Category Archives: Business

The Nothing

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The Nothing

“The Nothing” is an unusual villain from the German fantasy book “The NeverEnding Story” (a film version was made in 1984)

(*** spoilers below ***)

I use the word “villain” in a loose way, as it’s more of a force of nature. In the story, it is slowly destroying Fantasia, a land of wonder, imagination, and endless variety. In the movie version, “The Nothing” is represented by an ominous storm, and by a large black wolf:
The Nothing from The NeverEnding Story

The book is not as concrete, but much more frightening in it’s portrayal. “The Nothing” represents all of the worst of humankind. Apathy, cynicism, despair, and all the darkest aspects of our nature.

In the end, it’s a boy’s imagination and willingness to believe that saves Fantasia from “The Nothing”.

The Nothing: It’s At Work On Our World

Beyond the simple story lies a chilling truth: “The Nothing” is quite real. And it’s been growing. We feed it by giving into our greed, anger, and small-mindedness. Where is it? How can we identify it? And what can be done to stop it? I’ve provided some examples below, and I’m sure once you see it too, you’ll be able to find many more…

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Other Than Me… Joe

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Other Than Me… Joe

“Joe Thomas” is a fairly common name.

When I first moved to LA, I even had a producer look at my headshot and ask me “Hmmm… Joe Thomas – What’s your real name?”

So, I was wondering how many other notable Joes there are out there.

(thankfully, Google ranks my pages first for “Joe J Thomas” or “Joe Thomas Voice”)

Here’s a short list of some of the other Joes out there:
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Singing For VO

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Singing for Voice Over

Singing offers a lot of tangible advantages to anyone in Voice Acting.
For those of you who sing, I know I’m preaching to the choir! (rim shot)

But how long has it been since you’ve had a refresher?
And if you’re in VO and don’t sing, why not?

Although I’ve been in many musicals, sung with choral groups, and even performed musical improv, it had been a few years since I really sang.

Time for a tune-up!
I recently started taking lessons with a new teacher, and it’s given me a renewed sense of confidence in my vocal abilities.

Here are just a few of the areas singing can help with:

  • Tone:
    The pitch of your voice… high, medium, low (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone Bass)
  • Breathing:
    Proper breathing allows you to better control your sound.
  • Timing:
    Learning musical rhythm can help in setting your pace for both segments of the copy and for the overall read.
  • Vocal Placement:
    Chest voice, Head voice, Throat, etc. Placement is especially useful in creating characters and accents.
  • Core Support and Strengthening:
    A strong core is related to your breathing, and can give you more power and energy in your voice.
  • Volume Control:
    Knowing when to sing soft is just as important as being able to belt out a tune. Having a solid control of your volume takes practice.
  • Conveying Emotion:
    Even in a language you may not understand, songs can elicit a great deal of emotion. Learning how to deliver that to your audience is directly applicable to VO work.
  • Communication of Ideas:
    Clear communication is another win for any voice work. Knowing how to form your words and phrases so that they convey ideas is the core of it all.

My friend Marc Cashman even has a chapter in his book “V-Oh! Tips, Tricks, Tools and Techniques to Start and Sustain Your Voiceover Career” dedicated to the concept of “Finding the Music in Copy”. Here’s a short excerpt:

“Copy or text is musical. It has ebb and flow and different keys. It has sharps, flats, rests, words that are held, chopped off, high or low, soft or loud, all the same emphasis or wild ups and downs, with dynamics and crescendos. Copy reads (or plays) like a story/song, with a beginning, middle and end.”

(Marc’s book is available on Amazon, or click here to order an autographed copy)

Sometimes, I’ll even sing the copy just to get a different feel for the way it flows.

Do you sing? If so, how long has it been since you performed or had lessons? It might be time for a refresher to tune-up your instrument!

To close, here’s a number that I’ve been working on.
It’s called “I Won’t Send Roses” from the musical “Mack and Mabel” – Enjoy!

      I Won't Send Roses (Joe J Thomas)

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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How Do I Get Into Voice Over?

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How Do I Get Into Voice Over?

We hear it all the time… It seems like a simple enough question, but in truth it may as well say “How do I build a house?”

The answer depends on many things, including:

  • Who’s asking the question?
  • What genre of VO are they pursuing?
  • Do they have prior skills?

Here’s three possible scenarios:

Scenario 1: Albert
Background: Professional name screen actor in movies and tv. Would like to get into animated features.
Advice: Ask your agent or manager to start focusing on VO. Take some classes in mic technique if needed.

Scenario 2: Betty
Background: Was in radio for years, now retired. Wants to get into narration.
Advice: Take some acting or improv classes, along with coaching for a more natural VO delivery. Get a VO demo made when ready, and find an agent to represent you.

Scenario 3: Charles
Background: No prior acting experience, but can do some voices. Loves anime and would like to be an ADR VO.
Advice: Start with the basics. Take acting, improv and singing. Learn to build fully-fleshed characters, not just voices. Then move on to VO classes and find a trusted coach. They can lead you from there.

Too often, we rush into answering the question “How Do I Get Into VO?” without considering who’s asking or what they mean. In order for the advice to be truly useful, it must be targeted to the person asking the question.

In many ways, this is related to a prior post that you may also wish to read:
Joe’s Dump – Advice on Advice

So, next time you hear this question, maybe take a step back and consider before answering. It could be much more valuable to the person who’s asking.

Cheers,
Joe

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Bad Business

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Bad Business

What a horrible dessert can tell you about running a good business

After a recent sushi dinner, my wife and I decided we wanted to grab a little dessert… something other than green tea or mochi ice cream.

We chose a new branch of an iconic LA eatery known for good pancakes, pies, etc.

It did not turn out as we had hoped.

But from the ashes of this nasty experience rose some truths about customer service and quality products.

The Dessert Debacle

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Acoustic Panels

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Acoustic Panels

I recently decided to upgrade my home studio by adding acoustic panels to the walls.
(links to all sites and products are in the below text – feel free to click away!)
JoeActor Studio Panels
The idea of putting in a booth seemed to be a bit much for my space, and from the recommendation of another VO Pro, I took a look at the AudiMute line of products. They have a wide variety of panels, baffles and other sound-dampening materials. Different color options and even custom print pictures are also available for an additional fee.
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Bearly The Actor

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Bearly The Actor
(a children’s story for grown-ups)
written by: Joe J Thomas
Bearly The Actor - Book Cover

      Bearly The Actor - Joe J Thomas

In the magical land of Hollis Woods, there once lived a little guy named Bearly.
He worked in the daytime at the honey mines, where everyone treated him fairly.

He rented a smallish room in a hollow tree
In a town where very little came free

But Bearly’s dream was much bigger than that – an actor was what he wanted to be!
With fame and awards and lots of honey in a mansion down by the sea!
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The Adaptability Problem

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The Adaptability Problem

Adaptability has enabled humans to rise to the top of the food chain, and individuals, groups, companies and governments to accomplish amazing things.

So… Where’s the problem with adaptability?

In short, when we adapt to small, incremental negative changes, the end result is that, over time, we’re putting ourselves in a worse position than where we started.

Let’s take “Pay-To-Play” services for voice over jobs as an example. Incrementally, these services have slowly limited the number of auditions available, lowered the pay per project, restricted access to information, and taken a larger fee for renewal and other charges. Had they implemented all these changes at once, they would have been rejected outright. But by staging these changes in gradual steps, it gives individuals time to adapt and hides the trend that the company is headed. Worse, those joining now who don’t research the history think that the current state of affairs is the norm.

This same strategy is employed by companies, governments, political parties and religious organizations. As we blindly adapt without standing up for ourselves, we allow them to gain a greater control over our lives. We even adapt to things like climate change, political correctness, a rise in violence, and a decline in our living standards. Without even thinking about it, we accept the current state of affairs as normal.

For me, this is unacceptable.

But there is a solution.

We must look to the past to see if we’re improving or declining. And we must plan for the future before blindly accepting what we’re told as being the only truth.

As individuals, we can wield an amazing amount of power and control over our own future, and the future direction of our companies, our society, and even our planet.

All it takes is a willingness to be aware. To stand up for ourselves and others. And to take action when needed.

True freedom requires individual responsibility.

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Comedy to Cash

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Comedy to Cash
or
Mockery to Moolah

A couple weeks ago, I was on “This American Life” on NPR.
The segment was on Volkswagen’s recent emission scandal, and was written to sound like a Frontline documentary, or like a stereotypical NPR or PBS spot. A really cool gig…

But that’s not where the story begins.

I listen to a lot of NPR. My wife got me hooked a while back. Being a natural mimic and seeing the comic potential, I wrote a parody called “This United States Life” in 2013:

      JPR-BillParker_JoeActor_20130819

(I play all the voices on it)

Just by playing and doing what comes naturally to me I was also unknowingly preparing myself for a real gig!

Here’s the real “This American Life” spot:

      NPR_VW_ComingClean_Joe_J_Thomas_20151009

(Also play all the voices on this one)

So, go out there and hand some fun with the things you hear every day. Play with it, script it, record, edit – do whatever it takes to turn your playtime into a new character for your repertoire. You never know when one might turn into a real job!

See you in the booth!
Joe

This Is JPR logo

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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What Is Marketing?

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What Is Marketing?

Is it your brand? How about mass emails? SEO? Blogs? Cold calling?

These may be pieces of an overall marketing strategy, but they are too often mistaken for all of marketing. Or, worse yet, “marketing experts” may sell you classes and consulting about one of these… but not really help you with true marketing.

Let’s take a look at how the American Marketing Association defines it:

Marketing:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
~~~ and ~~~
Marketing Research:
Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information–information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications.

I’ve included both of the above definitions because they are a related and integral part of an overall marketing plan. Much more than any single effort, true marketing involves knowing your product, your audience, the target segment, how to reach them, etc. Perhaps most importantly, it includes all of the follow-up needed to know if your campaign is working, and the data needed to tweak your efforts or scrap them and start fresh. It is an involved ongoing process, but if you’re not doing the research and follow-up, you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.

Recently, I was involved with several colleagues in an in-depth discussion about social media and marketing. The conversation was fascinating, and provided a number of different perspectives. I’ve quoted much of it below, along with my thoughts on each quote…

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