Auditioning from Home (Alone)

I believe the single most challenging thing to do well as a voice actor is to audition from home. It is a lynchpin capacity, and you get only one shot. It’s tough because you are self-directing, a separate skill from acting.

An audition is your one shot at booking the gig. In a proper studio, with a booth director or casting director’s input, an actor at least has a partner in triangulating a good read. But when you audition from home alone, as we usually do now, you are on your own director, editor and crew.

The stakes with an audition are high and deserve your best effort, as your work may not only book a gig, but it can leave a lasting impression of your talent with the casting director.

An audition gives you one swing to connect with that ball coming over the plate, no more. Callbacks are not that common.

It’s homerun or nothing.

Upping the stakes, though a great audition might not book the gig, it may stick in the casting director’s or producer’s mind and could lead to other audition requests or even work later on.

Consistently good auditions, even if they don’t book, will add to your reputation with your agent and casting folks. This is part of why you always want to give an audition your best effort, no matter how humble the project may seem. You are building your reputation even without booking the audition.

So how do you audition well when home alone?

You are creating something. It’s about giving not getting. Wanting to give, not take.

To start, slate with an energy and at least some essence of the spot…

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When auditioning, the freedoms available to you to apply or change include:

Word emphasis

Silence – fill with meaning

Alternate your “pressure” on accelerator pedal and break for pace and volume.

Pre life addition.

Rewrite or other fitting variation

Riff

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If animation or game

What reference reminds you of this show or game?

What actor or character?

If commercial

what is point of persuasion?

who are you trying to convince?

who is listening?

-who does your voice need to be to fulfill this?

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Interrogation:

Who is the target audience?

What tone does this imply?

Is there any switch up of who you address in the script?

Have questions about the set up or need clarification? Ask agent or casting director

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Listen back:

performance

pace

do you like it, love it, iffy?

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After you send it, try to get feed back.

Can you compare who was cast to your audition?

Projects are not always cast on talent or performance. There may be other variables at work.