New Commercial Demo..production by Colin Campbell

[captain54]

New Commercial Demo....production by Colin Campbell.

Colin did a heck of a job...

Recorded my tracks at home, flew them to Colin, and got
them finished demo back with very little tweaking.

[Colin Campbell]

It was a pleasure Lee. Thanks for the plug.

Slate by Cira Larkin.

[Mike Sommer]

It's good.

Your whisper on the Jag spot has a bit of creepiness to it that I can't explain, just a little unsettling.
Could be the mic choice, but it's probably a mixture of proximity effect and you trying to go for a deeper range. Just pretend your talking into someone's ear. Just go for your middle range, the resonance will come through.

I didn't buy the reads on the Motrin IB, American Family Insurance, Summer is Here and the Land Rover spots --Sound like you are just reading and try to emote but they just come across as insincere.


My 2 cents

[captain54]

That's exactly what I was trying to do on the Jag spot, Mike. Speak quietly to someone so no one else would hear.

I would agree on the American Family Insurance spot, and I'm going to try to correct that. However, on the other spots that you said sounded like emoting, I couldn't disagree more.

[JoeActor]

Hey Lee (and Colin),

Nice. I would like to hear a bit more connection to the listener on the spots. You know the current ad mantra: "More Conversational, Less Presentational". I wouldn't go so far as to say they didn't sound sincere, but there was a distance, so to speak.

The lottery spot was my fave... real character in it.

Throwin' another 2 cents on the pile,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com

[captain54]

thanks for all the critiques...

I certainly would like to "narrow the distance", however, I take each spot and try to personalize it, casting my listener, etc. so I feel like I'm bringing all of that to the table. it's the dilemna of "it is what it is" or "there's always room for improvement".. who knows.

Despite the current ad mantra: "More Conversational, Less Presentational", I'm still confronted with any number of opportunities that still call for more "presentational", with the majority of them being the down and dirty, bread and butter type gigs. So I'm caught in this tossing the "baby with the bathwater" dilemna.

The debate lives on ..

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

I have to agree with the other comments here. The believability factor is there sometimes, but it tends to go away sometimes. You have a heck of a set of pipes. What mic and pre are you using?

Colin, one hell of a job on the production!

[captain54]

You have a heck of a set of pipes. What mic and pre are you using?


thanks for the kind words.

RODE NT 1 and stock preamps from a Mackie 1202 VLZ PRO.....bargain basement.....looking to upgrade though...without breaking the bank

[Colin Campbell]

Lottery was one of my favorites too.

[Mike Sommer]

Originally Posted by captain54

That's exactly what I was trying to do on the Jag spot, Mike. Speak quietly to someone so no one else would hear.

In this case --seeing that you're using a RODE NT-- this mic does not have the maturity for this kind of read. It might help to speak across this mic, rather than directly into it.

As a suggestion when doing a whisper read, speak through your eyes or your "mask" as some vocalist call it. And speak in your upper mid range like you would do when you whisper into someone's ear. The resonance of your chest sounds will naturally carry through. (When one whispers using their throat and chest, this tends to make people sound like bad guys and evil doers.)