VO Protocols
And now for the dreaded protocols… Hello, there are none—“protocols” that is. There are wonderful theories each and every week that actors in all career stages manage to pass around. (It’s kind of like being in the army, and being privy to the latest rumor.) But protocols, for what to do, when to...
Read More The Kalmenson Method as continued
Our classes pay very little attention to the mechanical, while at the same time zeroing in on feelings. I choose to consider the voice as a mechanical instrument. It has no brain. What a person feels is hopefully what they are able to truthfully convey by the use of their voice. ...
Read More The Kalmenson Method continued
The origin of the Kalmenson Method was much more than a single thought or a single time sit-down-and-write-it kind of a thing. My method was, and remains, an evolution. My words have evolved as have the time and presence we live with, by making use of our God-given skills and the ability to...
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The Kalmenson Method
“From within our life’s reflections, the truth will emerge, and we will see it if we choose.”Harvey Kalmenson I’ve often talked about my amusement over what I found when I first entered the world of commercial voiceover. Like so many before me, theater was my passion. The excitement of putting on a live...
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Dealing with VO Auditions…
Dealing with the audition?DON’T! Actual sign from the early 1900s. I like to call this my “advice about love” to the lovelorn. In this case, da harv is cast as the advisor, while you as my vagrant reader will be playing a used-to-be successful voiceover thespian. (I’m assuming it’s politically okay to refer...
Read More Your toughest VO assigment
Toughest Assignment?Be Yourself The toughest assignment for an actor is to remain natural. As a young director, I was warned by my mentors to try to stay away from asking an actor to be themselves. I was told that many actors haven’t a clue as to who or what they really are. In...
Read More Sound Design & Demo Production
Sound Design & Demo Production Disclaimer: For professionals only. Should not be attempted at home. You may be in possession of great sound equipment, and have become a very astute self-director— WARNING…DON’T FALL INTO THE COMMON TRAP. Merely being able to control a soundboard doesn’t qualify a person as a VO demo producer. It’s almost...
Read More Los Angeles Recap
Los Angeles Today (Well, not anymore.) – Recap – The year was 1970, and just about every commercial talent agency not only had a complete in-house recording facility, but many of the bigger agencies were able to boast having multiple recording booths to conduct auditions in. In retrospect, it is kind of fun to know...
Read More Necessary, but not necessarily evil
Agents (Necessary, but not necessarily evil) Commercial talent agents: you will, by necessity, have to be in a working relationship with them. I use the term necessity because, without an agent, the voice-over artist has far less chance of success. Let’s begin by understanding what an agent actually is, and then examine the relationship between the...
Read More Basic Training Is Over
– 10 – Basic Training Is Over Okay, it’s completed. What’s completed? What do I do now? Who do I do it with? Who do I do it to? When I do it, how do I know what I should be doing? How come I’m so confused? Those questions are similar to the questions that many of the troops ask...
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