SENSE MEMORY

Every moment of your life is stored in your memory. And every emotional experience has a physical tension associated with it that might reside anywhere in your body. There is also a sensory experience associated with the emotional experience that is closely linked to the physical tension.

Your five senses are some of your most valuable tools as a voice actor. Constantin Stanislavski, founder of “method acting,” developed this tool to help actors create believable characters, and most acting schools teach some variation of the technique. To truly master the technique of sense memory you may need to take some acting classes which involve creative exercises in which you tap into your senses of sight, touch, taste, sound, and smell.

It is said that all creativity originates in the sensory organs. So, to fully utilize your creative voice-acting abilities, you will need to develop skills for recalling and utilizing sensory memories. Once the basic concept of sense

memory is understood, you can apply this technique to become a better

communicator and achieve some amazing results. Here’s how:

Close your eyes and think back through your life to a time, event, experience, sensation, or feeling that is similar to what your character is experiencing and hold that memory in your mind. Make the memory as visual as you possibly can. With that memory held in your mind, recall how your senses were affected by what took place. Was there a special smell? A

certain sound? Did something taste odd, or especially good? Did you see something unusual? Do you recall touching something in your memory?

As your memory becomes more visual, observe where in your body the physical tension for that memory is being held: neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, legs, arms, and so on. Recall the physical tension, body posture, facial expression, and hold onto it. Keep that memory firmly fixed in your imagination. Now, open your eyes and allow your character to speak the words in the script, in a sense filtered through your experience.

Although it may take some time for you to master this technique, even doing just the basics will put you well on your way to becoming a successful voice actor. Many people who do voiceover either don’t utilize this technique, don’t understand how to use it, or simply are not aware of it.

The visualization exercise on page 160 (CD/9) takes the concept of

sense memory to a higher level to help create a totally believable character.

SUBTEXT

All commercials have an attitude. In fact, all copy has an attitude. Your job is to find it and exploit it. One way to find the attitude is to uncover the thoughts or feelings behind the words. This is commonly known in theater as subtext. Subtext is what sets your character’s attitude and establishes, or shades, the meaning of what you are saying. It is the inner motivation behind your words. Subtext allows you to breathe life into the words in a script and into the character you create.

Using your sense memory to unlock emotional hooks is a technique for setting attitude. Now take that process a step further and define the attitude in words to arrive at the subtext. For example, let’s say you have this line: “What an interesting fragrance.” If the thought behind your words is “What is that disgusting odor? You smell like something that’s been dead for a week!” the perceived meaning will be quite different than if your thought and/or feeling is “Wow! You smell amazing! That perfume you’re wearing makes me want to be close to you.” Each of these subtexts results in a different mental and physical attitude that comes through in your voice.

What you are thinking and feeling as you deliver your lines makes a tremendous difference in the believability of your character. You have a subtext in your everyday conversations and interactions with others. The idea here is to include a subtext in your performance. Decide how you want the listener to feel or respond to your character—what emotional response do you want to produce? To get the desired response, all you have to do is internalize the appropriate thoughts and feelings as you perform.

For some copy, creating a believable character can be challenging, even with a well-understood subtext. The problem may lie in the subtext itself. If you have chosen a subtext that is weak or unclear, try changing the subtext to something completely different, using an entirely different set of emotional hooks. You may find that by shifting your subtext, your entire performance attitude will change.

TONE

Closely related to attitude and subtext is the tone. Occasionally referred to as “tone of voice,” the tone of your performance is the sum total of

pacing, volume, range, articulation, diction, tempo, rhythm, phrasing, attitude, and subtext. It is important to be consistent throughout your

performance. Do not change your tone mid-copy. If you are doing a soft, intimate delivery with a friendly attitude, maintain that tone from beginning to end. If your copy is fast-paced, aggressive, and hard-sell, keep the attitude and tone throughout.

Tone can also refer to the quality of your performance. If you change tone as you read, you will fall out of character and your levels on the audio console will fluctuate, which will drive the engineer and producer crazy. To maintain a consistent tone, do not drift off-mic. Keep your head in the same position relative to the microphone from start to finish. Working close to the mic gives a warm, soft tone, while backing off as little as a few inches gives a cooler, more open, tone for straighter, more direct reads.

Occasionally a script is written that calls for a complete change of attitude and tone in mid-copy. If there is a logical motivation for your character to change attitude, then it would be out of character to maintain a consistent tone throughout the copy.