Do That Voice!

New Client - Univision

Thanks and welcome to new client Univision!

Posted by dhvoice at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Animation Nation: Nailing The VO Audition

(Hat-tip to voice actor Kyle Hebert for the link.)

In this Backstage.com article, award-winning casting director Sarah Noonan and animation voiceover actor Bob Bergen (the voice of hundreds of characters from Porky Pig to Luke Skywalker) offer tips on nailing your animation audition. Required reading for anyone with an interest in cartoon VO!

Posted by dhvoice at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Edge Studio's Microphone Selector

While there's no substitute for trying out different mics by actually using them, the folks at Edge Studio have come up with a way to help narrow down your options before putting them to the test.

Their Microphone Selector tool lets you compare mics in various price ranges and characteristics. You can select various criteria to pare your choice down from 59 different makes and models.

Posted by dhvoice at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes They Let Me Get in Front of the Camera

Here are a couple of scenes I'm in, from ALTITUDE FALLING. Released today on DVD, it's set in the year 2029; I play an overworked government agent. For the full story, feel free to check out the whole film.

Posted by dhvoice at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Voice of Cool

Hat-tip to Bob Souer for posting this clip, a new TV spot voiced by Donovan Corneetz. Donovan bills his work as "The Voice of Cool", and lives up to it in this spot.

Posted by dhvoice at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Peter Rofé on Analyzing Commercial Copy

Voice Talent Peter Rofé breaks down the art of analyzing commercial copy in this edition of the Voices.com Voiceover Experts Podcast series. Originally posted in 2007, it's a valuable resource for getting into the core of a commercial script.

Posted by dhvoice at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ed Asner & Cats

When actor Ed Asner helped groom his neighbor Pat Fraley's cat, he never knew it would launch the following campaign...

Posted by dhvoice at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

They Call Me the Working Man

I'm not going to call out anyone by name or dwell on it, nor am I going to go into any great detail about what prompted this post; still, it must be said:

If you're a voice actor who's landed several high-profile gigs, that's great.

If you're proud of the feeling that you've become your own boss in the process, that's good as well.

If you want to use those things to extol the virtues of self-employment to others, more power to you.

However, when you go about that pursuit by maligning everyone who still works a regular job for a regular paycheck --- by labeling them as morons and failures --- then you've crossed the line that separates confidence from arrogance. (That's about as politely as I can put it.)

Not only are some people simply unsuited for a life spent walking the tightrope sans net, they're also undesiring of the accompanying spotlight. The vast majority of people are content to perform the kinds of unglamorous work that keeps the engine of society moving --- cooking meals, repairing roads and bridges, explaining long division to young minds, stabilizing an injured patient, et cetera. Without these people, there'd be very little for ambitious voice-talkers to jabber about in front of a microphone. Denigrating the former reveals a stunning callousness and lack of empathy from the latter.

To recognize the value of those peoples' work is also to realize that true "self-employment" is something of a chimera: it exists as an ideal, and while it can certainly be realized to varying degrees, the truth is that we all have bosses. When I take on the job of voicing a medical narration, I'm the employee of the talent buyer. Sure, I can call myself an "independent contractor", and I'm not going to be listed on the employee rolls of that company's Human Resources department, but the simple fact is that I'm performing a service in exchange for monetary compensation. No matter how you finesse it, that's employment --- and by definition, no employee exists without an employer.

I'm reminded of a line from comedian Stephen Colbert's recent book I Am America (And So Can You): "I won't be satisfied until every American is in the top one percent".

It's a joke. Written by a comedian. Its irony is evident. Yet, it seems there are those who not only sincerely espouse it as a philosophy, but are willing to unapologetically insult those who remain in the ninety-nine percent.

For those of us with aspirations toward independence, escaping the drudgery of the day job can be a great feeling --- and I speak from experience. I remain astonished that anyone who's made that transition can somehow look back with derision and scorn at those who remain in the workaday world. Indeed, we who are possessed of the need to leave that realm should have a healthy respect and admiration for those not so cursed. To have no more complex or far-reaching a desire than to do what's needed to take care of oneself and one's family is not a condition to be mocked or ridiculed.

Posted by dhvoice at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Voice Actor Voices Activism

Image via Wikipedia

Didn't expect to see this today:

Sometimes you have a headline that makes the rest of the story superfluous, but here's the background. Actor Lance Baxter, otherwise known as "D.C. Douglas," currently known as the man who informs you how much GEICO can save you on car insurance, left a message last month with FreedomWorks in which he asked the group how many "mentally retarded" people it had on staff and what it would do when a tea partyer "killed someone." On April 14, FreedomWorks put his voicemail online.voices.washingtonpost.com, GEICO voice actor fired after insulting tea parties, Apr 2010

However you feel about the issues raised here, I hope we can all agree that it's a good idea to spell-check your press release. "Achilles heal"?

UPDATE: In-depth discussion and commentary here, and that's putting it mildly. It is, as they say, on like Donkey Kong.

Posted by dhvoice at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ro' Keeps the Faith

In a previous post about my experience working on the film "ExTerminators", I included a pic of my fellow 'police officer' Ro' Black with the caption "Smart, opinionated and funny. You saw her here first." After working with her and getting to know her a bit, I had a feeling that bigger and better things were not far away for my new friend, and I don't mind bragging that I was right.

Ro' takes the lead in Keepin' the Faith: Momma's Got a Boyfriend, an indie film from Lightyear Entertainment. Serious props to Ro' on this gig; with her work ethic, talent, and personality, I suspect she'll be going from DVD releases like this to the big screen with a quickness.