VodkaHaze 2012 Demo Reel

[VodkaHaze]

I finally finished my first demo reel! Took me a long time, but here it is:

http://www.box.com/s/pg6h5kb57d1xpqaxvx87

All scripting and mixing was done by me. Critiques would be very much appreciated.

Music used:

Ghirahim's Theme - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Burning Battlefield - Pokemon OST
Potion Shop - Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
La Luck Spirito - Negima?! OST
Yold Desert - Super Paper Mario
Decision - Love Hina OST
The intro to DRESS.MOV
Red Dead Redemption Theme
Tomfoolery - Spongebob OST
Koopa's Theme - Mario Strikers Charged Football
Stradegy - Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Escape from Frigate Orpheon - Metroid Prime
Final Bowser Battle - Super Mario Galaxy

[VodkaHaze]

Bumping this thread.

[pyromaster]

Very entertaining demo! I like how you really challenge your self vocally by expressing all these extreme emotions. My only criticism is that I feel that some of the higher pitched characters sound similar, but otherwise, you have quite a good range of characters.

[VodkaHaze]

Very entertaining demo! I like how you really challenge your self vocally by expressing all these extreme emotions. My only criticism is that I feel that some of the higher pitched characters sound similar, but otherwise, you have quite a good range of characters.

Thanks for the criticism. I've been working on my higher range, and I think I've come across a decent voice for a little boy. I'll try to make my higher range more diverse. Glad you liked it :)

[VodkaHaze]

Bumping this bad boy up.

[Menchi]

Nice Reel, I may be in touch about a project/role

[VodkaHaze]

Nice Reel, I may be in touch about a project/role

Why, thanks. Felt like giving this reel a bump.

[VermillionTwilight]

You sounded really good.

[VodkaHaze]

You sounded really good.

Hey thanks! Let's bump this up a notch, shall we?

[Scented Pliers]

Haha, I hope you don't mind my commenting, as I'm not a voice actor like you guys, but I felt like throwing out my two cents. c:

You sounded really good to me! My only problem was that I couldn't hear what some of the lines were, while others got so loud they hurt my ears. But that's less of a problem with your voice acting as it is the overall sound of the file. XD I liked the voices you used, you sound like you'd be good for something humorous. Agreeing with how some of the higher-pitched voices sounded similar, but I think you have them down well enough that it doesn't matter too much. =)

[VodkaHaze]

Haha, I hope you don't mind my commenting, as I'm not a voice actor like you guys, but I felt like throwing out my two cents. c:

You sounded really good to me! My only problem was that I couldn't hear what some of the lines were, while others got so loud they hurt my ears. But that's less of a problem with your voice acting as it is the overall sound of the file. XD I liked the voices you used, you sound like you'd be good for something humorous. Agreeing with how some of the higher-pitched voices sounded similar, but I think you have them down well enough that it doesn't matter too much. =)

Thanks for the criticism. Next demo reel I'll make sure the sound levels are about equal. But yeah, I'm working on some of those higher pitched voices. Let's bump it up a gear.

[XTREEMMAK]

Hey Voka (lol),

Finally got a chance to take a look at your demo reel. So let's get down to it!

Second to Second
0:00 - 0:02:
This is objectionable as the presence of a full intro is debatable. What I first read over the years was that the intro section can be used as a voice staple of what the client may be actually after. Others that I've run into say that an intro sounds amateurish, at least when you give too much of specifics regarding the type of demo reel they're already listening to. I guess the general psychology here would be, "Umm...yeah I already know that it's a Character Reel that you clearly did in 2012... or I at least know it's a character reel; It's even in your title so why repeat it?" IMO, take either direction with a grain of salt. To stay safe, I'd say you'd be fine with just saying your name. Many pro reels I've run into either just have their name or nothing at all and just jump into the reel.Worst case scenario, do two renders; one without the intro to present, and one with the intro for leisure purposes.

0:02 - 0:08:
I like this voice, but I don't think it sounds true enough to be convincing. I do not however think it's your delivery, but the mix. I think if you gave the vocal some more body around 200Hz, then it might improve the performance to sound a bit more menacing. Right now, it sounds kind of thin to me. Character and situation fits though.

0:08 - 0:15:
Lol funny line :D. There was a mix inconsistency though. The yell just attacked me like I was the one who did something wrong (lol). I'm a tad confused about what happened when the character yelled though. Not sure if he hit something, he got hit, or what. Maybe on the "Ohh...that wasn't such a good idea" part, there could be some hint about the scene. For me, I'm left a little confused about what we are supposed to feel there. The idea is there, but it just needs to be polished just a little bit more.

0:15 - 0:21:
This guy seems shifty (read that word again. I did not say shitty lol) as I'm sure was the obvious intention. What I would have like to hear is more dynamic inflections in your voice as he's listing his various wares, perhaps leading his potential customer to the most expensive item in his store? I think it would have also been nice that at the beginning, you opened up the scene with a door opening sound effect with a bell. You'll almost immediately notice that after doing so, has puts less work on you to illustrate the character; the audience will no longer have to just count on your portrayal of the character to get the idea of whom he is (which can essentially happen close to the end of the section and at which point is too late), but can have indirect hints that give the character an identity faster at the beginning of the section. You want your audience to get who the character is early so they can briefly experience the scene for those few seconds to show your *gasp* acting ability....WHAT?!? SINCE WHEN MUST YOU ACT IN A DEMO REEL!?!!? ABSURD!!! lol.

0:22 - 0:32:
This line came up short. It sounded like it was read more than it was acted as it didn't seem "organic" enough....<_<..organic....of all words to use; because all good reviewers must use at least one abstract emotional term to convey there meaning -_- lol.. Of course I'm being highly sarcastic ^_^.

Seriously though, the delivery didn't seem to flow as well as I would have liked it to. I didn't connect with the obvious arrogance. I didn't see his pompous laugh as he belittles his opponent. I see someone trying to fill the situation. I see two ways this could have been executed. The first is to roll into the mocking laugh and the other is to build it after stating the obvious. Both would have the same effect. You also had an opportunity at "Goldfish" where you could have highly emphasized the word to create a condescending comparison. There was also the last ditch effort at "You" on the same sentence where you could have made the same emphasis. One big plus on the nice laugh here :D

0:33 - 0:35:
Yes sir :D. Aren't old people fun to do? Really like this line! Not to much I can say about this one. If I had to choose though (and this is nit picking), I'd say just raise your tone on "Get" on the line "Get off my Lawn". That's about it.

0:36 - 0:41:
Not sure how I feel about this one. On the service it sounds like an interesting kid voice, but I'm kind of on the fence about it's overall effectiveness; can't really see the despair and want in the kid as he's saying the line. It feels like it could use one more sentence, or at least some hesitation to give the impression that the kid wants to be taken serious. IDK, this one is a toss up for me.

0:42 - 0:50:
Lmao great line and great delivery here! Simple as that and nothing to change here IMO.

0:50 - 0:53:
I don't think this voice is needed really. It sounds forced, hard to hear, and doesn't really do anything for you.

0:54 - 1:00:
BEST SECTION OF THE REEL! This character is absolutely stunning and perfect! I actually think this character should be pushed forward rather than held all the way at the 1:00 line. Well done!

1:00 - 1:04:
Dude's ok lol. Not too many edits I can make here as the delivery can be perceived many different ways based on the scene. So now since we're left with just the voice, I say it's effective enough :)

1:05 - 1:10:
Same thing with 1:00 - 1:04. The direction could go many ways here. At first I was going to suggest giving a sort of arrogance or "I told you so" like attitude at the end, but it's not necessary.

1:11 - 1:16:
Not sure what to feel here. Don't know if I should be anxious, worried, or what as the character didn't give enough for me to work with in my opinion. My initial thought is that he wan't to be supportive, but is anxious to get the job done. So what I'd want is to hear the supportive part a bit more at the beginning of the line.

1:17 - 1:22:
Epic laugh but why didn't you fade it off! It abruptly just cuts. Since you're already at the 1:22 mark, might as well let the laugh trail through with some reverb to let the reel die out instead of cutting so abruptly.


That about does it for the second to second review. Now lets look at the mix.

The Mix
Overall the mix is ok but as stated on previous posts, there are some sections that are inconsistent aka the yell section at the beginning, and some of the quieter voices in the middle. The vocal also seems to be almost devoid of any real body. I'm not sure if this is due to noise reduction or just something with the mix, but this extreme attenuation is killing your lower vocals. I will say that the clarity of the vocal is there and thankfully there are no plosives (puffs) or extreme sibilance issues, however there are some minor cases of distortion in a select few places for obvious reasons.

In order to control the overall dynamics of your vocal delivery, I'd suggest you look into using a compressor and then afterwards, riding the fader, painting automation to fine tune it. If noise is an issues, I'd suggest first gating the vocal, and then use noise correction if the noise is too extreme.

Music for the most part fits the reel and is situated well in the mix, though some did sound notably louder than others but not so much in a case were it severely hindered the reel.

Now lets look at the compilation of the reel.

Reel Compilation
Overall, the reel is situated well, but I think some voices that are in the back of the reel should have been pushed forward such as the line I simply love (0:54 - 1:00). I think that should be further up the real before the reel hits 1:00. The reel could essentially use more SFX to help create the scene or create interesting transitions; NOT OVERBOARD though as this isn't a radio play or a compilation of all the world's noises (lol). As stated before, just enough SFX to help get the listener in scene faster. For example, want to do a soldier on a battle field, have the sound of swords clanking in the background...and keep it low. If need be, have some catapults going off but in the far distance (achieved with either hard panning, or a combination of convolution reverb and hard panning).


FINAL ANALYSIS
The reel is good but just has a couple places where it needs to be tuned. You have created some great characters within the real and you enthusiastically give them life. I just want to see them come out some more, and I know you can do it! I want the audience to be embraced in a micro scene at second one of each transition instead of five seconds later.

I guess the last thing I would suggest is to (I've started myself) is to begin to stray away from non royalty free music if you're going to a pro demo reel. It doesn't hinder your presentation, and you more than likely won't get into trouble for using the material, but it's just a small way of protection. There's one primary avenue I use if you need it. There material is ok for the most part, but at least if you use, you don't have to worry about some odd claim of copyright infringement (especially if you put the reel up on YouTube).


GANBATE!!!