VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Steve Knight · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:45 am Post subject: Voice-over pet peeves..

Yes we all love the business, but sometimes there's some things about it that just set us crazy,..for instance, if I get one more audition request that says:

"The client would like a Morgan Freeman sound alike voice"

I'm going to hunt down said client, and beat them sensless with a tube-sock full of wood screws!!

OK, I'm done

Billy James · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 11:53 am Post subject:

Personally, I try to give the client/booker the benefit of the doubt. Especially since sometimes even they don't know what they're really looking for.

To me, if they actually say "Morgan Freeman soundalike," they're likely doing a straight-up Shawshank or Million-Dollar Baby homage, and they're looking for an actual impressionist. There are several really good Morgan Freeman soundalike guys around, and I'd probably suggest they contact one of them.

If they say "kind of a Morgan Freeman feel," they're more likely to be looking for the things that people LIKE about Morgan Freeman narration. Ditto for people who want it to feel like a George Clooney or Peter Coyote. Part of our job is to know what those things are. If you understand what makes Freeman or Clooney or Coyote good, your version might not SOUND exactly like them, but you can deliver a VO they'll probably like just as much (especially since your version will be a good bit less expensive.)

Yeah, you could see it as sort of a "diss" to what you actually do in the booth. But hey -- if you're good enough to get the audition, they've probably heard something they like already, right?

My personal pet peeve: people who say "not announcery" as they plop the most "copywriter-y" script you ever saw down in front of you. (Has anybody ever used the word "zesty" in a real-world conversation?)

Monk · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 12:27 pm Post subject:

I just had an audition where they wanted a "Sam Elliot" sound. So I did my best smiling cowboy, slow and sure of himself.

I got the part. (my first national commercial)

Do I sound just like Sam Elliot? I don't think so, but I envisioned him when I did the read.
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Deirdre · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 12:58 pm Post subject:

When the AE makes the font for the copy smaller so it fits in the stupid station template. . .

That burns me up.
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Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 3:13 pm Post subject:

- When the client wants the recording yesterday. Then three months later you have to send them a payment reminder.

- When the copy (typically e-learning projects) is full off text not to be recorded, thus making it impossible to do a word count.

- Oh, and the obvious: "Give us your best rate!"

URRGH!
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Steve Knight · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 6:09 pm Post subject:

Deirdre, I work a couple days a week for the local CBS cluster..I kicked back a piece of copy once because it clocked out at :36..the AE insisted it was :30 and proceeded to read the copy in a fast monotone mumble she..then checked her watch and said "see, it's :30"...

I'll bet we could do a whole thread on radio AE horror stories..

ccpetersen · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 7:45 pm Post subject:

If she'd written it in 8 point type, it would have been :25

Wink

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject:

Someone should do a web comic about all of this.
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Deirdre · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 10:32 pm Post subject:

Yeah.
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 1:42 am Post subject:

Whit · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 8:16 am Post subject:

At a session last week, my client called his client for approval and his client was concerned that it sounded fast, and theorized that perhaps they were trying to get too much info into the spot. Then he went on to mention a few more things he would like included in the spot. I was at an outside studio so I just smiled while listening to the whole exchange and wrote giggly notes with the other talent in the booth with me.

And one time I was singing for a holiday spot, the Twelve Days of Christmas with different lyrics for products. When called for approval, the client didn't like the repetitive nature of the melody, though he'd approved the concept. So I basically re-wrote the melody on the fly... actually felt kinda bad ass on that one though. But I mean, really?

Deirdre · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:03 am Post subject:

Whit, you ARE badass.

That reminds me of something from Not Always Right:

Approving, but not "getting" the concept
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Whit · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 12:11 pm Post subject:

Heh. Sadly the spot itself was not so badass. Oo, and I love Not Always Right, you actually introduced me to that site a few months ago. So funny.

Billy James · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 8:25 pm Post subject:

What a timely thread. Tonight in my inbox:

"...the client would like a Morgan Freeman soundalike voice."

Despite my earlier comments, I'm sorely tempted to actually try a take or two in soundalike mode, in addition to giving it my own spin (which the booker also requested).

But first, I'm off to see if Netflix has "Shawshank Redemption" available on streaming... Smile

voicy1stef · Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:54 am Post subject:

What I don't like are those notices that say, ...this should take a professional 10 minutes to read....OR....easy bit of copy ....

Yuck...that rates a Snort and instant delete button! Shocked

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