Voice Isolation

Ethnicity and regionalism in voice is your race or culture a burden?

This article has been placed on shelves in the back of my mind for some time. I waited for the moment write as much as I expected the right words and phraseology to come to the forefront. This is and will always be a sensitive topic so I'll try to treat it as such. I was even more inspired to get it on paper today by the recent departure of Isaac Hayes, the hit comedy cartoon South Park. Although the story of his departure includes religion and politics, neither one applies to this article. Isaac Hayes was the voice of the character Chef on the animated series from Comedy Central because of who he was and what he looked like when he spoke. Why he left the show has nothing to do with this article, but his situation while working for the show may have some correlation. It seems now was as good a time to write like the others, with little attention accorded to nationals of a topic in the same family.

Ok so enough with the justification for writing it. Go ahead …

In several years of learning the ins and outs of the voice on business, I've always wondered if the voice could one day become a major pillar of equality. Something that leveled the playing field for multicultural society we call America, a company with the doors open for all, no matter where we came from or the color of our skin happened to be. As I continue to ponder the possibilities of such a level of play field, the answer to the overall question is a resounding no. It will not be a playground of equal time soon, but perhaps not for all the same old reasons you might expect.

In no other business would it be acceptable or legal for that matter, to post a job or a list of criteria or parameters such as "Wanted, male or female African-American." or "looking for North American white man for the job. "Jobs within the limits of not so subtly say," No others need apply ".

But in the voice over industry, can choose between male or female, black, white or Hispanic is not just an event every day is the way to go. Producers and casting directors are free to be as finished as they want in their quest the perfect match for their side. Is it hurt them, horrible people? No, but there is no shortage of talking points when it comes to opportunities as are distributed among the performers in film and television. Imagine the front doors of a large corporation U.S. covered in posters to this effect: "wanted, a computer programmer must be a black woman with an urban tinge to his voice. "The idea should be so far from the realm of possibility to be laughable, at least in this day and age. But the voice on the industry there are displays newspapers that do not mean or infer that. They come right on the say.

Nobody will ever be able to tell the real intentions behind the recruiters for the project, and for our own sanity we might as well assume their intentions are good and merit. With all the attention and criticism Mel Gibson has received for his part in The Passion of Christ, I do not think the thought of a black male never crossed the minds of the people in the department casting, and oh what a ruckus it would have been if it had been the sense that they decided to make this movie have they taken a lead actor white male for the part of Jesus in order to maintain the accuracy of the story? If yes, there are many in this country and the rest of the world to this issue than accuracy.

Wait a minute … I can feel this article spiral … Apply the breaks, the return of original intent, and to return to the question …

Ok, I think I got it.

Suffice it to say that for people is true, it usually buried so deeply it is useless to start looking. If we want to go beyond the possibilities of prejudice and exception in this area, we will find a means of deceiving directors and casting people. One way to circumvent the system that may or may not be in place. One way to overcome, so to speak, an obstacle that this remains faceless and therefore an illusion can never be addressed. We do not know what we're fighting, or if we're fighting anything. Is not a very bright prospect.

Breaking barriers.

When I have the opportunity to express coach on talent ethnic backgrounds different from mine, my mind opens to the fascination of the unknown. I'm peering into a crevice if deep and so different from mine, my receivers are on alert. The interior of this crevice are many things I did never seen the culture I've ever seen, beliefs and experiences that I have ever seen. Many are portions of human existence I've never met, and as they have shaped that person can shape me a little too. I must attend to them, learn from them, feel them and listen to better mold my approach to teaching the trade. This is usually much easier said than done. Several times I meet or broadcasting talent actors who fought so hard to suppress their regionalism, ethnicity or nationality than to bring them to lower the wall, they were sometimes forced to create, is not an easy task.

Much of my ability to break down these barriers is simply a development approach to build confidence. You wonder why I would try to break those walls down at all, why not just leave to be skimmed over them? Probably for the same reason, when I talk to someone I want them to look into my eyes. As coach, it is my duty to dig as deep as I can to find the raw talent. Can I bring that talent to the surface where it can breathe, grow and prosper. This is a performance art, a human enterprise, an art form that requires people to be their true selves. I am trying to teach players how the voice to create characters, do not teach how to become another character. I need to be able to see the real person. It is there, I find the voice I'm the coach. I can not coach the person ornate facade shallow. I need talk to the real person behind the wall.

Reality dictates that social pressures and socio-economic with the cultural context will be the strongest influences that govern how a person appears to others. In the most utopian community of commercial voice over talent, producers and companies that hire freelance talent pure and simple, if the factors mentioned above lead you to speak anything other than "The English kings" (with accent) Worldwide Opportunities in the voice will never be very low for you. The way we speak, our tone and its artifacts in our regional role enormous or not we see any success in this industry.

Become better versions of ourselves.

So many people pursuing careers or voice broadcasting are constrained by a word of unwritten law to mold their sound into something considered more friendly. Who makes the laws or games policy is unknown to me and the rest of us, but more often it dictates that: urban accents and dialects are removed or deleted. Culture is lost and the regional flavor is buried. What remains is a sound completely manufactured, which in turn becomes a person's permanent public or professional voice. Many times it seems forced, which in turn makes it sound fake. When it rings false or forced its presenter starts to slip through. Forced, fake style announcer reads are not atop the list of entries in the voice over business.

Producers and even ordinary people which could be cast voice talent are looking for voice and / or a sense of real people, the guy or girl of coffee, a person met in the bank, people who offer their care, people in the deli and small businesses they frequent. In essence, people choose to interact with during their normal course of business. When the voices of many more jobs are cast, there is the feeling we have when we see a familiar face or to hear a familiar voice that producers and casting people are trying to recreate.

When we see a familiar face, or hear a familiar voice and it's one we want to see or hear, it is generally reassuring. When something is foreign to us, or strange and unknown, we are generally anything but comfortable. It's basically so we do not want our voices to be strange, unrecognizable or foreign at the general audience. Our ability as the voice actors to create the desired image is our voice that is hired us and we land jobs. What we neglected if not completely cataloged is not able to provide those without a voice so affect, urban or regional ethnic. When a voice actor auditions with one of the above objects in their votes for a job that does not expressly or so requests, they will most likely not get the job, the person he hires for the job, making a decision discriminatory will, in essence, discriminating against them because of their voices.

Understand the shattering of the word "discrimination" if I ask you Please know all the definitions of that word before leaving the deep end on my use of the word. It is not meant producers in the world are directly discriminate against anyone, it seems they are far from being white. It was not the intent of the comment, but the reality this idea is that we will never know whether they are or not. The only way to remove it as a possibility is to overthrow by becoming a voice most versatile talent and learn to speak with or without our influence regional or ethnic. Mainly through training and practice better and better versions of ourselves.

Embracing our natural character.

I see nothing more painful, insidious or bad to say a person of any what color, culture, race, nationality or belief that the way they were born into this world is not good enough to participate – and prosperity of his crop. However, the message is received daily by people of different cultures in different directions and sources that are too numerous to name. There are those who can enter just by my writing this article, I became one of those sources. I am not, but this decrease the time to talk. Again, I will not allow this item to spiral out of control. My only comment is this: As we continue to say nothing of these issues, the more we will eventually talk about them.

Our natural character, more of how we sound when we speak, is what makes us whole. Although some of we may not quite like us, when we are free to be ourselves we seem to be more comfortable. When it comes activity on the voice, being comfortable is one of the key factors in front of the microphone. We want to be relaxed. We want to be able to focus and concentrate on the task at hand, both of which are quite difficult when part of our energy is spent trying to be someone we are not. The best example would be the type of discomfort when they experience a singer trying to sing a song that is outside their area distribution. This experiment is identical to the experience of voice over talent who tries to bury an accent or dialect, and like someone he or she is not.

However, if our natural resources is the one character who speaks with a southern draw, accent or dialect urban abroad Whenever we talk like ourselves, so we will not talk very well adapted to the most powerful voices here in America. So what are the talents different regions and ethnic groups do? To answer this question we must explore the implications of concealing or learn to perform around who we really are. This highlights the dilemma I mentioned a few columns back, how you wake up, look in the mirror and accept that the way you were born in this world is not good enough to participate in this business? It's pretty hard pill to swallow.

On each row, in every corner of our society forces are fighting to preserve their culture, and the industry in many ways more than one, ask to abandon it. Not to say there are no opportunities for people of culture, a different color and dialect, but most voice over jobs are to go to the average Joe or Jane who speaks with a kind of typical average American touch.

My first opportunity to coach African American student came several years ago. She was a young woman, very ready with a charming smile. She came to my studio with a good deal of acting experience was a real advantage for her. Because of some of his experiences of his Shakespearean stage regionalism and dialect that the attributes have been very subtle in his voice. I found it to be a very nice speaker, and after a hearing behind the microphone, "I said with a little tweaking, we could produce a demo that did not have identifiable characteristics that announce to the listener what she looked like, how big it was, what kind of shoes she liked to wear, and yes, what color was his skin.

After a discussion on the concept of having his demo to be ethnically neutral, she and I agreed we would work to have it not be completely neutral but some of its natural flavor impact in the most banal, conservative reads on his reel. It was important for me that she was able to demonstrate its ability to transform its urban dialect on and off, and not have to lean more in one direction or another. I did not want to delete or try to hide that fact that she was a young, decent, intelligent woman black. I wanted his trial to show that she was an intelligent young woman, dignified, which incidentally was black.

We both wanted to embrace his culture. My overwhelming desire was that she received treatment fair trial when someone was listening. I wanted to get some titles before they discovered that there were several layers on the product. My main concern was that someone would pop into his demo to hear the first track and ignore it as a demo ethnic, or add the black battery if there was such a thing, or worse discard. We have discussed all these possibilities and has taken into account when designing its demo. I knew from the beginning, I was treading into unknown territory ethically by bringing these issues to the forefront, just as I'm writing this article. But I felt as strongly as I do now, that until the company finds a conscience and a certain decency, or we can return back the hands of time, it may do more harm than good by choosing to pretend that the world is not the way it is.

When came time to choose the cover of his demo, the question was whether or not she put her headshot with his demo. My answer to this question should not. After all, this is called Voice-Over, no face-over, or does If-I-Come-From-plus, or what-color-Am-I-Plus. In this case, like any other business, it should make no difference where you come from or what you look like. The only thing that should count and often are what you look like.

Insulate your abilities

One of my biggest concerns when a new talent comes to my studio, they do not understand the difficulty of achieving success. It takes considerable investment of time and energy to move forward in the industry, and inform a talent that barriers opposed to them in front before you even start, or never spend a dime on the company seems fair to me. Most people have the same obstacles when starting: Lack of experience, the ability to read cold, and the technical hearing, lack of technical knowledge when it comes to editing and uploading files to servers and setup home studios. All these obstacles are fairly general. But when a talent has a background regional, ethnic or cultural impacts directly on their delivery of voice on a copy, it becomes much more difficult for them as a talent and I as a coach.

When I first started coaching, someone commenting cultural background as a barrier their success was feeling a bit like walking a tightrope. I was not sure what approach I should take and say nothing at all was a little uncomfortable. But when I considered the possibility of not telling the students and let them go to their training as having someone tell them later, I felt I might as well take the risk and tell them in advance. Whenever I had to do, it was a mixture of responses, most of them non-verbal so it is difficult to say exactly how the talent seen what I said. I see no easy way to say it. So far I have just come right out and tell people that their accent or manner of speaking will have a negative impact on their success as a voice over talent. I usually try to explain the process of installing a switch that, rather that completely ridding them of their natural style of speaking, they can turn it on and off. The installation of this switch takes time and effort, and time course in the pursuit of training costs money. The money continues to be a major prohibitive factors preventing people from entering the business or continue to pursue long. When one considers the prospect of spending part of their coaching budget to get rid of something they have never seen as a problem in the first place, he invited from time to time to throw in the towel at the beginning and decide this case is not for them.

Although it may seem cruel or annoying, when most students decide go back to this point, I'm delighted. Turning tail and running at the first sign of trouble is what keeps everyone and their brother to have a voice over demo on the market. But when a talent from diverse ethnic decided to backtrack after being informed that, it strikes me a little closer to the nucleus. I can not help thinking that I'm just another in a long chain of people who said all along their life, "I'm sorry, but because you're (ethnic place here), this activity is not good for you" First, it is not at all what I say and two;. it could not be further from the truth Of course a human being. level, that is what it's like I say and I never wanted to be a person who says things like that.

I have long known that the truth hurts and people's perception is their truth. How people perceive what I say may lead it to be misinterpreted. I also knew that to be a leader, you sometimes make unpopular decisions. That is why I continue to follow the path of honesty, and provide assessments of how I see this company to all comers and the way I think they will adapt. I find it a crime to take nearly one money, push them through training and get into the world unless the appropriate tools and obstacles standing in their way. I fear that this Not all in the industry share the same basic principal. It's certainly something I think the voice-over talent with ethnically diverse backgrounds must be aware of this market during the seizure.

If you are a voice actor who feels some of the characteristics of your voice may be some something to do with your lack of success in this business, so I try to offer a hand of understanding. In such detail that even Oriented Business the slightest variation in our voice can make the difference between getting hired and not getting hired, it is of utmost importance that we are able to analyze our product and see if anything is holding us back. If we do not have the ability to analyze the self is a process that can be taught by a permanent coaching. Also, do not feel like your natural style is something that must be crushed, dried or stuffed in a corner dark and deep, because it does not work. Look at it as a tool, another arrow in your bow, and another voice to show your versatility. Try looking beyond your voices and see only one of the things that make you unique, diverse and interesting. It can be a very valuable piece of your portfolio, but your room may be detrimental to your success.

There are walls around people of culture in this country, let alone world. Some are made of granite and some are not so easy to see. Some have fallen over the past 25 years and some are still being built. Some are designed to keep people in, although many are designed to keep people out. These are the realities in which we live. They may continue to be a reality for as long as we live. Although this does not mean we have to bow to them, or attempting to tunnel their way, we only have to imagine that there are ways to rise above and make them disappear. In the free world face of voiceover, a little training can go a long way towards creating a new reality. A reality where we are not judged buy the color of our skin or where we come from, but by the content of our demo.

About the Author

Michael Minetree is the owner of MineWurx Studio, a voice over training studio in Washington D.C. He has been training new voice talent for 10 years and works in the industry on a daily basis. You can find out more about him by searching for his studio on the Internet or by going to http://www.minewurx.com

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