Aside from the fact that I’m a comic book fan to begin with, I love Marvel Comics because they’ve really embraced voice overs as a great tool to bring comic books to life. I’ve already written about the company’s efforts twice (check those posts out here and here), and I find myself once again presenting some great behind-the-scenes videos from one of Marvel’s newer projects.
Marvel’s latest animated series, The Super Hero Squad Show, is a big hit with little kids. A super hero cartoon aimed squarely at the kindergarten set, the show employs some top notch voice actors to bring the characters to life. In the first interview above, we get to hear Tom Kenny talk about playing Iron Man and Captain America. Tom Kenny is probably best known for playing the voice of Spongebob Squarepants, but he’s an animation giant, having appeared in everything from Futurama to Batman to The Power Puff Girls to Scooby Doo.
Next up, we have an interview with Grey Delisle, who’s also a titan in the animation industry, having been acting in animated series’ for almost 20 years. She’s appeared in everything from Clifford the Big Red Dog to X-Men to Star Wars to Disney’s Kim Possible. What’s cool here (and in the Tom Kenny interview) is that you get to see inside the recording sessions for the show, wherein the entire cast is all in one big recording studio. I’ve seen some animated projects where ensemble casts all record their lines separately, so it’s cool to get to see a big group of voice actors get to interact.
I always love when I can find a great theme for Voice Overs of the World, and today’s theme just happens to be cars. Now whether you’re a car enthusiast or not, there’s no denying that some of the biggest advertising budgets in the world belong to the major car manufacturers. And when you have huge ad budgets, you also often find huge voice overs! Here’s a look at three new commercial spots that all feature prominent voice over work.
First up, we have an ad for the new Jeep Cherokee. This is probably my favorite of the three ads presented here because I think the combination of the haunting Johnny Cash song that’s used as the music for the spot (that’s Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” laid down under the VO) and the excellent voice over really just evoke a mood of strength and patriotism.
I like the delivery of the piece quite a bit, especially because the voice actor doesn’t go over the top. With the driving music and vintage footage behind it, he instead employs a slightly reserved delivery; keeping the gravelly tone to his voice and speaking rather than announcing, but not overplaying it and devolving into caricature or jingoism. This could have been a “Rah-rah, AMerica!” commercial, and instead the whole piece just has a great mood to it, largely due to the voice over.
Next up, we have a commercial for Mercedes, which starts off with a bit of a storytelling style to advertise its product before shifting to a more commercial approach. Notice how the narrator starts off with a more breathy, dreamy tone as the commercial begins heading into a dream world, but then gets noticeably deeper and stronger by the end. Pay attention to how, right around the time the narrator says, “…And being a pioneer of excellence in mobility, now and forever more,” his voice drops into a much deeper register, giving that line a real sense of power.
An interesting side note: the voice talent for Mercedes-Benz is none other than Richard Thomas, who is best known for playing John-Boy on The Waltons, who has gone on to find quite a career for himself in voice overs.
Finally, we wrap things up with Hyundai. Now I’ve talked about Hyundai’s ads before here in Voice Overs of the World, and since they’re narrated by a celebrity (none other than Jeff Bridges), I try not to focus too much on them. But this is great piece for a couple of reasons. First of all, Bridges always does a very nice job with his voice overs (he is an Oscar winner, after all.) But I love the fact that in this particular commercial, he has to say, “Paula St. John Lawrence Lawler Burr Strong Yates Stephenson Callaghan Hunt Milne Thompson Shankley Bennet Paisley O’Sullivan was named after the entire team.” That could not have been easy to get out in one breath!
With the smashing opening weekend success of Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3, I thought would be fun to sneak a peek behind-the-scenes of the animated blockbuster and hear from one of its lesser-known voice talents. And since we’re on the subject, we’ll also take a look at two other animated films on the horizon!
In the video above, John Morris, the voice actor who has played the human character Andy in all three Toy Story films, talks about his experiences on the movies. John talks about how he’s been voicing the role since he was seven, what it takes to create Andy’s voice, and what he thinks makes a good voice actor.
It’s a pretty cool little interview, and its nice to hear from someone not named Hanks or Allen discussing their time in the vocal booth. (Nothing against Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, by the way. We love those guys!)
Next up we have a great look behind-the-scenes with the cast of the upcoming Despicable Me. Of course, there are some great celebrity voice talents at work here, but what I think this featurette really shows off are two things: fun and flexibility.
Fun: I think this video gives a clear sense of just how much fun voice overs are. It looks like everyone involved, from the actors to the producers, are having a great time recording. Everyone’s laughing and joking and goofing around, and pretty much just remembering that voice acting, while work, is also a really good time.
Flexibility: this video also shows off the flexibility that voice acting offers. While of course sticking to the script is always important, you also get a sense here of how — in some recording sessions — the producers allow the talent to try lines in different ways or play with the wording a bit to get the best performances possible. I think the whole video is a great look at a side of voice overs you don’t necessarily get to see as often.
Finally — and solely for the reason that I like things that come in threes, so I needed a third video — we have the trailer for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole, the newest feature film from Zack Snyder, director of 300 and Watchmen. While the cast is largely British (and this isn’t really a behind-the-scenes video, just a trailer), you can see just from the trailer what a wealth of voice talent there is going to be in this film.
Regardless of how successful this film about owls might be, I think we can all agree that we’ll be in for some great VO performances when this movie comes out in September.
I don’t generally pay a lot of attention to alcohol advertising, as much of it tends to simply lean towards the hot party/fast cars/pretty people demographic and can sometimes be pretty basic. But I was impressed with this ad campaign I discovered for Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, which veers away from the usual noisy ads and utilizes some terrific voice overs to set a mood and atmosphere quite nicely.
The first thing I think you notice about these ads is the stunning animation, in crisp black-and-white. There’s no doubt that these ads have a distinct visual flair. But right after you notice how gorgeous they are, that voice comes in and instantly steals your attention. With a gravelly timbre, the actor behind the VO manages to convey a sense of toughness and manliness, but also remain conversational and have a slightly breathy tone at the same time. It’s a really great blend of tough and accessible.
The first ad (top) talks about the man named Jack Daniel, and the product he named after himself, while the second ad focuses on the mystery of the “No. 7″ that adorns every bottle of the whiskey. Again, this terrific voice comes in and discusses the question of No. 7 with just the right balance of inquisitiveness and knowledge. I don’t know about you, but this voice actor’s delivery evokes an image of a bearded cowboy sitting in a fancy leather armchair in his library, with a cowboy hat and a smoking jacket on, talking about good ol’ Jack Daniel.
Whether that’s what the producers were going for or not is beyond me, but I can tell you one thing; anytime you can evoke that strong of an image in someone’s mind with just a voice over, that’s an exceptional voice over.
While I don’t usually spend too much time focusing on celebrity voice overs here on Voice Overs of the World, once in a while I stumble across a few that are noteworthy enough to bring up. In this case, I suspect there are an awful lot of people seeing these ads and going, “Oh, who is that? I KNOW that voice!” So I thought I’d shed a little light on the situation!
First up, we have an ad for Bird’s Eye fish fingers from over in the UK. Who better to portray a slightly creepy polar bear stalking you from your own freezer than Willem Dafoe? You have to admit, he does do a great job of bringing this character to life; he really captures that whole “I’m talking to you nicely, but really there’s an undercurrent of menace” approach very well. I love when he says, “Can you help me with something…? What’s this?” with that voice that very clearly knows exactly what this is.
An interesting side note: did you notice how Dafoe pronounces “fish filet” as “fish fill-it”? That’s a good example of an actor matching the regional pronunciation of the location he’s in. Obviously, Dafoe isn’t trying to adopt a British accent, but seeing as how that’s how they pronounce the word ‘filet’ over there, you have to match that pronunciation so as to avoid confusion among British audiences. Just a little glimpse into how international voice overs work.
Next up, we have a commercial for Hotels.com. There is actually an entire series of commercials using this claymation style and this character who’s simply called “Smart.” Well, Smart is actually portrayed by Ed Helms, best known for his roles on The Daily Show and The Office. Helms does a terrific job of bringing that sort of snarky/know-it-all tone to the piece, without actually sounding rude or condescending. That’s actually a hard balance to find, but Helms does a very nice job with it.
What’s great, too, is that in this series of commercials Helms shares voice time with everyone from a girlfriend to a co-worker to a monkey, meaning there are other, non-famous voice talents out there who get the chance to star in a national commercial alongside a celebrity voice. There’s plenty of room for everyone, folks, celebrities and non-celebrities alike!
This last commercial sort of reverses the approach of the last two. Sure, you can see right now before even playing the video that that’s Sir Ian McKellen of Lord of the Rings and X-Men fame on screen. But when you actually watch the video, we hear something else entirely; in fact, we hear someONE else entirely! It’s a woman, describing her dreary day for this public service announcement on aging that’s also from the UK. (About halfway through, McKellen’s voice once again takes over, and while it’s not a voice over per se, you can’t help but marvel at what a wonderful voice he has.)
But the best part abut this ad for me is imagining the recording session for the voice over. I can’t help but picture a nice little British lady showing up to do her session, and then hearing something along the lines of this from the producer: “Okay, so here you’re basically just playing a typical senior citizen, maybe you’re a bit down in the dumps, a bit lonely. So let’s keep it kind of a mix between matter-of-fact and a little depressed; you know, not too dark. Oh yeah, and your voice will be coming from Sir Ian McKellen.”
Whether you play video games or not, chances are good you’ve seen one of the omnipresent television commercials for video games from EA Sports, producers of the popular Madden NFL Football franchise. Their tagline of, “EA Sports. It’s in the game.” is almost instantly recognizable upon hearing it to most TV watchers.
Well, EA Sports has put together a little “tutorial” on the proper way to deliver this voice over. Other than to warn you that there’s just a few minorly salty pieces of language in this video, I think I’m pretty much going to let voice actor Andrew Anthony pretty much speak for himself!
June 11th marks the start of the 2010 World Cup, an event celebrated the world over, so you know what that means, right? Voice overs! Or at least, commercials for the World Cup featuring some pretty cool voice overs.
In the first video above, we learn all about the number 10. This is a great commercial that has an enlivened, inspirational feel to it. Notice how, even with the uplifting music in the background, the voice talent for this commercial elevates the piece with his bright, clean, and clear voice. He manages to convey with a sense of “twinkle in the eye,” just using his voice and delivery. Right from the first line where the actor says, “The number ten,” he automatically has your attention. I suspect that even if the background music was removed, this would still be an uplifting piece, thanks to the VO. Pretty cool.
Yes, that is U2’s Bono providing the voice over for the second commercial. It’s an extremely fitting piace for the singer to take on, too; he’s well known for his activism for global causes, and especially his work in helping get aid to Africa, which is where the 2010 World Cup is taking place. I think he does a pretty good job, too, especially for someone who’s not a trained voice actor. It’s interesting, though, how what starts out as a pretty straightforward voice over takes on a lyrical, almost rap-like delivery by the end. Clearly, this is intentional as the piece builds in intensity as it goes and finishes with the roar of the crowd. Even when he’s not singing, Bono has an extremely recognizable voice, making this quite an effective commercial, and a neat use of voice over.
This final commercial takes on a slightly darker tone in the beginning, but in the end is still inspirational and uplifting, like both of the previous spots. The voice over is subtle but effective, too. Unlike the Bono piece that builds in intensity, this one holds a sense of reverence and respect throughout. It’s a nice style choice: the music does the uplifting part, and the voice over simply tells a story, without needing to be bombastic or over the top.
As a side note (this will come in handy for a future game of Trivial Pursuit, I’m sure), it’s interesting that U2 is clearly involved on some level with these ads. Not only does Bono provide one of the voice overs, but all three spots use U2 songs as their powerful, inspirational music. The first commercial features “Out of Control,” the second spot uses “Magnificent,” and the final ad features “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
I’m impressed with the commercials ESPN has produced for the 2010 World Cup and their terrific use of voice over. I’m sure there will be a lot more great examples of great VO’s during the World Cup itself, where we’re sure to see a ton of new ads cropping up, much like we did during The Olympics. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Announcing the first ever Voice Coaches Blog/Podcast crossover!
You might be asking yourself, “Why is there a Gatorade commercial posted above with absolutely no voice overs in it when this is a blog about voice overs?” I can’t tell you yet, but if you tune in tomorrow to our Voice Coaches Radio podcast page and listen to Voice Coaches Radio #48, this will all make a lot more sense. Now, you don’t need to watch the video above to understand tomorrow’s podcast, but it does tie in nicely.
The podcasts usually go live right around noon Eastern Standard Time, so check back and have a listen. And then let us know what you think!
Voice Coaches’ own Administrative Director, Kristen Neary, was featured on CBS News for her charity efforts! You can watch the entire segment below, as Kristen talks about “tending to her flock.”
For the past couple of months, Kristen has spearheaded a unique charity effort for The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. Kristen’s been involved with the charity for a long time (you can read more about her efforts by clicking here), but with this new “flocking” initiative, she’s seen an amazing response from people in the Capital Region, attracting the attention of CBS News and one of the local radio stations, WRVE 99.5 (The River).
We’re very proud of Kristen and her amazing efforts! Keep up the great work!
Even though the movie came out last year, I just discovered this great interview with Elijah Wood (star of the Lord of the Rings movies) as he discusses his role in the animated feature film 9, among other things.
In the interview, Wood discusses a number of topics, but early on he talks about the challenges involved in voice overs versus on-camera acting, and we even get to see some footage of him in the vocal booth recording his part. Wood is no stranger to VO work, though; as he talks about later in the interview, he also provided the voice of Spyro the Dragon in the three hit video games that make up the popular Spyro the Dragon franchise.
Below is another making-of video that looks at the film as a whole, but it gives you a chance to see some of the great voice work as it sounds in the film, and it lets you see acting greats such as Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, and Elijah Wood in the vocal booth.
