Some voice-over casting sites have an interesting way of dealing with members complaining that they haven’t had much luck. Here’s what these sites say:
“Auditioning is great practice! Even if you didn’t get that 100 dollar job, at least you’re honing your skills.”
Oh, please… Give me a break!
WORDS OF WISDOM
At the end of a two day “voice-over intensive,” the trainer looked at her students one last time. By the expression on her face they could tell she was about to say something significant.
Her velvet voice had sold millions of sheets of the softest bathroom tissue known to mankind. Anything that came out of her mouth was as good as gold. Star-struck, the students all listened like attention-deprived orphans, waiting to get one last bit of tough love.
Well said Paul.
Reminds of the adage “Practice makes perfect” but more correctly said as “Perfect practice makes perfect.”
A friend of mine was such a perfectionist, he was never really satisfied with his work. He kept on twisting and tweaking his demos, and when he was finally ready to upload them, he noticed that almost 200 other talents had beaten him to it. That was very frustrating, to say the least.
His self-critical attitude was also standing in the way of delivering a professional but more relaxed performance. He was constantly (over)analyzing himself and bringing himself down.
I told him that it didn’t make sense to spend an hour and a half on a demo for a $100 job. There’s a reason why union members get paid for doing demos.
These days, my friend has found some middle ground. When he’s going for a really big project, he makes sure that his custom demo can compete with the best in the business.
And for the nickle-and-dime gigs he sits down, reads the script and hits the record button. He takes a few minutes to clean up the demo and then sends it into cyberspace.
It might not be ‘perfect’, but it works for him.
Good article and advice.
Thanks Steve! It’s always good to hear from you. Comments keep me going!
Paul,
You may have just changed my life. As a burgeoning talent, I find myself doing just that…..auditioning for everything hoping for the best.
I have been told that I have a pretty solid demo, and am not completely without skill….though I know I still have a lot to learn.
But I digress….I think I will change my strategy from this day forward and give myself a bit of a break.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your words of wisdom.
Hi Martin:
Changing your life… that’s the least I could do! Seriously, thanks for your compliments. “Do more with less” is my mantra.
If you start shooting at at target in a random fashion, you might run out of ammo quickly without ever hitting the target. It’s much better to know how to use your shotgun mic; carefully aim and then pull the trigger. Chances are that your killer demo will hit the bulls eye with great precision. Any other effort is a shot in the dark….
Great post, Paul and I knew it! Practice does make perfect, or at least close to it. That’s what my Grandma told me when I was a tike and she was alway right.
Thanks, Chris! I’ll refer to what I wrote about perfectionism in answer to Dan (see above). The passionate pursuit of perfection is noble on paper, but impossible in practice. That’s why I wrote in The Yin and Yang of Freelancing:
“Set the highest standards, but cut yourself some slack.”