My good friend Bob Souer blogs on a regular basis and comes up with some gems that are worth passing along. This time he posted a link to a fabulous review of a bunch of condenser mics under $200.
The article is detailed and includes samples for comparison. See if you can find the RE20 he slipped into the mix.
http://recordinghacks.com/2011/12/22/best-200-podcasting-condenser-mics/
Always fun to take a peek behind the scenes of a voiceover session to see just what the actors go through. This is a featurette from Happy Feet Two. It is done a little differently in that they had all the actors interacting. A lot of animated features don’t spend the time/money to coordinate a group session. As you can see from the laughter – the time it takes to record everyone together is probably quadrupled! But what fun.
One of my former voiceover students had a link to one of these videos and I kept following links until I found this one. Wally Winglert and Colleen O’Shaughnessey talk about bringing Ant-Man and Wasp to animated life in the Avengers.
Listen to their character development descriptions.
We talked about this in class last night and what should pop up today on the Voices.com VOX Daily – but a column about this subject – Animation Voice Demos – written by Melissa Altro, the voice of Muffy on Arthur.
In this article, she shares what she considers the 6 Key Elements for an Animation Voice Demo.
๏ Length
๏ Collection of solid character voices
๏ Writing
๏ Music/Sound Effects
๏ Direction
๏ Editing/Sound Mixing
Always nice to see the behind the scenes action for voice sessions – and this one – Star Wars Clone Wars – is fabulous.
Lots of shots of the actors in the studio, plus split-screen with the end result. Interviews with many of them, plus outstanding commentary from the director of the series, Dave Filoni.
It is particularly interesting considering what we are working on in class this weekend. Creating a voice from an image. One of the actors here remarks, “I’m a lizard,” when she sees the sketch for the first time.
Also watch how they use their bodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yphxFOOlGE&sns=em
Get inspired! Use this to help you really bring that little bit of copy you are recording this weekend to life.
I got a message from Hope Levy at Voice Actors Network letting me know about the workshops her company holds up in LA and after poking around a bit, found a page with sample copy that would be great for practice.
http://www.voiceactorsnetwork.com/voiceactorsnetworksides.html
We are doing long form stuff the next couple of weeks and one popular area is Audiobooks. Pick up a novel, a biography, a non-fiction book on a particular subject and start reading aloud.
But before you do, take a listen to this video that Pat Fraley put together with different audiobook narrators.
http://www.voiceoveruniverse.com/video/great-samples-of-audiobook
This clip from a recording session for Family Guy isn’t new – been around for about 4 years, but it shows a pretty good example of what it is like to record for a weekly animated series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t926G1FFzL4&p=7A91AB5F3E632E5E&playnext=1&index=32
One of the newer voiceover guys on the VO-BB is quite a talented impressionist. Craig Crumpton is his name. He is also the publisher of Voice Actors in the News. And while impressions is not the key to the gravy train – it can be a wonderful tool to help you find characters that you CAN use to broaden your capabilities.
He did a single pass at the poem “Casey at Bat” with a bunch of different “famous” voices – men and women. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i4DgnZw4fo
And watch what happens to his face and body as he changes from voice to voice. Also listen to how his voice moves around inside his mouth – from his throat to his nose to the front to the back and everywhere in between.
