My Character Demo and such

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Permalink Reply by Tim Simmons on May 23, 2009 at 2:12am

John,

Howdy. Your impressions were good but not great, IMO, so I find it hard to believe that 123 took your demo down saying it wasn't you. Now, to me, it's obviously NOT audio clips of the real people but my opinion is that your character voices are much better. Funny lines, too. I like your range of pitch from the really deep stuff like the Russian to the higher stuff. I wish I had a bit more upper range. I have a baritone voice that just sort of sits there. hehe But maybe with more practice I can increase my range.

For your characters, I give you 5 stars! Impressions... 4. So, great job! What work have you done with your character voices?


Tim

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Permalink Reply by John Fowler on May 23, 2009 at 2:32am

Hello Tim

Thank you!

Actually it was the Character Demo they took down saying it wasnt me. I kept the email! Alot of my work has been promo's and drops for Radio and Internet Radio as well as Podcasts. I found a nice little niche there and repeat work that has been steadily picking up. Mostly in Europe too. But its been my impressions that were the best sellers. Characters like Wolfman Jack (not on the demo) Orson Welles and Dennis Leary for examples. In fact I did a call-in bit as Dennis Leary for an American DJ on a German Internet Radio station. It was a little skit he wanted to do. It was hysterical He allowed me to just comeup with whatever I thought DL would say! I've always loved doing or inventing characters. I also mimic many cartoon characters (a throwback to childhood that I havent quite let go of yet! lol!) and voices that just strike me as odd (like Ozzy Osbourne). Other than those I'm trying to expand mine into new areas!

Thanks again...I will work on my Impressions!

John

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Permalink Reply by Luis Acevedo on May 23, 2009 at 7:26am

John,

Very nice...Funny stuff...I am no expert on Character Voices (you can listen to my characters and LMK) but I think one thing is that you should not have to announce the voice of the person you are impersonating...If the voice is believable then the audience will know who it is...Just my Dos Centavos my friend... Great voices, I love it....

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Permalink Reply by Joe J Thomas on May 23, 2009 at 11:34am

Hi John,

Wow. V123 took it down? Well, I wouldn't rely on them for an "expert" demo review, IMHO.

For the Characters, I agree with Tim on your vocal range. I think you can definitely hone in on them, and be a bit more solid on your choices. You've got some good stuff, but it needs polish. Each one should be a "real person", so to speak. With a past, quirks, friends, etc. The more real they are to you, the more real they will be to us. And each situation should be real (where are they? who are they talking to? what just happened?, etc)

On the Celebs, I would say you either need to be dead-on, a really good characature, or not do them. Be aware that there isn't a whole lot of call for impressions. One alternate way to use them is to change them into a character of your own instead of an approximation of someone else. The ones I listened to are not close enough to tell who they are without introducing them. If you need to tell us who it is, it probably needs more work.

Demos in general should sound like a collection of real work (even if they're not). I'd suggest going to http://www.videovoicebank.net/ and listening to demos to get a better idea of the standard. They consist of a selection of fully produced spots or excerpts, back-to-back. I'd also steer clear of telling a story, introducing characters, and lengthy introductions. Keep it between 1-2 minutes, depending on the demo (character can be a bit longer).

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more assist... happy to lend an ear!
Joe J Thomas
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com
www.JoeActor.com

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Permalink Reply by John Fowler on May 23, 2009 at 2:22pm

Thank you all for your help!

I will deffinately work on it! And thank you Joe...your input also means alot! I will work on polishing them up. Find some better stuff to use them in. I can really relate to what you mean about them having their own lives. I kinda lived that myself. I played Bass guitar for many years in bands. Everything from a Jazz/Blues combo to a Thrash metal group. When I was playing in the blues band I was given the name Johnny Fingers (because I played using 8 Finger technique). I adopted the persona which I still use today. I do a blues show on my internet station as Johnny Fingers. And I've been told I sound like a 60 year old, whiskey soaked, black blues man! lol.

So I will try to use that experience to build a framework on for future voices. Thank you again for your insights! I really do appreciate it!

John

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Permalink Reply by Joe J Thomas on May 23, 2009 at 5:22pm

Johnny Fingers, the Blues Man!!! Love it! Yeah - that's a character for sure.

Sounds like you're multi-talented, and driven to succeed...

Joe

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Permalink Reply by John Fowler on May 23, 2009 at 5:56pm

Yeah I've always loved the blues. My tag line is "If iWebRadio can't give you "The Finger" who can?" lol! Sometimes I miss playing but somethings have to be put aside for the big picture to come into focus. To that I am dedicated. I want this bad and am willing to work very hard for it! Keeping an open mind and open ears. Asking questions and applying what I can to make it work. Not for me, for the clients! Theyre the ones we do it for! I have no illusions about that!

Thanks again!

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