13249: How Hard Can This Be?

Raw transcript:

I have heard over the last couple of
weeks versions of
uh the phrase, “How hard can this be?”
Um or or witnessed people thinking that
what we do for a living as artists can’t
be that hard. And there’s a really good
reason for that. And it has to do with
you and your expertise. And we’ll talk
about that up next in this episode of
the VO Heroes podcast.
in teaching authors how to narrate their
own books uh or teaching actors and
voice talent how to narrate books for
rights holders for publishers,
producers, authors, etc.
uh I will hear people talk about what we
do uh whether it’s doing voiceover work,
whether it’s doing acting work, whether
it’s writing. And it’s very interesting
how people who don’t do what we do think
what we do isn’t all that hard. It began
when I first was training as an actor. I
would hear people go, “Oh, acting.”
Well, yeah. How hard can that be? You
just get up in front of a camera and you
just say the lines, you know. Okay. All
right. Interesting. You know, um I don’t
think I would ever say plumbing. How
hard can that be? What do you do? You
just, you know, you you you thread a few
pipes and you put them together in a in
a tea or a nipple or a an elbow and you
you How How hard can that be? Are you
kidding me? It’s very hard. And what we
do is also very hard. But here’s the
thing.
If you’re really, really, really, really
good at it and you’ve paid your dues and
you’ve trained and you’ve got experience
doing the writing, doing the acting,
doing the voiceover work, and you get
better and better and better at it, the
better you get at it, the easier it
looks to other people.
And you kind of have to live with that.
that the level of
respect or or interest or uh you know
understanding about all that goes into
what we do might not be there for
you know what my friend Michael Kro
calls the muggles you know the
non-artists in our circle of friends and
family and you kind of have to live with
that and you want to live with that you
want them to think that how hard can it
It looks pretty easy because it’s easy
for you. It’s not hard for you when they
look at the finished product. Now, you
may be working your tail off on set or
in front of a, you know, a word
processor or, you know, writing your
book or or doing your audio work,
you are likely putting in, you know,
lots and lots of sweat
to do what you’re doing. I mean, I think
about just a an initial example is when
um
when you’re on set and you’re not the
person talking,
one of the things that really really
good actors do is
they give reaction shots like crazy so
that the editors
have things to cut to. You know,
somebody says something shocking, it’s
effective to cut to the other person
they’re talking to with a look of shock
on their face or no shock on their face,
depending upon the the the thing. But
that’s something that somebody who knows
what they’re doing would know. And
somebody who doesn’t know what they’re
doing wouldn’t know. Somebody who thinks
it’s just easy to be just What do you do
when the camera isn’t on you? Do you
just sit there, stand there, brick wall?
No. You’re still acting your tail off.
Same thing with writing. When you come
up with a a story arc and you come up
with uh sort of the the framework of
that arc, nobody sees that work. They
don’t see how hard that can be. But in
the finished product, it seems to flow
effortlessly. And so when somebody says,
“How hard can it be?” I think to myself,
you have no idea. And I just want to
take a moment
to give you kudos first of all for being
here and listening to this trap, this
clap trap, but also knowing that you are
putting in a lot of work. I see you. I
know how much work it takes and how hard
it can be or at least how much of a lift
it can be. It may come to you easily. It
may not be confusing or frustrating. It
may just be a lot of work, which is
great. But it’s hard. How hard can it
be? Really hard. And you know it because
you’re the artist that’s here. And I
love that. And I so support you in what
you do. And and I know how hard it can
be. Just want you to know that. Just a
little a little uh hey, I’m on your side
kind of thing this episode. All right.
Hit the like button if you like what
you’re hearing. You can subscribe to the
channel. You can click the notification
bell uh to get notified when new
episodes come out. You can go up to the
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this to another artist or or voice
talent or actor who needs to hear this
and needs to hear that somebody knows
how hard it can be and is on your side.
Go ahead and do that. I’d love if you
could do that. Just share it with
somebody if this is if this is worth it
to you. All right, 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 Video
Heroes Podcast.

(from YouTube)