Now Hear This! - 2008, October (parte the firste)

[JoeActor]

Greetings Now-Hear-This-ers!


New month, new thread. As you can see by the title, there may be more than one this month...


For anyone new, this is the place to post your audition audio for people to listen and comment on.


C'mon now, don't be shy! A little peer review can be a wonerful thing! :idiot2:


... and here's a link to last month's thread:
http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/leads-reads/1464-now-hear-2008-september.html (http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/leads-reads/1464-now-hear-2008-september.html)

Happy October all,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com (http://www.JoeActor.com)

[Steve Cotsalas]

As many people celebrate the jewish new year of Rosh Hashana, This read I did at V123seems appropiate.

[Scott Pollak]

Steve: LOVED the rabbi! Very well done, my friend. I kept thinking of Mel Brooks as I listened.

I do have a question about your sound room though. I hear a hollowness in your audio, as if you're in a reflective box. Can you tell me what kind of environment you're recording in? To my ears it does take away somewhat from your otherwise stellar read.

And while we're doing character voices, I just wrapped up an internal v/o for AT&T and they added a few lines at the end that they wanted read like 'an old man'. So here's what they got. Yeah, I know, traces of Sean Connery slipped in here and there. But I love doing this 'gravelly' sounding stuff.

[Dave DeAndrea]

Hi there gang! Just wanted to say "Thanks!" to those of you who provided shout outs for these promos... great job!

See if you can hear yourself in any of these! See if you can spot some other familiar voices. :)

[Jodi Krangle]

Steve, that's a wonderful Rabbi! :D Well done!

Scott, loved your old man, too. You certainly do that gravelly lower voice justice. And yeah - I can hear the Sean Connery tones there. ;)

Dave - that was a HUGE amount of fun to listen to. And I was able to pick out several folks from this board in those mixes. Thanks for sharing! It was a pleasure to participate. :)

[Steve Cotsalas]

Steve: LOVED the rabbi! Very well done, my friend. I kept thinking of Mel Brooks as I listened.

I do have a question about your sound room though. I hear a hollowness in your audio, as if you're in a reflective box. Can you tell me what kind of environment you're recording in? To my ears it does take away somewhat from your otherwise stellar read.

And while we're doing character voices, I just wrapped up an internal v/o for AT&T and they added a few lines at the end that they wanted read like 'an old man'. So here's what they got. Yeah, I know, traces of Sean Connery slipped in here and there. But I love doing this 'gravelly' sounding stuff.

Pollack. Scott Pollack.
Sounds like you hit the spec on the head...and as far as "traces of Sean Connery", I'd say you could definitely book the majority of gigs calling for his voice.Really good.

Mel Brooks could have written the script..it called for several rabbis, all of them pretty funny.I was trying for a little Jackie Mason schtick.As far as my room..I did that read before I completely auralexed(is that a word?) my booth, so I guess there was some sound bouncing around in there.

[Lee Gordon]

Dave -- I've been looking forward to hearing those promos. Thanks for posting them. Very cool.

[Scott Pollak]

Dave! WONDERFUL promos! Loved everything about them... the production, the approach, the voices, everything! I only wish I'd been asked to say "From Atlanta, Gyorguh..."

I picked up on Colin, Lee, Jadah, and Kara. Who else did I miss?

Now for this...
Got this thru Big Fish and they used a term I'm not familiar with. It's for a union job or, as they put it, those willing to 'taft-hartley'. Huh??? Anyone familiar with what that means? I'm not union, but I figured what the heck, so I submitted. I can be Taft. Or Hartley. I don't care who they want me to be if they pay me.

The lead called for: "...a warm, thoughtful, approachable medium to lower range male voice, 40-65. Celebrity examples...Morgan Freeman, George Clooney."

I submitted dry, but did a quick mix for here.

[Jodi Krangle]

Wonderful, warm read, Scott. Well done. As for "taft-hartley", I'm thinking those were the union founders? Or something similar? I'd have to do more research on that to know for certain. But I'm not union so ... Would love to know though, from someone who has the info. :)

As for Dave's mix of voices, I'm in there too. For Toronto Canada. Figured I'm close enough. ;)

[Dave DeAndrea]

Ashville was Roger Baker (one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet)
Butler, Penn was Melba Sibrel (a muti-faceted force)
Columbus was Colin Campbell (a guy who really "gets it")
Milan was Nikkita Bradette (remember her name.. she’s destined for greatness)
Murfreesboro was Melba Sibrel (see what I mean)
Beijing was Melba Sibrel (didn’t see that one comin’, huh?)
Hartford was Lee Gordon (a true pro)
Montreal was Robert Jadah (he’s better than he knows)
Toronto was Jodi Krangle (a fantastic talent… and friend)
Oslo was Robert Jadah (hey.. he still owes me syrup!)
Charlotte was Kara Edwards (doesn’t get much better than Kara)
Biloxi was Melba Sibrel ( I know.. crazy good, huh?!)
Rome was Nikkita Bradette (did you forget already? write it down!)
Edmunton was Nikkita Bradette (seriously…..)
Paris was Claire Dodin (an all around amazing talent)
Hemmingford was Robert Jadah (waffles are ready RJ… hook me up, yo!)
Zurich was Thomas C. Gass (gotta love that accent)
The rest were friends, friends of friends and foreign exchange students! J
Our Imaging guy is Dan Kelly.

Please forgive an incorrect spellings! :cool:

[Jodi Krangle]

Wow! Gotta say, all those voices were fantastic, but Melba - WOW. Love all those accents and different sounding voices. That's stellar work, there! I never would have guessed they were all the same person. :)

[Lee Gordon]

From Wikipedia:
The term Taft-Hartley has a special meaning in the entertainment industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_industry). Specifically, for film and television actors, an actor not in the union who becomes a "principal performer" (says a line) is immediately eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild) and is covered under the SAG contract with the production company for 30 days, at which point he or she must either join SAG or cease working on any union productions. Once joining the union, the actor may not work on any non-union production, per the terms of the bylaws. This allows SAG to get around the rules forbidding closed shops by providing a mechanism for new members to join the union.

[Jodi Krangle]

Ah... Interesting, Lee. Thanks for that.

[Scott Pollak]

Thanks, Lee! I went online and looked it up in several places, including Wiki, but didn't see that definition of it, which now makes perfect sense.

[Diane Havens]

Beautiful promo with a stellar cast there, Dave. One minor quibble ... nobody from New York???

[lanceblair]

Hey, it's Mr. Bertholdi, trying to buy a sculpture on the phone!

[Steve Royal]

Hm. Must be skulpshur buyin' season.

[Diane Havens]

So what's this sculpture buying thing? E learning English?

Very high class characters both. Could be a bidding war.

[Lee Gordon]

Yes, it would appear that Mr. Bertholdi is part of an e-learning course for people whose native language is not English. Interesting that a Mr. Bertholdi would be buying a statue, considering the real Frederic-Auguste Bertholdi is the sculptor who created the Statue of Liberty.
Anyway, here is my take on it. This is a special "enhanced" version I whipped together just for the amusement of the folks who populate this forum. For the real thing, I submitted only Mr. Bertholdi's lines.

[Diane Havens]

That's right, Lee, so a Bertholdi buying a statue is pretty funny. It's hard to make those e-learning scripts sound natural, precise articulation and slow pace being necessary.

Your phone "partner" there reminded me of that Charlie Brown "wawa" sound whenever the Peanuts talk to grown-ups.

[Steve Royal]

It's hard to make those e-learning scripts sound natural, precise articulation and slow pace being necessary.



Not really, I just drew on my extensive experience in buying $30,000 sculptures for my wife after arranging finance over the phone, using a false name.
It's a weekly event.
:D

[Jon Morss]

Scott - Nice read.
TAFT- HARTLEY - As I understand it is a list of restrictions on the unions. But, in the case of VO it basically means that you can voice 1 union gig as a non-union member. If you voice another union gig you will have to pay the union dues and fees and basically join the union. I could be wrong though.
www.aftrapgh.com/members/info/TriStateTaftHartley.pdf (http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/www.aftrapgh.com/members/info/TriStateTaftHartley.pdf)

[lanceblair]

This Mr. Bertholdi was in a real rush, and doesn't care if you learn English or not.

[Diane Havens]

Yeah, Lance, this guy I'd know.

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Some great reads. Seems like forever since I checked in. Things have been slow on the audition front lately, but here is one I did today.

[Lee Gordon]

Eric -- Your style and that copy are a perfect match. Great job.

[PierceVoice]

Eric, I second, third and fourth Lee's response! Outstanding, bro!!

Here's me doing my best Chad Erickson for a Voices.com aud for, well, listen....



*Afterthought: Isn't "snowballing" some sort of cocaine reference? Or am I thinking of porn? OH. Wait. Yeah, I just remembered. Nevermind. Ew.

[Scott Pollak]

I'll get back on here asap when I can listen and respond to what are some obviously great reads (no big surprise there), but thought you guys might enjoy hearing this:

NurseTV.com (http://www.nursetv.com/)

[Lee Gordon]

Well, this isn't exactly a Chad Erickson impersonation (Chadd, do you know Chad?) but I do sort of have his voice in my head any time there's an audition for a young dude to appeal to other young dudes. By the way, this is one of those cases where I would never have submitted a demo on Voice123 for fear of getting demerits, but since there's no penalty for wasting the seekers' time at Voices.com, I went ahead and submitted this.

Since it's a spot for the real Wham-o, I might as well take this opportunity to once again post this fake Wham-o spot I voiced for a comedy review produced by one of my clients for his kids' middle school. I don't think I've posted it in at least six months and there may be some newcomers who've never seen it.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8823642

[anumber1]

Haven't posted here for a while, so thought I'd throw this up.

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Some great reads guys. I enjoyed listening. Man I hope things pick up on my end soon, I hate missing out on the action.

[PierceVoice]

Nice, fellas!

Mr. (e)Morgan, I've fallen in cautious love with this Voices.com stuff (I think my "month" is coming to an end soon, tho). At the very least it makes me FEEL like I'm doing something. Haven't scored yet, but hell...

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Chadd, I was the same way. I gave it two months and 140 auditions. Didn't land a thing. I felt exactly as you do, that at least I was doing something. That almost makes it worth the money, just feeling busy. I just got a new toy in my studio, so that is keeping me busy for a day or two. Once I get it where I want it, then I'll be back to feeling like...um..bored.

[connieterwilliger]

Now for this...
Got this thru Big Fish and they used a term I'm not familiar with. It's for a union job or, as they put it, those willing to 'taft-hartley'. Huh??? Anyone familiar with what that means? I'm not union, but I figured what the heck, so I submitted. I can be Taft. Or Hartley. I don't care who they want me to be if they pay me.

This would put you into a Must Join position with the Union - either AFTRA or SAG.

The term Taft-Hartley has a special meaning in the entertainment industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_industry). Specifically, for film and television actors, an actor not in the union who becomes a "principal performer" (says a line) is immediately eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild) and is covered under the SAG contract with the production company for 30 days, at which point he or she must either join SAG or cease working on any union productions. Once joining the union, the actor may not work on any non-union production, per the terms of the bylaws. This allows SAG to get around the rules forbidding closed shops by providing a mechanism for new members to join the union.

This is from Wikipedia and is pretty accurate.

[Scott Pollak]

Haven't had much to post here in a while and this thread has really slowed down to a crawl lately, so I'll post this. Here's what they said they were looking for:

"A new 6 one hour episodic docu-reality series for History Channel in the realm of Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch.

We are looking for a male with a solid baritone voice who can evoke the blue collar emotion and story telling feel of blue collar workers who keep America running strong."

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Scott, That was a very good read on that. I practice and practice and still can't get to that place you are. Very storyteller like, and a great voice to boot. nice job my friend.

[Scott Pollak]

Eric, thank you so much.

I guess maybe part of it is that I've spent so much of my life onstage acting. Maybe that helps.

I've also come to believe that God simply gifts some people with a better ability to read and speak than others. I'm part of a group that stages these 3-day spiritual retreats twice a year, and at each retreat people are called upon to deliver talks that they prepare from a standard outline, and the talks last about 20 minutes each. I'm always amazed how some people can effortlessly get up and speak, often not even looking at their notes, and be comfortable and flowing and natural and engaging, and then the next guy can barely read his own notes, struggling to make it through it, and often having to go back and re-read what he just read.

We're all wired differently, I reckon.

[Diane Havens]

You're a talented guy indeed, Scott, no doubt about it, but on this read you sounded a bit angry to me. I guess you can make an argument that blue collar workers might be angry right now -- heck, so can white collar workers, or no collar workers! So, hmmm ... could work, so to speak.

[Jodi Krangle]

I'm really enjoying all the reads, guys. It's great to hear the progress of work - and Eric, I've noticed some great improvements in your reads in particular since you've posted several recently. Good job!

Scott, you always blow me away. I loved your read on this blue collar/history channel project. I hear where Diane is coming from, yes, but I read it more as "gruff" than angry ... I think it lent a sense of urgency - which, with a History Channel documentary, seems very appropriate to me. Let us know how that one turns out, hmm?

I haven't been posting here much lately, mostly because I haven't really had anything come my way that I though was worthy of being posted. ;) But .. I thought I'd include this one just for the heck of it. 'Cuz it was fun to do, whatever ends up happening with it (and I don't do VO for children's products very often...).

[Jon Morss]

Awesome Snowballin' Chadd and Lee.
I took a stab at this as well and came up with this:

[Jodi Krangle]

:D Those Snowballin' auditions are FUN. :D

[James Lorenz]

Hey all-
Some family medical issues have taken up a lot of my time but I think I'm finally back on track. Did a bunch of auditions the past couple of days...check 'em out!

Did the Snowballin' one, one for a golfball that asked for a NY (among other) accent and for the history channel one I took actual scripts from previous shows that they referenced. I did them a bit monotone, but that's how they were in the originals. Now that would be a cool gig! Looks like the show is called Iron Divers so I guess it's about deep sea divers.

[James Lorenz]

Scott-
Just listened back to some reads and your History Channel is spot on! I think you got the tone and attitude just right and your voice may be different enough to stand out from the rest.
Great job!

[Scott Pollak]

Hey, all.... thanks for the great feedback on the History Channel read. Obviously I'd LOVE to get it. I have the feeling I did not land that v/o for the Professional Bull Riding documentary I was really wanting, though. Dang.

I, too, auditioned for the Snowballin', but there's no way I'm posting mine here. As I was recording it I kept thinking "This ain't what they want...."
BTW: Did anyone else think the budget was awfully low on that one considering it was a national one-year buyout??

Lee: I liked your energy on the Snowballin', but like me, I'm afraid your voice 'age' may not fit.

Mike: I had to chuckle at how you lead into your post:
"Haven't posted here for a while, so thought I'd throw this up."
Not sure "throw this up" is exactly the term I would have used.
Ordinarily I'd say your droll, very low-energy read on this would have been too 'down' but it actually probably fits the subject matter pretty well.

Jodi: Please don't keep us from hearing your velvety voice more often! I really, really love the balance you hit on Night Guardian. To my ears the energy level, the smile, and the caring feeling were all there. Another home run for you.

Jon: Your voice is most definitely what I was hearing in my head for the Snowballin' thing. Let's hope it's what the client was wanting, too.

James: Thanks again for the kind comments on my H-C read. Man, I hope the client shares your feelings.
- Snowballin': can't beat the energy on yours!
- Truckers: seemed very 'read' to me... somewhat stiff. I'd like to hear you just relax on that one, sit back, and tell me the story instead of reading it to me.
- Golfball: Fun, good character voice. Had me smiling at the end!

[Jodi Krangle]

Thanks, Scott. I appreciate your comments, as always. We'll see if the client shares your sentiments. ;)

Good luck on the History Channel gig! Sorry to hear about the Bull Riding one ... :( I know that'll happen a lot to all of us though ... It's so hard sometimes to just audition and forget it, isn't it? Especially on those jobs we really would *love* to get ... But I'm sure something will come along to make up for it. :)

[Jon Morss]

Jon: Your voice is most definitely what I was hearing in my head for the Snowballin' thing. Let's hope it's what the client was wanting, too.


Thanks for the nice comment. That means a lot to me. You certainly have that History Channel style of voice and I hope you land that spot.

Its been great and actually a bit intimidating to hear the quality of the reads that are being posted here which I why I don't do as much as I have in the past. It certainly has forced me to step up my game.

[Lee Gordon]

Scott -- Like you, I also thought "This ain't what they want" for the Snowball demo but, as I said before, since Voices.com imposes no penalty for submitting demos that don't exactly fill the bill, I went ahead and sent it in.

Since there are others for comparison, here are my talking golf ball and my attempt at the History Channel project. I hope they're not looking for someone to replicate the sound of Thom Beers because none of us is it.

[Scott Pollak]

Hearing different scripts on the History Channel read, Voices.com messed with us. Voices said:

Since client has not provided audition script please submit a generic demo for client to review.

But in actuality the client DID attach a script for download, which is what I read from.

[James Lorenz]

Hearing different scripts on the History Channel read, Voices.com messed with us. Voices said:

Since client has not provided audition script please submit a generic demo for client to review.

But in actuality the client DID attach a script for download, which is what I read from.


Wow, you're right Scott. A script was provided. :angry:

Thanks for the critique btw. I figured I'd rather go "over the top" on the wham-o gig to grab attention. I even mentioned to them that I could tone it down if needed.

[Lee Gordon]

Well, that's what I get for not paying attention. Not that I was going to get it anyway. Maybe Voices.com ought to give us a chance for a do-over, although the seeker has probably heard enough demos anyway.

[JoeActor]

Aha! Gotcha!!!

I'm putting an end to this thread RIGHT NOW!

(ok, so I'm starting a new one for the second half of the month ;-)

The party continues here:
http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/leads-reads/1696-now-hear-2008-october-da-deux-run-run.html

Be there or be obtuse,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com (http://www.JoeActor.com)