REBECCA HAUGH Female Voice Actor

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Rebecca@lovethatrebecca.com

310-584-7379

ASAP Voiceover Quote

Doesn’t Improvising Mean Using No Script?

creative professionals, improvisation, instructional design, voiceover

woman reading a script

Isn’t voiceover acting and improvisation a conflict?

That would seem true. Pure improvisation does mean creating out of nothing with your imagination, with the only limitations being the ones you put on yourself. And voiceover actors get scripts to read into a microphone. Let’s explore the ways voice actors can use improvisation and find out if the conflicts can be worked through.

Starting with definitions…

The definition of improvisation from the Oxford American Writers thesaurus: extemporization, ad-libbing, spontaneity, lack of premeditation, compose, perform, or produce something such as music or a speech without preparation. We can argue about the meaning of “without preparation” but let’s agree to the concept of little forethought or almost zero preparation prior to the improvisation.

The definition of voiceover acting: an actor who provides and/or records voice to represent a character in animation, film, or television entertainment; or who provides/records voice within a project for non-entertainment purposes. In either case, the voice is not accompanied by the speaker’s image.

Can a voiceover actor use a script and improvise?

Here lies the apparent conflict that seems true with our basic understanding of the definitions above. To help illustrate that there is a middle ground, here’s a graph I developed for my 101 class showing how there is an overlap between these worlds.

chart

In simple terms, the voiceover actor can improvise by doing two things: fully embracing the script and improvising details that aren’t provided within the script but fit with it.

Embracing scripts while improvising details?

Every script tells a story. A voiceover actor can use improvisation to imagine details that:

  • create her world for telling that story with those specific words
  • resound more authentically for her as an actor portraying a role
  • support the words and the story wanted by the producer

A few other ways to improvise while using a script are simpler, well-known techniques or tricks.

Two ways to find a natural way to initiate the script opening:

  • Use a running start. This means to start talking the words you imagine would be said prior to the opening of the script, using them to launch into the script.
  • Ask a question that the first lines of the script answer.

Within a script, allow natural sounds that assist with natural flow/rhythm/pacing and which may possibly be edited out later:

  • Non-verbal sounds like ‘ah’, ‘uh-huh’ or sighs
  • Verbal ad-libs like ‘ha’, ‘so’ or anything else intuitive that fits

The ways in which a voiceover actor can improvise throughout a script can vary as much as actors are different.

Improvising for voiceover scripts doesn’t mean rewriting them.

The major point is there doesn’t need to be a conflict between improvising and the use of a script. The improvisation should support the script, filling in details that support the story and message. In a way, the improvisation is part of the acting technique, incorporated and embedded within the attitude, tone, volume and pacing of the spoken words.

Improvising supports acting technique and creating a ‘world’ that is generated from the words in the script.

The point for the voiceover actor is she wants to deliver the words as if she’s thought of them. Depending on the voiceover script, it may or may not provide that perspective. Voiceover scripts often leave lots of space for the actor to fill in details and “live within the ink”.

What sort of situation would create her to speak these words if that perspective isn’t provided? Regardless of the variability between actors, the practice of improvising details can assist her to explore and then determine the most authentic ‘world’ with the script.

Filed Under: creative professionals, improvisation, instructional design, voiceover Tagged With: improv, improvisation, voice actor, voice talent, voiceover

We’re All Adaptable…

down-time, improvisation, life, voiceover

mother and daughter working from home

It seems almost the whole world is moving into ‘the next phase’. Are you feeling nervous or just a little anxious?

I was both when I ventured out this week because I hadn’t been out in more than a month. A part of me even panicked while driving to the store. Seriously! But a deep breath or two resolved the angst. I shopped and consciously noticed feeling a bit of joy, seeing other human beings like me. We are alive! We are moving! Hopefully the majority of us will take all needed precautions and move into the next phase with a little bit of joy thrown in – perhaps on top of the facemask like this?

Considering adapting, I also recently taught an online ‘improvisation for voice actors’ class. The students often enter class with anxiety about attempting improvisation, putting a lot of pressure on themselves to be perfect or funny. After class they graduate with ‘training wheels’ and a newfound trust in themselves and their abilities. Happens every time.

Learning to change makes us strong.

So I thought about all of these circumstances, and couldn’t help but be uplifted by the large and small adaptations I witness, in person or online. I want to acknowledge you ALL – HERE. You deserve recognition.

You have been either within some level of unsettled discomfort, all the way to potentially the worst during this pandemic. You have changed your routine. You stopped traveling to an office, limited travel to stores and doctors. You learned new technologies, shifting from in-person to on-line.

You did this in your personal life, your business life, your parent life, your family, relatives, churches, sports, and so on. All the roles you live in life. This pandemic has been a big event for all of us, reaching almost every corner of the world. That’s scary impressive.

CONGRATULATIONS. I really love what I have heard, where people showed integrity, ingenuity, compassion and strength.

Human beings are so amazing.

We’re all adaptable… whether we like what we adapt to or not!

Adapting to stay alive. And more than that…

  • To learn new ways to thrive?
  • To remember old ways to thrive?

If you’d like to comment or share how you’ve adapted, please do using my email listed above.

Filed Under: down-time, improvisation, life, voiceover Tagged With: coronavirus, improv

Video Design Tip: Hire VO Actors with Improv Skills

improvisation, video design, voiceover

Viola Spolin spoke of spontaneity as part of creative expression.
Actors with improv should know about Viola Spolin, who was a matriarch of improv. Viola Spolin Image from https://alchetron.com/Viola-Spolin

Find VO actors with improv skills.

Hiring voiceover actors either randomly or regularly for marketing videos? Selecting voice talent with improvisation (improv) skills gives you more power to get what you want from your voiceover session. You’ll be a happier video producer in the end, not only with your final audio recording but with the entire session experience.

Actors with improv skills are:

      • often quick on their feet with new ideas
      • flexible to shift gears and follow new direction
      • or even offer ideas on takes or ad-libs

Could this mean you’re hiring a stand-up comedian? Or an actor who wants to change your lines you’ve worked so hard to meaningfully craft? No. Even voice actors who haven’t studied improv have fears that this is what it means. Thankfully that’s not true. You won’t get a comedian. A VO actor with improv expects to collaborate with you, to discover and experience your script as spontaneously as possible while delivering the meaning you intend. Voice actors with improv practice have a strong skill set of receiving a suggestion and running with it, while maintaining overall scope or direction. From my experience, improv trained actors more instinctively pull in ideas of location, ambiance, contextual relationship to bring added performance depth with your script.

The above photo is of Viola Spolin, a woman I refer to as the mother of modern improvisation. She made immense and pivotal contributions to the craft, and her ideas are foundational in most of today’s improv schools for actors and non-actors. I believe Spolin taught actors to release their inhibitions, to play spontaneously. She created so many ways to experiment and practice this art. She blazed trails within theater and film acting and beyond.

Voice actors who invested in improvisation training offer you not only great final recordings from directed sessions. They also bring fun, confidence and probably a little entertainment during the session with you and your clients.

“Yes, And” great sessions can also be fun!

Next time you are hiring a voiceover actor, seek out those with improv training.

Filed Under: improvisation, video design, voiceover Tagged With: actor, creators, improv, improvisation, producer, skill, video marketing, Viola Spolin, voice actor, voice talent, voiceover

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