Class Session 5
Yvonne Conway-Williams for Role
Full details of homework is on Closing Credits
Nice work with developing the context of the scene in your comments. To go even further, imagine what the people look like - hair color, eye color, names, height etc. Then add an emotional layer - is this urgent? Are you frustrated? How are they reacting? What does their facial expressions indicate as you talk? Bring the scene to life in your mind and it will help you to lift the words off the page and go beyond just a read.
I feel like I can hear a microphone hit at the beginning of your read. Be careful about hitting the microphone as it can be difficult to edit out and will likely require a pick-up in actual gigs. The microphone should be mounted in its own stand or on a boom arm, ideally with a shock-mount if possible. This will help limit the movement of the microphone during recording.
Be aware of plosives entering the microphone too. It’s good to have the microphone diaphragm input pointed at your mouth, but offset like 30 degrees or so to allow you to speak past the microphone and not directly into it, which will help limit plosives. A pop filter can also help to a degree if you don’t already have one.
Nice humanism - a laugh before “They couldn’t have been more wrong.” This really adds to the scene.
How did your audience of history revisionists react as you were telling them this information? Were they convinced? Defensive? How did they react at your opinions? Audience reactions can influence how we deliver the lines, so be sure to think about that and imagine their responses as you are speaking.
You’re on the right track, however it still feels like a read rather than someone speaking the words genuinely or convincingly. This is a challenging skill to acquire, but the more you practice the easier it will become. Picture the scene you’ve created and how the person or persons you are talking to are reacting. Make it real in your mind’s eye, and let yourself genuinely respond to the situation. VA 201 goes into more of the emotional rollercoaster in voice acting, which is excellent, and VA 301 goes into more about different established acting techniques. Great classes to help you continue to advance in your voice acting career.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for your detailed and encouraging feedback, Melody! I really appreciate the specific guidance and the time you took to point out areas where I can grow.
Your suggestion to further flesh out the characters, imagining their physical traits and emotional reactions, makes a lot of sense. I started to envision the scene, but I can see how adding those extra layers can bring a deeper level of realism and connection to the read. I’ll definitely spend more time grounding myself in the emotional context and letting the imagined audience influence my delivery.
Thank you also for the technical notes. I hadn’t realized I might have bumped the mic at the start, so I’ll be more mindful of that. I do have a pop filter, but I hadn’t considered the 30-degree offset approach, so I’ll test that out in my next session to reduce the plosives.
I’m glad the laugh came through naturally. It felt like a real moment to me, and it’s good to hear that it resonated! I’ll continue working on lifting the read from “sounding like a read” to something that feels more lived-in and reactive. I’m looking forward to VA 201 (I really enjoyed our first class last week), now with a clearer idea of how those classes can help me deepen that skill.
Thanks again for your support and thoughtful insights; it means a great deal to me on this journey!