VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Rebecca Michaels · Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 20 Location: G.L.O.B.A.L.

Hi - If you are curious to listen and provide feedback and thoughts - Thanks! This is a scratch demo w/out any music yet. Positioning for TV narration of female sports documentaries, featurettes, etc.
https://soundcloud.com/lovethatrebecca/lovethatrebecca-sportsdocumentarynarration/s-HEpow[/url]
_________________
If this is a hierarchical universe, is this a hierarchical world? Fuck it, I'm getting some gelato.

Foog · Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:25 pm Post subject:

I loved them all... except for the second one - there was too much vocal fry for my taste. Then again, my taste includes eating my french fries with mustard, so please do consider the source here!
_________________
Andrew Fogarasi

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:12 am Post subject:

Hi, Rebecca. You have a very, VERY good voice.

I would sure like to hear you tell me a story, though, instead of delivering a newscaster/prototypical sportscaster type style. And please, please lose the vocal fry.

IMO your strongest piece BY FAR, (with the exception of the vocal fry) was the last bit on Wilma Rudoph. You really got into the storytelling there. Instead of 'delivering the news' you felt the story and we could feel it, too.

We have too many female sportscasters trying to emulate the male counterpart's delivery style. Tell stories with that beautiful voice, try not to let it slip down into that trendy vocal fry area, and use that lovely gift God gave to you.

Also, I don't know if this is meant to be a full blown demo or not, but if so, I'd certainly add some music and/or SFX behind at least half of the pieces to break it up and add variety.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Rebecca Michaels · Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 20 Location: G.L.O.B.A.L.

Thanks Andrew and Scott... I didn't catch myself with the vocal fry happening. Glad you did - I try to be aware and stop myself but obviously I need to get better at that.

Scott - no it's not a full blown demo. I agree about the Wilma (final) read.. For that one I had more copy to get into the story better. Thanks for the feedback on that detail, as I can pull more copy which will, I think, help me achieve more of that feeling. My goal is to create a TV narration demo of more than sports, but this was for an audition and I created it on the fly, hence no sfx or music either.
_________________
If this is a hierarchical universe, is this a hierarchical world? Fuck it, I'm getting some gelato.

ballenberg · Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 5:31 pm Post subject:

Actually, I think having some fry at your disposal to use selectively, isn't a bad thing at all. It's certainly contemporary and adds a nice tweak to the right piece.

Frank F · Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 5:55 pm Post subject:

Rebecca, Nice sound. You are selling the sex of sports as your voice is performing in this demo, not presenting a story.

For what your target audience is listening for I would consider scrapping the old :06 to :10 seconds per part and maximum :60 seconds in length concept. Make each piece of your demo be as long and/or as short as it needs to be to convey your innate qualities. If the demo needs to be two minutes; then make it two minutes.

I enjoyed your sound and feel you have the polish; the polish simply needs to be challenged.

Frank F
_________________
Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

Rebecca Michaels · Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 20 Location: G.L.O.B.A.L.

Thanks for the additional comments. There are 4 segments total about 4 women, roughly two :15s, one :30 and one :42 (ish).
I'm sincerely not trying to do anything sexy here at all. The essence of the compilation script was about all time top women moments in sports, hence the build in time length for the elements.
I think what I need to do is a little more research into some of the "great" ladies in VO doing TV narration to get a feel for the market better. I'm not trying to sound like a broadcaster either, but that seems to be what is heard. I'll take another whack at it!
_________________
If this is a hierarchical universe, is this a hierarchical world? Fuck it, I'm getting some gelato.

ricevoice · Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 10:38 am Post subject:

Robin Roberts did great stuff when she was with ESPN. Pam Oliver with Fox Sports.

And you shouldn't feel that you need to limit yourself to stories about women... ESPN, Fox, HBO all have female reporters covering men's sports and when they do magazine-style pieces the reporters usually do the voiceover for the segment as well.
_________________
Chris Rice - Noisemaker
www.ricevoice.com

Philip Banks · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 3:26 am Post subject:

I listened for about 6 seconds and that was enough for me, in this case that is not a good thing. Are you AWFUL? Certainly NOT the case.

Make eye contact and tell me what you know, think and believe. If appropriate tell me how you feel. What sets you apart is you, let's hear from Rebecca.

An open heart and mind will open doors.

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2279 Location: Atlanta

Ok - I'm hearing what Mr. Banks is hearing.

Some awkward pauses. Instead of making us hear the quotation mark inflection for 'Battle of the Sexes' in the first part, you say the phrase as-is and then there's this halting pause for a beat.

There's another pause like that when you say '1996...Atlanta Olympics" This would make sense if there was more than one Olympic Games in 1996.

But hey, I used to do this all. The. Time.
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

Philip Banks · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:15 am Post subject:

I once watched actor Prunella Scales give a masterclass and she stopped a student mid-flow.

"Don't do that lovey it's an actor's pause and no one does that"

In a session several years ago I was supposed to be in conversation with someone about the contents of a clothing catalogue.

"GET the Acme Clothing catalogue there's bound to be something in it ... FOR YOU!!"

I've never had someone hit me over the head using a sentence whereas VO people do it ..... ALL ...THE TIME!!!!!

That'll be $7.75

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 2:28 pm Post subject:

Rebecca, in addition to concurring with the other comments presented so far, not only do you need to connect with the story in each, but I'm hearing the same pace and attitude in each of the clips, so you may need to find some new copy or find a way to add variety to these stories. They all sound "soft" to me.

Your other demos have nice variety, so we know you are not a one-trick pony!

Some specifics...

"Battle of the Sexes" need to be done with heavy air quotes to help lift that awkwardly written sentence off the page. And boy do we know that we have to work with some badly written texts!

In the next one, I got completely off track during the list of medals and where they were won.

In the next one you emphasized the word "bringing" instead of Gold Medal - and I agree with some of the other comments about the pauses.

Getting back to the "softness" comment for the last clip. Times were hard for this athlete. And there was a place for a pause that wasn't used - the bronze medal line was a set up to the 3 gold medals part. And then there is really a change of thought before the last sentence that isn't there to my ears.

Get out that pencil and mark those key messages and copy points to help keep you focused!
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

Rebecca Michaels · Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 20 Location: G.L.O.B.A.L.

Thanks for the constructive comments. When I just listened to this now, I thought, "What was I doing?" and I heard in my head how I'd do it now. I've been studying a lot and getting focused on all the things mentioned. I don't know why I do those dang pauses but it's an issue for me. Thanks again!
_________________
If this is a hierarchical universe, is this a hierarchical world? Fuck it, I'm getting some gelato.