CVAP Day 3 - July 24, 2021
To learn and relearn.
In this particular blog, I will include my opinion on the third speaker from the previous workshop. I went over my notes and I cannot believe I was able to miss a very important part, if not the most inspiring “voice” speaker in my CVAP journey. Mr. Robinson Tumampos, a CVA alumna and motivational speaker gave a heartwarming talk about how to create a better, if not the best version of yourself. A person with disability and a survivor of constant bullying growing up, Robinson struck me as a very driven, sincere and focused speaker. He is one of a kind. He is now followed by many supporters in the Philippines and some parts of Asia because of his remarkable story. He was able to share simple tips hoping that these will guide us and prevent our lives from being derailed. First, choose quality people. One can never go wrong if one chooses to be surrounded by positivity. We must be reminded that the people we work with, or the people we give value to have the biggest influence in our lives. Hence, if we are in the wrong crowd, we will never grow and we will always experience hurt and in the process, the situation only brings out the worst in us. Second, choose quality mentors. We are in good hands when we know the real values of these people we idolize. It will always be beyond talent, achievements and face value. We have to make sure that the people we consider as mentors have tangible learnings and ideas to impart. Next one is to take the risk. We often hear this but we are also guilty of taking this for granted. Again, opportunity only knocks once or twice. After that, we may have missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Lastly on the list is to read books and never stop asking. We may come from different age groups and different backgrounds but we have this one thing we have in common. And that is the capability to learn. Everyday as long as we breathe and we are able to comprehend, we learn. Age is just a number and learning does not discriminate.
“Movement orchestrates vocal expression. That stands for MOVE.” These were the important words that came out in the third session’s intro talk by the Voice Master himself. As we delve deeper into the world of Voice Artistry, the Voice Master has spoken about how we must harness our skills. And there’s no other way but to use our Voice as often as we can in our daily lives. As Voice Artists, we must be hungry and enthusiastic to speak out, practice more and transcribe more. Read and read scripts. Join auditions and present demos. We must find inspiration in doing all these things. This is the only way that we can really actualize the basic concepts such as voice cadence and voice prosody. We must be willing and we must give time for our Voice in order for us to improve and be better. We should talk ‘the talk’, if I must say comically, just to highlight it more.
The Voice Master also mentioned learning how to face rejection. There will be rejections and these will always be part of our journey. He shared that he will never forget a statement that struck him from a businessman Robert Kwan who said in one of their conversations, “I am so rich, Pocholo. But you will only be happy when you learn how to let go.” Letting go is undeniably one of the hardest things in life. Letting go and moving on are harsh dynamics that sometimes cripple us from pushing forward to reach our dreams. But we must not forget that these are only temporary. Everyday is a new day to take a chance and recover from lost opportunities.
In the voice acting proper, we were also taught about how to read and appreciate “dubbing/ recording scripts”. I have once again encountered the essential pointers in script reading which I have learned in college. When to give emphasis, when to pause or stop, the changing of vocal tones and some vocal techniques were shown to us. It was very refreshing to relearn these things. In the afternoon’s session, Miss Nikie reiterated the importance of branding. “Without vision, people perish.” When we establish a clear niche in the industry, there are better chances of us surviving in the stiff competition. Whether we like it or not, we now live in the era of social media wherein it is important for all our works to be published online. “When we are out of sight, then we are out of people’s minds,” said Miss Nikie. Marketing materials, logo representation and social media accounts are the very tools that we must use to showcase our talents. I’m not a techie, internet savvy kind of person but this time, and really because of CVAP, I have learned to live with this new truth.
Naddie May Tejam
Oak Park, Illinois
08/02/21
