Homework!?

Yep, I just said the eight-letter H-word. The word that many thought they’d escaped after graduating from high school (if such was their good fortune).

If you’re among those who recoiled in horror upon viewing that long-forgotten sequence of letters, then it’s possible that some variant of one of the following phrases passed through your mind shortly thereafter:

“Pshaw! What need have I for such a mundane task as homework?”

“Oh, puh-leeeeeeease! That’s like research, and research is for scientists. I’m an ar-TEEST!”

Okay, fine. Skip the homework if you wish. Just realize that you’re likely skipping out on opportunities by doing so.

There are times when I wish I could get in touch with some of the folks whose demo reels have ended up in animation studio round files. If such contact could be made, I would ask questions like:

• Why did you send a reel full of flying logos (or spaceships) to a company that produces nothing but character animation?
• Why did you include scenes of graphic violence on a reel to a company that produces childrens’ shows?
• Why did you send a reel recorded on Media Format Z when the submission guidelines clearly state that only formats X and Y are accepted?

In many cases, I would wager that the various answers could be boiled down to one thing: the individual did not do his/her homework.

In the world of voiceover, homework/research/preparation is a key tool in a successful artist’s kit. Its importance was drilled into me very early when I began studying the craft, and I’m constantly learning new things about the type(s) of preparation required for a job, or even for an audition for a job.

That said, the idea that you need to read something before you start voicing it should fall under the heading of common sense, right? There should be a wave of nodding heads, but as Some Audio Guy points out, what’s common to some isn’t common to all. The experience he describes is a powerful illustration of how bypassing such basic and simple preparation could easily cost someone a job. In his situation, several someones missed out. Who got the gig? The one who did all the homework.

So which would you rather lose: a little time because you exercised your research muscles, or an opportunity for work because you skipped the exercise? Yep, that’s right: homework is like exercise. It prepares you for what’s ahead, and the only time you regret it is when you haven’t done it.