In this video, Gabby goes over 5 specific audition techniques that will help you improve your audition success.
5 Tips for better Voice Over Auditions - Professional audition techniques. - 6:18
Hey guys, welcome to another edition of The Gift of Gab. In today's video we are going to talk about five things that you should absolutely always be doing when you audition for a voice-over job. It's a follow-up to one of my previous videos. Let's get into it.
So a while back we created this video, five things not to do in an audition, which got us thinking maybe we should do its opposite, right? Five things that you absolutely should do, so here's today's content.
First of all, read everything! Read the job directions - I cannot stress this enough - and if you read them once, good, read them again, twice. Seriously, read the damn instructions! It is mind-boggling how many actors will disregard specs that don't fit them, that they'll think somehow if even if you don't fit the specs that they're gonna make some crazy exception for you... no, my little snowflake, they're not. That's not going to happen, because there are too many applicants and way too many talent out there that do fit the specs, so read everything. And if the part's not right for you, it's not right for you - move on to the next one!
Next, make sure your studio is acceptable standards. I know this can be a teeny bit of a subjective thing and a lot of people aren't really sure how to make that happen. It's easy, have your studio checked. It doesn't need to be a crazy, intense process. You literally need someone with more audio recording and technological knowledge than you to say you get a pass or a failing grade. If you pass, you're good! Proceed no issue, you are delivering broadcast quality audio or better. They say that you're not and you failed? Maybe your noise floor is too high, maybe there's too much reverb, maybe you don't have enough acoustic treatment. Okay, then you're gonna consult an expert, then you're gonna bring in a person like George Whittam or Tim Tippets to help you figure out exactly what the problem is and how to make it better. If you're looking for that real basic pass/fail moment, awesome, I have a class for that item.
Number three, and I'm gonna lean in for this one because it's so important, okay? You ready? Do three takes of the audio. Three - that's all you're allowed and walk away, not a take more. You wanna know why? Because progressively, every single take beyond three just gets worse, it's not getting better, trust me. It just starts a downward spiral. There's an old story years ago, I interviewed a talent agent and that was one of his big pieces of advice. His big suggestions to actors, he was like, "Look, just do three takes. After three you're just overthinking. Everything starts to suck more and more and more." So there you go, three takes, get the hell out of the booth, and from those three takes, figure out your best material and that's what you submit.
Item number four in your to-do list is to edit the right amount. Listen up Goldilocks, because this is seriously important. You don't want to edit too much, you don't want to edit too little, and there's a lot of confusion about this throughout the industry. Most beginners just aren't sure what they should be doing err on the side of caution and do the smallest amount. Edit a little, clean up mistakes, take out any obvious plosives, clean up any mouth noise, but that's it. Don't start going super crazy and taking out every single breath and doing noise floor replacements all over the place and processing and effects... guys, it's really simple. If you have audio recording knowledge, like significant audio recording knowledge, you go right ahead, you sweeten your audio all day every day, you do you, boo. It's not a problem. But if you do not have that kind of background... let's put it this way: if you didn't know what a DAW was two years ago, you should absolutely leave the audio alone. Just do the bare minimum.
(To Ragnar: Hey what's up? Are you gonna... you want to tell tip number five? You're purring so loudly!) Number five in your to-do list: label the file correctly. Oh my gosh, I cannot stress this stuff enough - exactly as it is, exactly as it is, as you're being told to. Most auditions come with audio labeling instructions, which means that item five is really item number one: read all the instructions again, yeah three times, make sure that you are looking at all the details of the job and following the instructions exactly as they're being asked of you. Most people in casting already kind of see actors as people that don't really follow rules and don't like to conform. The odds are stacked against you right from the beginning. They're kind of waiting for, looking for any excuse that they can get to disqualify you from the job. Don't let it be the fact that you didn't read the instructions.
There you go, guys! There are your tips for the day, your five absolute must do things inside of an audition. I hope this helps. As always keep your comments and your questions coming, I love talking to you guys, I love interacting with you. Reach out to me through my website, through social media, whatever's easiest for you and hey, if you like the things I'm doing or you just want to see my chubby fat cat behind me, either way, whichever, just go ahead and hit subscribe. You'll get more of both of us.
704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com
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