Gone are the days of social and human interaction, only to be replaced by bunny slippers, computers, internet casting sites, and Guitar Center padded closets.  And of this, I am torn.

In 1998, the voiceover world radically changed its standard of casting forever. Enter Voicebank.net, a master-crafted system that would put Voice Over Casting on-line, eventually linking more than 1600 Talent Agents, Ad Agencies, studios, independent producers and Casting Directors from around the world, to any and all voiceover talent who subscribed. I recall sitting with the brains behind the business at a luncheon and giving him a piece of my mind. He was very interested to hear. ‘You’ve just gone and created tons competition for me. I’ve worked tirelessly on marketing myself and now you’re putting scripts into the hands of thousands of other people who would have never been heard for this!!!’ I went on and on like a strong-willed child with toy on the brain. He listened intently. He was kind. I had just re-confirmed his exact intentions with this new system. I was angry, and although he stayed very poised, I’m sure he was dancing a little jig on the way back to his car followed by Mwahhhh haaaaaa haaaaa! I went home, tail between my legs, called up Voicebank.net and joined that very same day. I was disappointed, but certainly not dumb. I had just succumbed to the almighty marriage between technology and convenience, known as the first social media site for voiceover talent in history.

As much as I was steadfast on perpetuating my disdain for this new way of receiving and delivering audition copy, I quietly began loving it. At least, when I was still at the forefront of the change. My feelings today have petered out a bit.

The realization of not having to leave my home to send in an audition was like a new miner panning his first piece of gold. I could stay in my skivvies, record from home, edit my audition and send it to the supreme hub. It was fast, no long drives to the Westside (now in LA), and I could work on it for as long as I wanted. No more long waits at my agent’s office. This was the life and it was my little covert operation.

However, locking myself in my home studio often became isolating. I sometimes enjoyed getting dressed up and out of sweats. I missed going in and seeing my friends. I missed the booth director busting my chops and working me in an entirely different direction. And of course, there was always additional copy pouring into the agency during the afternoon that I was missing. This is still true today. It is so easy to sit at home and record, most of us do, but there is something to be said when there is a real human being directing.

So, if 1600 users of voice talent now had access to me, I certainly had access to them. As fast as another company would sign on to voicebank.net, I would get their information and make an introduction with my virtual demo in mp3 format. They loved the fact I was a trained and working talent from a big market. Hollywood still had appeal. Now, they could do their voice casting and session recording without bringing anyone into their studio. They would simply send copy via email, we would both flip on our once sophisticated Codec ISDN voice communication transponders and record the session live. This was the greatest thing ever to happen to my career and I built a strong voice over business on expanding my geographical horizons.

Although slightly ahead of the game, it only took a New York minute for the other voiceover die-hards to spring up. But the process was slow. Oddly enough, most were not so inclined to expand outside of their own markets. This was due largely in part to union membership, and to the expense associated with putting in home studios with ISDN lines. But those who were voice casting loved this idea of getting as many auditions as they could from talent from across the land. They had their choice of agencies to send to, some checked “All”. And soon every agent across the USA was sending in their top 50 talents to read on projects. One prospective radio commercial, 350 plus returned auditions, and now fewer chances to book jobs. This still holds true.

With the onslaught of social media, the idea of packing up your bag and heading to Hollywood Land has become more and more obsolete. Voicebank.net has proven its voice casting success, and new social media sites pop up on a minute-by minute basis. Dare I call them copycats? Some, yes, but others have their own whippersnapper systems in place. Social media sites like Voice 123 and Voices.com are brilliant enterprises that allow most anyone to sign up for a nominal fee, call themselves voice talent, and submit for auditions. The owners are getting pretty rich as more and more people who are told they have good voices decide that by filling out a form on line, they now are entitled to call themselves Professional Voiceover Talent. These sites often bury this criticism by pushing their knowledge and expertise through on-line seminars and podcasts.

This deserves a 3-shot Foe! And sorry, but even though you think you have the right to join any social media site there is, you don’t have the right to call yourselves Professional Voice Over Talent until you earn it. We have trained for years at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, we took voice over class after class, have gotten in front of casting directors, been turned down by agents, been let go from agencies, have been on countless in-person auditions, are dedicated to constantly perfecting our craft and updating our demos. We have spent exorbitant amounts of money on building beautiful studios with floating floors and we’ve taken more classes. We market ourselves and we work. You sign up for a service whose rule is to pay to play and the professionals are being suffocated by your schlocky auditions. Not to mention, because you really want to win the audition, you are willing to lower your price to $25. And anyone who likes a bargain is going to shop for the least amount. Quality talent, who have done the work and paid their dues, are being squeezed out by bottom feeders.  Mad, no. With all due respect, I’m pissed off. I’ve watched my friends and my community break apart because of this inundation and it will never sit well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve redone projects for companies because they made the mistake in taking the cheapest priced talent who could not deliver the goods.

The fact is, social media has become a household chore – wash dishes, check email for auditions, feed the dogs, check Facebook. I get it. I couldn’t live without it. I’ve accepted the change. I love the ease of receiving auditions and jobs via email and sending my clients back quality recordings at warp speed. I love that I have had long-term relationships with people I’ve never seen. The Internet has been a miracle at helping people make connections. The speed and convenience have been nothing short of amazing. But, it should never be used or abused to disregard the rules of a trade or art in an attempt to make profit. When this happens, as it has, it cheapens the voice over business, closes the doors of the great voice casting offices, and dims the light on real and deserving talent.

It’s pretty inevitable that at some point in your voice over career, you’ll connect with someone who tells you they’re doing a project that requires you, the King of Voice Overs, to help them find additional voices, and of course you’ll be heard on the project. This calls for celebration! You have just donned your new Voice over Casting Director Tam O’Shanter and it fits perfectly.

In the early 90’s, just before the influx of home studios, I used to voice a project inside of a guy’s closet. Let’s be honest, it was a smelly bachelor pad and the only place to sit was on his bed-slash-futon-slash-weekend girl crusher, or 25 year-old orange shag carpet. I wore flats and stood. The project grew rapidly and required additional talent. I was asked to help facilitate finding those voices and run a Voice Casting Session. Without the mp3 convenience of today, there was no way for someone to submit their voice through the computer. I had to kick it old school – through human contact.  I called from my “home” phone, arranged talent to come in for an audition, directed them, gave the messenger an edited DAT and a CD to deliver, helped the client make choices, and then called the talent to book them for their paid gig. Eventually, as bigger jobs started filtering in, the once noxious bachelor pad turned into a top-notch successful studio that currently takes up half a city block in Burbank, sans shag carpet.

I love those success stories, especially the ones where I become the go-to girl and work on “amaze balls” projects. (OMG, I just borrowed from Perez!). The greatest gift is that I have been given the opportunity to provide work to a host of awe-inspiring talent over the past 19 years.

But lest you be fooled by the glitz, Voiceover Casting is a tough racket and has grown increasingly more difficult as the untrained, untalented (There. I said it!), closet dwellers of today are jumping in line to be discovered. So cutting through all the riff-raff is a tedious task that has fallen on the Voice over Casting Directors.

When it comes right down to it, the job of a Voice over Casting Director is to bridge two crucial islands, the client to the talent. And in between, there are a lot of steps.

Know The Client

Oftentimes, the Voice over Casting Director must transform into Carnac The Great and jump into the heads of the Ad Executives. Remember, these are the guys that can build a master storyboard like nobody’s business, but don’t always understand how to find the right voice choice. It’s not so off-the-mark when direction comes down the line that reads, “We are looking for a Denzel Washington type who is also like John Corbett with a George Clooney style of delivery, similar to Mike Rowe or Allison Janey if you were a female. No announcers, not conversational.” Inevitably, it’s a script that starts with “Introducing”, has price points everywhere and ends with, “But hurry, these prices won’t last long.” If you are talent, you are probably having a visceral reaction right about now. I feel your pain. The Casting Director is most likely going to put the client’s direction on the copy and then add a couple of interpretive notes of their own like, “Just make it low-key, don’t go too fast, don’t treat it like a retail ad, think real dad, just be you and speak.” But in order to do that, it’s important to understand the product being touted, what message is being conveyed, and the audience type.

Know The Talent

I heard a well-respected voice over agent speak at a class the other night and one of the great things he said was, “I’m really a casting director too.” It’s true. Technology has made it so that hiring a Voice Over Casting Director isn’t always the preferred method. Agents have stepped into the booth to direct talent. This requires having a strong grasp on their signed talent’s abilities, great directing prowess, a good ear, some acting chops, lightning editing skills, and the ability to multi-task while negotiating contracts and treating clients to dinner. While agents must know their roster, Voice Casting Directors must know everyone’s roster of talent. We’re often talking an excess of 300 voice actors per roster, times how ever many agencies there are. How do these actors handle auditions? Do they take direction well? Are they flexible? Will they deliver the goods? The Voice Over Casting Director has to have a colossal mental Rolodex.

With cartoon and game auditions, the voice over talent is given the character breakdown (specs) and a page or two of the script. Many times the lines are stand-alones, and have no context. It depends solely on the company who’s hiring. Having an overactive imagination, it’s always better for me to know what is going on in the scene. What is the character before me saying to make me to have this reaction? After all, a statement like, “Let’s eat Grandma” can be taken very out of context if not given a proper storyline (or comma). When I’m voice casting, I need to be absolutely character driven. We’ve already gotten past who would be good for the role, now it’s time to see who can bring it to the microphone and make the character jump off the page. It’s essential to do as much homework on a project as possible. In the past year, I’ve voice cast a few feature films. Many require voice matching or total voice replacement. I always ask to watch the entire film, even if the character needed has a more incidental role. When I send a character breakdown or a clip of the actor’s voice, I also make sure the voice actor knows the context, the feel of the character, the tone of the scene, and the relationship between the other actors. The client is looking for someone who can enhance the original role. The more information I can offer the voice talent, the more they can wrap themselves up in the character and deliver greatness. I love listening back to mp3 auditions before I send them on to the client to decide. Those who really take to heart the information I’ve given them can usually knock it out of the park. But those that don’t, oy! Remember the client often asks for the Casting Director’s personal preferences.

Voice Casting is a fundamental component of making a project successful. The ability to decipher another person’s idea, add in personal interpretations, and marry that to skilled talent is a bona fide discipline within itself.

As the years went on, I perfected my impersonation craft without visits to the principal’s office. I could do a ton of voices. You might be thinking how might that get me a voice over job if the actors can do their own voices? Well, in 2004 the entire cast of the Simpsons went on strike. At that time, it was the most popular show on TV. This was going to hurt a lot of people. The advertisers relied on the popularity of these characters to tout products; radio stations needed the voices to continue with long time imaging campaigns. A solution was needed, and fast. As soon as people got wind of my Marge, my dance card began filling up with endless radio and TV commercials. I even joined a popular BBC morning zoo radio show as Marge. I wasn’t on strike and I seized this glorious opportunity.

Movie studios have often pulled old films or TV shows from their vaults. Awhile back, Miramax released over 11 films that needed a slew of the best voice matching talent in town. It was a great time in the industry because these studios had money to burn and they wanted to reap the benefits of making money again without having to put it into huge productions. But in order to meet today’s high industry standards, the post-production team had to update, and often recreate various components of the scenes. I was lucky enough to be given the role of voice casting these projects. I had to pull together a large stable of voice actors who were incredibly adept at manipulating their voices and, without fail, could match the original actor’s performance spot on. With the growth of these projects, so too did my popularity. Unlike dubbing where voice actors replace the entire line of an actor, voice matching usually requires only a few words to be replaced from the original. Sessions are a lot shorter and can often earn $800 for a few minutes.

Beyond the vaults, there are many other places where voice matching is used. During a scene in a popular new film, the main character has the Jetsons on in the background. The scene is clearly pointed on George’s faithful robotic servant Rosey. Good ol’ Jean Vander Pyl has been long gone, so I replaced the entire 2-minute scene doing my finest Rosey. It was the Rosey from earlier years because the later years were deeper and older. This week, I was asked to do the voice of Susan Sarandon for a movie trailer that was being mixed for TV. The sound quality on it was too low on one word and the dropout was significant enough to find a replacement. I listened to her saying the entire line, replicated it over and over until I got her character and voice down, recorded from my home studio, and sent it off.

By the time a movie hits post-production, the original actor may be onto their next project in a remote land. Getting them back to the studio could be deemed temporarily impossible, and it’s often cost prohibitive. When this happens, it’s up to the post team to find a voice match replacement. Sometimes we go in for an audition with a lot of other actors in hopes of landing the job on the spot. This is known as Work for Hire. Other times, we are simply sent an mp3 snippet of sound from the original performance and we send it back in hopes of them using it.

Many people have a general idea of what a voice sounds like, but there is a tremendous amount of skill and integrity involved with voice-matching an actor. Along with the sound of the actor’s voice, it’s our job to take on the nuances of the character they are portraying in their role. Sean Penn is a chameleon that adds regionalisms, dialects, underbites, stammers, and winces to both his body and voice. By watching the actor in character, we must capture these subtle choices so that we maintain the integrity of the project. Oddly enough, I find that the actors who can change themselves drastically are much easier for me to voice-match. Generic voices like Kevin Costner or Julia Roberts are often one note and very hard to replicate, even for the trained ear.

Being a good voice-match voice actor is about expanding your vocal impersonations and staying on top of your craft by knowing who is trending. Pulling a Rocky or Bullwinkle out of your hat isn’t going to get you very far in this day and age, but if you study the sound of Matthew McConaughey and other A-List actors in the business, your chances of voice matching increases significantly. Back in 2007 I was making a killing as a voice-matcher for Janeane Garafolo and she loved not having to go back into the studio to do more lines. She once told me that I sounded more like her than she sounded like herself. Today, I’m more apt to match Katherine Keener or Dame Judy Dench. How’s that for range!

Those days of bad Pippi dubbing are long (stockings) gone. The manner in which a film or television project is dubbed is done with superior quality by a team of highly skilled professionals who work together to create a final product that is so incredibly solid that the untrained eye wouldn’t be able to tell it’s been dubbed over another language. This team consists of a translator, script adaptor, engineers, mixers, and voice over talent. As a long-time voiceover talent and Dubber, I rely heavily on this team to prep the work in advance and they rely on me to ensure that I hold true to the original actor, the words on the script fit her lips precisely, and my acting chops maintain the integrity of the story line or even enhance the original. If something does not work, we collaborate to find better choices.

Lest be fooled by the ease in which the viewer sees the final product, voice over dubbing takes a tremendous amount of skill. Over the past 30 plus years, I have had the pleasure of voice casting a multitude of dubbing projects. The voiceover actors that book these dubbing roles are a small and tight-knit group. They are adept at looking at a script, watching the character’s mouth, facial expressions and body movements, memorizing lines, and matching picture perfectly. Though some might speculate that we book these jobs due to nepotism, the truth is, we have mastered the skills of dubbing as second nature.

The debate of whether to subtitle or dub a project remains contentious. The pugnacious subtitle moviegoer believes that the use of subtitles assures that nothing gets lost in translation. It is easier to express in words what the original actor is saying on screen, thus allowing for a more accurate translation and authentic viewing. It also provides a forum for the hard of hearing. However, there are definitive disadvantages as well. Subtitles require work by the viewer. Personally, I like going to the movies as a distraction from work. Subtitles often move too quickly or even block out artistic shots on the screen. Since I am forced to read what is being said, I often miss the subtle expressions of the actors entirely.

When adapted well, a dubbed film or TV show has significant advantages over subtitling. Often times, the voiceover actor is able to enhance the original performance. I recently worked on a project for a Chinese soap opera. The original actors had a propensity to overplay and mug. The scenes were brimming with subtleties that the producer was adamant about keeping. Scenes were thoroughly explained by the translator and director so that I knew the intention of my character within the storyline. The end result was a beautiful production that remained true to the original, but had added nuances that modernized the story for a younger audience.

Many films require dubbing over subtitling due to FCC requirements. Imagine you and your little ones hunkering down for your long flight to Miami and watching an unedited version of Reservoir Dogs? Probably not the best choice for an airlines, but slip in a Tarantino sound-alike over the cursing and the film stays pretty close to the original. I would probably remove my $5.00 headphones if the cursing was bleeped. What about action-packed Jet Li originals where there are 7 minute fight scenes and piled-on story lines happening simultaneously? A film like this could really only ever be dubbed to make it work for an American audience.

My Japanese Anime-obsessed teen nephew is fervent that all Anime must be watched in its original form and he vehemently opposes dubbed projects. After watching a few with him, I caught myself laughing out loud at some of the poor translations. By refusing the translated dubs, he’s missing out on some phenomenal pieces of work. But the odds are against him in this case, as the American Anime distributors are turning most of their projects out as dubs. Even though the cost is greater, they must consider their audience demographic and where their biggest return on investment will come from. In this case multi-tasking kids, who are less likely to focus on reading a screen or may not even be of age to read.

Ultimately, the argument between Dub vs. Sub boils down to taste. Both are tools that assist a movie in communicating with the audience. The idea that subtitling is the only way of maintaining cultural authenticity and the emotional performance of the original actor does not hold true. Almost half of the literal dialogue is lost because it takes longer for the audience to read text. Words are condensed or omitted entirely. Today’s dubbing practice is an art form that maintains high standards of integrity to the original piece. As long as this in place, I believe that dubbing will continue to be the favored standard of viewing by audiences and therefore distributors will continue to supply that demand.

From Logic to ProTools to the stuff we carry around in our pockets, advances in technology have increased our ability to create great products, to do so cost-effectively, and to cast the projects efficiently.

Think about it. Not that long ago, access to recording studios and recording equipment was difficult. Not everyone even had a voice demo. Many casting sessions were conducted in person. But now, voice over actors can record demos on their ipads, computers and phones. They email files into productions. It sounds so basic now. We take most of the amazing technological advances in sound production, and thus, voice over production, for granted.

These technologies forced us to get better at certain aspects of our jobs, while removing some of the unnecessary burdens. We’re no longer as limited in what we can record and for how long, such as the Mind the Gap technicians were. It’s easier to match animation lip flap with slight adjustments to position of sound files.

Let’s not forget either, the role that computer based technology and social media have played in the voice over community. We spread the word about castings via twitter, we talk about our projects to friends on facebook,  we upload our demos, look for learning resources and sometimes look to cast projects via websites like VoiceBank and VoiceRegistry.  And a show, like Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, broadcast exclusively on the internet can reach an audience of 100 million— a reach which no television network could provide. At every level, these platforms have helped us to become the multi-billion dollar industry we are.

It’s a long way from whispering into tubes and cutting tape, right? Wonder what they’ll come up with next.

We pooled our resources here in the office, as well as your votes from online to put together our top 10 most memorable, most inspirational Voice Over Performances. Ever. Now this is for an iconic single performance. We’ll get to actors with an all around amazing track record next week. From newer performances iconic to younger generations, to unexpected performances from actors we thought we knew, there is no shortage of innovation in voice over performances. Without further delay, we present these memorable performances to you now.

What do think? Does this cover it? Any glaring omissions? Anyone you feel is not deserving? Let us know. Remember, we factored in your voting! And stay tuned for the companion piece to this– Our Top 10 Greatest All Around Voice Over Artists of all time. ]]> https://resnickinteractive.com/blog/2013/01/top-10-iconic-voice-over-performances/feed/ 0 https://resnickinteractive.com/blog/2013/01/great-stories-in-voice-over-mind-the-gap/ https://resnickinteractive.com/blog/2013/01/great-stories-in-voice-over-mind-the-gap/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:18:35 +0000 http://resnickinteractive.com/?p=1528 Read more »]]>

While New Yorkers may have to put up with cacophonous and disjointed announcements on their subway systems– where the voice seems to be screaming at them– the British tube has long been understood to be a more civilized system. The tube was made famous thanks in part to its soothing, silver-voiced announcement to please Mind the Gap.

At its most basic level, it was a simple service announcement, reminding commuters to be aware of the space between the platform and the car. It’s gone on to become a symbol of not just the London Underground, but of London itself. Let’s not forget though, that this iconic phrase started as one more great voice over performance.

Increased traffic, added frequent stops, and adherence to schedules had made it impractical for drivers and station attendants to warn passengers when necessary at the curved platforms. The phrase was coined in 1968 and began airing in London Underground stations along the Central, Northern, and Bakerloo Lines in 1969.  The Underground chose digital recording and as storage capacity was expensive, the phrase had to be short. Mind the Gap was the winner.

According to the Independent on Sunday, the sound engineer hired for the project, Peter Lodge, who owned Redan Recorders in Bayswater, working with a Scottish Telefunken engineer, cast and recorded an actor reading “mind the gap” and “stand clear of the doors please,” and called it a day. But it turned into a moment of voice over casting gone wrong when the actor eventually turned back up, insisting on royalties– per use–for the performance! And since “mind the gap” was played thousands of times a day, this was not a cost Transport for London was willing to pay and the phrases were re-recorded. Lodge himself read the phrases, initially just to line up the recording equipment for levels, and in the end, those were the ones they used.

While Lodge’s 1969 recording is still in use, many lines use other versions. Perhaps you remember that soothing feminine voice? That very commonly used track comes from Manchester/Cheshire based voice artist Emma Clarke. (Here’s a great extra read about her, too!) Others, on the Piccadilly line, are by Tim Bentinck, who is not only an Earl, (with a very long title) but who also plays David Archer in The Archers.

Despite its humble and unglamorous origins as a utilitarian safety warning, mind the gap has become its very own stock phrase cottage industry. It’s used in many other contexts having little or nothing to do with travel safety. You can find it in the names of songs, bands, films, production companies, and novels. At least four non-fiction titles use Mind the Gap as their primary title, but rather than the safety warning, these books are about generations, class divides, social science policy and even the origins of human universals.

Even when used ironically, as it often is today, nothing seems to be able to dislodge the phrase and its Cool Britannia from the public consciousness. Not only is it a staple of modern British personality, but goes down as one of the defining moments in voice over performance.

What would Shrek be without his Scottish accent? Can you even imagine it? But not only was the character of Shrek NOT Scottish in William Stieg’s original books, (in fact, his name comes from Yiddish) but Mike Meyers very nearly never got the chance to play Shrek.

Several other actors were once considered for the film, including Bill Murray as Shrek with Steve Martin as Donkey. Ultimately, the producers hired comedian Chris Farley, who recorded upwards of 90% of the movie’s dialogue before passing away without completing the role.

Rather than bring in an actor to voice match Farley, DreamWorks recast the role completely with another Saturday Night Live alum with a hit film track record– Mike Meyers.  Meyers insisted on extensive script rewrites to scrub away any traces of Farley’s interpretation of the character. His performance clarified plot points and put new spins on much of the comedy.

Then, once the film was well into production, and Meyers’ completed performance as Shrek in the can, the actor came back to the producers with a bold request. He asked to re-record his entire performance using the Scottish brogue his mother adopted when telling him bedtime stories as a child. Meyers was so adamant about the idea that he even offered to pay for it himself.

But after hearing several samples, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg agreed– to the tune of four million dollars, which is what it cost to redo all that animation.

That decision paid off, as Shrek went on to be one of the most successful box office & franchise stories of all time. Meyers even received a letter from Steven Spielberg thanking him for caring so much about the role… and for adding the Scottish accent.

We’ll never know if Shrek would have been as big of a hit without that voice performance, but we do know that it wouldn’t have been the same without the thoughtful and dedicated performance of a talented voice artist like Mike Meyers.

Want to know more? Check out here and here. Also check out Mike Meyers discussing more about why he made that choice with James Lipton here.

Check out the official site at mechwarriortc.com ]]> https://resnickinteractive.com/blog/2012/09/mechwarrior-tactical-command-preview/feed/ 0