Blog – Page 25 – Connie Terwilliger

Technical Specs for Audio/Video Scripts

It is usually a team effort to create an audio/visual presentation. And if the people you are working with don’t “see/hear” the end product the way you do, you may not get the “right” results.

This extends to the voiceover part of the presentation. You may have the entire presentation visualized in your head, but unless there is something on the script that helps the narrator see it (hear it) the way you do, you both will be working a lot harder than you need to.

Be sure to let the talent have as much information as possible about what you are hearing in the way of pacing and attitude and energy. This may mean taking a few minutes ahead of the session to discuss it with the talent. Believe me, for most projects, it is well worth the time. If a rough cut exists, consider sending a file with the interview clips. […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 19th, 2010|Categories: Techniques|Tags: narration, script formatting, voiceover|

Stock Music and Sound FX Site

Just ran across this site through a strange email exchange. (That exchange is the subject of another blog post.) Anyway, this site has stock video, music, and sound effects…apparently all user contributed. 50-50 split I guess. The site is pretty fast and easy to use. I downloaded a couple of the free sound effects they were offering just to see how the interface works. It is free to sign up and they are having a giveaway for an iMac this month.

I listened to some of the music and for $5 (hard to find the actual prices until you check out), they sound pretty good for the right projects. My concern, of course, is that this is another watering down of prices for creative content. The Internet and Social Media have changed the way we do business.

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 17th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: pond5, stock music, stock sound effects, stock video|

A Dozen “C’s” for a Career in Voiceover Work

My friend Marc Cashman – a voice over instructor and performer has identified and described 12 voice over skill sets that will help you to refine your current skills and develop new ones. Here is the list – the whole article is available at Vox Daily.

1) Clarity

2) Cleanliness

3) Consistency

4) Connected

5) Conversational

6) Cold Reading

7) Chop Chop

8) Coordination

9) Characterization

10) Convincing

11) Control

12) Confidence

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 13th, 2010|Categories: Business|Tags: Marc Cashman, Voiceover career, Vox Daily|

Shut up! And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script! Advice from Edge Studios

Got this in an email a couple months ago from Edge Studios and found it again going through my InBox. Some great advice here for the beginner and a reminder for the pros…

***********************

Shut up! And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script!

It’s not just getting the gig that’s important.
It’s making sure the client hires you again.

So we’re sharing 7 things many voice talent forget to do after reading their copy!

1. Shut up when done reading your copy. Don’t tell your client how you did – you’re liable to contradict their opinion and/or create more work for everyone by opening up a can of worms. Instead listen to their direction. Read again when prompted.

2. Conversely, when the job is done, talk. Thank them. Request a copy of the finished product. Request a testimonial.

3. Later that day, send an email. Say it was nice to work with them. Compliment them […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 9th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: Edge Studio, voiceover business|

Tasked with an impossible name?

One of the things I do every month is record the names, addresses and phone numbers of eye doctors, dentists and lawyers for a couple of large IVR systems for Allstate. Lots of the names are foreign and appear impossible to pronounce at first glance. Finding a source to help with these names with origins from around the world would be great.

I’m checking out the VOA (Voice of America) pronunciation website – http://names.voa.gov/index.cfm

Mike Cain from the Yahoo Voiceover Message board passed this along.

Connie Terwilliger2010-04-07T11:59:06+00:00April 7th, 2010|Categories: Techniques|Tags: pronunciation, VOA|

Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? Email? Smart Phone? POT? Blogs? SEO? What works?

It has been an interesting year – trying to find the right mix of media to keep in contact with my clients and potential clients. Depending on who you talk to, the mix of media can be one or more of the above, in any order and in every possible percentage. What works for you?

I’m finding that my Blackberry lets me get out of the studio, but getting out of the studio means less time to work my network of contacts. And being an early adopter of nearly everything technological (I had a Kaypro), I have had to try out social media as a way to connect.

Can’t say that it is really working for me yet – although I did manage to land a nice project through a Facebook happy coincidence. I joined an e-Learning group the same day someone else did who happened to be looking for female voice […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 5th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: Facebook, Marketing, voiceover business|

Technology Update

Never reported back about the new Toshiba laptop. Working great! Except for some sort of Toshiba software that keeps opening up telling me I have messages, it has been a seamless transition. At some point, I will spend a few minutes and turn that off.

Took just a few minutes to get the audio chain set up so that I knew I could reliably record on the road. The first set up was with the dbx mini pre-amp I have been using for years, but early in the week a new MicPort Pro arrived and that was even easier to set up. I’m hooked on it, just like everyone else I know who has one.

The only thing I am missing right now is a single piece of Auralex acoustic foam in the 2″ pyramids – not the long wedges – the little pyramids. Need to replace the old foam in my […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 3rd, 2010|Categories: Business, Recording, Technology|Tags: Auralex, dbx, MicPort Pro, Technology, Toshiba, voiceover|

When Volunteering Collides with Work

The balance of business and personal time is changing dramatically for me this past year. And I am trying to figure out if this is a good thing or not. While business has been a bit weird this quarter, it has been steady with repeat customers and some new – but no dramatic up tick.

This could be the economy, or it could be that my marketing efforts have been waylaid by my personal and other volunteer committments.

I’ve learned the marketing lesson before. You stop marketing yourself and people forget who you are. Well, not everyone, but you know what I mean.

Between my new responsibilities (and frankly new life) with my mom who moved close to me last April, my continuing volunteer work for MCA-I, roles in community theater performances, friends, classes, relationships – there just isn’t the same amount of time to do the […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:43+00:00March 28th, 2010|Categories: Business, Musings|

Technical Troubleshooting

Argh! Turned on the system the other day and there was a phased hum/tone thing going on in the background of my recordings. Nothing had changed (well, maybe the weather), but suddenly my output was unacceptable.

I was able to clean up the background noise well enough for auditions (and it didn’t affect my ISDN sessions), but luckily, I didn’t have any paying work that couldn’t be delayed until a fix was found.

Was it the Mackie? Was it the cable to the computer? Was it the mic cable? One thing at a time – one precious minute after minute – I eliminated and pondered. Finally, I packed up the Mackie and the cable to the computer and trundled them down to San Diego Professional Sound and Music.

Turns out the 2nd channel on the Mackie is kaput – or at least has a permanent […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:43+00:00March 18th, 2010|Categories: Recording, Technology|Tags: audio equipment, audio recording|

New Toshiba Laptop Arrived

Ah, technology today. My new Toshiba Satellite laptop was on the front porch yesterday.

Open the box. Plug it in. It finds my network. Asks a couple of questions and boom, we are up and running. This one has Windows 7 on it. So far, it seems pretty self-explanatory and user friendly.

Now comes the task of loading all my software on it to see if it is user friendly for the various programs. This will take me until the end of the week probably.

The basics:

Adobe Audition (done, not checked yet for recording)
Office (at least Excel and Word – maybe Front Page for website updates on the road)
Vox Studio
Word 2 Wav
Paint Shop Pro
Miscellaneous enhancements for playing audio, video, etc.

Connie Terwilliger2010-03-10T08:27:18+00:00March 10th, 2010|Categories: Business, Technology|Tags: computer upgrade, software, voiceover business|