Standing in the grocery store checkout line, I glanced over and saw a familiar face on a magazine cover. Only this time, it wasn't Jennifer Aniston (yes, of course we've dated.)
Soundscapes' own Athena Coleman—voice talent extraordinaire—made the cover of Boom magazine...a regional magazine for baby boomers.
In the article, she details how she spent part of her life in Las Vegas, walking around casino floors with fruit on her head.
Next time you're working with Athena, you might want to ask her about this. (And don't expect a straight answer.)
Here's a great use of 9 minutes. Randy Nelson explains the creative process at Pixar. This short talk contains a wealth of information regarding creative collaboration, as well as an overview of great hiring practices. Well worth the time!
At one time or another, you have probably used Charlie Scarbrough as voice talent. Charlie was a pioneer in doing freelance voice work, starting his career over 30 years ago. In that time, his status has gone from local legend to national legend. In fact, Charlie is one of the major reasons Little Rock has become a national media production center!
Now, Charlie (pictured above, circa 1934 a.d.) has gotten what he deserves.
Our local chapter of the AAF just awarded Charlie the Lifetime Achievement Award, and this voice actor really earned it. Charlie was an inspiration to us from the beginning. He taught Brent what it meant to run a recording studio, and has paved the way for many brave voice actors to forge ahead and go full-time.
Even though Charlie’s a bit of a luddite and doesn’t own a computer, (so he can’t possibly read this) we’d like to say congratulations Charlie, and thanks for paving the way. You’re not only a great voice actor, you also light up the place every time you walk in for a session.
Here’s a short montage of Charlie’s takes and outtakes put together by our own John Crowley.
Here's an interesting piece from Ad Age about radio.
This is a roundtable discussion with people like Rick Boyko (pictured) and Kelly O'Keefe from VCU Brandcenter, Bill Wright-CD of CP+B, Mark Gross from DDB Chicago, Mike Hughes from The Martin Agency and other creative heavy-hitters.
Interesting points:
• Radio is often used tactically rather than strategically
• Programming currently sucks
• DigitalMania is drawing all the attention
• There are no good "AdCritic" style sites for radio
Watch and enjoy...(even though the audio was not recorded very well--go figure.) Click here to read the full article.
For the past 25 years, I've told voice talent that speech is simply music without measures. For many of them, this lights up a few new synapses, and makes talent direction easier for everyone.
Now, a guy named Charles Spearin--a horn player from Broken Social Scene--has put together an album in which he composes music around the inflections and cadences of interviews he did with neighbors of his in Toronto. The album is called "The Happiness Project." I downloaded it last night and listened twice. It's a remarkable piece of conceptual art.
Here's an excerpt from Vanessa. It's the story, in her own words, of being born deaf, then having cochlear implants. He takes her phrase "...all of a sudden I felt my body moving with sound" and makes music from it.
If you're a fan of the kaleidoscopic beauty of the human voice as well as the human spirit, you'll enjoy this album. Check out all of the cuts here.
What this means to you is that CC stations are now required by their company to run public service announcements—12 minutes per day, 84 minutes per week. (Before this, it was a shot in the dark as to whether your PSA’s would actually run.)
A Little Background. Pre-Reagan Administration, radio stations were required by the FCC to run public service and public affairs programming. It was part of the station’s service to the community, because it ran on the public airwaves. Deregulation put an end to that requirement, and non-profits had to beg, cajole and shell out cash to get their messages on the air. At best, free PSA’s would run in the middle of the night, or where the station couldn’t sell the airtime. The Error of its Ways Bill Clinton’s signing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 resulted in radio behemoths like Clear Channel—a major corporation focused on the bottom line. In order to increase its margins and benefit its stockholders, these massive corporations turned away from local programming, and fed programming from a central location. Profit margins increased, but local listenership dropped. Realizing that radio is, at its essence, a local medium, Clear Channel is turning back to the community.
Get the Word Out! Tell your non-profit clients that radio is once again a viable medium for their message. And let us know if we can help.
Over the course of 26 years, we've seen every form of talent direction. The best directors coax a great read from an actor by making sure they understand the goal of the script, offering them the right emotional direction and then trusting the actor to bring something of their own to the table. All predispositions are put aside and a synergy takes place that improves the work.
Then, there are the other directors. Click here for a short British film on the subject. Hilarious if you've spent any time on either side of the glass!
Did you read Eat, Pray Love? It's one of those books you don't want to end. Here is the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, speaking about the source of creativity. It's well worth the 19 minutes it takes to view it. This is from this year's TED conference.
A couple of weeks ago, we lost Ricardo Montalban. We at Soundscapes were particularly touched by this, having had the pleasure of working with him on several occasions. He was a consummate professional, and a joy to work with.
John Crowley edited a tribute to Mr. Montalban—between the takes. It reveals a funny, self-effacing man with a warm sense of humor.
We all run into this a lot--a client wants to take, say, their 30-second television spot, and run it on a website. Perhaps as pre-roll for a news story, or just as a stand-alone piece of video.
As logical as it sounds to do that, we have to be aware of the different ways viewers and listeners consume content in different media. How many times have you sat through a 30-second pre-roll before a news story on a website, and wanted to kill someone around :15? It doesn't reflect well on the brand when people feel that way.
What's the option? Find out up-front if a client wants to run something on the web, then re-edit your existing material for that medium. Remember that the screen will be tiny, and the sound will probably come through a 3-inch speaker. Also keep in mind that the 30 or 60 second box we're used to dealing with is now meaningless.
The web can no longer be an after-thought. We in the creative community must begin to address this with our clients. From talent payments, to music licensing issues, to screen size—web video and audio should be treated as the separate and unique media platform that it is.
Back at the dawn of XM and Sirius, everyone was asking if this was the end of terrestrial radio. Of course, this question has been asked since television first flickered into our living rooms.
The answer is, there will be no end for terrestrial radio. It simply changes over time. AM and FM transmitters and receivers are nothing more than a system for conveyance of what we know as Radio...an entertainment medium that consists of audio only. But I digress...
Here's a NYTimes article pointing out Satellite Radio's key weaknesses, as well as its consistent decline.
A fascinating and in-depth examination of a man who makes his living with seven syllables. And with such a crummy microphone too! Read all about it here.
It's Chad, the Alltel guy! (that's him on the right)
Truth is, he's NOT such a ding-dong...he's a really nice guy.
However, after finishing his round of voiceovers in Studio E with
Sheldon, he tried to sell Josh (left) on a My Circle package—at which
point, Josh whipped out his Apple iPhone and Chad...simply...vanished.
Local rap artist and Soundscapes voice talent Adrian Tillman appears on
the CNN documentary series "Black in America." Here's the clip
featuring Adrian talking about his work at a local after-school program:
Recent Comments