Saturday, December 6, 2008

making funny voices

Because I can't place embedded images where I want them in this blog, they always end up at the top of the post. AOL was so much easier. Dang.
Anyway -- this is a doodle done in a staff meeting. If it had a title, the title would be "Wildnerness Woman". Speaking of work -- I've begun a litle 'side career' at the company I'm employed at. Normally I just sit in my cubicle and either draw or write...but, very recently, I've been sidetracked a little with trips to a recording studio where I've provided funny voices for various forms of media that I probably can't talk about now. I'll provide details later. So far I've voiced a fish, a toilet, Satan, an angry dad, a vampire and a horny puppet. Every time you see something animated, there is an actual human being somewhere speaking into a microphone - giving a voice to the character. Anybody can do this kind of work. Want to be a voice-over talent? Let me give you a few tips and pointers:
1. RECORDING STUDIOS ARE VERY SMALL AND INTIMATE...And often there is an audience watching you. If you can't make with the funny voice in front of six or seven people, then you can't do this. It's somewhat like improv night at a comedy club--only not as fun because there's no booze.
2. DON'T BE SMELLY...Because of the close quarters and enclosed space, your bod better be freshly-showered and your breath better be unoffensive. Bring gum and/or mints. Once you have that covered, you can worry about other things.
3. YOU'LL SWEAT ALOT!...The lights and the pressure to perform will likely soak your clothes to the dripping point. Did I mention the tight, enclosed space?
4. YOU WILL BE THERE LONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU WILL....A good audio engineer will want several takes of your 'performance'. You want to get it right so you don't have to go through this again. Yes. You'll read the lines over and over again until you're told "We got it. Thanks."

13 comments:

Donna. W said...

Oh great, I see the commenter ahead of me decided to preach to you. I hope you know how to delete that.

Donna. W said...

Oh yeah, I intended to say, before I was distracted, that this sounds really interesting.

Rachel said...

Oh great, Micky needs a hobby. Thank goodness for the delete button.

What a cool new gig you've got going. I can't wait to hear more details!

Astaryth said...

First, Micky needs to get a life... if you don't know how to delete the comment, give me a yell and I'll walk you thru it!

The 'side' job sounds really cool! And, the putting pictures in a different place.... first, it is easier if you use Live Writer, but I know you probably don't want to download a program... so, here goes! Type your entry up. Then, put your cursor where you want the picture. Now, do the insert picture thing. That should put your picture in the right spot. If it doesn't, e-mail me and I'll send you a better explanation & pictures!!

~~Silk said...

Putting pictures where you want them in Blogger:

- When you do the insert (the photo icon at the top of the edit window), on the upload screen, choose the size and location (right, left, center) to generate the correct HTML. Blogger puts the photo at the top no matter where the cursor is.
- When you are "Done" and go back to the post edit page, click on the "Edit HTML" tab. You'll see the HTML for the picture at the top of the window. You'll recognize it by the ^a onblur...^/a^. Cut and paste to put it where you want it.

Chris said...

Or, in the preview mode, you can left click and hold the picture then drag it to where you want it. email me if you want me to walk you through it over the phone. It can be a bit of a pain but I've been able to figure it out a bit.

Rachel said...

Livewriter really is cool. If I weren't on a Mac, I'd use it. But, it looks like you have a lot of folks willing to offer suggestions, so I bet you'll figure it out. It is different, that's for sure.

Debra said...

dude! can't wait to sample this! grins, debra

Leigh/BlueDragonfly said...

Yes, but will I be able to hear your voice(know that you've done the voice-over) and say "Hey, I read that guy, he's great!" Hmmm, will I?
At any rate it sounds like it'd be fun! Enjoy!

:) Leigh

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have described a recording studio better myself. How much fun is THAT? Voice overs. Always wanted to do something like that. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW GIG!
:D

mrs.missalaineus said...

if you can put your pics into hmtl you can paste the code into your blog anywhere. i upload my stuff to webshots and they code it and then i put it where ever suits me.

is that a pot leaf on that lady's hat?

xxalainaxx

Donna in TEXAS said...

Hey thanks to Donna I found you...
my youngest doe voices he can hear someone talk and immediatley hold a conversation in that dialect.. I told him one day he weill make a living doing that he just looks at me because he is a teenager and thinks his mom is a idiotlollol

Big Mark 243 said...

Stephen King's 'Rose Madder' came to mind reading this entry.