How to Add LOVE to Your Auditions and Book More Work
By Susan Berkley
It’s Valentine’s Day as I write this and I’m thinking about the most important question you can ask yourself as you prepare to audition: “Where is the love?”
I’ll explain.
Drama is all about relationships, what happens between the different characters in the play or movie. Voice acting is about relationships too and this can be confusing to the beginner because there is rarely another actor in the room. But if you want to do a good job and get booked for the spot, you have to conjure them up in your mind and know your relationship to that person, the more specific the better, even if they are a stranger or a man on the street.
In my programs I teach you how to visualize speaking to a single person as you read your copy. You should know their name, what they look like and your relationship to them.
But that’s not enough.
You also need to know how you feel about them and how you feel about the product. This is easy because there’s only one correct answer.
The only approved voice acting feeling is love.
So let’s say you’re auditioning a script for a breakfast cereal. You’re talking to your spouse and you want them to try it. They have high cholesterol and this cereal has fiber and will be good for their health.
Of course you love your spouse and love the product too, that’s what they’re paying you for. But don’t stop there. Mere reality, mere truth, is never enough in acting. It must be heightened reality and selective truth made more dramatic and vivid by the choices you make as an actor.
Think about all the time your spouse drove you crazy, stubbornly hitting the grease burgers, eating tubs of ice cream in bed. Feel the frustration and let it color the love you feel for your spouse. It will give you a more nuanced, interesting read as your feelings are reflected in the tone of your voice.
And the love you feel for the cereal? Oh, you love it all right. But don’t stop there.
Those flakes have supernatural powers, like Popeye’s spinach or the lucky underwear worn by the star pitcher at the World Series. This cereal can grow hair, save lives.
But you’re not done yet. Add a layer of mystery to the mix. Imagine that the supply of this cereal is so limited and precious that only a few people can get it. But you’ve been given the key to the storehouse and you intend to share it with a few key people who you’ve selected to join your team of superheroes and save the world.
Need help? We still have a few seats left for my next Voice Over Bootcamp Recording Studio Immersion experience Avatar Studios, March 23-25 in New York City.
Contact Bill at 800-333-8108 x229 or bill@greatvoice.com
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Susan Berkley is a top voice over artist and founder of The Great Voice Company, a company devoted to teaching great voices around the world how to become successful voice over actors. The Great Voice Company is an international leader in voice over training and in providing top quality voice over recordings in all languages to discerning businesses and marketers. For additional information visit www.greatvoice.com
Copyright 2012, The Great Voice Company. All Rights Reserved. How to Add LOVE to Your Auditions and Book More Work.
