Character demo vs animation demo

[catchitc]

Hello Bob,

I need to know what if any difference there is between character/animation demo. I am in the process of creating a "character" demo with Dave DeAndrea and need to know where to head.

My target market will be Religous children's videos, games etc. Having created 150 different characters for puppets with distinct personalities and voices, I know this is definitely my strong point.

I know I posed this question to you on VU but if there is any extra advice you can give me I would really appreciate it. I still have my notes from August 2009 from Portland as well have taken Deb's class on characters and while at VOICE I took MJ's class(that was invaluable to me).

Thanks again for your time. Glad to see you at VOICE !

Blessings:)

Christine Ivy

[Bob Bergen]

Hi Chris!

You are just talking semantics. Character, animation, cartoon, they all mean the same thing. Interactive games are a bit different. They are more realistic, often a lot of accents and dialects. Very action oriented.

;-)

[catchitc]

I thought that was the case but I wanted to be sure. I am working on various types of reads from a variety of sources of real copy. I am very excited about this. When I get a couple of audio files, I will email them to you and see what you think.

I can still hear your voice in the back of my head LOL

Blessings:)

Christine Ivy

[jsgilbert]

A rose by any other name...

One problem with the venerable pne-size-fits-all character demo, is that the marketplaces for character voices are wide and varied and have divergent needs. I'm finding it increasingly more and more difficult to come up with a 60 second representation (or even 90 seconds) that works in all cases.

For example, this demo would need to have some accents and regionalisms, characters that may be found in commercial work, characters that fit video games (again muliple genres - casual games, evit characters, early larning) .

Also, impressions and soundalike work. And what is as important as being able to show range, is the necessity to show that your characters aren't just "voices", but are fully developed actors. This requires slightly longer clips, in order to show emotional and acting capacity.

Any thoughts on how to handle this? anyone?

[JoeActor]

Hey J.S.

Yeah, I struggle with the same issues. I've been thinking the answer is to have a "generic" one, a "accents" one, a "impressions" one, etc...

There's that fine line between showing what you can do on a demo, and inundating the listener with too much.

You could keep all your demo parts separate, then mix a custom demo for each need - how's that for overkill...

No answers, just more questions,
Joe J Thomas
Joe J. Thomas Acting Portfolio
SoundsGoodToYou.com - Joe J Thomas - Voice Actor

[Bob Bergen]

Big time agree! It's all about character and acting. The voice is just one component of the finished product.

The nice thing about the business and demos today is one can have several "genres" or 'sub genres" of demos.

-animation (charactery)
-animation (more realistic)
-interactive
-accents and dialect
-political impressions

etc.

Checkout my buddy Dee Baker's demos:

Dee Bradley Baker

He has a wide variety! And he's brilliant!!

[jsgilbert]

I have lots of sub demos as well, including automotive retail, ensemble, comedic commercia, financial and banking, and one even called Video Game Dark Characters. I am not so sure that prospective clients home in on these specialty demos, or if it makes sense to send a CD or thumb drive that has 15 - 20 demos on it, in cases where you might be sending something to a production house.

But inmore to my original question, what to give your agent(s) who ask for 4 demos; commercial, narration, character and promo? for posting on either Voicebank or the agency site.

[Bob Bergen]

A rose by any other name...

One problem with the venerable pne-size-fits-all character demo, is that the marketplaces for character voices are wide and varied and have divergent needs. I'm finding it increasingly more and more difficult to come up with a 60 second representation (or even 90 seconds) that works in all cases.

For example, this demo would need to have some accents and regionalisms, characters that may be found in commercial work, characters that fit video games (again muliple genres - casual games, evit characters, early larning) .

Also, impressions and soundalike work. And what is as important as being able to show range, is the necessity to show that your characters aren't just "voices", but are fully developed actors. This requires slightly longer clips, in order to show emotional and acting capacity.

Any thoughts on how to handle this? anyone?

I find that most animation demos have characters "saying" rather than "doing." OR "commenting" rather than "reacting/interacting." JS is right, you need to show off acting range. They are looking for actors first and funny voice people second. Each character should have an adjustment in attitude/action in each byte. This could be obvious, or it could be subtle. But it gives the opportunity to show off range in character and acting.

My buddy Dino Andrade (who unfortunately doesn't produce demos anymore) does a good job demonstrating this in many of his client's demos. Check em out:

A & B Demoworks | Professional Animation Demo Reels

;-)