent a script(after I gave them a sample). The company is iMarketer Training with whom I am still affiliated with. This was my first experience of reading from a long script i.e. several pages. The company produces online courses so I had to do voice overs for them. Generally speaking the courses are 20+ pages overall. This is where I realised, truly, that voice over is not a walk in the park. It actually takes time to do and it’s not just about reading from a script. I kept stumbling on certain words for example which was both funny and frustrating. They actually wanted it to be done with a smile on one’s face and for the first couple of courses(I’ve only done about 5 actually) I made the mistake of saying EVERY single word as clearly as possible…which was not what they wanted. In fact, they just wanted me to be conversational and upbeat. Breathing and pace is another thing I never gave much thought about but those two elements are very important. I always have a glass of water by my side when recording, which I do in my room, to help with avoiding a dry throat.
I’ve been with them, iMarketer Training, since last June and I get an email from them every once in a while with a script for a new course. As I type this post I just finished a course on Email Copywriting and will be doing another course very soon indeed. Note, I haven’t been paid for doing voice overs as of yet. That is the goal mind you; to be a fully fledged voice over artist. So, you ask, if you’re not doing voice over work full time and you’re not getting paid for it, what are you doing in the mean time? Well, I recently left my job as a web content editor intern and I’m looking for another full time position. When I’m not job seeking, I’m actually doing voice over work besides the ones with iMarketer Training. A lot of my time is taken up doing readings for Librivox. I’m currently working on several projects including a poem and a couple of dramatic works. It’s a good way to practice, plus it’s fun. I’m also
It is true however, that I have been a tad lazy when it comes to voice over. I haven’t delved into it as much as I should over the past months but I’ve shaken myself up as of late and asked myself do I really want this? And the answer is yes. My goal is to become a fully fledged voice over artist working on all sorts of projects. Having said that, I’ll always be learning. So at the moment I’m listening to podcasts such as ‘Mike Lenz Voice – A Journey Into Voice Over Acting’ which is very inspiring.
Above: A recent ‘open audition’ I did for a character on YouTube. Had fun and experimented with accents.
I may be a long way from reaching my goal of becoming a professional voice over artist and there is a lot to learn but you’ve got to start somewhere right? Well, that’s all folks. I should have my samples from my latest project with iMarketer Training which will be in the next post. So, ciao for now.
Becoming a 3D Artist is my primary career goal but I am also interested in voice over, even just as a hobby. Doing different accents or speaking in different voices has been something that I have been fond of for quite some time. I guess it dwells down to what one was exposed to during childhood. When I was a child I watched many cartoons such as Cartoon Network’s Ed, Edd and Eddy, Recess, Hey Arnold and more.
My first real opportunity to do voice over I guess would be when I did a short animation for the course of the same name(Computer Animation). I then did one for my final year project too for a web based game I created named The Spellinator. It was a fun filled project, challenging at times but fun nonetheless.
More recently I have worked on a few projects, voluntarily. One is a YouTube cartoon series Feral Pride and the other was for an online education course for iMarketer.
I stumbled across Feral Pride by accident after looking for a particular video. I briefly watched one of the videos on the channel and saw that the creator had uploaded a video containing open auditions. Intrigued, I contacted the creator and asked that if there were any future opportunities to be involved as a voice actor I would be interested. Long story short I auditioned and then got the part of a character. It’s a character I got to name and have an input in the character description which was pretty awesome. Saurus is the character I played for two episodes. It was a fun experience as I got an opportunity to step into the shoes of another character, a dog in this case. It was also hard as I learned it’s not just about the sound of the voice but it’s how you use your voice. I actually read that in a book that I have titled The Art of Voice Acting.
I found the project opportunity with iMarketer via a Gumtree job posting. I showed them what I had done with Feral Pride and they sent me a script for their project. It was very fun and quite challenging as my voice had to be different than of in Feral Pride. I had to take an enthusiastic approach and really make my words sound clear and concise. Generally speaking I don’t open my mouth much when speaking and it can be fairly monotone or a mumble of some sort when I speak which I am working on! So warming up was helpful, believe it or not but I used the rather flamboyant technique of Sharpay from the High School Musical franchise. Her technique, “Brrr Brrr Brrr Mah!”, as embarrassing as it was to do at first was funnily effective! Below is the intro I did for the online course.
So there you have it, my journey so far. I hope to delve into more projects involving voice over in the future because it’s something I very much enjoy. So for the moment I shall enjoy the journey and see where it takes me.
Michael's Monde 