Voice Acting and Mindfulness. I recently attended an event called
ConBravo where gamers, movie and tv enthusiasts and others gathered
together to learn, share and network. It was referred to as the Annual
Festival of Everything Geek. There I met Mylez who is a voice actor,
devoted to building his voice acting business to a new level. He was
inspired by his friend, who voiced for Sonic The Hedgehog. Mylez went on
to become a voice actor in his own right, having now been in the
profession for seven years.
I asked him the question, ‘as a voice actor, how do you use mindfulness to stay focused?
He
explained that he makes it a practice to focus on the task at hand, and
nothing else at the given time. He does his homework, thinking of what
he needs to do to prepare for playing the role.
He says it is vital
to do the homework and be totally prepared. He says he writes out what
he needs to do to be that character. He writes out how he will endeavour
to get into the character he’s playing.
He referred to the Great Uta Hagen’s Nine Questions:
Who am I?
What time is it?
Where am I?
What surrounds me?
What are the given circumstances?
What are my relationships?
What do I want?
What is in my way?
What do I do to get what I want?
Utah
Hagen has had a powerful influence on Twentieth Century actors. She is
known for her role in Anton Chekov’s The Seagull in 1938. She also
played the original Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? After that
she taught budding actors in New York City at the Berghof studio. She
wrote two well-known books for actors, Respect for Acting and A
Challenge for the Actor. She also taught such famous actors as Jack
Lemmon, Matthew Broderick and Al Pacino.
Mylez continued to say that he delves into all the questions an actor would ask himself before getting into character.
Mylez is also an audio editor. He does production for demo reels for up and coming actors.
Depending
on what they need, he creates a script, has them voice the character
and then mixes it together with music and sound effects to make it sound
like it’s an actual scene from a movie. Actors can then use this sample
reel to promote themselves to agents.
Mylez ended by mentioning
the great Latin quote, lamento mori explaining that it means you should
celebrate life every day until it’s your last day on earth, so that you
can have a great life and never have any regrets.
Quotes:You
should celebrate life every day until it’s your last day on earth, so
that you can have a great life and never have any regrets.Books:
Respect for Acting by Utah Hagen

A Challenge for the Actor by Utah Hagen
Thank You Bonus:
Would
you like to help your children become more mindful? This book contains
simple exercises related to the senses. Children love them. Download the
book for free right here:
21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford