I think these posts helps me re-focus and align my thoughts, so forgive me if they become too repetitive! I always try to include at least one important lesson within each of them though and I think it might be good for me to highlight it out from now onwards.
It’s come to my attention that Voices.com has made morally questionable decisions that affects the Voice Over Community as a whole and ever since I’ve found out, it’s been a little depressing and hard hitting to my motivation which is what this post is mainly trying to focus on.
I’ve done 20 auditions so far which isn’t great from the target that I’ve set myself last post, but it’s all down to suitability and the lack of auditions that I’m actually receiving from Voices.com. Which is a little unsettling because the first time I signed up with Premium I received 50+ emails regarding jobs. And now there’s barely 9 jobs on my list with 0-2 coming in every day. It’s a big shame that those 9 jobs aren’t really suitable for me and I don’t want to waste their time (and mine) since the response system is very competitive.
Speaking of those 20 auditions, only 7 have been listened to which again takes a hit into my motivation especially because there’s no feedback. And while I perfectly understand it’s because of the system, as someone whose not sure if he’s interpreted the directions correctly or is utilising his vocal in the right tones: there’s only myself to judge and we are our own worst critics.
So what can I do in the meantime, where’s the motivation and these secret potions? Well honestly, I’ve not found one! I’ve just been taking each day a step at a time. You’ve got to come to a realisation that there’s never a quick shortcut, you make your plan and you try and work your way through it. The most important thing is as long as you enjoy what you’re doing, then you can endure whatever comes your way and eventually the negative status effects will go away!
I felt I had a very good audition the other day, it was a perfect role and I know I got in quite early for it. I’ve been refreshing to see if it’s been listened to for the past few days. It’s this drive which makes me look forward to the next one and the one after that. In addition, I started to notice my microphone picks up some noise when I’m speaking so the initial Remove Noise wasn’t enough, I’ve had to sample and remove two noises for this audition and it really clears things up – perhaps that was what has been wrong with the previous auditions I wonder.
I also dabbled for the first time with Adobe Premiere Pro last week for a 2 minute sequence, I’ve only used After Effects before it but it was quite intuitive and again unlocked a drive for perfection that is within me.
You already know my next steps, which is the new Demo Reels and I’ve isolated some areas of focus already so hopefully I can release them very soon.
Things to take away:
- Voices.com: Questionable Practices & My Experience
- Enjoy what you do! There’s no Paralyz Heal or quick solution
- Using Remove Noise twice may be useful for your recordings
- Focus on areas for your demo reels
Image source: Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire