Since the birth of our daughter, (and original Flying Pickle) Leia, Georgie and I have been closely connected to 21&Co. This wonderful local charity has provided incredible support and friendship over the last 9 years.
What Makes James Bond Sound Like James Bond?
Film is a visual medium and it’s quite understandable that most people focus on what James Bond looks like. The character’s creator, Ian Fleming, gave us many helpful pointers on Bond’s look in the 14 original books. But Fleming was much less detailed about how Bond sounded. He never even specifies 007’s accent.
Does a Good Home Studio make you a Good Voice Actor?
For the character voice actor in training motivation is a prerequisite. So is discipline. However, these too oft-conflated concepts are very different. So what does a voice actor or business owner do when their motivation deserts them? The solution is always the same: discipline.
Book Now for our 2022 Charity Performance of A Christmas Carol
Flying Pickle creative arts company presents A Christmas Carol on December 17 at 3PM and 8PM in support of Down’s Syndrome charity 21&Co and the Down’s Syndrome Association.
Why A Voice Actor Should Never Put Their Vocal Health on The Line for Low Pay
Voice acting is such an exciting gig, isn’t it? But, passion for what we could do can often cloud our judgement of what we should do. This leads us to an intertwined problem that plagues the world of 21st Century Voice Over. I am talking about rates of pay and vocal health.
Flying Pickle Inclusion Statement
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises ‘the right of the child to education…with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity.’ It further states that we should all work to ensure ‘that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education’. At Flying Pickle we take this responsibility very seriously.
A Pro Voice Actor’s Discipline is more important than their Motivation
For the character voice actor in training motivation is a prerequisite. So is discipline. However, these too oft-conflated concepts are very different. So what does a voice actor or business owner do when their motivation deserts them? The solution is always the same: discipline.
Five ways to protect your Mental Health for Voice Actors
As a performer on stage, screen or in a recording booth you are subject to the strange forces of unfair rejections, unexpected triumphs, and almost overpowering insecurity. In a capricious, fickle, and oversubscribed industry maintaining good mental health for voice actors can feel like an uphill struggle at the best of times.
Making Characters with Your Teeth
For performers who’ve not done much professional voice work before, making distinct characters may prove challenging. It’s always a surprise and delight to help them discover how they can use their vocal tract to create some extraordinary people!
Why Voice Actors Need Strong Physicality
What relevance does the rest of your body have to the sound of your voice? A lot. It’s true that you use the articulators of your mouth to create intelligible words. But where does the actual tone of your voice come from?
Why A Good Voice Actor Never Blames The Script
When things go wrong, we actors can be highly creative when looking to deflect the blame. It’s perhaps unsurprising that, in a profession that demands almost delusional levels of self-belief, actors are often unwilling to accept that maybe the problem with the performance is them.
The Agony and Ecstasy of Directing Yourself for Audiobooks
One of the measures of an actor’s reputation is how easy or difficult you are to work with. Beyond super-size trailer demands and personal hair stylists, what actually causes others to label an actor easy or difficult?
