19 Jun, 2008

Ask any otaku what she aspires to be when she grows up (or how she’d rather be making her living), and chances are good that she’ll name voice acting as her career of choice. What many anime lovers don’t realize, however, is just how challenging voice acting can be. Not only is the field difficult to enter, but it also requires considerable vocal conditioning and acting chops. So how does the aspiring Naruto fan find out what it’s really like to provide the voice for Sasuke? That’s where Bang Zoom! Entertainment’s three-volume set Adventures in Voice Acting comes in.

As Bang Zoom! president Eric P. Sherman explained to PCS last December, the series’ primary goal is to educate fans about the profession by giving them behind-the-scenes access to animation and video game productions. “We tried to make this film so as to create the feel of having a back stage pass, or access to a movie set,” he explained.

The Bang Zoom! Crew interviewed hundreds of voice actors, from greenhorns to seasoned pros such as Steve Blum (Cowboy Beblop), Yuri Lowenthal (Naruto, Noein, Hellsing) and Kate Higgins (Bleach, Naruto). Each volume is divided into five episodes exploring different aspects of the craft, from technique to technology. Volume one “takes the viewer from the very basic ‘What is a Voice Actor?’ all the way up through ‘How did you break into the business?’” Sherman explained. “These questions are really at the very core of the film, and they are answered here, but in several different ways in the film. And in later episodes, actors and casting professionals give their own very thoughtful, personal nuggets of advice on what you should do if YOU wanted to do this for a living.”

Veteran voice actor Yuri Lowenthal (Naruto, Noein) is one of seventy-five professionals to appear in the final cut of Adventures in Voice Acting.

In addition to the actor interviews, Adventures in Voice Acting includes vocal warm-up exercises, practical advice for breaking into the business, and studio tours that help the fan better understanding the dubbing process. Volume one, for example, features the following episodes:

• Process and Techniques While In The Booth
• Audition Preparation Tools
• Finding Your Way into the World of Voice Acting
• What to Expect on the First Day in the Studio
• Advice from the Pros

To celebrate the release of Adventures in Voice Acting, Bang Zoom! will be sponsoring free clinics at Anime Expo 2008 in Los Angeles. These one-hour sessions will provide fans with an opportunity to chat with industry experts as well as try their hand at dubbing with a professional audio engineer. Workshops will be held July 3rd – July 6th; to register, visit the Bang Zoom! booth (#811) in the Exhibit Hall. For more information about the workshops, click here.

Adventures in Voice Acting, Vol. 1
Available: July 3, 2008 at Anime Expo® 2008
Run Time: 131 minutes plus 30 minutes of extra features
For more info: www.AdventuresInVoiceActing.com