0076: Graduating From Paint-By-Numbers To Just…Painting

Raw transcript:

oh i had big plans for this podcast
episode i was gonna go out and i was
gonna get a paint by numbers set of mona
lisa
and do it myself i was gonna dip my
paintbrush into all the different colors
and
one by one i was going to color it all
in i was going to show it to you and
then i was going to show you a copy of
the mona lisa itself
and that was going to be the basis for
this podcast but instead
i’m just going to talk to you about that
moment when you convert
from paint by numbers
to painting
in this episode of the vo heroes podcast
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so as we acquire
the skills and the tactics and the
strategies and the tools
and put in place the systems
for making our performance practice our
our business as actors and voice talent
as we get that all assembled
there is a very distinct difference
between how we start using those tools
all of those tools
and how we end up using those tools
and i want you to think back to that
moment
when you realized that okay i’ve learned
how to use my mic
i’ve learned how to use my camera i’ve
learned how to use my lights i’ve
learned how to use my uh editing
software whether it’s audio or video
and i’ve done so kind of on a serial
basis i learned how to do this first
then that then this then that
kind of like paint by numbers right
first i’m going to paint number one
and then next to number one is number
one twenty four. what’s one number oh 124 is
prussian blue oh okay i’m going to do
all those i’m going to find all those on
the page however you learned how to do
it
remember that moment
when all of a sudden you realized wow
i don’t have to consciously think
okay
now i’m doing this now i’m doing this
now i’m doing this i’ve turned my
headphones up to the right level i’ve
gotten the right distance away from the
mic you just naturally assumed the
position
of doing things fluidly
right and it’s very similar to
an artist being trained from sketching
from composition from color selection
from all of those things or
an amateur doing a paint by numbers kit
right
to that moment when you realize oh i
need to add a white highlight to that
person’s iris
so that it looks like there’s a light
reflecting in his or her eye
you’re now using your tools
as
a
an actual movement forward
rather than getting better at them
rather than getting effective with them
so i want you to think back to that
moment
and i don’t know if you can identify it
maybe it’s a long period of time
that time when you were able to
get rid of the systematic
step-by-step by step stuff
and turn it into a run
or turn it into a glide
right
like i now know how to use my tools in
service of the end result
and here’s the really interesting part
if you think back to those times you’re
going to find
that learning how to use those tools in
a smooth and easy
way uh with minimal change effort like
okay i’m gonna go from doing this to
doing this to doing this to just doing
this whole process
it leaves you more time
to spend on those things that change
every time
so just as an example if i’m going to
shoot an on-camera self-tape or if i’m
going to record
um a pre-recorded mp3
uh audio audition for a voiceover
category a voiceover audition
if i am
beyond that moment when i’m using my
tools where i don’t have to set
everything up and check everything three
times and then use everything in a
particular staccato order if i can just
do it
it leaves me more time to consider how
i’m going to build my character
what kind of accents i might use what
kind of ways i will
engage the script that i have
to serve the story
so you get more time
to be a great actor
once you become
familiar
and at ease with all the little paint
pots that you have to dip your brush
into right
so i’m working on an option right now
for my voice clients
on how to really burnish
all of those physical things that you
need to do
so that it becomes second nature
so that it isn’t a question of how do i
do this or in what order do i do this or
you know what was that again why did i
do that that way right but just
naturally and fluidly doing it
so that
you can spend more time
doing the fun stuff doing the
not so
mechanical stuff you know
looking at your character and figuring
out what you’re going to do with it and
how you’re going to bring you to the
party and
you know how you’re going to serve the
story
i wonder if you remember when that
started to happen for you i wonder
if you’re one of my students or my
clients when that started happening for
you
during either the vo heroes or the acx
master class process or anything else
that i may have taught you if i wasn’t
your instructor your teacher your coach
your consultant
maybe what happened with whoever you did
study with and then when did you realize
and let me know in the comments below
because i’d love to thank i’d love to
hear what people have to say i love the
stories of of uh of maturation and
change and transformation
let me know in the comments below on
videoheroes.com that’s where the the
conversation is saying but when did you
realize that
and do you feel like you have more time
to do the good stuff right
uh if while you’re making a comment you
want to also subscribe to the channel
feel free to do that hit the like button
share it with someone another actor or
voice talent that might benefit from
these podcast episodes we’d love to have
that i’m david h lawrence the 17th i
thank you so much for watching and for
listening
and i will see you in the next episode
of the vo heroes podcast
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