Does Sexism in the Voice Over Industry Exist

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As a female voice over actor, how would you describe yourself? What adjectives do you use in your profile or website?

If you go through female voice over profiles it would be very rare to read words like STRONG, AUTHORITATIVE, RELIABLE and CONFIDENT. More often, what you would read are words like sexy, sultry, elegant, motherly, fun and playful.  The words strong, authoritative, reliable and confident are in fact only in seen in 3 out of 10 profiles. These words or their equivalent, are more likely to be seen on a male voice over profile, plus other words like, sexy and fun. Does this mean that most women do not perceive themselves as strong and confident? It may look like then that because women have been typed-cast for so long as the “fair” sex, they have now resigned themselves to the thought that only men can be the voice of reason and authority, and that majority of women talents have recourse to marketing themselves as such.

Is the industry and the consumers influencing this disparity in the way men and women market themselves?

In a study on audio/visual media’s gender representation and consumer perception by Mark Pedelty, an Associate Professor in Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, it says that men and women in the voice over and commercial industry have assigned themselves to specific roles, and this is where it is a good idea to enlist the services of voice over actor classes online. While women were given domestic and nurturing roles, men on the other hand, are likely get the authoritative and powerful characters. Also, in a content analysis of over a thousand television commercials, Pedelty learned that the male voice over outnumbered the women represented, four to one.

In the same study it revealed that men can either be a voice over or represented by both attractive and unattractive men, however in the case of women, they are largely represented by only fit and attractive women.

In previous studies done on voice overs in advertisements would show the same gross difference in the representation of men and women. In a 1975 study, it showed over 90% of voice over work were done my men and the percentage remained stayed the same even after then years. By 1998, there was a 10% increase in women representation, which is consistent with Pedelty’s recent findings.

The slow progress in the increase in the voice over training online for women and how they are represented only demonstrates that even in the twenty-first century women are still objectified and would only get noticed when seen and not heard. The results of this study show that sexism still dominates as the marketing tool used in the advertising industry.

Is this dominance of the male gender in the audio and visual media deeply influenced by our culture and our perception of genders in general?  Or is it more of an assumption made by advertisers of what the current audience would like to see and hear?  Can a drastic change by key media players shorten the gender gap? Let us know in the comments section below.

Agencia de Casting en línea de Actores de Doblaje suele estar más ocupada los jueves

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El Sitio web de audiciones de voz en off o doblaje, The Voice Realm, realizó una investigación al extraer los datos y hacer cálculos que arrojaron algunas estadísticas interesantes sobre cuáles son los días más ocupados para la contratación de un actor de doblaje. Más de ocho meses de datos fueron recopilados y parece que el jueves es el mejor día para conseguir un trabajo de voz en off.

Por otro lado, y como era de esperar, los domingos son los días más tranquilos con menos ajetreo.

En una semana de trabajo tradicional, el lunes fue el día más lento para contratación de talento vocal, pero fue el segundo día en que más se enviaron audiciones o avisos para realizarlas.

El sitio web tiene menos de un año de edad, pero las reservaciones siguen aumentando cada semana.

Los resultados del estudio también mostraron un aumento de las reservaciones en la víspera de días feriados o festivos como Acción de Gracias y Pascua, no obstante generalmente se toma uno o dos semanas para que repunte de nuevo.

Robert James, presidente de The Voice Realm, indica que aunque las estadísticas muestran el jueves como el día más ocupado en general, a veces, el péndulo oscila hacia otro lado. “Hemos visto semanas con poca actividad en un jueves y luego el lunes siguiente hay todo un aluvión de audiciones y reservas. Cualquier profesional talentoso de voz en off te dirá que esto sucede por oleadas, y es bastante impredecible.”

El sitio es único en el hecho de que sólo actores de doblaje profesionales son incluidos en listas después de un examen de su equipo, habilidades y demos. Talento de voz en off de todo el mundo, tanto femenino y masculino, están activos en el sitio, lo que significa que podrías estar trabajando con alguien en Australia o Nueva Zelanda, y ni te enterarías.

El estudio también indica que ha habido un gran aumento en los últimos tres meses de castings de voz para videos en línea. De 174 puestos de trabajo y audiciones, más del 53 % eran para uso exclusivo en línea. Una pequeña disminución se observó para las reservas en IVR y en espera.

The Voice Realm ofrece trabajos de voz en off  y funciona las 24 horas del día, todos los días del año. Atención al cliente se ofrece a los talentos de voz y los clientes que busquen contratar actores de doblaje durante todo el día.

El personal de atención al cliente se encuentra en Asia, Europa y América del Norte.

Para encontrar y contratar a profesionales y actores de doblaje en línea visita: www.thevoicerealm.es

Self-Published Authors can now Hire Voice Actors to turn Novels into Audio Books

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It’s now easier than ever before for self-published authors to turn their novels in audiobooks thanks to the launch this week of Voice Talent for Audiobooks website powered by The Voice Realm. The website connects professional voice actors and authors to streamline the process.

In what used to be a long drawn out and expensive task, now takes a much shorter amount of time thanks to the digital casting technology exclusive to The Voice Realm, one of the world’s biggest voice over casting websites.

Authors are able to browse and listen to audiobook demos from a large database of voice actors, all who have been vetted and approved as some of the best in the industry. Once a suitable talent is found, contact is then made for the voice talent to provide a free sample audition of the script.

The other option many writers are enjoying, is the ability to audition many voice talent at the one time, so a selection can be made from hundreds of candidates. This can be done by posting a free Casting Notice.

All voice actors record in their own professional studios, this in turn saves authors from being hit with expensive studio fees which can run into the thousands for multiple recording sessions such as recording audiobooks.

The process can take as little as one week to have an 8 hour novel recorded.

Speaking about the new website, The Voice Realm’s Marketing Manager Robert James says that the site is helping self-published authors take the next step to control their distribution channels. “The fact is that nowadays anyone can write and publish their own book, this new website helps to take that up another notch and allows the author to work directly with a voice actor through our site to take their words and turn them into professionally produced audio, which the author can then sell for a profit. There’s no profit sharing. The audio is owned completely outright.”

The website is completely self-service, however there are agents available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week offering assistance.

Along with offering voice talents for audio book voice over recordings, clients can also find professional voice talent for phone greetings, training videos, radio and TV commercials and many more.

Billing is charged in advance for the first hour, and then the remainder at completion of the recording session. Payments can be made using PayPal or credit card.

Latest Technology Enables Fast Castings

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Voice over talent do regular training  on how to maintain their craft so that they are always perform the best they can. We use audio studios to ensure the best quality sound.

Voice over recording services provide a very important role in communication, voice over actor provide these facilities with great quality, reasonable price and discount offer, voice over actors offer 20% discount for customer with limited time offer, voice over actor is well known service provider with experienced actor and support customer care, and all these best quality services available with great discount, so hurry up apply today and experiences voice over actor services.

With the latest technology, services are in a position to set up studios all over in order to make services available for everyone. Talent websites have so many actors to choose from, if you choose an actor you like and you want to have a recording done, the actor can do it even at the comfort of his home, or while on the move because voice over actor offer them with: home studios and portable studios so that.

Artists have extremely talented voice over artists who deliver their performance effectively.  Voice acting is not an easy job it is more difficult than other types of acting because you don’t have other actors to work off, and you can’t use accurately copy expressions. They have fully trained from the art of acting using their voices, from practicing which helps them to build flexibility, recognize pitch and tone, and give them materials after working on it. Whatever you require to be recorded something, whether it is presentation software, professional voicemail service also support phone service provider.

Now it’s the time to connect with professionals at the lowest cost ever; through voice over talent you can get so many potential audition opportunities. You have a chance to communicate direct with the client and be paid directly, so don’t wait any more apply online today and avail this excited offer, and get the guidance benefits with very less amount of charges and discount offer.

Imagine if it was a lot easier

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If you are not a union member, you might consider becoming one. Unions usually set minimum fees for broadcast buyouts and copyrights which will help you with setting up your buyout fees.

Setting rates for voice over work has always been a headache. How much should you charge your clients for using your voice? How much should you charge your clients for your studio facility? How much should you charge your clients for your time spent converting the audio in the appropriate format? How much should you charge your clients as an overall project rate?

Still most talents and companies out there calculate their voice over rates manually and I hope these articles will help understanding the basic aspects that take part in the formation of voice over talent rates.

So what are the different aspects of the process you should have in mind when forming your voice over rates? Here they are:

1. Media Exposure- how the content you voice will be used and exposed?

Generally, there are 2 types of media content in regards of exposure: broadcast and non-broadcast. These categories are pretty much self-explanatory but still let me give you some examples:

Broadcast media is a type of media that is meant for a public broadcast and reaches a large audience through various media channels. Broadcast media is: TV programs, TV series, animation, TV and radio commercials, films, video games etc. What you need to know about setting your voice over talent fee and production rate when you voice a broadcast content is that your voice and your audio product are a subject to buyout compensation for a certain territory and a certain period of time. Usually, the buyout compensation for TV content is additional 30% to your voice over production rate (talent fee, studio recording, editing).

The buyout compensation for commercials could be:

– A flat rate per spot for unlimited use (all media channels, territory and a period of time)

– A flat rate per spot for limited use (media channels, territory and/or period of time)

– A % from the commercial spot voice over production fee for limited media channels, territories and a limited period of time.

What is important to know is that if you are the voice talent and the voice over producer at the same time, you should charge for buyout compensation both as a talent and as a producer.

Artists and producers’ rights are stated in your local copyright legislation and you need to be familiar with it when you sell your services both as a talent and a producer.

Charging clients for a broadcast content usage is your legal artist and producer’s right which serious clients are familiar with and treat with respect. Audiobook voice recordings fall in the same category. It also legitimates you as a voice over professional and makes you stand out of the crowd.

It’s A Brand New World In And Around

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The world of E-learning has exploded over the past 10 years. With faster internet connections, learning a new skill remotely is now faster, more affordable and available to more people than ever before.

It is an exciting industry that is spread across almost every single sector of business. Any sort of training that can be done via an electronic device falls under the category of e-learning.

This has meant an increase over recent years in the utilization of voice talent for many of these courses and training modules. With many voice actors now recording from professional home studios, this has also meant that overheads have fallen, which has allowed for the process to become more affordable for many businesses and production companies.

Many e-learning courses can run for hours. And as many voice over professionals are aware, an e-learning course that has a final ‘play time’ of 3 hours, can easily take double that to record and edit.

E-learning is becoming more popular as it is applied in more unique ways. There has been a huge increase in e-learning production companies. Hence, more and more VO talents are required to role play the many characters that can sometimes be incorporated into a production.

 

Scores of voice actors associate ‘e-learning’ with medical narrations or even ESL (English as a second language) courses. But their uses are wide and varied, with many now incorporating one voice playing many characters.

Gordon explains that a voice over news must adapt to the change. “If your focus is on “Main Narrator” roles you will have to work tirelessly at self promotion and be successful minimally. Not to accent our unique business approach at E-LV but we target the entire project. In fact we target multiple projects being created by multiple ID’s (Instructional Designers). More often than not Main Narrators are selected as someone who previously played a small character role. These roles can be extremely small, 10 words in some cases, but your “tone” has been heard and noted.”

Many e-learning courses can run for hours. And as many voice over professionals are aware, an e-learning course that has a final ‘play time’ of 3 hours, can easily take double that to record and edit.

The long hours in the studio are just one of many challenges a voice actor will face when diving into the niche sector of the voice over industry.

Gordon elaborates. “By far the biggest challenge is getting heard by the ID’s who actually produce the productions. If you can get to that point hopefully the end user client will accept the ID’s recommendations for the various roles. The second challenge is the pay scale. There are no e-learning production companies who can pay you your $150 -$250 minimum to record a few words or sentences. Some projects incorporate 20-25 character and there may be one Main Narrator. The funds are simply not in the budget to pay scale rates. A voice over talent should look at a small character roll as an audition and hopefully larger or more numerous roles down the road. Also, the more character roles you can fulfill the more work you will find but that is another topic.”

And So The Search Continues

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Modern technology is changing the way that many industries are operating their businesses. This is especially true for international and domestic courier services, where the latest technology driven operational changes have transformed the customer service experience. Here are some examples of how this has been done.

Planning delivery routes
New route planning software, now studies details of all of the deliveries that a driver has to take out with them in the morning from a depot. This information is then used to plot the most optimal driving route for voice recording services. They also import road works and traffic conditions to work out when each parcel is likely to me delivered. A sat nave route planner is then loaded to each vehicle and tells the delivery driver exactly where to go after each drop. The result is the driver minimises the petrol used and their time per delivery. This enables the courier companies to drive down their operational costs.

Customer Expectations
As the courier services now know a rough time when each parcel is due to be delivered, they have a fantastic opportunity to raise rates of clients being in to accept their deliveries. They do this be texting and or emailing the receiver with the information that a parcel has been loaded onto a vehicle for collection and that it will be out for delivery today. They can also specify a one hour window when the delivery is expected to be made. This enables the receiver to manage their time to ensure that they are in for the delivery. If they are not going to be in it also gives them the ability to advise the carrier so that the driver and avoid wasted time and reschedule the delivery for when they are going to be in.

International customs clearance processes
In recent years this has been revolutionised to such an extent that for many international parcel deliveries to destinations outside of the European Union, the customs documentation is submitted whist a consignment is in transit before it arrives at the destination. For many items they can be automatically cleared and not selected for inspection. Meaning that the transit time for the shipment has been reduced. This is especially important for fast international parcel delivery to countries outside of the European Union.

Online tracking updates
The days when couriers could collect a parcel with only a hand written address on them are rapidly ending. Now most courier services require clients to print of an air waybill from their online despatch system. This will validate a female voice over artist delivery address, and provided a printed label that can easily be read with a bar code on. The bar code used acts as a unique identifier for the shipment and is scanned every time a parcel is moved by the courier. So if you use a courier service to send a parcel to Holland you can monitor its transit at every step of its journey giving greater peace of mind.

These are some of the ways that modern domestic and overseas courier services are adopting new technology to improve their services and lower their costs.

Professional Recording Services

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The quality voice over recording that you are able to produce will be the factor that determines whether or not you get the job. Directors pay very keen attention to auditions sent in on CD, so you need to ensure you have the best quality sound possible. With quality recording issues out the way, directors can focus on listening to the female voice over talent you have and determine if you are the right person for the job.

The voice over industry is certainly an exciting one for people who enjoy the idea of working behind the scenes on movies, documentaries and other types of presentations. This type of work gives people the opportunity to add their touch to a scene without actually being seen themselves. There are several tips you will be able to find for being successful and effective at voice over work, however one of the most important things you need to learn is how to do a good voice over recording so your sound comes off impeccably to the listener.

Here are some you can use when doing voice over recordings with the aim of getting the voice over jobs you are looking for:

    • Try to find the quietest environment possible to do your voice over recording. Environments with loud background noises can terribly affect the quality of your recording, so to get the best results, try to find a quiet space. Usually, closets or bathrooms are great for this type of recording because they are usually locked away from the busier areas of the house. It would also help if you have carpeted floors and padded walls in your recording area to improve the overall sound.
    • Before doing a voice over recording for submission to a hiring entity, try not to consume dairy products before the recording takes place. Dairy creates thick mucus at the back of the throat that leaves you with the urge to clear your throat and you definitely do not want this to happen during recording.
  • Where possible, try to keep the pace and level of your voice very constant during the voiceover recording. Although there may be times when you need to elevate or tone down, it would be a good idea if you keep your pace at the same level. Remember this is not the actual voice over – you are doing a recording with the aim of getting the job.
  • Pay attention to the positioning of your mouth in relation to the microphone you are using to do the recording. Try to keep your mouth about 3 to 6 inches away from the microphone, because if you are too close then the microphone could start to pick up unwanted sounds from your voice.
  • Always try to maintain a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone whenever you are recording. The more frequently you change distance, the more irregular and inconsistent your voice over recording will sound.

Voice Actors for Hire

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If you are seriously thinking about getting into the voice over industry, the internet contains endless tidbits of information about voice over jobs, from breaking into the industry to landing the perfect jobs. Take a look at some of the subject areas below that you will be able to find information on:

All you Need to Know about Cheap Voice Overs: the internet will usually provide very detailed information on general voice over topics.

Becoming a Voice Over Artist: you will likely be able to find information on what it takes to get you to the point of being a successful voice over artist.

Locating the Best Voice Over Agents: being able to use the internet to find good voice over agents to help boost your career is probably the best move you could make as a newcomer to voice over jobs.

Getting the Best Voice Over Training: of course, voice over training is absolutely crucial when preparing yourself to work in the voice over industry. Having a great sounding voice will not necessarily get you the kind of voice over jobs you are interested in.

Scoping out Great Voice Over Talent: talent scouts as well as film, television and theater directors often use the internet to find talent for their upcoming voice over projects.

Get the Practice you Need with Voice Over Script: many sources on the internet will tell you that practicing voice over scripts is a sure way to sharpen your skill and make a big impression at your audition.

Tips for Doing a Voice Over Recording: as you will find when doing voice over research online, the technical aspects of a voice over recording can make or break your attempts to jump into a voice over type career.

Landing Quality Voice Over Work: perhaps one of the best ways to really get good voice over jobs is to zoom in on a specific type of presentation, e.g. movies, commercials, television shows, and master the art of doing voiceovers for a specific niche.

Choosing voice over jobs is a great way to get into the entertainment industry without putting yourself at the forefront of an on-screen or on-stage theatrical presentation. And the great thing is you can create an impact that is just as meaningful as that created by actors and actresses.

Responsive Design Will Help All Countries

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However the recent internal investigation by International Finance Corporation’s(IFC) Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) into the controversial Tata Mundra project found widespread environmental and policy violations. Notwithstanding this, the report also mentioned serious violations of mandatory safeguards. The report brought with it fresh hope for people of Mundra and for those fighting for environmental justice. Little did they know the World Bank  would not just ignore CAO’s  hint to stop funding TATA Mundra, it would instead try its best to prove these aspects of the report as irrelevant.

World Bank president Dr Jim Kim’s  decision to defend IFC’s  support to the project and to sweep the report under the rug is not acceptable.  As the head of one of the biggest financial institution Dr Kim needs to answer people of Mundra about his decision support the TATA Mundra power plant. Soon after the release of the report many groups wrote to Dr Kim seeking justification for his inaction. So far all we have received is silence. It is time that we gather more support for voices from Mundra.

 IT MUST STOP

Last year World Bank  started an innovative way to interact with Dr Kim. They encouraged the general public to ask their questions regarding World Bank’s policies directly and he answered selected questions via a video recording. So it is time we asked Dr Kim the much needed cheap voice actors and more questions about World Bank’s position on TATA Mundra. To challenge World Bank’s stand,  all it would take is a simple tweet! We are trying to mobilize people around the world to use World Bank’s existing online platform and ask Dr Kim to stop financing destruction in Mundra.

So on 5th December 2013, lets ask Dr Kim about TATA Mundra and see if he is willing to answer us. Send in your Tweets at #AskJimKim and let him know you are someone who is standing up for the communities in Mundra.