VA Pet Peeves

[Mizu_Takishima]

Reminds me of a fantastic teacher I once observed. He came striding into the class with a briefcase, which he flipped open in the way you see gangsters flip open zippo lighters in movies - and effortlessly slipped into teaching the lesson. He looked as if he knew exactly what he was doing and everyone responded to his lesson with enthusiasm equal to his, certain they were learning a lot.

In fact, it was his first week, he was terrified underneath, and he said he'd rehearsed his entrance with the briefcase at home a lot. He was a part-time actor and his advice was whatever job he went for, pretending to have confidence and experience (without lying, obviously! Just adopting the attitude) was essential in establishing a good first impression.

Oh wow, that had to have been one of the coolest things I ever read X3 I'm gonna try to think more like him from now on, as should newbies =3

[Minty]

I don't think most producers think that way, though. They listen to the audition for the character and decide if it's right for that character or not, rather than judge an actor's ability overall. Often the same actor will audition for several roles. They may sound completely unsuitable for some, but right for others.

But yes, I really find the 'I'm a newbie' thing very off-putting 'I don't know if these are good enough. I hope you don't hate them/me!' in the email is annoying.

At the back of their mind, the producer might wonder if they're going to have to spend time reassuring the actor, or whether they'll flake out totally. If there are several actors who could all do an equally good job of the part (which is often the case), the natural temptation then would be to choose someone who comes across as the more professional.

Reminds me of a fantastic teacher I once observed. He came striding into the class with a briefcase, which he flipped open in the way you see gangsters flip open zippo lighters in movies - and effortlessly slipped into teaching the lesson. He looked as if he knew exactly what he was doing and everyone responded to his lesson with enthusiasm equal to his, certain they were learning a lot.

In fact, it was his first week, he was terrified underneath, and he said he'd rehearsed his entrance with the briefcase at home a lot. He was a part-time actor and his advice was whatever job he went for, pretending to have confidence and experience (without lying, obviously! Just adopting the attitude) was essential in establishing a good first impression.

That's a neat story, fthrll. I did the 'I'm a newbie' thing myself in my first auditions, I think because I really wasn't sure of what I was doing and hoped it'd explain in case something was horribly off (such as the auditions having been recorded on a mobile phone ... talk about bad first impressions) ... but I can see how it might give the wrong impression.

Something that I'm finding gets on my nerves, perhaps unreasonably, are 'potential' castlists - when producers put up a list of who is currently being "considered" or "in the lead" for a role. I'm not sure what sort of an argument could be put forth for them, but I can only think of how it could end badly particularly if someone who was 'in the lead' ended up being beaten for the role.

[Usako]

But If Your Not a Fan Of The Anime You Shouldnt Really Audition

This is an actual quote from an audition thread. Seriously...? I mean..., non-fans shouldn't audition? wtf?

Also, what is with all the youtubers posting audition and just sticking their video there and not following the guidelines? Why post here if you expect video auditions? Agh...

[halfmillennium]

But If Your Not a Fan Of The Anime You Shouldnt Really Audition

This is an actual quote from an audition thread. Seriously...? I mean..., non-fans shouldn't audition? wtf?

Agreed. It's often people who want carbon-copy voices who do that. In other words, they see prior knowledge of the anime as a good thing to know. When you consider that the voice actors who originally do a project don't have that "advantage", the logic evaporates.

[limey_cricket]

Truthfully, if I'm listening to a fandub, I don't WANT to hear carbon copies of the voices. It's boring!
Recently I watched Mindychan's Sailor Moon S fandub. I was totally expecting to hear old British hag Luna, but it was this high adorable first-time-being-in-love voice.

And I absolutely LOVED it.
So I'm personally a fan of interpretation! Make that character yours! (By the way, I ♥ Thessa's Luna. Just in case you couldn't tell.)

Now, to make this post relevant!
Peeve: When your VAs send in their lines, but they're all blooperish!
I seriously got lines turned in where the actor went "Oh sorry, I messed up, let me try that again...you know never miiiiiind. There's enough bits of the lines there that you can kind of edit them together, yeah? "

NO.
THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE DONE THIS.
FIRED.

[halfmillennium]

Truthfully, if I'm listening to a fandub, I don't WANT to hear carbon copies of the voices. It's boring!
Recently I watched Mindychan's Sailor Moon S fandub. I was totally expecting to hear old British hag Luna, but it was this high adorable first-time-being-in-love voice.

Yeah, well, apparently people in Britain have a first time as well.

I don't understand the point of carbons. If someone's doing a fan-dub, what's the point of having all the voices the same as they were in the original? It smacks of someone trying to get credit for something that's almost 0% their idea.

[limey_cricket]

Exactly!
Also, isn't it kind of fun seeing people do it differently? I kind of get a thrill from it. I'm not always sure that I'll like it (because I'm used to the original dub or whatever), but 99% of the time, I find things I like better! Also, it's really cool to see people that you know (however distantly) doing characters you love!
Best part of VAing, in my humble opinion.

[halfmillennium]

What gets me's when they a producer doesn'r specify an accent or offer any clue as to the character's nationality, then it turns out your attempt is invalid because you didn't adopt whatever they consider an "accentless" voice. All too common.

[limey_cricket]

I know! It's like "Yeah, they don't have an accent."
What?
Everyone has an accent.
No accent=/= American.

[halfmillennium]

Thank you, I think you're in the minority, but that's exactly right. What seems "accentless" in one country might be a blatant accent in another.