Voice-Over for Animation

Jean Ann Wright, M.J. Lallo

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136139499
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Games
• Index: Computer Science

Voice Over for Animation takes animation and voice-over students and professionals alike through the animated voice-over world. The book provides information, exercises, and advice from professional voice-over artists. Now you can develop your own unique characters, and learn techniques to exercise your own voice gain the versatility you need to compete. You can also learn how to make a professional sounding demo CD, and find work in the field. The accompanying downloadable resources are professionally recorded, and feature: scripts, Animation Talent Agent interviews, Casting Director interviews and Interviews with Animation Voice-Over Artists like Nancy Cartwright (Bart, The Simpsons) and Cathy Cavadini (Blossom, Power Puff Girls) and Bill Farmer (Goofy). This is an invaluable resource for animators and voice-over artists.

CHAPTER one
Introduction to Animation Voice-Overs

Is This the Career for You?

Do you love to “play” with your voice, changing the pitch, the texture, the overall sound? Do you enjoy creating different characters, making each one sound unique? Do you like to experiment with different dialects? Different laughs? Different sound effects? Can you keep everyone laughing? Do you have more fun performing than anything? Are you good at selling yourself? Are you able to give up a stable daily routine and a stable income in order to do what you love? Then maybe this is the career for you!

Major Objectives of This Chapter

In this chapter we’ll start with an overview of the industry and consider how best to get started. You’ll find out what voice-over is and where the opportunities lie in an ANIMATION VOICE-OVER CAREER. We’ll talk about the animation production process. What skills do you need? What negatives do you need to avoid in order to find work? How hard is it to get work? How do you keep a positive attitude? What do you do first? How do you pick a good voice-over teacher? What resources are out there for you? How do you persevere and stay in charge of your own career? What support do you need? Where can you find work? How can you finance your early career? What tools do you need right away? How do you keep up with the industry and the world? How can you best use this book?

What Is Voice-Over?

Voice-over is the voice communicating unseen on an audio track used in radio, television, film, multimedia, or the business world. Voice-overs are used everywhere! Just open your ears and listen. There are lots of opportunities for actors with imagination. Voice-overs are used primarily in commercials, narration, training or other corporate audio, and animation. For animation, voices are usually recorded from a script or storyboard prior to the actual character animation.

Work Opportunities Available in Animation

1. Television

1. Feature films

3. Direct to video/DVD/Blu-Ray films, including educational films

4. Games

5. Theme parks

6. Toys, point-of-purchase videos, cartoon character books on tape

7. The internet

8. Automated dialogue replacement (ADR)

9. Dubbing into other languages

The Animation Production Process

Traditional Animation

Traditional animation starts with a story idea that becomes a script, although sometimes a story is developed visually without a written script, using only a storyboard. Characters and backgrounds are designed. A casting director may be hired to cast the project or at least the first episode. Voice actors may audition for specific characters. Audition scripts are typically a paragraph to a page or so in length with a drawing of the character included. Sometimes there is no drawing on the audition copy. If the actor is hired, a recording script will be sent out, probably the day before recording. More often than not, there is no rehearsal. In prime-time television, table reads are sometimes held prior to recording so that writers have a chance to punch up the comedy after listening to the actors read. Most television animation is recorded with all the actors at one session. For feature animation actors are normally recorded separately. After the script is written, a storyboard is made or completed, and timing is added by a timing director. Characters and props are designed. Layouts are made from the storyboard, and backgrounds are refined. Layouts also let the animators know how each scene starts and ends visually. Background artists paint the backgrounds. Color models are made. Scene planners may check out technical aspects and look for possible future problems. Around this point the project may be shipped overseas for further layout, animation, and checking there. Overseas working materials are translated into the local language for the artists there. Animators do the animation, using the vocal performances to inspire the action. Checkers check the finished drawings on paper or in the computer. Painters paint the drawings that have been Xeroxed onto cels or scanned into a computer. Drawings in computers are painted by flooding in the spaces with color. The work is checked again. Problems are fixed. The animation goes to camera. Editors mix the voice track with ADR, sound effects, and music tracks. The sound effects may be Foley effects or effects from a sound effects library. The director views the finished animation. Television programming executives, toy executives, or financing executives may be entitled to give final approval as well. Retakes are done. If the production has been done overseas, the overseas company may have already done some retakes before shipping the project back home. This is the basic process. There are many variations.

Computer Animation

Computer animation may be similar. In computer-generated imagery (CGI) productions, designs are usually created in two dimensions first and then modeled in three dimensions afterward. Rigging later adds skeletons to the models. The animation is done in the computer. In CGI, lighting is added and drawings continue to be refined. Effects are added. Checkers check the work. Color is added. Everything is checked again. The computer artwork is rendered (processed into images) and composited as all the elements are layered back together. Postproduction may be similar to that in traditional animation.

Other Animation Production Processes

This all sounds simple, doesn’t it? It’s not. Animators may instead use stop motion to do their animation. That’s a process where each character is posed, the camera shoots one frame, the character is moved a fraction, and the camera shoots again. Or they may use motion capture, where an actor is rigged with motion capture sensors so that software can convert his performance to animation for a predesigned character. Today animation is seldom simple. Out of twenty projects, fifteen of them may be done differently. Special effects director Joseph Gilland tells us that in twenty four hours’ time he used Maya, Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Toon Boom Harmony, Alias Sketchbook, and Adobe AfterEffects software, as well as paper and pencil in his projects. Today’s animation is often very complex.

What Talents or Skills Do I Need?

1. Imagination

2. Likability and a positive attitude

3. Good acting skills, including comedy timing

4. The willingness to lose inhibitions

5. Excellent reading skills

6. The desire to jump in without being asked and contribute something special

7. A good, but not necessarily outstanding, speaking voice that’s dependable and flexible

8. The ability to recall many characters instantly

9. The ability to take direction quickly without resistance

10. A good ear and the ability to mimic sounds

11. A sense of humor and play

12. The ability to ad lib, if needed

13. Energy

14. Dependability

15. The willingness to take risks

16. The ability to learn voice-over skills such as voice placement

17. The desire to work hard, continually learning and practicing skills

18. The willingness to market and promote those skills

19. Persistence

20. A thick skin. The ability to take the blame graciously, if needed

Lucille Bliss (voice of Smurfette and many others) believes that there are three things that a voice actor needs: patience, perseverance, and preparedness. Janet waldo (voice of Judy Jetson and others) would add passion to the list. There is room for all kinds of voices in animation, but those who work most are usually those who are most versatile and can do many kinds of voices. Most voice-over skills can be developed. Casting director Michael Hack, who sometimes attends the theatre to see new voice actors, looks for clarity and bigness in an actor’s work. Actor/director Charlie Adler believes that the best voice-over actors have a theatre background. They have learned how to communicate with other actors and with directors, and they understand direction. They have learned to give and take with other actors, they can improvise, and they have learned comedy, timing, breath control, and character development. They are fearless. Adler believes that to really excel in animation voice acting, an actor must be able to become many different characters instantly, have a great sense of humor and timing, have the ability to do dialects, be fearless, and really enjoy creating something on the spot.

How Difficult Is It to Get Work?

Normally, it is difficult to get work in the animation voice-over field. There are a great many people who would like to work in the field. Many of these are talented actors, who still find it hard to get work. But casting in voice-overs does not depend upon a certain look. Voice actors come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. There are children who do voice-overs and grannies who do the voices of young kids. One industry casting director estimates that it might easily take two to five years or even more of full-time work taking classes, practicing, and auditioning to become established in animation voice-overs.

The figures have shown that in the voice-over industry in the United States in general, men get about 70 to 75% of the work and women get only 25 to 30%. It is perceived by many clients that the male voice is more authoritative and the lower pitch is more pleasing. In animation women have another problem. It is perceived by development people that girls will watch television cartoons where the main characters are boys, but that boys won’t watch shows where the main characters are girls. That perception is changing a bit. Another factor is that the majority of animation writers are men, so that the men naturally tend to write more stories about boys. That, too, is changing somewhat. Today most games are made for men. The roles are also for men. However, game developers are discovering that young girls and seniors are eager to play games, and in the future more games may be developed for those markets. To offset the negatives, many women, such as Nancy Cartwright, who plays Bart Simpson, do the voices of boys. If you can do the voice, no one cares what size, shape, age, or gender you are.

A more recent problem for voice-over artists is the use of celebrity voices. Businessmen feel that known celebrity names will bring in an audience, especially to films. Fans may go to see a celebrity’s work, even when they can’t see the celebrity himself. And a celebrity can give a film publicity by making the rounds of the television talk show circuit and talking about the film. Jeff Bridges was chosen for the voice of Big Z in Surf’s Up, not only for his celebrity name, but also because of his gravelly voice and, because as a surfer himself, he was a close match for the character. Fewer celebrities are used in television cartoons. Of course, the more celebrity voices are used, the less work there is for professional voice actors. Celebrities are most often cast to sound like themselves, and there is a growing market for voice-over artists who can imitate celebrities to loop the celebrity voices when the celebrities themselves are too busy or the pay is too small. So the use of celebrities can, occasionally, actually bring in work, as well as take it away.

The industry itself has grown and opened up to new talent. There are many companies, both large and small, now involved with animation. New media have added additional opportunities. Animation has blossomed with a wide variety of Styles and content. All over the world there is a need for acting talent for projects such as games and for dubbing. Most countries are developing their own television programming, and more are making their own animated feature films. Home recording studios make it possible for voice-over talent to work on projects all over the world. Because of the Internet, casting directors can listen to 100 auditions for a single session, if they wish, which means that competition is stronger, but the opportunities have also grown. New people do find a way to get started in the industry all the time.

What Negatives Will Make It Difficult to Get Work?

1. A bad attitude. This is a small business where word gets around quickly. People like to work with others who are cheerful, uncomplaining, eager to cooperate, and friendly. And don’t be a pest.

2. A negative attitude

3. Bad acting skills

4. Inability to focus and listen

5. Speech that is not standard. That includes speech impediments and regional accents. You may still get some work with a Southern accent, but you’ll get work only for characters who speak with a Southern accent.

6. Lack of versatility. Current union contracts in the United States allow for a standard fee for performance of up to three voices during one session. Production companies expect their actors to be able to provide all three.

7. Coming in late to a session

8. Lack of flexibility

9. A voice-over demo that is not professional in quality

A Positive Attitude

Succeeding in the entertainment industry is always difficult, but people do it every day. Because it’s so difficult, it’s important to go in with a positive attitude. Every day tell yourself that you can do it. Get in the habit of saying, “Yes!” instead of “No.” Visualize yourself doing what you want to do, then work toward those goals every day. Build up your own confidence by working hard to learn your craft and finding your own opportunities, and then reward yourself with a pat on the back. If this is truly what you want to do and others beside your mother feel that you have talent, then don’t give yourself excuses to fail. “I can’t support myself while I wait to make it big.” “I live in the wrong place.” “The competition is too tough.” “I’m not lucky.” “i’m not good at marketing myself.” there are many more excuses out there. It’s your career, and it’s up to you to find a way. If this is what you Want to do, plan just how you’re going to do it. Work every day toward doing it, and be patient. It takes time to build up a base of casting people who know and respect your talents. You do need a bit of luck, but you must be prepared when that luck or opportunity presents itself. Audition whenever you have the chance. Be persistent.

Once you get into the flow of the business, you may be auditioning a number of times a week. No matter how good you are, you’re not going to get hired for many of those jobs. Realize that it’s not your fault. Strike “fault” and “blame” from your vocabulary. You’re not a huge success because you book a job, and you’re not a failure because you didn’t. Getting a job and not getting one will be a part of your career until you’re 106! Just let it go. There will be times in even the best careers where you’re just not getting work for a while. That’s the nature of the business. Use the time to take more classes. Learn different acting techniques. Work on your characters. Get into a workout group. Network. Market yourself. As long as you keep moving ahead, the auditions and the work will return.

The world is constantly changing at a dizzying speed, and you need to keep up. If competition spurs you on to be your best, then use that to help you excel. Personally, I prefer to compete with myself. Keep working to become better and better at what you do. Keep learning and growing. Never stop.

It’s important to be friendly and contribute whatever you can. The industry is small, and there’s no place for backstabbing or an attitude. Don’t be afraid to give a thumbs up when others do a great job....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• CD Index
• 1. Introduction to Animation Voice-Overs
• 2. User’s Manual for Your Voice
• 3. Animation Voice-Over Techniques
• 4. Dialects
• 5. Developing Characters
• 6. Your Animation Demo
• 7. Finding an Agent or Representative and Looking for Work
• 8. Voice Casting and Marketing Your Talent
• 9. Recording for Cartoons
• 10. Recording for Animated Features, Games, Theme Parks, Toys, and Narration
• 11. ADR
• 12. Dubbing
• More Practice Copy
• Glossary
• Index