Put separate voice clips on your Spotlight page
For animation, casting says separated voice clips on Spotlight are so, so useful, because they get to hear your voice in isolation.
Do actors need voice clips on Spotlight?
Animation casting directors on why separate, clearly labeled voice clips on your Spotlight page help, and which ones to record.
5 Things Actors Should Know About Voice Clips on Spotlight
Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to spend the 2:24 watching it.
Record your natural accent, then your heritage
Start with a clip in your natural accent. Add one in an accent that is part of you, from family or a region, that sits naturally, and a general US accent if you have one.
Authentic beats native
Casting does not want everyone to sound the same; accents create tone and texture. An accent does not have to be native, but it has to sound authentic enough that you can really work in it. If you have a specific accent, the question is how to make it universal while staying true to yourself.
Label every clip clearly
Clear labels let casting find what they need and see your range, your playfulness and every accent you can do convincingly.
Stand up and find the body in the booth
One casting director says she can hardly recall casting from demos; it comes from voice reels and meeting people in the room or the studio. There, as in a self-tape, do not just sit in a chair: stand, find the energy and how the character moves, even inside the confines of the booth.
Acting Craft is built by Web For Actors, who also wrote why a voice demo is three tracks and not one reel, which draws on videos like this one.
Full transcript (405 words)
Something that I did want to share with everybody is in terms of your spotlight page for animation, something that's super helpful for us is if you have voice clips on your spotlight, just separated voice clips. I think that they are so, so useful. So a voice clip in your natural accent, a voice clip in an accent that is part of you and part of your heritage. I don't know if you've got family from a certain region, certain area, and it sits naturally within you if you've got a general US accent. So it's really, really useful for us to hear that voice in isolation. We don't want everybody to sound the same. We want to create tone and texture with accents. So I think it's just a sentiment that I'm just going to keep hammering home is just be as authentic as possible. We wouldn't be auditioning you not in your natural accent, but it's also looking at how if you have got a specific accent, how do you make that accent universal, but still stay sort of true to yourself, if that makes sense. I agree with everything that Emma has said, having those voice clips clearly labelled and just showcasing what it is that you can do, showcasing your range, your playfulness, and all the accents that you can do that are authentic sounding. It doesn't have to necessarily be native, but having something that's authentic that you can really work in, that's what you should be showcasing. Very rarely do I cast from demos. I can't actually think of a time when I have cast from demos. It's all from just voice reels. We love meeting people in the room, and whether that is just in a room or bringing them into a voice studio to work with them to see how they also embody a character as well, when it's just voice work, it's just so, so important. Something that I repeatedly say to actors when they're doing self-tapes for telly and for film, it's not about just sitting down on a chair. It's about standing up and finding that energy and how you're going to move through your body. I mean, yes, you're in the confinement of a voice booze, but it's about, you know, you're standing up, you're finding that energy, you know, you're finding the grounds of a character, so it's really, really important.
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