Book                                                                                        

Monthly Newsletter

Issue # 92

    September 2012   
___________________________________
Upcoming Classes
  
All 2012 Classes

 

Teleprompter  -  9/8

 

On-Camera Workout  -  9/8

 

INTRO: Starting Out  -  9/9

 

Diction & Clarity  -  9/10

 

Professional Invitational  -  9/11

 

Small Group Workout  -  9/13

 

Your Voice As An Instrument  -  9/13-20

 

Narration Simple  -  9/14-15  

 

Stepping Out  -  9/16

 

Creating Characters  -  9/16

 

Daytime Conservatory  -  9/17-11/19

 

Director's Perspective  -  9/17

*** Rescheduled Class *** 

 

Building Your Brand  - 9/18

 

Home Recording I  -  9/19

 

Bringing Voices To Life  -  9/21-23

 

Scene Study  -  9/24-11/12 

 

Home Recording II  -  9/26

 

Character Intensive  -  9/27-11/15

 

Making It M.I.N.E.  -  9/29-30

 

Nuts & Bolts  -  10/2-23

 

INTRO: Starting Out  -  10/3

 

By The Book  -  10/6-7, 13-14

 

Stepping Out  -  10/10

 

Small Group Workout  - 10/11 

 

Classes often sell out. Register early!    

___________________________________
Need Gear? 
Check out these items
from Harlan Hogan.  


The Harlan Hogan VO: 1-A  
One of our classroom mics. 
$279 + $13.50 Shipping


Auralex MudGuard 
Isolates your microphone from external noise bleed and reflections.
$130 + $16.50 Shipping 
 
The NEW Porta-Booth�- Plus 
$189 + $15 Shipping 


Porta Booth Pro� 
Elaine engineered an entire
audio book on the road using
this portable booth. 
$349 + $20 Shipping

    

___________________________________
Join us on Facebook


___________________________________

IVC Logo 

* Audio & video tutorials

* Customized feedback

* Home studio tips

* Monthly contests

* Women & kids sections

* Massive script database

* Exclusive celebrity interviews

* Microphone advice

* Live webcast tutorials

* Community

 

$1 for 7-day membership  

___________________________________

Script Tips: Reading Patterns   

 

Over the next few months, we'll feature sections of 'There's Money Where Your Mouth Is' that will help you build a solid foundation of techniques. This month's script tip is about Reading Patterns.    

  

There are patterns in basic sentence structure and lists. A sentence typically contains a subject, verb, and object. This SVO pattern can be short sentences: "I love you." I is the subject, love is the verb, and you is the object. Or longer, more complex SVO sentences like "Johnny, the ma�tre d' at the restaurant, ordered the cleaners to use bleach on the napkins." In this case, Johnny is the subject, ordered is the verb, and cleaners is the object. Depending on the message, one word has longer stress and more nuance than the others. The word of medium importance is read at a medium speed and stress. The word with the least importance is read faster. These slow, medium, and fast speed variables draw focus to what's important. And, it's what we do in natural speech. In the script analysis, is it essential that the noun, Johnny, ordered the cleaners to do something? That Johnny took action and ordered the cleaners around? Or is it more important that Johnny define who should clean the napkins, the cleaners?

 

Years ago, English classes taught students to diagram sentences. There was a straight line that contained the SVOs. All other words and phrases dropped off the line in a series of angles. As a general rule, words that fall off the line are read faster. These would include prepositional phrases that tell us when, where or why like under the chair, behind the tree, without a doubt, during breakfast. Conversely, modifiers are often stressed or "pop up" to clarify the message. Adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs, and adjectives and answer how, when, and where questions. Adjectives modify nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases and clarify what kind, which one, and how many.

 

Changing reading patterns to reflect our natural speech patterns requires that the brain be reprogrammed to accept and deliver these changes in pace and word stress. Spend a lot of time on this section. It's not as easy as you think. Once you recognize these recurring patterns, cold-reading scripts will become much easier. Figure out what phrase or sentence is the slowest, medium speed, and fastest (thrown away), and if a modifier should be stressed.  

 

The perfect getaway. Pleasant Pacific Cruise Line, for the time

of your life.

Answer: Client's name is the slowest. Perfect tells us why our getaway is better than others. It's the middle speed. The last phrase is the fastest because it's easy to have a good time.

It's time to enjoy the great outdoors, and what better place to get equipped than Marine Outdoors.

Answer: Once again, the client's name in the phrase "than Marine Outdoors" is slowest. The first phrase has two stress options: enjoy or great outdoors. Either way should be read at medium speed. The middle phrase should be read the fastest. By doing so, it tells the listener that it's easy to quickly find the equipment that you need.

I'm the manager / of a Yellow Belly Catfish Restaurant. / It's my job to make sure all the seafood served / at Yellow Belly / is fresh and prepared to your liking.

Answer: This script is a little more complex, so slashes have been placed to define the five phrases. Before you begin, remember that no one cares about you and your job as a manager when you read this. Instead, they're interested in the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff. Since real people don't sell, and this is written in the first person, do not oversell the restaurant. You'll still stretch out the second phrase that includes the client's name, you just need to make it sound natural and not like an announcer. "All" is the modifier that either defends their food or tells the listener why their restaurant is better than the competition's. "All the seafood," "fresh," and "prepared to your liking" are all copy points that should be read at medium speed. It's not necessary to stretch out the second Yellow Belly because it will sound too sell-y. So, in these situations, it's okay to read the client's name faster. "I'm the manager" and "It's my job to make sure" should be read at the quickest pace because they tell us nothing about the product.

 

A general note: No matter what speed you read the phrases and sentences, every word should have meaning, attitude, and nuance. It's just that some information is downplayed more than others. If you emphasize too many words, the listener goes on overload and retains little or no information.

 

You'll work on this technique and others in the By The Book class. 

 

Excerpted from third edition of "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is," by Elaine Clark. To order your copy visit Amazon.com 

  

Next month's script tip will be about Lists.
_________________________________________________________________
Look Who's Talking

Mic Small
* Tony Aldo signed with Look Talent for voice-over, on-camera, and print representation.
* Jonathan Murphy voiced characters for one of the most successful video games series of all time, The Sims and recorded a commercial produced by Evolve Media.
* Mary Lekich played the a speech teacher in  an indie film, Love Concord
* Sara Pachacki 
played a snarky, teenage girl in a mobile game for Bonozo Inc. and did ADR on a horror film, Millenium, staring Octomom, Nadya Suleman.
* Dave Austin recorded a radio spot for Vanguard Cleaning of S. Florida and a website promo for Crestliner Trumped.
* Scott Jackson recorded a trailer for  Sledgehammer Games/Activision.
* Alexandra Matthew played the lead in an episode of a new TV series, Wives Stories.
* Danielle Hall recorded a VO for Dan Can the Handyman and has been cast in Sailor Moon: Red Shadow.
* Noni Galloway played the mom in a commercial for Western Health Advantage.
* John Starr
booked a job to record the voicemail system prompts for a North Bay tech startup called Pixta.com. 
* Rich Rubin is in the stable of voices for Pandora which provides steady gigs, KROQ uses him for 6-10 spots a week and he's the voice of all the DUI PSA's for the State of Texas. 
* Boris shot a supporting role for TV - ID Discovery Channel's I Almost Got Away With It.
* Trevor Allen recorded a corporate narration for Loyal 3, a radio spot for The Car Museum in Tacoma WA and multiple short character animation pieces for a non-profit
 
* Lynn Foley recorded a radio spot for the Senate race in Minnesota.
* Meagan Cunninghan recorded a narration for Banc Box.

Congrats to all who've recently landed agents and jobs. Send us your good news and we'll add it to next month's Newsletter.   
_________________________________________________________________
Sunday Drop-In Improv

Improv Improv1
  
Every Sunday 5:30-8:30pm.
$15 cash at the door.

To receive weekly improv workshop updates,
send a message to Improv Mailing List 




Voice One
Voice-Over > On-Camera > Improv > Casting > Audio Production 
 
665 Third Street, Suite 227  San Francisco, California 94107   
Tel: 415-974-1103  Fax: 415-974-1105 [email protected]  www.voiceone.com