Voice Over for Movie Trailers: Last Frontier for Women Voice Actors?

(reposted from the NY Times) I'm very interested in stories about people's experiences in finding, performing voice over or other similar acting work, especially working parents raising kids.  Send me your stories! - Ken @ Boy on the Bike

Why Men Always Tell You to See Movies

Molly Mahar

Melissa Disney, top, did the voice-over for the trailer for “Gone in 60 Seconds,” starring Angelina Jolie and Nicolas Cage. Women “have so much more to pull from than your typical male action voice,” Ms. Disney said.

By ANDY ISAACSON

Published: January 27, 2012

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WHAT gender is the voice of God?

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Touchstone Pictures

Melissa Disney did the voice-over for the trailer for “Gone in 60 Seconds,” starring Angelina Jolie and Nicolas Cage.

The question has been pondered by mystics through the ages, but in the sanctuary of cinema the voice of a sonorous, authoritative, fear-inspiring yet sometimes relatable presence is, invariably, that of a man. Consider the trailer and the omniscient, disembodied voice that introduces moviegoers to a fictional world.

“Most movie trailers are loud and strong, and film studios want that male impact, vocally and thematically,” said Jeff Danis, an agent who represents voice-over artists. “Even if it’s a romantic comedy or nonaction movie, they still want that certain power and drama that men’s voices tend to convey on a grander scale.”

Even now movie trailers and promos largely hew to a template created 40 years ago byDon LaFontaine, Hollywood’s most prolific voice-over artist. Possessor of a resonant baritone that could cut through tight sequences of music and sound bites — and the coiner of familiar (and parodied) phrases like “In a world ...” and “One man, one destiny” — LaFontaine, who died in 2008, voiced more than 5,000 trailers, thousand upon thousand of commercials and television promos.

In the past few years, as audiences have grown more sophisticated, the independent production companies that make trailers for Hollywood studios have begun moving away from voice-overs, favoring graphic devices like title cards to serve as narration. “As much as possible people are trying to let the movie speak for itself, without being as heavy handed as the ‘voice of God’ narrator feels,” said John Long of Buddha Jones Trailers, which was responsible for campaigns for “Kung Fu Panda 2” and “Inglourious Basterds,” among others.

Still, plenty of voice-over jobs remain, especially in television, though women are seldom cast. “There are some very talented, very gifted women in this business that can satisfy any request for a narrator, but the opportunities aren’t given to them,” said Mike Soliday, a talent agent who represents prominent male voice artists like Scott Rummell and Tony Rodgers.

As Mr. Danis put it, “Trailers are really the last frontier for women.” [ more ]

Thomas Dolby: Guest DJ on KCRW

Like so many other music and gear geeks, I really dug Thomas Dolby's work, especially so after his "Blinded Me with Science" period.  I loved "Aliens ate my Buick" and followed him for a while after he moved to San Mateo county and started an internet audio plugin company.  Here he is at Santa Monica's Guest DJ Project. Enjoy...

GUEST DJ PROJECT

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Thomas Dolby

WED MAR 14, 2012

Host:

• Eric J. Lawrence

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Thomas Dolby topped the charts in the 80’s by being among the first to embrace synthesizers in pop music and then proceeded to invent technology that made ringtones possible.  He compares Joni Mitchell’s melodies to jazz, shares a story about Bowie, and picks his favorite city anthem in his Guest DJ set. Dolby is touring the U.S. this Spring and will be appearing at the SXSW Music Conference.

For More: http://www.thomasdolby.com

Note: he has two showcases on WED and FRI:http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS18391

Tracks
1. Beside You - Van Morrison
2.  Edith And The Kingpin - Joni Mitchell
3.  Heroes - David Bowie
4.  Sign O The Times - Prince
5.  The Passenger - Iggy Pop

Transcript 
Eric: Hi, I'm Eric J. Lawrence, and I am here with Thomas Dolby. Of course we all know him from his music career, but what you may not know is his involvement in developing groundbreaking technology such as cell phone ring tones, as well as serving as the Music Director for the acclaimed Ted Conferences. Today, we're going to talk about some songs that he selected that have inspired him over the years as part of KCRW's Guest DJ Project. Thomas, thank you so much for coming down.

Thomas: Hey, nice to be here.

Eric:  What's the first song you got for us?

Thomas: The first song is a Van Morrison song, it's called "Beside You". And, Van, in his lyrics, often talks about radio and you get the sense that he had this love affair with radio when he was a kid, you know, and that it was sort of what got him through a difficult time. He also strikes me as a guy that is never that comfortable in his own skin and you just feel that when he's at his best, he's seeking refuge in his music. And I think the absolute peak of that was the "Astral Weeks" album, which is so transcendent. And my favorite cut off the album is this one, which is about the only one in a minor key, and there's something spooky about the start of this song that's just always stuck with me.

Song: Van Morrison – “Beside You”

Eric:  That was Van Morrison with "Beside You", as selected by our guest Thomas Dolby. Well, what's the next track you've got for us?

Thomas:  The next one is Joni Mitchell. "Edith and The Kingpin", is really one of my favorite songs of hers, off one of my favorite albums "The Hissing of Summer Lawns".

And there's something about "Edith and The Kingpin", the melancholy of it, and the way that an apparently simple chord sequence sort of morphs into something a bit jazzier. There's this line she sings, "He tilts their tired faces gently to the spoon" -- that's the most evocative line that just summons up that period so well. But she goes so out melodically, I mean, it's like the most beautiful piece of Jazz that you've ever heard.

Song: Joni Mitchell – Beside You

Thomas: I think the first album I ever bought with my own pocket money was "For the Roses" and I had an interesting experience, because I used to learn the piano parts from those albums and once found myself in a piano warehouse with Joni, where we had been asked by the studio we were working in to pick a new grand piano for them.

And I would start playing intros to Joni's songs, and she'd go, "Wow what was that one?",
I'd go "'Ladies of the Canyon' side 2, song 3?". "Oh yeah!", and she'd sort of join in with it. So from opposite end of this piano warehouse, we were sort of jamming on these old songs of hers.

Eric:    That was Joni Mitchell with "Edith and the Kingpin" as selected by our guest Thomas Dolby. What's the next song you got for us?

Thomas:  This is a David Bowie song, "Heroes". Like many of my generation of British teens, we were completely in love with David Bowie through all of the changes in his career, the chameleon like volt faces that he did. And I suppose the most influential moment of his career, for me, was when he turned his back on rock ‘n’ roll and went to Berlin with Brian Eno and recorded a couple of albums -- "Low" and "Heroes" -- which were really the first time electronic music had really hit the mainstream, both in the pop charts, and the side 2's, which were the first time ambient music had really sort of hit the mainstream.

Song: David Bowie – Heroes

Thomas: "Heroes" is a particularly memorable song for me because I played with Bowie at Live Aid at Wembley in 1985, and I was very nervous onstage because he had been very busy at the time and we played 4 songs that we've never rehearsed back to back. We had a young band that we'd thrown together, and I was convinced that this song that had been an anthem through my teenage years, I was going to be the one to screw it up in front of a billion and a half people. But when I got up there, I was staring at Bowie's back about ten feet away, and behind him the Wembley audience, beyond that this invisible massive world TV audience, and my fingers did the walking, you know? It's just they were playing themselves; it was a magic carpet ride.

Eric: Now, how did you transition from this life of the rock star to doing things in technology?  [ more ]

The Ukulady - Thessaly Lerner, Voice Over Artist, Destroyer of Evil

I've been facebook "friends" with Thessaly for a while and as I have begun my entries into voice over acting, the networking involved, helping my agency signed daughter with her demos and auditions, I keep coming back to her and her unique style that seems to fully allow her to express herself in an authentic, funny and sometimes serious way that seems to be finding her a niche.  She also is the Ukulady as a musical project.  I decided to post an entry here at Boy on the Bike and share some of what I've admired from afar.  Hope she doesn't mind... :-)

http://www.ThessalyLerner.com/
http://www.ukulady.blogspot.com/
http://www.theukulady.com/

Child of a belly-dancer and a candlestick maker, Thessaly Storm Lerner was born in an electric storm in West Marin, California.  Alternatively-schooled and  artistically-encouraged, Rainbow Valentine/Clara’s early years were spent changing her name,  playing dress-up and yearning for child-stardom, which never came.  Determined to play Annie or Dorothy, Lerner attended Emerson College, where she graduated on roller-skates with a BFA in the earnest-kind of Acting.  Subsequently, she moved to San Francisco, where she performed, wrote, directed and produced comedic theatricals, founded an improv troupe, worked with many notable Bay Area Theatre companies and became a voiceover talent.  Lerner’s voiceover credits include Electronic Art’s “The Sims 2” and all expansion packs, Sony Playstation’s “Silent Hill 1 & 3”, dozens of Leapfrog Toys, Disney, WB Kids, MTV and hundreds more.  Upon moving to LA in 2004, Lerner became The Ukulady and has performed on National Lampoon Radio, KPFK, at The Hollywood Improv, Comedy Store, The Venetian Hotel in Vegas, Pride & Fringe Festivals, NYC Uke Fest, her own weekly variety show in Hollywood, The Ponyshow, and her first album, Banned From Canters! was released in 2008!  The Ukulady is constantly performing and creating new songs and projects, so check www.myspace.com/TheUkulady for schedules and updatesies! T.Storm Lerner’s hobbies include gardening, thrifting/flea-marketing, cooking, sewing, reading, waterfall/swimming-hole exploration, world-travel, family ‘n’ friend-hang-out-time & campaigning for The Downfall of Evil!

Old, Old Bike Lost it's Boy

This old bike has a tree growing around it!  Thanks to Green Renaissance.

Send in your old "Boy or Girl or whatever on a Bike" photos!

After the Audition

My 2nd grader gets much better gigs than me at this point as she's signed with a large San Francisco talent agency. I'm rebuilding my reels and putting on my don Quixote armor for another tilt at the brass ring on that windmill. I am enjoying it a lot mostly and that's what counts huh? I'm liking sites like Voice123 that are bringing me lots of leads. Some nibbles but no bites yet.

While I build, formulate and network, careening towards career path version 53.3.x, (while still try to hold down whatever the current one is and take care of her and the 3year old,) she can still draw on that source of play, fantasy and wonder uncrushed by whatever this thing called reality is. While I struggle with the "too lates" and the "why bothers" and the "woe's me's" inside my Swiss cheese daddy brain, she can just knock out a read or an in person audition with grace, fun and a litheness I wish and hope to tap into more again. It used to be a way of being for me. Somewhere along the way it got milled down like the nourishing bran of a grain of rice, leaving seemingly a vague starchy middle. But... "I'm working' on it...!"

So then she goes and knocks out a drawing like this one here. What a deal huh? Why all CVS bags? I dunno. That's about the fanciest place she shops these days...

I am proud we've made the choice to support our kids' creativity and be home and present with them in their early years. It does help to hear all the compliments we get about them. Hope it continues. Hope I can continue to work on the "hopeful" side of this optimistic pessimism thing I seem to do. In the words of "Red" in "The Shawshank Redemption," ... "I hope..."

Willard on a Bike

A fine lad out for a spin with the folks. Circa 1941, Tannersville, NY

feel free to send in your Boy/Girl on a Bike pics... Why not.

Beautiful Girl Beautiful Day

My sandcastle architectural consultant

Doggie In A Bag

Unreleased track from Mr. Egg days... Always had a soft spot for this one.  Maybe the song just needs a tummy rub...

Your Voice: Instrument or Not?

(I think this is a very good article for people who use their voice for any impactive task or hobby...)

The voice is NOT an instrument!

by 

Emma

 , 02-21-2012 at 04:47 PM (587 Views)

I’m having voice lessons again. Not singing lessons – I’ve done my share of them and they never really suited me. I’m finally starting to realise why. I’ve signed up for 10 two hour lessons in a group session and thought I’d write down my thoughts, to try to remember stuff and make better use of it all… I thought it was pretty interesting so am posting it out just in case anyone else finds it interesting too.. 

The tutor is Sylvia Rands, a ‘voice work’ coach. Her work is a sort of fusion of several vocal theorists, a key one being - Kirstin Linklater - Kristin Linklater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia who wrote “Freeing the Natural Voice” (which I’ve ordered from the library!) There were 6 of us at last night’s class and I was the only ‘singer’, all the rest were actors, wanting to maximise their voices. They’re an ‘out there’ sort of bunch, not afraid to make the weird noises required.

One of Sylvia’s first questions was “So is the voice an instrument?”
Yes of course – thinks me – conscious of striving for better control of breath, pitch, dynamics.... all that mechanical stuff.
Wrong! The voice is YOU... Ooopsy,  I’d forgotten that.
Yes, it is all that mechanical body stuff, but beyond that, the voice is an expression of who you are. So it is MORE than an instrument.
Hmm, this goes some way to explaining the different dynamics audio engineers talk about when they are working with singers.

So how do we open up the voice to its fuller potential?
Based on the 4 elements of breath, toning, range and articulation... we started off by breathing out low and deep, making cool deep gravelly grunty sounds... It’s all to do with opening your mouth REALLY wide, hanging that jaw down as far as it will go. We ‘played’ with our voices... swooped up high, snatching high freq notes out of the air and diving down to that old bass HAH sound... heh heh, hard to describe but very strange noises. The first breathy notes are described as ‘grey’.. heaps of singers just use that grey sound... sort of ‘fluffy’ (?) whereas a true note is described as ‘black’ – it is clearer and more directly pitched... hmmm am I making any sense here at all?? 

A key trick with effective vocal work, is to co-opt your body in to do most of the work. If you sing with your whole body, it is relatively effortless. You can sure hear the difference. Sing a note with just your throat/larynx and you can make a cool sound, but standing staunch with your legs ever so slightly squat, using your breath and really ‘feeling’ the sound through your whole body – wow – it has a whole new level of richness and power.

So we started playing around with our jaws, feeling around the face, working out how the wiggly bits fit in together and where all the tension sat. Open your mouth really REALLY wide and feel how it all works. You watch how the really cool singers work – their mouths go wide. I was watching Annie Lennox the other day, she has one relaxed jaw! So, a relaxed jaw is critical... you mouth-breathe and drop that jaw down to your boot and practice saying some Hah! Hah! stuff deep down low…

Well… that’s a truncated version of a hefty two hours…
This morning, my jaw feels punched... It makes these weird sort of graunching noises when I open it… yikes!
Next week we are diving into vocal sounds – vibrato and brilliance.
‘Brilliance’ is a cool term, it describes that glittering quality that can come through at times, a sort of vocal sheen…..
Happy to share more – let me know if it’s of any interest, or just my own strange little noisy journey.

Poop truck...

More random acts of weirdness. When you been pooped on... Poop back with humor, eh? (that of course presumes this is humorous....)





Recently our septic backed up. It took a while for the guys to figure it out, pump it and fix the problem. You can imagine our jubilation. Wrote a song about it....

The Emperor Strikes Out

I find that when more really crappy stuff happens, that I feel better making some random acts of weirdness. This is one of those times.