Free Comic Book Day Commercial by Kevin Smith

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a comic book geek.

I've got boxes and boxes of comics in my house, ranging from selected silver and golden age comics to stuff from a few years ago (sorry, but the mainstream titles stopped appealing to me when the storylines turned more into merchandising than, oh say, an actual story). Yes, they're bagged (mylar) and organized, like any good comic book fan should do.

Why is this important? It isn't... I just felt the need to get it off my chest.

However, on May 7th, 2010, it was Free Comic Book Day. For those who don't know what it is, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is the first Saturday in the month of May when comic book shops give away comic books for free. Now obviously you're not going to go in and get a Detective Comics #27 from them for free, but it's a nice way to show your support for the industry by stopping by your local comic book shop and maybe picking up a couple of extras... since you're already there for the free stuff.

Now since May 7th has come and gone, you're just going to have to wait till next year. However, the organizers of FCBD put together a simple, yet amusing commerical with Kevin Smith behind the voice over. It's pretty apparent that the production quality is low, but I found it amusing none the less.

How to spot a voice over amateur

I'm not quite sure whether to file Paul Strikwerd's blog post, titled "10 Ways to Spot a Voice-Over Amateur" as being humorous or admonitory.

It's one of those posts which you can't help but to chuckle at, groan, and take a little bit of wisdom from. If for no other reason, than the fact that anyone who has ever been on either side of the booth has witnessed at least a few of these telltale signs, this blog post is worth taking a read.

I only wish Paul had added a few comments about regionalisms being used in the wrong context or for the wrong audience (trust me, living in Philadelphia you see/hear less experienced talent do this all the time).

FWIW: Paul was half right about his comment regarding Neumann. They manufacturer a shotgun microphone (the KMR 81), but have never built a ribbon mic.

Either way you approach voiceover, you need training

Backstage has a great article on whether voiceover classes are necessary.

It's a great read, and Dale Balestrero has some great insights and explanations relating to why actors need voiceover training (I'm somewhat curious as to why he doesn't make more of a point to mention that voice actors are actors... hence the title; it's a nitpick, but one that I think needs to be made more often). In short, Balestrero points out that one's acting skills are very important to voice over, however, the medium is not the same as more traditional forms of acting. Therefore, it does the actor well to know more about voiceover prior to attempting to make a career out of it.

On that same front, one of the biggest problems I see with new voiceover talent is that they train for voiceover, but not for anything else. Just as I stated earlier, voice actors are actors. It's as plain and simple as that. Regardless of where your specialty lies, if you want to be successful in acting, or in any field for that matter, then you need to know a wide range of skills (which may or may not be directly related to your chosen field) so that you can be a more versatile practitioner.

It is this versatility which allows most people to find new ways to succeed, even if they've already found a thousand ways to previously fail, and for this reason it should be the lifeblood of every actor, regardless of their chosen medium.

Adventures in Voice Acting blog

If you're a fan of BangZoom! (and let's face it, who isn't) then you know of their "Adventures in Voice Acting" clips and DVD. I had the chance to sit in their studio the last time I was in Los Angeles and was really impressed with both their professionalism and their friendly personality (they really went out of their way to let me into the studio and partake in a session, which I greatly appreciate).

Well, they've got a blog for their AiVA series now. If you're like me, and enjoy hearing the tales of voice actors and such, then you'll want to check it out for yourself.