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VOICE OVER TODAY - January 28, 2002
Published
by EDGE STUDIO
New
York training - 212-868-edge
Washington
DC training - 202-398-edge
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training - 203-374-edge
Tele-Training
- 888-321-edge
demos. training. guidance. CD duplication. resources.
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NEED CDs? visit www.edgestudio.com/duplication.htm
NEED SCRIPTS? visit www.edgestudio.com/scripts.htm
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THIS ISSUE INCLUDES:
1.)... Web-site
narration. Can I make money with it?
2.)... Special interest - volunteer reading
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WORKSHOP
Want to add
accents on your resume?
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ACCENT ACQUISITION WORKSHOP
6 accents
in 6 classes - 2 hours each class
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Accents covered: Spanish, New York, Italian, Irish, British, American
Southern.
Each participant
will compile an audio cassette tape of himself/herself performing the
accent under supervision, as well as explicit instructions for using the
accents on auditions.
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Instructed by Sam Chwat, Director of New York Speech Improvement Services
- dialect coach for Robert DeNiro in CAPE FEAR and THIS BOY'S LIFE; Willem
Dafoe in his Oscar-nominated role in SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE; and Marcia
Gaye Harden for her Oscar win in POLLOCK; Julia Roberts, Andie MacDowell,
Jude Law; and many other stars.
6 Saturday
classes, 10:00 a.m. - 12 noon
April 6, April 13, April 20, April 27, May 11, May 18,
An impressive resume builder...
Offered by:
Edge Studio
Location: New York Speech Improvement Services
253 West 16th Street, Suite # l-B
Between 7th and 8th Avenues
Fee: $300 includes all 6 sessions
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Registration
Deadline - March 22nd , 2002
**Seating is limited to 10 participants, and based on a first pay, first
serve basis.
Call 212-868-edge or toll free 888-321-edge
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1.) WEB-SITE NARRATION. CAN I MAKE MONEY WITH IT?
Web narration is a relatively new web feature - and many web designers are not well versed with it.
However, within 3 years, most web sites will contain some form of narration – i.e.: promotional videos, training tutorials, narrated menus, etc. That is why businesses are beginning to request that their web designers furnish them with web narration - but web designers are unsure how to do this.
That is where you, the voice-over artist, step in. Market yourself to web designers - letting them know that you offer complete web narration services, including recording, production, and audio conversion to a variety of computer files (wav files, MP3 files, etc).
To do this is simple. Just take the copy (the script given to you by the web designer) to a professional production studio. There, they can record, produce, and convert the narration to any computer file. Once completed, give the finished product to your client. That's it.
Better yet, all costs you incur at the production studio are added to your narration invoice. In other words, if the production studio charges you $150, and you charge $150 for the voice-over, then charge the web designer $300.
And still better, most voice over artists mark up additional services. In other words, if the production studio charges you $150, then you should add $200 onto your invoice.
Finally, to beef up sales, tell web designers the benefits of narrated web-sites. This way, they will market those benefits to their potential clients, and thus be marketing for both of you.
Benefits include:
1. Narrated web-sites sell more products and services. Surveys show that narrated web-sites keep the user on the site for longer periods of time – which greatly increases the chance that the user purchases the service or product.
2. Narrated web-sites make customers feel more comfortable. Customers will purchase more freely when they feel that the business is 'up to date' with technology.
3. Narrated web-sites promote viral (word of mouth) marketing. Web-site narration is still new and exciting, and therefore users tell others to 'check it out.' In other words, narrated web-sites help the business market itself.
To summarize: once web designers know that you provide web-site narration, they will market this feature to their clients, and obtain work for both of you. Everybody wins.
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ADVERTISEMENT
The 2002 edition of the Audiobook Reference Guide, from the publisher of AudioFile magazine is worth checking out. This comprehensive sourcebook to the audiobook industry, the guide provides contact information for 600 audiobook publishers, wholesale and retail distributors, creative, manufacturing and support services.
Check out the new section on Voice Talent--and sign up for YOUR listing in the 2002 Edition.
Call 800-506-1212 or visit www.audiofilemagazine.com to order your copy now. Just $24.00 (inc. s/h). For info on the Voice Talent listings email jennifer@audiofilemagazine.com.
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2.) SPECIAL INTEREST - VOLUNTEER READING
Voice-over professionals volunteer to record textbooks for visually and learning impaired
Calculus class can be challenging under the best circumstances, but imagine trying to pass without being able to read the textbook and understand, or even see, the complex charts and graphs.
That's the seemingly insurmountable obstacle facing thousands of blind and dyslexic students. Many turn to Recording For the Blind & Dyslexic, a non-profit organization that provides audio recordings of textbooks and other reference materials to vision-impaired and other students. RFB&D has an over 83,000-title library of taped textbooks, reference and professional materials available for people who cannot read standard print because of a disability.
While more than 100,000 people across the country rely on RFB&D's library for access to educational material, RFB&D in turn relies on the help of thousands of volunteers who donate their time to help its members realize their academic goals. At RFB&D's Boston Unit in Cambridge, some of the newest volunteers are voice-over professionals, who are putting their natural abilities and well-honed talents to work for students of all ages who cannot use standard print and who have opted to "learn by listening" to RFB&D's textbooks.
According to Christina Raimo, Executive Director of the Boston Unit, the contributions of these individuals make it possible for her organization to make recorded textbooks accessible to students with disabilities. "Hiring a voice-over professional to read just one textbook would cost thousands of dollars, which would put our services out of the reach of a large majority of the young people who are counting on us. Their efforts cut the cost of producing a book in half, which means we can provide our members with audio textbooks and reference materials, produced at a professional level, and keep the costs to our members at a minimum."
Some of Raimo's volunteers voice-over professionals. "The challenge is to make a textbook interesting to the listener. It's similar to what a narrator would do for the Discovery or History channels: they're just voicing facts and figures that are often very dry. It's a good chance to practice techniques like dramatic pauses and voice inflections." Raimo said.
One such volunteer is Catherine Iagnemma who moved to Boston five years ago. She has completed various voice-over and acting classes in Boston and has worked extensively with a private voice-over coach.
"When I was a child, my mom always took me to work at nursing homes and homeless shelters, and in college I volunteered as a crisis counselor," she says, "so it just seemed natural to me to use my voice talents to help people. When you see the number of people who rely on RFB&D to get through college, it's a wonderful thing to be part of."
Like all new volunteers, Iagnemma has to complete a training program before she can become a reader. She currently works as a director, helping produce the audio recordings while she trains.
"The key to being a good reader is engaging your audience," she says. "It's like being a storyteller. It's important to find something interesting in what you're reading, to make a connection with the text. The listener will hear this and it will make a seemingly tedious task more pleasurable."
If Iagnemma is the rookie, Edwin Beschler is the veteran. After working in the broadcast and publishing industries, Beschler retired to Boston nearly three years ago and now spends four hours a week locked in an RFB&D recording booth. His publishing career was centered on mathematics, and his expertise helps fill RFB&D's need for specialists in math and science. His biggest challenge when reading a text on an advanced subject like Calculus is explaining the complicated charts and graphs. "I don't know if a student has been blind since birth, or lost his sight later in life and is at least familiar with these diagrams, or is dyslexic and can see the diagram but can't comprehend it," says Beschler. "I have to decide whether a particular detail is totally irrelevant and ignore it, or is especially relevant and must be explained in a way that anyone can understand no matter what his or her disability is."
Iagnemma and Beschler are just two of the more than 5,700 volunteers nationwide who enable RFB&D to provide its 91,000 members access to nearly 240,000 textbooks and reference materials. Both say they get just as much out of their volunteer work as they put in.
"It's an excellent opportunity for anyone working as a voice-over professional or an actor," says Iagnemma. "(RFB&D) provides excellent training in a very warm, supportive atmosphere, and you know you're making a difference for so many people."
The RFB&D Boston Unit serves more than 6,000 students in Massachusetts and its audio books are offered by more than 200 schools in the state. For more information about volunteering opportunities, contact Peggy Loeb at 617.577.1111x17 or email her at ploeb@rfbd.org.
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WORKSHOP
Trying to get rid of an accent?
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ACCENT ELIMINATION WORKSHOP
Eliminate your New York, foreign, or regional accent. And Acquire Standard American English speech.
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This seminar focuses on identifying the most obvious features of your accent, and creating strategies for your acquisition of Standard American (Non-Regional) English.
Each participant will acquire a comprehensive understanding of his/her accent and the means necessary to acquire non-regional American English speech.
The focus will be on establishing a self-study program for losing your accent.
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Instructed by Sam Chwat, Director of New York Speech Improvement Services - the nation's largest company of licensed speech therapists specializing in accent elimination, Standard American English, and professional speech and voice improvement. He taught Julia Roberts and Andie MacDowell to lose their Southern accents before their film careers began, and counts among his clients Robert DeNiro, Kathleen Turner, Jude Law, Isabella Rossellini, Tony Danza, Jon Bon Jovi, Patrick Stewart, John Leguizamo, Roberto Benigni, James Gandolfini, and many other performers.
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Choose one date:
Saturday,
March 9th 2002, 10:00 a.m. - 12 noon
Thursday, March 21st 2002 from 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.
Offered by:
Edge Studio
Location: New York Speech Improvement Services
253 West 16th Street, Suite # l-B
Between 7th and 8th Avenues
Fee: $79
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Registration Deadline -February 22nd , 2002
**Seating is limited to 10 participants, and based on a first pay, first
serve basis.
Call 212-868-edge or toll free 888-321-edge
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HAVE A DEMO? We're always searching for new talent. Please mail us your
CD demo to: Edge Studio, 251 West 30th Street, suite 9-fm. NY, NY 10001
USA
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Voice Over
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