So I know it hasn’t exactly been a frenzy of blogging activity around here lately but between all of my regular VO work, my duties with the Hot Body Pageant Committee and all of my volunteer work at the orphanage I don’t always have time to entertain you kids. I do however make time for the microblog that gets updated nearly every weekday and is viewable over there to the right. You can also check out the Archive tab above to see what you might have missed. A recap of the awesomeness from June is below. Feel free to come back every weekday to help our SEO for updates.
Great behind the scenes footage of “Family Guy” VO sessions: http://ping.fm/0E5U0 (June 30th, 2009)
“The Late Movies: Great Voiceover” VO videos via Mental Floss: http://ping.fm/RWJeA (June 26th, 2009)
Happy Madison taps Paul Blart, Sly, Cher and others to voice new animated feature. This can’t be good: http://ping.fm/yxyou (June 25th, 2009)
“Let Homer Simpson be your TomTom co-pilot.” It’s good to see Dan finally getting some paid work: http://ping.fm/ukSmy (June 24th, 2009)
De-stress at the “Voice Talent & Actor Nurture Night in NYC” (a Voice Over Xtra event!): http://ping.fm/JZm1V (June 23rd, 2009)
Everybody panic! All voiceover actors will be put out of work!: http://ping.fm/Au1LH (June 22nd, 2009)
Well, my friends James Alburger and Penny Abshire are at it again and have just recently announced preliminary information about the next VOICE conference. We do have a bit of time as it does not take place until early June of next year but it may be a good idea to place it in your schedules now. It does cost a few bucks, especially if you are coming from out of town, but it is absolutely worth every penny. I don’t know of one person who I met last year that is not planning on coming next year so it promises to once again be a veritable who’s who of the voiceover industry. It really is THE voiceover event to attend for everyone from newbies to seasoned professionals alike. Word on the street is that even Erik Sheppard himself will be there.1
Taking a “if it aint broke don’t fix it” approach they have decided to once again hold the event in Los Angeles at the same Hyatt Regency Century Plaza as last time. I know all of our readers are class acts and insist on only the best but it is a fairly swanky place so I think you may be able to get by. I highly recommend getting a massage at the attached spa as well. Nice.
Obviously there are going to be an amazing selection of breakout sessions to choose from and enough displays and events to fill up your day but you can learn quite a lot just chatting up some of the other professionals at the bar or the pool and simply enjoy what is certainly our industry’s largest water cooler event.
Captain Obvious says: "Do the right thing kids, come to VOICE"
If you have not attended in the past (I’m looking at you de Nesnera) then please check out the VTP Blog exclusive2 video above cobbled together rather nicely by James from footage taken at VOICE 2008 to give you an idea of what you will be in for. Once you have made the wise choice to attend, head on over to the official site to bookmark it and sign up for updates as more information becomes available.
Coming?3 Leave an unofficial RSVP in the comments below and let us know if we have to find/try to avoid you there.
1. Hint: Check the bar area for appearances.
2. Alright, maybe not all that exclusive since it is at the top of their official site but I am the first to have it on a blog. So there.
3. Of course you are.
Well we were finally able to get some phone time with New York super-agent Billy Serow and bothered him with some of your questions. He was so impressed with them that he decided to sign all of you who wrote in on the spot. You should be expecting a phone call from him any minute now. I’m kidding of course, he scoffed indignantly at most of them but I edited those parts out so if you just close your eyes and listen it sounds as though he was touched.
Actually, he could not have been nicer and gave some pretty helpful insights from the other side of the glass. Seriously guys, grab one of your crayons and write this stuff down because it is gold.1 Can you imagine actually learning a thing or two from this ridiculous show? I’m just as surprised as the rest of you. I think I have to go lay down now.
Clickety-click on the player over there to the right or subscribe with iTunes to hear all the agenty goodness for yourself.
We are still kind of screwing around with the audio on these things because Skype kind of sucks but we are at a loss as to what else to use. Ember and Billy sound pretty good on this one although for some reason I sound like I’m at the bottom of a well. Really though, what do you guys want for free?
Looking to get the inside scoop on what makes voiceover agents tick? Want to know why they haven’t returned your calls? Do they really listen to all those CDs you have been sending in over the years? Is it true they feast on the blood of the innocent and will only sign talent who have given their souls to Satan?1
The next guest on The Erik And Ember Show will be hotshot talent agent Billy Serow from Abrams Artists Agency in New York which, for those who may not know, is a particularly prestigious rep to have in these parts and many a young talent have tear stained pillow cases from staying up late dreaming about walking into their gleaming offices.
The question asking thingy over on the right (under the podcast player) has been reopened for the occasion so here is your chance to suggest your question and Ember and I will in turn ask Mr. Serow. Got it? Good. Use this opportunity wisely young ones. If your question is particularly stupid feel free to submit it anonymously to avoid bringing shame to your family.
Recently a certain someone cajoled me into a late-night at-home double-feature1 animation festival that consisted of copious amounts of Jiffy Pop2 and a back to back showing of WALL-E and Ratatouille. Don’t tell her but I kind of enjoyed it. With the exception of two or three character voices I whip out for commercials I do not do animation work and rarely even throw my hat into the ring. Unless Pixar wants to cast my “stoner guy” (who I ripped off of Tommy Chong) or my “creepy guy” (who I ripped off of Vincent Price), chances are we will not be working together any time soon.
Nonetheless, my recent experience has piqued my interest once again in feature length animation so I was happy to come across an article in Time Magazine this morning about “Up” slated for release May 29th, 2009. No doubt I will be dragged into the theater anyway so I might as well try to look forward to the thing. Aaanywho, along with the usual (although exhaustive) synopsis there was some great passages concerning the voice talent. From Time:
Every Pixar production involves some 300 artists, but the actors come first; they have to, because the dialogue is recorded to guide the animators. Asner, 79, who used his slow burn brilliantly on the great Mary Tyler Moore ’70s sitcom, had the gruffness and deadpan comic timing to bring Carl to vocal life. As Docter recalls, “When we first met Ed and showed him a small sculpture we’d made of Carl, he said [growling], ‘I don’t look anything like that.’ And we thought, O.K., this is gonna be perfect.” Docter and Peterson then tailored the dialogue to the actor’s speech patterns. “We looked for words that had more consonants and shortened the sentences,” Docter says.
Interesting enough but this was the part I really wanted to share:
Nagai, the nonprofessional kid chosen for Russell, needed a bit of coaching. “When he had to be excited,” Docter says, “he would get maybe 50%. So I’d tell him, ‘Run around the room, run back here and say the line — ready, set, go!’ We’d do it one line at a time like that.” For a scene in which Russell is cradled and tickled by a giant South American bird, “I actually lifted him upside down and tickled him,” Docter says, “which you probably wouldn’t do with Ed.”
Cool huh? The talent was just a kid but I still like the way they went above and beyond to push him and get a real and (presumably) believable performance. How many of us have used similar tricks on ourselves to really nail a part? A few years back I ate potato chips while auditioning for a part that required a heightened sense of nonchalance by a college kid. I thought it was brilliant3 but I didn’t get the part and it scared me off from going out on a limb like that again. Perhaps I should rethink things. Any thoughts? Leave them in the comments.
The full article can be found HERE. (Possible spoiler alert)
1. What? I like dashes.
2. It’s as much fun to make as it is to eat!
3. I initially think all of my stupid ideas are brilliant.
Seriously, check these puppies out. Much cooler than yours:
Now unfortunately you can’t get these amazing clear cards for yourself because that would make you a copycat and I would have to hunt you down and break your kneecaps1 but I have found some links where you might be able to find some inspiration to design a concept that might be nearly as incredibly awesome. Those cards you have been passing around that you printed out on your home computer just aren’t cutting it anymore and it might be time to step it up a notch.
It’s time once again to settle into your favorite armchair, pour yourself a nice snifter of brandy and enjoy the wonder that is The Erik and Ember Show. Our guest this time around is the incredibly talented movie theater voice talent and Super Bowl promo girl Ann DeWig. She does some other stuff too but they escape me at the moment. Said Ann of appearing on the show, “Thank you both from the bottom of my heart for finally getting me the international exposure I so crave. You are both truly the most remarkable asset this industry has. God bless you for your tireless work and creativity.”1
Listen in to the heartfelt and courageous tale of how, as a young breakdancer desperately trying to save her father’s arcade, she has a chance encounter with a talking robot who thinks he is a real boy and together with their woodland creature pals Whiskers and Be-Bop they finally discover the true meaning of friendship and what it takes to be a voiceover artist.
Will she ultimately find love with a dashing young podcast host? Tune in to the player over on the right or check out the show on iTunes to find out!2
Are you a voice talent? Do you like trying not to scream and wreck your voice on some of the worlds most awesome roller coasters? Do you like peeing your pants in front of your peers? If you answered yes to any of these questions then get yourself to the bucolic pastures of New Jersey1 this May 30th for some fun!
All of the juicy details are HERE but the short story is that we are set up with a group rate so everybody gets to go for just 30 bucks (normally over $60) to hang out and enjoy the rides with Erik and Ember. Photos with us are available for a nominal fee. Your ticket also includes admission into one of those cool drive-through safaris so you can have monkeys rip off your antenna. Go ahead and click the link above. Unless, of course, you’re chicken.
1. Im kidding, of course. Jersey is a cesspool but Great Adventure is pretty fun.
Voice talent LindZ Reiss is in the process of upgrading her studio and we wanted to put together something similar to the Mic Thing for her to provide a cleaner sound and perhaps a little soundproofing while using a desktop mic stand. I assure you, it was quite romantic. Just to turn the geek level up to 100, we took some pictures to share with you ingrates. We took other pictures too, but I digress.
We picked up a 2 by 4 foot piece of Auralex at Guitar Center for about 27 bucks that seemed to suit our needs and we bought the rest of the supplies (aside from the foam adhesive) at Home Depot. Pictured below is a 2 by 4 foot, half inch thick piece of MDF, carpeting, some hinges, L brackets, screws and paint:
We measured the panels out so they were 2 by 1 foot with an extra little piece for the top:
I cut em up with a jigsaw in the manliest fashion possible:
Since with this design the edges will be exposed, we sanded them down:
The carpeting we selected was on one of those big 12 foot rolls so we may have ticked off the guys there when we asked for them to cut off just one foot but it worked out perfectly and eliminated the need for extra trimming. In our defense, they didn’t look particularly busy anyway:
Again, because of the exposed edges, we painted them up gray:
We wanted to rig up something for the top but didn’t want to completely box in the mic and deaden it too much so I bent up these little brackets at almost a 45 degree angle:1
We hinged the panels so that they can be adjusted to allow for more openness as needed. You may want to be a bit more patient than us and allow time for the paint to dry:
All three panels hinged together:
The top baffle thingy was attached thusly:2
We used a tube of Liquid Nail to attach carpeting on the back to cut down on any echoes back there and hopefully to soundproof a tad more:
The back view, which looks pretty darn good in my humble opinion:
The Auralex was just cut up with a pair of scissors after we discovered that trying to use a razor blade resulted in near tragedy. I would have chosen a nice gray color myself but LindZ insisted that the burgundy matched her studio better. Women.3
The finished product in all its glory with her new NT1-A. Try not to look directly at it without suitable eye protection. We had to get the special foam adhesive stuff from Musician’s Friend as run-of-the-mill adhesive stuff will cause some type of weird chemical reaction and eat away at the foam:
The whole thing with the foam and the wood and the carpeting only cost about 60 bucks and the build took up only a few hours of an otherwise lazy afternoon. The sound is greatly improved and it looks pretty awesome to boot.
If any other ladies out there need my help, I’m listed.
1. Spray painting your own hand is optional and, frankly, not recommended.
2. Stop me if I get too technical for you.
3. Am I right?
Well this was fun. We got a bunch of great entries and wish to congratulate everyone on their submissions. This is your last chance to turn away before having to witness any of this.1 Our humble apologies to those readers with weak constitutions. Click on the entrant’s names to be whisked away to their fabulous websites. The big losers in no particular order….
From David Lowe who apparently decided he could improve on my turnip:
Dave DeAndrea sent in this nightmare inducing box of flying mouths:
Apparently Jamee created this in honor of her husband who has a funny podcast of some sort. Check it out here if you are into that sort of thing. Congratulations Jamee, this is truly, truly disturbing. Nice work.
Thank you to all who participated and a very special thanks to our guest judges John Florian and Julie Williams! Ember and I are grateful that you have so much extra time on your hands for this silliness.
Please consider the environment before printing this post to hang on your studio wall.
1. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
2. Do the popular kids still say that?
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