Posted by: Candace on: January 27, 2010
The move has finally finished and I am all settled in Nashville, TN. I’m pretty excited about the prospects here vs. the prospects in Southern Illinois. There is a lot more voice work to be had here in Nashville. I am already seeing some requests come through and already hooking up with some local studios.
Currently I have a few projects in the works that involve voice acting and not commercial voice over. Unfortunately, I can’t say anything just yet because of a NDA on both projects. I can tell you that I am very excited about both of them. I can also tell you that one is a game and the other is an animation.
Yes, this is a small update. The update is more for the purpose of saying “I’m now a Nashville local”! I do look forward to working with a lot of businesses and studios in Nashville soon!
Posted by: Candace on: January 13, 2010
This is a release coming from Soma Games regarding the [formerly] mobile game “G” which I provided the narration for. I’m very excited to see Soma Games moving along in the gaming world. They are an awesome company with some amazing ideas. I highly anticipate seeing what they have in the future.
It was all hush-hush up until the last minute but back in early December, we were invited by Intel to be one of their pioneer developers for the App Store they just launched at CES.
http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/appup.htm
We really didn’t know what to expect but it seemed like one of those too-good-…to-be-true opportunities so we dropped what we were doing (namely F) and busted our chops to make their very aggressive deadline…then we waited to see what would happen at CES.
The short answer is that the App Store has been big news and basically every major news organization in the country has covered it: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Gamasutra…everybody. What’s better – G is now one of only 22 or so games in the whole system and is currently number one or number two in ranking. w00t!
Posted by: Candace on: January 7, 2010
This video is a trailer for the upcoming video game Conquest of Heroes by Beyond Ascension Ltd.
It is a look at the Liberty Island levels of the Conquest of Heroes game.
The video was created for Beyond Ascension Ltd. by students in Sweden for LiA placement. This is the final exhibit for their internship.
Music: Nathan Allen Pinard and Romeo Knight
Voice Over: Candace McCarty
Posted by: Candace on: January 5, 2010
A lot of people I know ask me about the work I do with voice overs. The majority of the time, I hear “How can I get into this?”. My answer is always the same to anyone; a lot of patience, time, investment and audition, audition, audition!
A few friends I know are beginning to audition for voice over roles. Some of them are getting discouraged about the audition process. Do not get discouraged! That is the main thing I would tell anyone. Auditions aren’t easy. This field isn’t easy either.
Get used to the word “no”. For every 1 “yes” you hear, you will most likely hear “no” 100 times. It is just the way it goes. The key is to keep going and keep auditioning.
When you do get a rejection, try and get some constructive feedback. This isn’t always possible, but sometimes you have open communication with the client. If that is the case, ask them for some feedback on your work. Use that feedback to improve.
While you are working on auditions, continue to improve yourself. Take workshops and classes, continue to practice and develop your voice and tones. Find a mentor if possible and work closely with them. All of this will help you in future auditions.
It is not an easy road. It takes a lot of perseverance as you break into voice overs and voice acting. On a personal opinion, I feel that voice acting is much harder because so many people have stars in their eyes and think they will be the next Nickelodeon/Disney/anime voice actor right away.
Be realistic about your goals. Your first audition is not going to land you a huge client. Set goals for yourself that are easy to reach. Within your first year, try and land at least one client with a good reputation to go on your resume. Try and produce a professional demo reel within that year as well.
That is just an example of goals to set. Of course, you will set your own for yourself. This year, my goals are to have a brand new character demo reel produced and a fully produced commercial reel as well. I have also set the goal to take on a major client which I have already started working on. These goals are realistic for me and I can reach them before December of 2010.
Set your goals for the year. Don’t get discouraged and keep at it.
Posted by: Candace on: December 18, 2009
My friend Teagens of Wicked Wood Studios has created a machinima animation that’s an adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” She had a lot of other people who work in this medium collaborate with her on the project. Since this is something I do for fun, I provided her a couple of voices. That includes a cameo of “Steffie” from “Chronicle of the Annoying Quest” . I also provided a voice for two Russian characters that appear in the teaser she released today.
You can watch the teaser here
This is one of those things that was just a lot of fun to do. It’s not often I get to use any voice I’d like, mess with the script if I want and crack up with friends at the same time. That’s part of what made this so enjoyable, and part of why I’m sharing it. Hope you enjoy this bit of Christmas cheer!
Posted by: Candace on: December 3, 2009
December could have turned out to be a rather slow month. Not for me! I have many projects I am working on this month. A lot of commercial work has been steadily coming through which is great. A new audio commercial has been posted on my demos section for you to listen to.
I have been working on two different video games. Both are indie titles set to release in 2010. Unfortunately, I have a NDA and can not disclose any information yet. I can tell you that for one game, I will be voicing all of the Elf NPCs that the players speak to. I am also voicing a “computer” (think the Star Trek computer) for a smaller title. You’ll hear me many times, but you’ll hear the same phrase each time.
There’s been a lot of work lately with DJs which surprise me. I haven’t been doing any singing with them, I’ve been doing voices that go along with their mixes. I recently worked with a US based DJ who does sporting events where I got to be a cheerleader for a moment. That was quite a stretch of acting there.
I hope everyone has an awesome Christmas this year and a Happy New Year. Barring any important updates, I’ll “see” you in 2010. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!
Posted by: Candace on: November 9, 2009
It’s time for the project update for the month of November! There’s a lot of behind the scenes work going on with Beyond Ascension Ltd. and their upcoming game Conquest of Heroes. The game is still in the production and development phase. I wish I was able to say more about it, but I can tell you that some great news and sneak peeks are coming soon!
I’m getting geared to do some TV stings that will go along with animated cartoons. The exact stations I’m working with is to be announced, but I’ll be the animated voice announcing the afternoon cartoon line-up in many areas across the US.
I am also gearing up to work on many Christmas related commercials. Quite a few radio spots, streaming radio and web spots are being made available. The Holidays are coming quickly and I’m going to make people buy stuff! I’m sure the clients are going to love reading that.
One thing I enjoy doing from “back in the day” when I played World of Warcraft was machinima. It’s still something I think is fun and let’s me stretch my creative muscles. I work frequently with Oxhorn and Baka Savants Productions . Recently, Baka Savants received rave reviews for a little series called Chronicle of the Annoying Quest. I’m excited about that because I have been involved with this web series since season 2. They’re a lot of fun to work with and the series has a very Red vs. Blue feel for you fellow geeks out there.
Posted by: Candace on: October 19, 2009
I am sure many of you have noticed a change happening. The biggest change would be my name. Yes, my last name has changed. Brad (Spinn to some of you) and I have decided it is about time to tie the knot. This has lead me to change everything down to the website, Twitter account and even business cards. I don’t think that’s really a project update, but it is certainly a project in itself to have the change happen.
On to the more interesting projects which is why you are here in the first place.
Conquest of Heroes which is part of the new Beyond Ascension (formerly Burning Man Studios) is doing some very intricate behind the scenes work on the upcoming game. There isn’t too much I am able to talk about. I can tell you that I am involved in the work and some things are in the testing phase. After a total overhaul of the company, things are moving along quite nicely. I wish I could say more about the game, but an NDA is making me stay zipped for awhile. As soon as I have more information, I’ll let you know.
I recently worked with Oxhorn on a new project that’s being released at the end of the month. As always, working with Brandon is hilarious. We always crack up when we work together. Sure, we’re serious but we tend to really enjoy ourselves as well. The animation will be released around Halloween because it’s a (you guessed it) Halloween project. Once it’s out, I will be posting it here as well.
I’ve been doing some podcasting lately. Of course Not A Podcast is still moving along. I have a few guest host spots coming up on some other podcasts soon. Once those are released, they will be posted here.
Much of October, November and December will be spent settling into newly married life. It is also going to be spent getting ready for the Holidays and working on my day job which keeps me very busy. Because of the day job, I haven’t been able to commit to very many voice over projects. Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes sometimes. I’m not really complaining because I do love my job. Many times, I get to use my voice over skills at my regular job. Not too many people can say that. I’d say I’m blessed.
And that’s the update for October. Stay tuned for more random posts and soon some new reels!
