VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #538 – War Of The Worlds
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Welcome to a brand new episode of voice coaches radio. My name is Marissa. We have made it to July. I mean, it's hot. It's sunny. I wish this weather was like this all year round. Uh, because I mean, let's face it. I've said this before. I am not meant for cold weather.
I realize it more and more when I'm traveling because. What do you typically travel to, right? I mean, think about it. I mean, most of us will go and try to get to a nice tropical location. Me, my last couple of vacations have been going down south. Uh, this month, I actually go to Nashville for a couple days.
So, you know, still south. Uh, I'm clearly just meant to be in the south. I also noticed that when I was there, like when I was in, uh, Oklahoma, and when I was in Dallas, Texas, and I, I just physically felt better overall. And, um... I don't know. Is like heat good for arthritis? Am I, am I also dating myself by saying that?
Listen, I got hit in the head. We've talked about this before. I've got like some arthritic issues happening in my neck and I've noticed it more and more as like some rain is coming. Uh, I have a really good barometer and it is, it's my neck and my feet, uh, which is just, honestly, it's embarrassing, uh, because here I am just going, oh, I've been injured.
So much I can tell you when, when bad weather is coming, it's real cool. Uh, but now that we are officially in July, you know, when I was just kind of, I like to look at like what weird holidays are happening. And it turns out tomorrow, so July 2nd, is World UFO Day. And it really got me thinking. It really did.
Because, I mean, when you think back to how, like, the first types of voice acting, it was radio, right? I mean, back in the day, there was no TV. Uh, we really didn't have, I mean, this is like pre Disney, uh, in, in so many ways. But do you remember War of the Worlds? I mean, this is so, it is so very much, um, still talked about today and like, still listened to by so many, so many people.
Uh, but this was this radio drama that was broadcast in 1938 and it was broadcast in such a way. that people panicked. Um, you know, like, it was just, uh, it was one of those things that, you know, it was so unfamiliar at the time that people, people really thought that something bad was happening. And in this case, I mean, This is all about, uh, it's all about aliens taking over.
So it's like, wait a minute, why did we believe this so heavily? Uh, but you know, I'm, I'm one of those people too. I'm very convinced that like there's, there's things that we don't know. You know, there's, I'm sure, listen, if we can have, uh, like people on this planet, why can't there be people or things on another planet?
Uh, you know, and I also kind of feel like, uh, Like, these movies, like, I mean, Contagion is a perfect example. Sure, this was somebody's brainchild, you know. This was like a book that somebody wrote, thinking like, Oh, you know, maybe this could happen at some time, but this is so sci fi. And look at us now, we're like, Oh, Contagion is literally our lives for the last couple years.
Which is so, so fun. Um, but this was broadcast in such a way, War of the Worlds, that people freaked out. They really thought this Martian invasion was happening. This is your first real big instance of voice acting and, and how, if it's done right, it is convincing. It is believable and it is real. Uh, so I thought this was a good thing to kind of dive into because a lot of, Students, when I talk to them and, you know, just people after the fact, or just, you know, random people that I, I meet along the way.
They, they always feel like this is the hardest part about it, right? This is where the acting comes in. You know, because you can go ahead and you can present something rather conversationally. What is it? Is it still having all the emotion? Is it still having all the real feelings of reality? And how we might truly act in that moment if we were experiencing something?
Like, you know, if a student has a audio book that they're getting ready to do, you know, I am all about put yourself in those shoes. How would you feel? How would you feel if all of a sudden you realized your house was haunted? How would you feel if you just graduated? How would you feel? If, you know, you were in the office and you were just so, so sick of being in the office, you know, we've all felt that and here, here's what I, you know, what ends up happening is like you, you watch somebody go from reading it to reading it slightly conversationally.
to being that character in that piece. And it's really a beautiful thing to have really come, come to fruition. Uh, and this is really what's happening in War of the Worlds. You know, this was a scripted... presentation, you know, it was, um, back, back then it was directed and narrated by Orson Welles. Um, and it was, I guess like it was an adaptation from a novel, which was called the war of the worlds, which was written in 1898.
I do have the Wikipedia page pulled up in front of me. Please don't think that I'm just pulling this out of nowhere. Um, but they, I don't know what exactly decided, like they made, made them decide let's do this, but you know, it was, it was Halloween, you know, they just wanted to have some fun. And they had too much fun because then all of a sudden people were freaking out.
But again, it goes back to the believability factor. What I can suggest is like when you are trying to When you're trying to actually get to the the meat of the acting part of things you really have to Dissect what you're doing and think about what that character might be thinking might be feeling, you know might how they might react, you know, and, and that is what you, you need to start doing for yourself.
I mean, it might be a slow build, right? In, in the way that you create that character, it might take a number of reads and, you know, a lot of rehearsal to get yourself to the place where you feel comfortable. But the more that you practice anything, the easier it ends up becoming. And I, you know, I brought up a couple episodes ago.
That I had done a four part, uh, teen novel series, and it required some acting. Now, listen, I'm not gonna say I was War of the Worlds good, okay? But, I will say that, for me, it did challenge me a little bit. And it allowed me to kind of... Get into a part of me that I've been missing because I do enjoy acting and I do, do enjoy scripted things and being able to kind of bring something to life.
It's a lot of fun, but I haven't really gotten to do a whole lot of that since probably my college days. Cause I did take a couple acting classes and I really, really did want to explore more, more about that, but I just haven't had the opportunity to really do it. You know, any other things that I've done that maybe were scripted.
Are are like hosting events. So like I have done uh for god for years I was the host locally here in upstate new york and albany for the vagina monologues and I mean the first couple times I did it I had written out a script for myself and You know that way I knew I knew that this was exactly what I needed to have within it.
I had like that little outline shell and each year that I went to do it, I would massage it a little bit. I would put in some new jokes. I would have something that was like pop culture related, but for the moment and not for like 2008, if it was 2011, uh, you know, and, and I would have a ton of fun doing it.
Uh, you know, because it's like, you've got that crowd, you want to entertain them. The rest of the show is all acted out. Why can't my part be a little acted out, you know, or rehearsed or, you know, so I know that it's, you know, it's like any, any kind of comedy show, comedians, all that's material that's been written, but it almost feels like it's just being pulled right out of their head in that moment because it's being done.
You know, it's being done well, it's been rehearsed and, you know, they've, they've kind of acted it out and they figured out what needs to be brought to each part of what they're doing. Same thing goes for you if you're doing an audiobook, or if you're doing, maybe it's an acted out training video, or it's, maybe it's, uh, it's, you know, some form of animation.
You know, that. That person watching or listening, they can't see you. They need to know the feelings that are being brought there. They need to know, uh, like, how, how this picture is being painted. They want to be able to picture that character in their mind. So how can you make that happen with the script that you are given or the, the, you know, the, the novel that you have in front of you?
There's so many different ways, but it does come back to, All right. sitting down Dissecting it a little bit and understanding where you want to take it, you know That's what they did back in 1938 to make war of the world. So incredibly believable that People I mean people ended up Calling the cops and like, you know, trying to, you know, go ahead and get out of town and like, whatever, like, I mean, it was so crazy when you hear about all the different things that that broadcast caused, you know, so how can you get a similar reaction?
It's all about the effort that you put in to creating that character and then, and then allowing yourself to feel whatever feelings need to be felt to bring it to life. So that is just a little bit of a. Uh, a thing that I wanted to tackle today. I just feel like this is such a cool little bit that, that we get to do as voice actors.
You know, like not everybody gets to have this kind of fun and not everybody that's in the field of voice acting allows themselves to have this kind of fun, but you really can if you want to. It's just a matter of how you look at a project and how you realize. That you can make it come to life. So listen, if you've got a topic that you want us to discuss here on the voice coaches, radio podcast, yo, hit me up info at voice coaches.
com. Let's make some magic happen. All right. And, uh, stay well, stay cool, depending on where you are in the country and in the world. And thanks for listening. We're going to have more voice coaches, radio coming at you next week.
Visit voice coaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
I realize it more and more when I'm traveling because. What do you typically travel to, right? I mean, think about it. I mean, most of us will go and try to get to a nice tropical location. Me, my last couple of vacations have been going down south. Uh, this month, I actually go to Nashville for a couple days.
So, you know, still south. Uh, I'm clearly just meant to be in the south. I also noticed that when I was there, like when I was in, uh, Oklahoma, and when I was in Dallas, Texas, and I, I just physically felt better overall. And, um... I don't know. Is like heat good for arthritis? Am I, am I also dating myself by saying that?
Listen, I got hit in the head. We've talked about this before. I've got like some arthritic issues happening in my neck and I've noticed it more and more as like some rain is coming. Uh, I have a really good barometer and it is, it's my neck and my feet, uh, which is just, honestly, it's embarrassing, uh, because here I am just going, oh, I've been injured.
So much I can tell you when, when bad weather is coming, it's real cool. Uh, but now that we are officially in July, you know, when I was just kind of, I like to look at like what weird holidays are happening. And it turns out tomorrow, so July 2nd, is World UFO Day. And it really got me thinking. It really did.
Because, I mean, when you think back to how, like, the first types of voice acting, it was radio, right? I mean, back in the day, there was no TV. Uh, we really didn't have, I mean, this is like pre Disney, uh, in, in so many ways. But do you remember War of the Worlds? I mean, this is so, it is so very much, um, still talked about today and like, still listened to by so many, so many people.
Uh, but this was this radio drama that was broadcast in 1938 and it was broadcast in such a way. that people panicked. Um, you know, like, it was just, uh, it was one of those things that, you know, it was so unfamiliar at the time that people, people really thought that something bad was happening. And in this case, I mean, This is all about, uh, it's all about aliens taking over.
So it's like, wait a minute, why did we believe this so heavily? Uh, but you know, I'm, I'm one of those people too. I'm very convinced that like there's, there's things that we don't know. You know, there's, I'm sure, listen, if we can have, uh, like people on this planet, why can't there be people or things on another planet?
Uh, you know, and I also kind of feel like, uh, Like, these movies, like, I mean, Contagion is a perfect example. Sure, this was somebody's brainchild, you know. This was like a book that somebody wrote, thinking like, Oh, you know, maybe this could happen at some time, but this is so sci fi. And look at us now, we're like, Oh, Contagion is literally our lives for the last couple years.
Which is so, so fun. Um, but this was broadcast in such a way, War of the Worlds, that people freaked out. They really thought this Martian invasion was happening. This is your first real big instance of voice acting and, and how, if it's done right, it is convincing. It is believable and it is real. Uh, so I thought this was a good thing to kind of dive into because a lot of, Students, when I talk to them and, you know, just people after the fact, or just, you know, random people that I, I meet along the way.
They, they always feel like this is the hardest part about it, right? This is where the acting comes in. You know, because you can go ahead and you can present something rather conversationally. What is it? Is it still having all the emotion? Is it still having all the real feelings of reality? And how we might truly act in that moment if we were experiencing something?
Like, you know, if a student has a audio book that they're getting ready to do, you know, I am all about put yourself in those shoes. How would you feel? How would you feel if all of a sudden you realized your house was haunted? How would you feel if you just graduated? How would you feel? If, you know, you were in the office and you were just so, so sick of being in the office, you know, we've all felt that and here, here's what I, you know, what ends up happening is like you, you watch somebody go from reading it to reading it slightly conversationally.
to being that character in that piece. And it's really a beautiful thing to have really come, come to fruition. Uh, and this is really what's happening in War of the Worlds. You know, this was a scripted... presentation, you know, it was, um, back, back then it was directed and narrated by Orson Welles. Um, and it was, I guess like it was an adaptation from a novel, which was called the war of the worlds, which was written in 1898.
I do have the Wikipedia page pulled up in front of me. Please don't think that I'm just pulling this out of nowhere. Um, but they, I don't know what exactly decided, like they made, made them decide let's do this, but you know, it was, it was Halloween, you know, they just wanted to have some fun. And they had too much fun because then all of a sudden people were freaking out.
But again, it goes back to the believability factor. What I can suggest is like when you are trying to When you're trying to actually get to the the meat of the acting part of things you really have to Dissect what you're doing and think about what that character might be thinking might be feeling, you know might how they might react, you know, and, and that is what you, you need to start doing for yourself.
I mean, it might be a slow build, right? In, in the way that you create that character, it might take a number of reads and, you know, a lot of rehearsal to get yourself to the place where you feel comfortable. But the more that you practice anything, the easier it ends up becoming. And I, you know, I brought up a couple episodes ago.
That I had done a four part, uh, teen novel series, and it required some acting. Now, listen, I'm not gonna say I was War of the Worlds good, okay? But, I will say that, for me, it did challenge me a little bit. And it allowed me to kind of... Get into a part of me that I've been missing because I do enjoy acting and I do, do enjoy scripted things and being able to kind of bring something to life.
It's a lot of fun, but I haven't really gotten to do a whole lot of that since probably my college days. Cause I did take a couple acting classes and I really, really did want to explore more, more about that, but I just haven't had the opportunity to really do it. You know, any other things that I've done that maybe were scripted.
Are are like hosting events. So like I have done uh for god for years I was the host locally here in upstate new york and albany for the vagina monologues and I mean the first couple times I did it I had written out a script for myself and You know that way I knew I knew that this was exactly what I needed to have within it.
I had like that little outline shell and each year that I went to do it, I would massage it a little bit. I would put in some new jokes. I would have something that was like pop culture related, but for the moment and not for like 2008, if it was 2011, uh, you know, and, and I would have a ton of fun doing it.
Uh, you know, because it's like, you've got that crowd, you want to entertain them. The rest of the show is all acted out. Why can't my part be a little acted out, you know, or rehearsed or, you know, so I know that it's, you know, it's like any, any kind of comedy show, comedians, all that's material that's been written, but it almost feels like it's just being pulled right out of their head in that moment because it's being done.
You know, it's being done well, it's been rehearsed and, you know, they've, they've kind of acted it out and they figured out what needs to be brought to each part of what they're doing. Same thing goes for you if you're doing an audiobook, or if you're doing, maybe it's an acted out training video, or it's, maybe it's, uh, it's, you know, some form of animation.
You know, that. That person watching or listening, they can't see you. They need to know the feelings that are being brought there. They need to know, uh, like, how, how this picture is being painted. They want to be able to picture that character in their mind. So how can you make that happen with the script that you are given or the, the, you know, the, the novel that you have in front of you?
There's so many different ways, but it does come back to, All right. sitting down Dissecting it a little bit and understanding where you want to take it, you know That's what they did back in 1938 to make war of the world. So incredibly believable that People I mean people ended up Calling the cops and like, you know, trying to, you know, go ahead and get out of town and like, whatever, like, I mean, it was so crazy when you hear about all the different things that that broadcast caused, you know, so how can you get a similar reaction?
It's all about the effort that you put in to creating that character and then, and then allowing yourself to feel whatever feelings need to be felt to bring it to life. So that is just a little bit of a. Uh, a thing that I wanted to tackle today. I just feel like this is such a cool little bit that, that we get to do as voice actors.
You know, like not everybody gets to have this kind of fun and not everybody that's in the field of voice acting allows themselves to have this kind of fun, but you really can if you want to. It's just a matter of how you look at a project and how you realize. That you can make it come to life. So listen, if you've got a topic that you want us to discuss here on the voice coaches, radio podcast, yo, hit me up info at voice coaches.
com. Let's make some magic happen. All right. And, uh, stay well, stay cool, depending on where you are in the country and in the world. And thanks for listening. We're going to have more voice coaches, radio coming at you next week.
Visit voice coaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa talks about War of the Worlds original broadcast and its impact in voice over and the world as a whole. as we celebrate National UFO Day.
