In a world, a movie set in the world of Hollywood voice-over talent

It is well known that voice-overs for film previews have been almost exclusively performed by men. Don LaFontaine, American voice actor famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers,  and hundred of thousands of TV advertisements, video game trailers, became known for his “In a world….” phrase, he poked fun of his cliche phrase at various events, including the Geico commercial.

In A World, three words genetically, male oriented, and not uttered by a woman in a movie trailer. Until now, where Lake Bell makes her writing-directing debut, as well as leads the cast in.... “In A World” the winner of Best Screenplay at Sundance.

This upcoming movie is all about an actress trying to make it in the voiceover business. Motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star with all of the trials and tribulations that come with her career. She sets out to change the voice of a generation.

The title somewhat  refers to the intro that begins so many trailers for movies set in the future. The man who has undoubtedly uttered these words more than anyone else was Don LaFontaine, who over the past 25 years cemented his position as the “King of Voice-overs.”  Aside from his continuing work in the trailer industry, he has also been the voice of NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. Based on contracts signed, he has the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in the history of SAG. In September 1st, 2008,  La Fontaine died at the age of 68 following complications from a collapsed lung. 

Offering an amusing peek into a seldom-visited corner of showbiz, this movie could kick up some theatrical returns with judicious handling and the help of smartly nurtured word-of-mouth.

In  a World opens in limited release on August 9.

Voiceover Recording & Animated Films

The Croods is a 2013  3D  computer- animated film produced by DreamWorks.  It features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds, among others. It was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon).

Nicolas Cage gets animated in the voice booth for the new family friendly adventure; Cage plays the father of a cave family forced to leave their home and head out on an incredible journey into the unknown. For their tale DeMicco  and Sanders  chased actor around the world for roughly three years to record his voice as Crood paterfamilias Grug.

Is interesting to know how the voice work is recorded. In most animated films the characters’ voices are recorded first, this gives the actors much more freedom to do what they want with the character voices rather than being restricted by the animation. 

This way can use the sound file and precisely match the animation to it, capture the actor's performance in the animated character. Also, animators usually look at video of the voice actors recording their lines and use certain mannerisms, facial expressions etc, in the animation of those characters. Essentially, it isn't just about doing the voices but also becoming part of the animated character. By the time the actor is performing, they have the storyboards worked out so that there is some sort of visual guide for everyone.

The film made $63.3 million internationally, including $16 million from overseas previews the weekend before for a worldwide  of $108 million. Most critics enjoyed the film, although a few reviewers groused that it failed to achieve the emotional high points of classic children's movies like "Toy Story" and "Up."

Voice-over Demo

In the world of voice acting, your demo is your best opportunity to present your skills to agents, producers, etc.  

The demo is your audio resume, your letter of introduction, is your main marketing tool, so is important that you have it if you are to compete in the world of professional voice-over to offer your services. The purpose of a demo is to get you work!

In today's voice over world, the trend is to have specifics demos, one for commercials, one for narration, IVR, characters, etc. no longer than 30 seconds each. For the purpose of marketing voice-over talent in today's highly technological word, it is absolute must that your VO demo exists as an electronic. The demo can be emailed which makes it immediately available for listening and/ or downloading worldwide.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Don't produce your demo if you're not ready.
• You must have the proper training, some experience to offer a professional level.
• Never put your demo something you can not play.
• Include a wide range of variety in style and character, even if your demo is focusing on you voice stye, rather than character. Keep listener guessing as to what happen next.
•  Keep your demo short.

CATEGORIES

Commercials

Announcer

Guy or Girl next door

Real person

Hard Sale

Characters

Accents

Caricatures

Imitation

Promos TV

Imaging, Branding

Narration

Documentary

Industrials- Corporate 

Audiobooks

Fiction

Childrens

Tech

Trailers

 Spanish-French, etc.

VO Talents: Exercising your voice

Your vocal cords are muscles, appropriate exercises and maintenance will bring considerable endurance and stronger performance in your auditions and recording sessions.


Two essential things for exercising your voice: Deep breath, with control and making sound.

Work on breathing from your diaphragm will help to correct some problems. As your exercise your voice, awareness of what is happening physically is vital to develop your ability to experience yourself as you work on changing a habit.


Keeping your voice in good condition is crucial to keeping your performing abilities at their peak.

Use Spanish VO for an advertising campaigns. Spanish VO talents can reach this growing market

Character VO Coaching

Rob Paulsen, one of the most prolific cartoon voice over artists in North America, is offering VO coaching.

Best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this VO actor announced that, for the first time, is providing private coaching via Skype, by phone or in person in LA, and he will be hosting voice over events across the US.

The chance to learn from Paulsen has been in the hearts and minds of aspiring voice actors for generations as they’ve listened to him give life to a huge of iconic characters such as Pinky and Dr. Scratch ‘n’ Sniff from The Animaniacs, Pinky from Pinky and the Brain, Arthur in “The Tick,” Carl Wheezer from “Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius,” Jack Fenton in “Danny Phantom,” among others.

Whether your goal is to enhance your abilities and knowledge in this competitive business of Voice-Overs Pualsen is knocking and you should answer the door!

To know more visit his web page www.robpaulsenlive.com

And his podcast Talkin Toon

JAN 2ND, 2011 Today's Celebrity Birthday

Gabrielle Carteris, born on 1961, is an American actress known for her role as Andrea Zuckerman on the early seasons of the 1990s television series Beverly Hills, 90210.

Voice-overs

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - (2011) Vicki Vale

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits - Nafia

Bionic Commando - Jayne “Mag” Magdalene / Radio Operator

Icewind Dale II

La Pucelle Tactics - Angelique

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Elektra, Enchantress

Tia Carrere, born on January 2, 1967, is an American actress, model, voice artist, and singer.

Voice-overs

The Night of the Headless Horseman (1999)

 Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Stitch! The Movie (2003)

Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)

 Lilo & Stitch: The Series

American Dragon: Jake Long

Cuba Gooding Jr, from The Bronx, New York, born on 1968.  He is an American actor, best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Rod Tidwell in 1996 film Jerry Maguire.
Voice-overs

Starring roles: Home on the range 2004 “Buck”

The land before time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends 2007 “Angelique

Taye Diggs , born on 1971. He is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, and the television series Private Practice.

Voice-overs

Historical Panther 2  

The Superhero Squad Show: Black Panther

Paz Vega born on1976. She is a Spanish actress. The 2001 film Sex and Lucia brought the actress to the attention of a larger audience. She then became much better known in the United States after appearing in a supporting role in the 2004 film Spanglish opposite Adam Sandler.

Voice-overs

Wanted: Weapons of Fate “Araña” video game

Kate Bosworth, born on 1983. She is an American actress. She became known with a leading role in 2002's Blue Crush.

Voice-overs

Video games

2006 Superman Returns Lois Lane

2010 CR: Superman Returns Lois Lane

The Man of a Thousand Voices

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry. He was an American voice actor and comedian, best remembered for his work with Warner Bros as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker, Speedy Gonzales, Tom and Jerry and hundreds of others.

Blanc was the first person to play Toucan Sam in Froot Loops commercials, using a slightly cartoonist version of his natural voice.

Blanc is regarded as one of, if not the, most prolific voice actor in the history of the industry.

He was the first voice actor to get credit in the ending credits and ushered in a new era for voice actors, where they were regarded as a significant part of the creative process, rather than easy-to-replace finishing touches.

Many episodes of the short-lived The Mel Blanc Show are now available on YouTube

Dubbing Services English-Spanish

Dubbing work done at Elite Music Studios-EMS by Miami voice over actors. Filmed in Spanish, dubbed into English.

Actors: Margarita Coego, Cristina Figarola, Manolo Coego, Jeannette Lehr, James Keller, CC Limardo, Lenny Rabinowitz.


Dub Version



Original Version

Dubbing

Dubbing work for The Gabriella Axelrad Education Foundation

"A good actor can do a thousand vices because he finds a place in his body for his voice and centers his performance from that place". Charles Nelson

Celebrities & Cartoon Voice Acting

Less than 20 years ago, voice acting was almost exclusively the realm of voice actors—people specifically trained to provide voices for animated characters. The rise of the celebrity voice actor can be traced to a single film: Disney's 1992 breakout animated hit Aladdin, where Robin Williams voiced the film's hyperactive Genie.

The celebrification of voicework can be traced through the films Disney released in the years after Aladdin, from The Lion King (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones) to Home on the Range (Roseanne Barr, Dame Judi Dench). But the trend has been most prevalent in the computer-animated films that have dominated family-friendly cinema since Pixar released Toy Story in 1995.

The marketability of a big-name celebrity voice actor gave way, perhaps inevitably, to an even more insidious trend: directly basing a character's appearance on the famous actor providing its voice. With the marketing machine growing larger by the day unfortunately, conventional voice actors rarely get the chance to helm a contemporary animated film. Banderas's voice is perfect for Puss—the character was tailored to it, after all—but in the end, Banderas has one voice, and when the best voice actors have "a thousand voices," it's hard not to feel like they're being wasted.

EMS Elite Music Studios wants to share this great article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/how-celebrities-took-over-cartoon-voice-acting/247481/