Start doing this assignment now, in conjunction with the homework that is due on Monday, Feb. 6. You will be doing this anyway!
Listening/Writing Assignment: Pages 10 and 11 in your Workbook.
What kinds of voices you are hearing? TV Spots and Radio Spots.
In addition to figuring out just where voices are used, you also need to start hearing what the voices really sound like. So start taking notes on what kinds of voices are being used for what kinds of voice work. You may do this throughout the semester, but pay attention to due dates.
The following exercises break your listening down into several common areas of voiceovers. Spend time listening to the voices in each of the areas – concentrate on them one at a time. You’ll want to listen for some specific things. First of all what kinds of voices are you hearing? Male, female, young, old, ethnic. Are the voices smooth, deep, quirky, mid-range? What kind of attitudes do you hear?
For the commercials – identify the product being sold. What channel? Is a male or female doing the selling? What kind of voice is it – smooth, raspy, deep, quirky, accented, etc.?
Is the voice calm and soothing, sexy or excited, sarcastic, perhaps even loud? Can you tell if it is a local spot or a national spot? When watching TV spots, watch a few of the hard sell late night spots that show up on the obscure cable channels and you’ll start to understand what I mean.
When listening to radio spots, try to spot the spots done by “personalities” and those done by voice actors.
Fill in the grids provided in the Workbook.
