September 2007 Archives

After another summer of sweltering heat and daily smog alerts, I especially enjoyed the weather today here in Atlanta. It's one of those glorious pre-fall days with postcard-blue skies. I say "pre-fall" because the temperatures are still in the 80s, but the late date on the calendar gives me hope that the crisp air of fall is soon on the way.

I was in the car earlier this afternoon when I heard a radio spot that sounded very familiar. I admit that I always feel a flush of pleasure when I unexpectedly hear my voice on the airwaves. Today, though, it was someone else's voice presenting copy that I also had prepared in a recent audition. Since I obviously was not selected for that job, I listened closely to discern what the producer might have been thinking during the casting process.

A voice-over actor will audition far more than she will be hired. I don't think about auditions unless I am selected for the job or have one of those lucky times like today when I hear the voice talent in the produced spot. In those cases, I like to analyze the coloration and stress on words and compare the broadcast spot with the audition that I submitted. One time, I heard a man's voice on TV reading copy the same copy I had used. It's easy to understand the differences between my read and a man's version! It's not so easy to distinguish between my performance and that of another female.

Today, I thought the reads between my audition and the produced spot were very similar. We were closely matched with our phrasing. She stressed one word that I didn't stress in my audition. Maybe that stress was her idea, or maybe she did it due to direction. The last line was changed, so I don't know whether the writer modified it or the talent perhaps ad-libbed it in her audition. In either case, I did think it was a better ending line.

The biggest difference I noticed was one I heard with her very first word -- the difference of tonal quality. Her voice was a higher pitch than mine. C'est la vie. Another talent being chosen for that job or any job doesn't take anything away from me or cause me any negative feelings.

Avast ye maties! I'm sure ye'd be knowin' that this be a special day! Aaarrggh, it be Talk Like a Pirate Day, like it be every time the September sun rises on the nineteenth day.

Another lass and I were discussing this auspicious occasion yesterday, and we wondered why you never see any female pirates in the movies. She advised me that peg legs throw of your balance when you're wearing stiletto heels. I added that stilettos wouldn't be very safe when walking on wooden planks. Also, women tend to pursue more hygienic habits and environments than men. Of course, there's that whole "women considered property through the ages" thing...but I digress.

I have a theory that one reason that the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were so incredibly successful -- besides the action-filled storylines, brilliant acting, magnificent scenery, compelling musical score and dentistry appropriate to the time period -- is because of the perfect casting. Geoffrey Rush not only looked the part of the pirate, but you have to agree that his pirate talk made ye shiver in yer timbers! Johnny Depp, meanwhile, belied the pirate stereotype and spoke in a completely unexpected manner.

I think a lot of men enjoy creating pirate voices that sound like Geoffrey Rush. If the man is a voice-over actor, he might be tempted to put that pirate voice on his commercial demo. It's the same for women imitating Margaret Hamilton as the infamous Wicked Witch of the West. We all want to show our range, and some part of us likes to play the villain.

It may be fun to talk like a pirate or a witch, but don't put those voices on your commercial demo if you want to get booked.

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say,
but what we are unable to say.
-- Anaïs Nin

I have taken numerous voice-over classes in my career. In almost all of them, the teacher has encouraged me and other students to improvise with commercial copy. A common thought is that an ad-lib enhances one's ability to stand out in an audition because you gave a read that was not expected.

On the flip side, I would never ad-lib when performing an audiobook. The narrator must serve the author's purpose and point of view, reading every word exactly as it is written.

I have recently changed my views on ad-libs in commercial auditions. I am now studying with my awesome coach Nancy Wolfson. In doing a copy read with her the other day, Nancy stopped me immediately when I changed the copy on a TV spot. She explained that thinking of the other line was fine because it gave me the right mindset for the copy. However, I should never say the ad-lib.

On the same day or one close to it, I read the Doll Cannot Fly blog entry on the same topic. The blog is written by Tara Zucker, co-owner of Post Haste Media; her husband Rick Sanchez is one of my new connections made through networking. Tara implores voice talent to perform the words AS THEY ARE WRITTEN.

When I stop and think about it, I wonder why one niche in voice-over would demand such accuracy with the words, while another market would be lax and encourage you to change the writer's words. Once you read Tara's compelling entry, you may think twice before you change a word of commercial copy in an audition.

Once you have the job, changes to copy may be appropriate if you have a good relationship with the client. My clients appreciate my collaboration, and I have suggested word changes to commercial and narration scripts. In the case of commercials, I have helped rewrite scripts for better timing. In both commercial and narrative scripts, I have proposed changes to clarify meaning.

It is obvious to me now that the only time to make suggestions is after you have the job and not when you are auditioning for it.