|
Audition Time
So I have mentioned how hard it is to start over.
Well, it really IS hard! After 10 years doing voice work, both singing
and speaking, it is like I am starting from scratch here in Los
Angeles, and I must admit I don't like it one bit!
In Tokyo, a voice talent like myself registers her name and leaves
a demo tape with several different agents, and when an agent has
a job he feels she would be appropriate for, he calls her and asks
if she is available, and then submits her tape to the client. If
she is chosen by the client for the job, then she shows up at the
studio at the agreed upon time, has a brief meeting with the client
and/or director of the session, and goes into the recording booth
and reads her lines.
Here in LA, you have to audition.
Now, in 10 years of doing this in Japan, the only times I needed
to audition were for character voices for game, like the recent
Sega game "Shemmue" that I wrote about
several columns back. That is usually because they need to cast
so many voices, they can't possibly choose them all just by listening
to tapes. Regular narrations and commercials, however, are most
usually cast on the sole basis of your demo tape and the recommendation
of your agent. When you arrive at the job, you've already GOT the
job!
Here in LA, you have to audition!
(Did I say that already?)
Needless to say, even though I am an experienced narrator and voice
actor, I have hardly any experience at "auditioning", and I must
admit -- I totally blew the first few I had! Instead of sitting
comfortably at a desk, in a dark, private booth, with the knowledge
that you were chosen from among your peers as the best voice for
the job, in LA you have to stand up, in a brightly lit room, behind
a standing microphone, and, in front of a veritable panel of directors
and casting agents, do a nearly cold reading of a script you were
just handed in order to hopefully win a chance at a second audition!
So after two very unsuccessful attempts at winning roles, I broke
down and told my friend Kittean about my ineptitude at auditioning
and she gave me great advice. "Get an acting coach!" She
said. One of the things an acting teacher does is teach his students
how to audition for the job, a skill that is substantially different
from doing the actual job itself.
Kittean was originally a model and actress before moving to LA and
concentrating on her career as a Real Estate agent. She still takes
the occasional, and well-chosen, acting or modeling job. But now
Real Estate is her main gig. Anyway, last year she took a workshop
with a famous acting coach named Joanne Linville, a rather famous
actress herself and very well-respected teacher. Kittean gave me
Joanne's number, I called her, and found out that she was not doing
workshops anymore, but she nonetheless agreed to see me privately
and try to help me with my auditioning skills.
I met Joanne one morning at her beautiful home in Studio City, and
she was just a lovely woman, very warm, and very elegant in the
way only a seasoned Hollywood actress can be. She invited me into
her home and we sat in the parlor and talked a bit about what I
needed. Then, she pulled out some voice-over scripts (from past
jobs she has done) and we began doing cold readings. In the course
of an hour and a half, Joanne began to teach me some basic acting
skills as well as some techniques for combating "audition anxiety."
I read and read and could even hear myself getting better and better.
By the end of the hour, I felt like a different person. And I can't
wait for my next audition!
In Los Angeles
Cara Jones
|
