Uncategorized

My favorite noise coming from an acoustic guitar is that squeak that happens when the fingers hit the strings in a weird way. This noise is kind of a mistake and some people try to angle their fingers in such a way to make this noise less obvious. To me, this noise is what pulls me in, what perks my ears to want to listen. It feels intimate and personal and it is the imperfection (i.e. the brokenness) of it that allows me in and makes me feel like the song is just for me. The same holds true for when you fall in love. Have you ever noticed that when you fall in love with someone, it is never because they have a perfectly symmetrical face…it is the goofy laugh they have, or the space between their front teeth…it is something unique (and usually) imperfectly perfect about them. I find this to be true in my life as well as in my Voice Over Career. I cannot tell you how many jobs I have gotten because the producer “fell in love” with the imperfection in my audition, an unexpected laugh that wasn’t in the script, my voice breaking in a weird way that invited them in and made them feel like I was speaking just to them, or something intangible but imperfect that stood out to them. Imperfection makes you relatable, real, authentic, believable, dare I say “human”. There are plenty of Voice Talents out there who sound perfect and polished, but I am not that voice, and I am good with that. Perfection is over-rated and I think maybe, just maybe, you should embrace yours because it is beautiful. Instead of trying to sound perfect, try to relate to the copy and connect with the words and meaning in the script. Try to forget about “sounding” good, just bring the REAL you to the audition, because the “real you” in all of your glorious, unique, and messy imperfection, is EXACTLY what the world needs more of.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…..lawn mower? leaf blower… snow plow… car radio (insert any noise here). Sound and the home studio – how noises I never noticed before – make me crazy.

I have a professional home studio…. “Professional” in the sense that my sound is great. I have recorded countless spots for radio, TV and the Web in my studio. These spots have been National, Regional, even recordings that have been played in a giant football stadium. I know many fellow Voice Artists have created home voice studios of their own. These studios range from full on sound-proof whisper rooms to holding a giant quilt over their head while recording, and everything in between. I am somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. I have a quality microphone, a good interface, and a dedicated closet that I have lined with bedding and popcorn mattresses. When there is no outside noise at all, my studio is perfection. The challenge is that I live on a busy street, directly behind a Landscape company, right next to neighbors on both sides who have dogs and cars and like to hang out gabbing with friends while their car radio blasts loud rock and roll music at the high end of the speakers range – the kind of loud that you can actually feel because it is THAT loud. The funny thing about this is, I have always been a “city girl” at heart. These types of background noises truly never bothered me before; I actually enjoyed them to some degree. The carefree city girl in me has been replaced. Now, as I make my way in this world of voice over and building a career, I rely on silence to pay the bills. These constant noises are my arch enemy, my kryptonite. Sometimes they feel like they are mocking me…like they are anxiously awaiting that moment when I need to record to suddenly decide to make an appearance. Murphy’s Law is very active in my world. I can’t tell you how many expletives I have had to remove from recordings from being frustrated (and I am NOT someone who swears). I will be in the moment of a beautiful read when a giant truck starts beeping loudly in my ear – ruining my momentum, stopping my recording and frustrating the hell out of my spirit. These constant interruptions delay my work, stress me out, and make recording an intermittent activity. So what is a Professional Female Voice Talent to do? How do you make a living when the loud world around you is trying to trip you up and test you? Well, until I have my “perfect” situation where I live on a dead end street in a quiet neighborhood and have invested in and installed a sound proof Whisper Room in my home – you just DO.
I must push through, I must work around these noises, stay up very VERY late, or get up before anyone else is sane enough to roll out of bed, and find those moments of peace. Those brief windows of time where the magic can happen without interruption. Those precious seconds where I can be “in the moment” and actually do what I am truly meant to do. Connect with someone else’s words, give them meaning and life, and speak them into a microphone, in my perfect, imperfect room.

I used to get dressed up – EVERY day.   I wore dresses and suits and interesting separates. I didn’t just get dressed, it was an art form: something I would plan the night before, lay out on the bed and thoroughly enjoy.  You see, I LOVE fashion. As a child, I drew stick figures wearing unique high-fashion frocks that I created in my mind and transferred to paper.  I was destined to be a famous fashion designer, with unique designs stomping down the runway in Paris and Milan.  My style: classic with a sense of humor – a little surprise you didn’t expect. A pop of color, a retro edging on a modern design…Coco Chanel meets Hello Kitty.   I even went to college for Fashion. It was my major, my life plan…or so I thought.

When I graduated college, I realized that a degree in Fashion did not really get me too many places. I worked in retail, did some window design, realized that I needed a REAL job and did what many 20 year olds do – I became an Executive Secretary.  I worked for many years in Insurance and Legal departments. It was a job. Then, one day my human resources director called me down. She had organized a retirement party for one of our big wigs and had hired a comedy troupe to come and do a skit. The problem is that they were down an actor due to illness and had asked her if she could recommend someone FUNNY in the office to help them out with the sketch. Apparently I stood out in the Insurance industry and apparently I was FUNNY (according to her).  She volunteered me (without my permission) and I reluctantly helped them out with their sketch in front of all of my co-workers and bosses.  To this day, I have no idea how I had the courage to do this, I just know I did it. I was immediately offered a role as an understudy in their public murder mystery show by the Director that day. I guess I AM funny…who knew? AND THE REST IS HISTORY.

Fashion played a part in this area of my life, as well: props, dresses, gloves, wigs, and whatever you need to make a character into…a character!  I thoroughly enjoyed this process and I was good at it.  I love taking on different looks: a maid, a gangster’s wife, an elderly crazy grandma, a Diva Movie Actress, a shy-nerdy-awkward girl. I realized that I am a blank slate and I can look like and be anything I want to.  You get to step into what it would feel like to be someone else and I LOVE that.

I worked every weekend at this job for 17 years (while still holding my boring day job). On nights and weekends, I could escape my Insurance Certificates and Excel spreadsheets and throw on a wig and some make up and give hundreds of people a laugh or two and an escape from their boring jobs.  We performed on boats and trains, in restaurants and halls and even in people’s homes. A few years into Acting, I took a stab at Voice Over – thinking I would do Animation with all my characters and creature voices.  What shocked me is that I get hired (almost exclusively) for my REAL voice, no character, no accent – just me…. Believable, Natural, Real, Relatable, Caring, UN-POLISHED, ME…..and in 2013, I got laid off from that full-time job and took the leap.

Now, I am a full-time Female Voice Talent and Actress.  When I am not in a studio or on a set, I can be found most days in my home studio, recording jobs and auditioning like crazy.  Fashion has become a funny thing around here. Most days, I am in yoga pants and a hoodie. Sometimes, I am in my favorite Cookie Monster Pajamas.  It’s hard to know by my appearance that I am a working Professional….even though I work harder and longer than I ever have in a suit.  There is no major thought put into my outfit for the day – it is usually what I slept in the night before.  My world is about comfort and my commute is from my bed to my studio, one room over.  There is no need for the perfect red lipstick, or a shiny pair of boots to go with my cute retro dress. My world is mostly about how I sound – NOT what I look like (at least in the VO world).  I think this is awesome on some levels, and kind of sad on others. I am most certain (even though he would never admit it) that my husband may miss the days when I would come home from work all dolled up.  So, I get excited when I do get to go into a studio for a job nowadays. I can meticulously lay out my favorite dress, my tights and boots and have a break from the norm; and the absolute JOY & BLISS of fashion and dressing up.

I love analogies; they just resonate with me, so I use them all the time and in all areas of life.  As a professional female Voice Talent and Actor who also happens to be a Writer, I am constantly thinking of them in my work life as well.  Recently, when I was having a discussion with a fellow female Voice Talent, we were discussing the value in what we do for a living. We discussed how it is the voice that really finalizes a project; how it draws people in and makes them pay attention. In my case, it is the warm, real, relatable quality of my voice that is my sweet spot. I have had producers say – “I just believe what you are saying Michelle”, and that is something you can’t teach. Connecting with a script is a skill set, it is not something just anyone can do, and that is VALUABLE. Voice Over really is the final piece that pulls the whole project together – so why is it often the last piece of the puzzle that is thrown in at the end – kind of an afterthought…and usually the piece with the smallest budget? Voice Over for your project is the foam and caramel drizzle on your cappuccino, the shiny red bow on your birthday gift and my favorite analogy of all…. Voice Over is the Frosting on your Cupcake (talk about a SWEET SPOT).

Your project is not complete without that final piece to pull it all together…the crowning jewel that draws someone in to want to listen and taste whatever it is you are selling or showing or informing.  I mean sure, you could eat a cupcake without the frosting – and some people do (GOD BLESS THEM-I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU PEOPLE).  For the rest of the world and for the people you want to watch your commercial or video or trailer – YOU NEED GOOD FROSTING. I am not talking about frosting made with fillers and Crisco (something you can buy in a jar) – I am talking real ingredients, like butter, sugar, milk and love – mixing in your grandmothers big bowl that she passed down to you with a wooden spoon you have used for decades… Authentic, Delicious home made frosting.

All the ingredients are important…

The ingredients to make the cupcake are the people who put together the video or commercial (the writers, the producers, the editors…all the creative team around the concept and project). The cupcake is masterfully mixed together and baked to perfection – a delicious cake on a cooling rack awaiting its final step. What will this be?…well it depends on the project. Some cupcakes call for a cream cheese frosting, others need a dark chocolate ganache to bring out the true essence of the cake and still others want a simple vanilla butter cream to really make that cupcake shine without competing with it…harmoniously blending together in a simple, yet powerful delicious treat. So value the frosting and understand it’s importance in your project… and now that I am completely craving a cupcake – I will end on that note….and if anyone asks where I am….I’m in my home studio….making frosting.  www.michellefalanga.com/voice