Urine test for assistance recipients.
Urine Test
Like a lot of folks in this US of A, I have a job. I work, they pay me.
I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit.
In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check or public assistance, because I have to pass one to earn it for them?
Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a
problem with helping someone sit on their butt.
Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public
assistance check.
Pass on if you agree!
www.voiceopolis.com
From the neon shadows of Las Vegas, VOICEOPOLIS gives you that Big City Sound!
Urine test for assistance recipients.
Urine Test
Like a lot of folks in this US of A, I have a job. I work, they pay me.
I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit.
In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check or any government assistance, because I have to pass one to earn it for them?
Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their butt.
Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check.
Pass on if you agree!
F. Ed Knutson here of VOICEOPOLIS.
VOICE 2007 came and went just outside my back door here in Las Vegas.
I missed meeting with my colleauges, acquantances, and friends, James Alburger, Penny Abshire, Rodney Saulsberry, Debbie Munroe, Leah Cevoli, and others.
However the REASON of WHY is the most important development of all for the future for VOICEOPOLIS.
On Monday morning the 20th of March 2007, our company started developing a new strategy of business that will lead us in to being a full fledged audio book production company. We have been chosen to voice, edit, produce, and market a whole series of audio books that will take us beyond what we could ever have imagined! We have been concentrating on getting all of this new business in order.
F. Ed Knutson Knotes
/ or /
S T U F F F O R V O I C E A R T I S T S !
So how does it feel to say; "I am an artist"? You really should understand that to "make it" in the business, you must constantly draw upon your artistic creativity. Inventing new voices is a creative process. Applying the voice-paint to the canvas of the script through the mic is an individually artistic act! You approach a script and must delve into your "tools of your artistic trade". Do you need a charcoal drawing, watercolor on rice paper, oil on canvas, or spray painting on a wall? You're the artist, and you must decide. That is what the client relies on you for, your artistic self. They may give you guidelines to let you know in your little creative gray matter which direction to go, but you have to have an offering for them!
On another Knote. Here is an idea, if you haven't already been doing this, then get on it NOW! Many modern movie DVDs have free classes in them. WHAT? Classes in movie DVDs? Ed, you bettah esplain dees one! Okay, so you are watching a movie, and in the special features section there is often a discussion on how they made the flick, or interviews with the actors, directors, etc. There is much value in this. Even though they may not be talking specifically about VO work, you can apply some of what you see/hear to your career. For sure if you are renting and animated movie, be sure to check out special features about the VO actors.
HERE IS A MUST!!!!!
You really need to rent, or buy the anime' movie by Katsushiro Otomo, STEAMBOY. Then even before you watch the movie, go to the special features menu, and watch the section about the Re-voicing the movie. You'll hear some great stuff that is essentially a mini-class for your artistic voice over brain! Interviews with:
Anna Paquin ... James Ray Steam (voice: English version - the boy)
Alfred Molina ... Dr. Eddie Steam (voice: English version - the father)
Patrick Stewart ... Dr. Lloyd Steam (voice: English version - the grandfather)
Ffind out more about actors that do Voice Over work in movies, make use of http://imdb.com.
That is the Internet Movie Data Base website.
When watching any movie, learn to enhance the director within youself by listening closely to the dialogue/monologues for all the elements that would normally be very important in VO only. For instance; When watching a movie with a popular actor, close your eyes, and try to determine if their on screen Voice would be worthy or not of true VO work. I sometimes find myself turning on the Closed Caption to find out what someone said. Sometimes it is the fault of the extraneous sound track, yet often it is the actor just not doing good diction, enunciation, pronunciation, or putting in enough feeling for me to extract what they are really saying. Even good actors throw away some otherwise great lines that if properly executed in the VO realm could really add to the performance. I've listened to many scenes from good actors where they rode the action wave, and missed the full color they could have painted by ensuring their Voice was not a "throw away".
Think as an artist. Observe, listen, read aloud, repeat aloud, broaden your experience. Pay attention to the way you talk in everyday life! Take theater, improvisation classes, join toastmasters and do live speeches. Stop yourself from bad habits, or at least work at it. But first you must know what bad habits you have. Do you say 'uhh' or 'umm' or 'ya know' as you talk. Instead, pause and think of what you have to add next. Saying these non-neccessary things are only to allow your brain to line up or think about what you are going to say next anyway. Remember that by using the pause during speech often causes the listener to listen more intently anyway. Use of 'umm' and 'uhh' is usually used subconciously by people that don't want to get 'cut off' by someone else in the conversation while you are talking. Plus it seems kind of dumbing to use them.
What are some other bad habits that you find yourself doing? Improper use of inflections? How is your grammar? Do you use expletives that dirty up your speaking? Are you adding to your vocabulary? Do you use a dictionary? All this is to say that as a Voice Artist, you should be practicing your speaking skills in everyday conversation too. Polish Polish Polish!
If you do accents, that's fine. However, do you also pronounce the word the way the folks you're doing the accent does. The word respite (short break or pause) in our American English is Res'-pet, or Res'-pit but in British English it is Res-'pite. There is much to learn. Never stop learning. Don't be afraid to pay for more classes, seminars, and such. That could just be what will bump you up further!
Until next time,
F. Ed Knutson
www.voiceopolis.com
From the neon shadows of Las Vegas, VOICEOPOLIS gives you that Big City Sound!
