Post by MALCOLM XERXES™ on Mar 12, 2005 16:14:14 GMT -5
SAT. MARCH 12/2005/16:19 E.S.T.
Last Saturday, my agent contacted me about a voiceover audition which was to be done via telephone the next day @ 14:30 E.S.T. for a website called BSEEN.COM.
Apparently, the agency had been unhappy with the voiceover that had been done for them already, so 2 other blokes & I were to compete for the job, instead.
I received the copy, familiarised myself with it, then made sure to get a full night's sleep, so as to be in best form the next day.
When it came time to place the audition call, 1 of my housemates was on the line (& had been for several hours!), so I was forced to use a public telephone outdoors.
The challenge of reading copy while wind was blowing it about in my hand was unusual, but I was contacted by telephone the next day & informed that I had been given the job.
I arrived @ the studio @ 12:45 E.S.T., which was located within minutes' walk of the place where I had been auditioned for a chocolate commercial that day.
The personnel who admitted me were both very gracious & hospitable, offering to hang my jacket & provide me with a beverage, but I declined because I had had to eat chocolate earlier, & did not wish to increase the possibility that my vocal cords might get gummed up with something like orange juice.
I had brought bottled water with me, which was fortunate, as the studio was quite dry & hot, although scrupulously clean.
The microphone was made by SHURE™, which pleased me well, for that company’s products tend to convey the sound that one’s voice produces, rather than augmenting or changing it as other brands have done & can do.
We were recording directly to hard drive instead of onto 2" tape, so I knew that my voice was being digitised in Real Time.
As I waited, a friend of the engineers' arrived, which I found curious, given that such studio recording sessions generally involve the client & as few people as are needed to get the job done.
The bloke who had auditioned me was 10 min. late, but we got underway within 5 min. of his arrival.
The woman who had arrived before him was talking behind me whilst I was doing my takes, which was a distraction that was both irksome & counterproductive, & I wondered why it was that her bad manners were being tolerated when the client's time & money were @ stake, particularly given that I was not recording in an isolation booth.
I was both pleased & surprised by how they responded to my work, as they said that the other blokes had read the copy so badly that it sounded as though they were primary schoolchildren being forced to read "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" aloud to the class, whereas I "really [made] it come alive!"
I said that as a practising Capitalist, I could not in good conscience do anything less than the very best job of which I am capable, particularly given that I was being paid to make the copy meaningful to the Consumers who would be hearing it.
I was then told that the bloke who had written the copy for the agency was an Oxford University graduate, so it was especially important that I read the copy in its unaltered state, rather than with the editorial changes to Grammar & Diction that I had made.
I complied without argument, for it was their party & I was merely a hired guest.
The recording session took place on Wed. between 13:00 E.S.T. & 14:30 E.S.T., which was indicative of how well things had gone (despite the prattle!), since I had been booked until 15:00 E.S.T.
I was asked what I would be doing with the remainder of my day, to which I replied that I would be viewing FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS™, which led to a very animated discussion about that programme, & how 1 of the engineers had found it difficult to follow because of cartoon imagery, so I explained what had happened in the context of FARSCAPE™: “JOHN QUIXOTE”, which aroused sufficient interest that she decided to rent the Seasons 3 & 4 episodes in addition to FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS™, so I felt that I had done my good deed for the day.
When I left, I visited my agent in order to address some legal matters & administrative concerns, but by the time I reached home, I was no longer in the mood to sit through 4h of viewing, so I read WITHOUT REMORSE™ by TOM CLANCY, instead.
Last Saturday, my agent contacted me about a voiceover audition which was to be done via telephone the next day @ 14:30 E.S.T. for a website called BSEEN.COM.
Apparently, the agency had been unhappy with the voiceover that had been done for them already, so 2 other blokes & I were to compete for the job, instead.
I received the copy, familiarised myself with it, then made sure to get a full night's sleep, so as to be in best form the next day.
When it came time to place the audition call, 1 of my housemates was on the line (& had been for several hours!), so I was forced to use a public telephone outdoors.
The challenge of reading copy while wind was blowing it about in my hand was unusual, but I was contacted by telephone the next day & informed that I had been given the job.
I arrived @ the studio @ 12:45 E.S.T., which was located within minutes' walk of the place where I had been auditioned for a chocolate commercial that day.
The personnel who admitted me were both very gracious & hospitable, offering to hang my jacket & provide me with a beverage, but I declined because I had had to eat chocolate earlier, & did not wish to increase the possibility that my vocal cords might get gummed up with something like orange juice.
I had brought bottled water with me, which was fortunate, as the studio was quite dry & hot, although scrupulously clean.
The microphone was made by SHURE™, which pleased me well, for that company’s products tend to convey the sound that one’s voice produces, rather than augmenting or changing it as other brands have done & can do.
We were recording directly to hard drive instead of onto 2" tape, so I knew that my voice was being digitised in Real Time.
As I waited, a friend of the engineers' arrived, which I found curious, given that such studio recording sessions generally involve the client & as few people as are needed to get the job done.
The bloke who had auditioned me was 10 min. late, but we got underway within 5 min. of his arrival.
The woman who had arrived before him was talking behind me whilst I was doing my takes, which was a distraction that was both irksome & counterproductive, & I wondered why it was that her bad manners were being tolerated when the client's time & money were @ stake, particularly given that I was not recording in an isolation booth.
I was both pleased & surprised by how they responded to my work, as they said that the other blokes had read the copy so badly that it sounded as though they were primary schoolchildren being forced to read "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" aloud to the class, whereas I "really [made] it come alive!"
I said that as a practising Capitalist, I could not in good conscience do anything less than the very best job of which I am capable, particularly given that I was being paid to make the copy meaningful to the Consumers who would be hearing it.
I was then told that the bloke who had written the copy for the agency was an Oxford University graduate, so it was especially important that I read the copy in its unaltered state, rather than with the editorial changes to Grammar & Diction that I had made.
I complied without argument, for it was their party & I was merely a hired guest.
The recording session took place on Wed. between 13:00 E.S.T. & 14:30 E.S.T., which was indicative of how well things had gone (despite the prattle!), since I had been booked until 15:00 E.S.T.
I was asked what I would be doing with the remainder of my day, to which I replied that I would be viewing FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS™, which led to a very animated discussion about that programme, & how 1 of the engineers had found it difficult to follow because of cartoon imagery, so I explained what had happened in the context of FARSCAPE™: “JOHN QUIXOTE”, which aroused sufficient interest that she decided to rent the Seasons 3 & 4 episodes in addition to FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS™, so I felt that I had done my good deed for the day.
When I left, I visited my agent in order to address some legal matters & administrative concerns, but by the time I reached home, I was no longer in the mood to sit through 4h of viewing, so I read WITHOUT REMORSE™ by TOM CLANCY, instead.
