VO

Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor

Harlan Hogan

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781621534051
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621534143
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Careers

One of the country's top voice-over talents shares his secrets of success in an insider's guide to the industry. Actors, broadcasters, and anyone who has longed to earn a living by speaking into a microphone will cherish this insightful and often hilarious glimpse at the business. Coverage includes: • Identifying natural talent • Training a voice to make it commercially viable • Gaining experience in smaller markets • Making a demo CD • Auditioning effectively • Locating and signing with an agent • Joining the appropriate unions • Negotiating contracts • Self-promoting to maximize exposureReflecting the quantum change that has occurred in the way voice-overs are recorded and cast in recent years, the updated Second Edition describes the advantages and disadvantages of auditioning and recording from home studios for clients around the world. This indispensable guide also addresses finding work in venues outside film and television, such as games, automated telephone systems, and websites. Aspiring and established voice-over actors will savor the behind-the-scenes details that show what actually happens during a voice-over recording session. Through it all, the author pairs performance tips with an expanded personal account of the crazed clients, practical jokes, and coincidences encountered on the long journey to success.Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Worst Voice in the Whole Third Grade: Talking Robots, Rockets, and the Recordio
• Chapter 2: Stumbling Through School: Reagan, Radio, and a Whale of a Roommate
• Chapter 3: Indiana Air Waves: Big Time in the Small Time, But Dick Clark Never Called
• Chapter 4: No Sale—Could There Be a Worse Computer Salesman?
• Chapter 5: An Accidental Actor
• Chapter 6: Recorder’s Revenge
• Chapter 7: The Teamsters Made Me Change My Name
• Chapter 8: WCLR and the Big Bang Theory
• Chapter 9: No Longer a “Wannabe”—Fast-Forward on the Right Track
• Chapter 10: In July—Inside Jokes of the Voice-Overs
• Chapter 11: Smack Dab in the Golden Age of Voice-Over
• Chapter 12: Say the Secret Word—“Blooper’s Soap”
• Chapter 13: The Voice Talent’s Connection—Go Ahead, Make My Day … Beep Me!
• Chapter 14: What Planet Are You From? Brand Managers—Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
• Chapter 15: A Remarkable Way to Make a Buck—Plates, Statues, and the People Who Collect Them
• Chapter 16: Whispers in the Air—Got Ya!
• Chapter 17: Talking in Corporate Tongues—this May not Sound Like English
• Chapter 18: Prescription Drugs and Those Pesky Contraindications—Side Effects Worse than the Disease
• Chapter 19: The Fine Art of Directing Voice-Overs—Real Voice Men Don’T Ask …
• Chapter 20: Behind the Scenes—The Real Work Behind Voice Work
• Chapter 21: Soon-To-Be-Famous Acquaintances
• Chapter 22: Acting Up, Cracking Up, Choking Up
• Chapter 23: What is it That You Do Do? Filibuster!
• Postscript: Questions from a Teenage “Wannabe” Voice-Over
• Resources
• Index