New World Adventures EMERGENCY RECAST!
cory for Kevar
This is a submission, not an audition. If I like your lines, you will be in the book, and you'll get a copy of the book delivered to an address of your choosing. No further recording required.
Full context:
“I could show ya’ how ta wield it,” said the man holding a dagger to Gwenevere’s throat.
“Ya’ surrounded!” said Kevar, another fireball forming above his hand. “Give the girl or ya’ all die!”
Extra comments:
Kevar is cocky. He likes his job, and the thought of things not going exactly his way doesn't even occur to him. I know his lines don't sound that funny, but he still thinks he is. To really get in the zone for this role, think of the most fun and joyful day you've ever had at the expense of someone you've truly hated. That's the frame of mind you need to be in to play as Kevar.
Common error:
Tenfold is said "TENfold" not "tenFOLD". The "ten" is the important part, because it's different than being paid "ninefold" or "elevenfold". The folding bit isn't the important bit of tenfold.
“I could show ya’ how ta wield it,”
“She ain’t worth it matey. Run a long and tell ’em that Kevar is takin’ care of ‘er now. I know how much you was paid, but he’ll prolly pay us tenfold.”“Drop it dwarf! Or tell ya’ boss ya’ got ‘er killed!”"Huh!" (winded from being elbowed in the gut)
“Ya’ surrounded!” “Give the girl or ya’ all die!”
Not bad. It's better to submit in mono, especially better than stereo if the track is only in one ear. One hint I will give you, is submit early. Every new voice, my first thought is "That's not Kevar!" but then I imagine Kevar as the voices I heard that day, so when I hear them the next day I think, "Yes! That's Kevar!" and I hear a new voice and think "That's not Kevar!" I try not to keep that bias in mind when I listen, but there's really no escaping it. It does feel a little relaxed for my liking. Most people have been making that mistake, and it's probably my fault for writing "cocky" in the description. Yes, he's cocky, yes he doesn't expect anything will go wrong, but what I should've said was "He's scared shitless, but trying to pretend that he doesn't expect anything will go wrong." I will be more careful writing descriptions in future. Other advice I'll give you in general, is it's always better to over-emote than under-emote. Directors are usually good at telling you to tone down the emotion, but most directors know what it's like telling someone who can't emote to tone it up. Some actors, it's like getting blood from a stone. So it's a good practise to figure out how much emotion you think will be required for the audition, then double it. Sometimes you'll get lucky, and double it is exactly what the director was going for. Other times you'll get a note from the director asking for a resubmission with less emotion.
Thanks for the feedback. The one-ear audio was a technical error that I didn't catch, due to my computer's headphone jack being damaged, but that's an easily fixed mistake, now that I'm aware of it. As for submitting early, I can only submit as early as I find the casting call and have time outside of my day job, so that critique is beyond my control to change, though I appreciate the advice, and wish you luck in ignoring bias in all your future projects. Regarding direction, if it's not on the page, an actor is much less likely to put it into the performance. Your direction and excerpt described a cocky thief who held all the cards and took joy in being in complete control of the situation, so I did my best to provide that performance. I apologize if that wasn't what you were looking for. As for emotion, I understand the point you're making, and would agree in the case of animation and some video games, which tend to be more over-the-top, but for narrations and radio plays, in my study and experience I've found more nuanced, realistic performances to be more believable in most cases. Since it sounds like you have a lot of experience working as a director, I would love to see some of your other projects, as a reference for good performances and what directors are looking for.
As for pure audio, I'm very new, but here's something I made for fun once: https://youtu.be/qQxsQgQsPgk Leah Marie East did all the female roles, Josh Miller did all the male roles, Benjamin Dugald was my assistant Director and Production Sound Mixer, but I did absolutely everything else. This may be a lot more work than it's worth, especially if this is just a hobby for you, but a good workflow for winning auditions is to record the audition/submission based on the description first, (it's best to record as blind as possible so that you don't accidentally copy someone else's performance,) then before you submit it, listen to everyone else's audition/submission and read the feedback each one received. I do take full responsibility for the low intensity of most of the performances here. That was entirely my fault, and I have had to give feedback on other people constantly on increasing that intensity as punishment for my crime. However, directors are not perfect, and the next guy you audition for won't be perfect either. So if you listen to all the other submissions and listen to the feedback, you may trick the director into thinking that your natural talking voice just happens to be exactly what he's looking for. You can even pretend you didn't listen to anyone's audition if that fits within your ethical code. I think you misunderstood what I meant about over-emoting. If you're auditioning for a video game or cartoon, you need to figure out how much emotion will be required, then double even that. The director should be listening to your auditions thinking, "Damn, this guy is a psycho, but if he tones it down a little, he'll be perfect!" That's a much better problem than, "This guy's pretty good, but I should probably go with someone who knows how to fit more emotion in than that." In my case, I wanted a cartoony over-the-top voice, but that was just your bad luck. You had no way of knowing. So it's always better to take it to the most cartoony over-the-top voice you have and let the director correct you down. I'm probably the only director on the entire website that has enough patience with actors to tell them to tone it up. Most will just ignore your take and move on, because we've all had experience with that one actor we've been yelling at to emote more, and then they deliver the line exactly the same way they did it the first time. If your emotion is too low, we think, "Oh crap. Another one of THOSE. Next." If your emotion is too high, we think, "That's not what I'm looking for, but that's my fault because my written instructions were followed exactly to the letter, so it was clearly a good actor with an innocent misunderstanding. I'd better explain myself better."
Some of your advice is decent, but some of it seems counter to what I've learned over quite some time studying and researching voice acting and acting in general. Also, you incorrectly assumed that because I can only pursue acting part-time in my current circumstance, that I must only be interested in acting as a hobby and therefore am uninformed(your suggestion for an audition workflow, while good for this site in particular, with public auditions and director feedback, doesn't work in a more traditional audition setting, which is more fast paced and private, and is what I've learned about and practiced for). I simply have a given amount of time to budget toward the things I'm working on, and I find it more worth my time to audition for multiple projects to the best of my ability than to spend all my time trying to perfect an audition for one project. Aside from that, whether you intended it or not, your tone in the comments I've read so far comes across with a bit of a condescending attitude, which is abrasive for one thing, and without providing any credits or previous work other than that one hobby project, you appear to have no basis or authority from which you could know what directors think and want. You've shown no evidence of professional experience, but I've seen you criticize other users' acting as though you know for certain what is right and wrong, and you've also behaved as though it would be a great honor for any of us actors to work on your project for little or no pay, depending on who won the lowest bid. Now, you may just be like me, educated and well-informed, a student of the craft striving to achieve and enjoy creative pursuits, but lacking in professional experience as of yet, because everyone has to start somewhere. Or you may actually be someone who thinks he knows it all because he's placed himself in the directing chair and decided his word is law. You may even be someone with more experience in the industry who just hasn't provided any past experience, in which case I would retract most of this response because someone with experience in the industry would almost certainly be qualified to make those statements. I imagine it's the first possibility, and you just haven't realized the tone your comments are projecting, which is why I'm offering this blunt but honest response, to let you know that it will become difficult to work with people in the future if you continue to convey this attitude, whether you intend it or not. I assume no one has responded like this yet, because there's a taboo against talking back to a director, for fear of damaging one's career or the assumption that the director does know best, but I feel it's best that I state my opinion. On one point, you were right, that it's the actor's job to give the director what he wants, not what he asks for, and I appreciate and intend to consider the advice to emote more strongly in my future auditions, within my understanding of the craft(though I still disagree with the concept of over-emoting, or that directors actually want that by default. Interviews and books I've read tend to call that overacting, forcing something rather than playing true to the interpretation of the character). But to put it all simply, you should be conscious of how you present yourself professionally. The fact that I didn't get the role has no bearing on this, and I have no hard feelings. This is just a courtesy from one creative to another, my own feedback or advice, from my perspective. Thanks for the conversation.
No no no, you incorrectly assumed that I assumed things. When I don't know who I'm talking to, I avoid industry jargon and over-explain rather than under explain because I assume nothing. Sometimes I spend a paragraph explaining a concept that someone already knows, or to something that doesn't fit their circumstances, but that's just part of talking to complete strangers. It's a calculated risk and it happens. If you are offended by it, that's your problem. You're a complete stranger, and this is how I talk with complete strangers. I respect that you took the time to let me know how I come across, but even now knowing this, I plan to continue to come across this way. If anything, I'd be interested in tips of how to come across as an even bigger jerk. I am up to my armpits in people wanting to audition for me. Just for this role alone, I already want to cast two people who are perfect for it, and many more are very good also. I can't imagine how many rejections I'd have to put out if I earned a reputation for being a nice guy. Casting is hard work, and the more auditions I get, the harder it gets. So if this makes you never want to audition for me ever again, that's good for me. (Though you haven't burned the bridge yet. I have too much respect for people willing to go against the taboo and "just say it" no matter how much of a complete ass hole it makes them look. As you can tell, it's something I do with pride.) As for the amount of time you put into each audition, yes this is the old dilemma evolutionists talk about. Should a species have lots of offspring, or just a few but put lots more effort into each one. The same with auditions. I haven't auditioned here, so I don't know if it's quantity or quality that gets results. It was just a tip to use or disregard depending on how much time you have. Yes, I do have plenty of past experience, but the green screening I did for that sketch was my proudest work. If you think that's crap, all my other stuff is way worse. (Keep in mind, that was all filmed with one camera, one female actor, and one male actor. If that doesn't impress you, I give up.) A lot of my "authority" just comes from repeating what Jellopocalypse says as if it's my own opinion, but experience does play a part too. I write a lot of this stuff, and it takes ages. You can imagine it would take even longer if I started every sentence with "in my humble opinion..." or "I'm only 90% sure of this but..." or "this is just me, and I have no idea what other directors are like, but if I were your other directors..." though if it helps, feel free to mentally add them to the start of everything I say. I'm just extremely rushed and busy as it is, and don't have time for the little niceties. Whatever you think of my experience levels, I am a director. This may be my first paid role, and if things turn to shit, even this won't be a paid role, but I'm still a director. I haven't had any formal education in directing, though neither have many Hollywood professionals. My education comes from watching a LOT of Freddie Wong (now called Rocket Jump) Corridor Digital and Filmriot. However, I have learned even more about how to be a good director by being a dreadful director and knowing what never to do again. The YouTube sketch I showed you, those are both professional actors, and not only did they work completely unpaid, but they thanked me for the opportunity to have a fun day, and then told me all the horror stories of the directors who paid them professional rates, but were not worth working for. Now, if you want to play the "who has the authority to give who advice" game, I'm up for it. I fundamentally disagree with the premise, as I believe even a child can sometimes have useful words of wisdom for a successful adult. I'd never say to my daughter, "You don't have enough experience to disagree with me on this issue, so stop speaking as if you know things". Still, that aside, let's pretend that advice is only allowed to go one way, and that is from the more experienced to the less experienced. Let's compare our resumes. How many casting call club auditions have you posted? How many actors have you personally selected for projects, worked with, and then found out you chose the wrong one? How many brilliant actors have you directed? What was the highest compliment you ever received as a director from an actor? Or perhaps you want to pull rank on the formal education side of things, where you clearly have the advantage. Okay, I can play that too: Of the directors you have spoken with, how many of them have told you "never over-emote"? What was their qualifications? What was their reasoning? Do they have stories of people who didn't get cast because they just kept emoting too damn much? Have they ever worked with an actor who over-emoted? How difficult was it to work with them? I would love to one day have an actor who goes through five takes with me yelling "No! Emote less!" each time between each take, but it has never happened. When it does, I promise to hunt you down and write a full, sincere, and heartfelt apology, but most actors get the hint after just one or two "emote less"s. (I've had a PAID actor say they can't emote any more.)
I was just thinking over our conversation and realised, did you think this was an audition? If not, sorry again for assuming stuff. If you thought this was an audition, no, this is a submission. That means, DaveyKVA doesn't have to do anything. He's won, a book will be sent to an address of his choosing, his name will appear in the credits, he can put this on his portfolio, I can write him a recommendation if he wants one, and we are done. Yes, it would be odd if I went into that level of detail of "no emphasise this word, not that word" if it were an audition. That would be the very height of arrogant asshole, and right up there with "could you please resubmit your resume in Times New Roman?" With an audition, if you've got the voice, you win it. I can understand your views now, if you thought I required that many re-submissions just to see if I want to work with you or not. Yeah, the bad things you were saying about me don't even come close to stating how nasty I am if I acted like this for an audition. No, that wasn't an audition. That was a submission.
If you happen to have an over-the-top voice that is so absolutely crazily over the top that it sounds nothing at all like a normal human being would ever sound, submit both voices in the same file, but do the over-the-top one first.