The Importance of Voice Overs

Everyone has heard a voiceover at one time or another. From the voice of Mickey Mouse, to the voice that sells you shampoo or insurance on the radio, voiceovers provide an effective way to evoke emotion or get important information across to an audience. In fact, without voiceover, media wouldn't have the same impact and the entertainment industry would be at a great loss. The importance of voiceover can be seen every day in a variety of techniques.

What is Voiceover?

Voiceover is a production technique where a voice that is not part of the production is used to speak a particular part. Voiceovers are common in radio, television, film and even theatre. Often, voice actors are hired specifically to perform voiceovers and have no other role in the production.

Techniques

Character Voices

One of the more popular uses for voiceover is to give a voice or a personality to an animated character. Think about Shrek or any other popular Disney Movie. Each character is actually someone behind the scenes with a microphone making the voice come alive. As animated movies are growing in popularity, well known celebrities are looking for voiceover roles, hoping to add a bit of variety to their acting portfolio.

Movie Narration

Another popular use for voiceover is providing narration to a movie. This type of voiceover is so common in movies, you probably don't even realize it's happening. Generally, the narrator in a movie has intimate details about the characters on the screen and provides insight for the audience as to their thoughts or emotions. In this sense, voiceover is a critical part of many movies and is necessary for keeping the audience informed. Blockbuster hit movies like Fight Club and Shawshank Redemption use voiceover to provide context.

News Reporting and Non-Fiction Television

Often voiceover is used to report the news. In fact, most television news broadcasts use voiceover as much as live anchors to report news that was taped earlier or segments that were edited beforehand. Other non fiction television that relies on voiceover includes media like the History Channel or the Discovery Channel. Particularly where the focus is educational, voiceover provides a guide for viewers to understand what they are seeing. In addition, game shows have been using voiceover for decades to announce contestants and prizes. Almost everyone is familiar with the popular voiceover from the 1970's who exclaimed "come on down, you're the next contestant on the Price is Right!".

Commercial Advertising

Advertising is another very common use for voiceover. In fact, radio is completely voiceover and actors are never seen. In fact, voiceover is so useful for radio advertisement that certain product manufacturers have signed long term contracts with voiceover actors to "brand" their products. When consumers hear the same, familiar voice representing a product, it builds instant trust and credibility. Even on television, where actors can be seen, it is more likely that a product is featured with voiceover and without an actor. Besides, a strong voiceover highlights the sale instead of the actor seen with the product.

Voiceover is an important part of our movie and television experience. In many cases, voiceover represents more than just information, but has become part of a product, building trust and credibility with consumers.

Check out a new Premium Voice over Training Course http://www.mouthymoney.com/

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Documentary Funding: The Fundraising Secret That Will Take You From Zero to $50,000 (and Beyond)

Let's be real. Fundraising is tough. No matter how good or bad the economy, no matter how wealthy the individual or how big the documentary funding pool for grants, individuals, foundations and organizations do not part with their money easily.

So how do you inspire people to give up their cold hard cash? Ah, the million dollar question!

Here's the secret that inspires giving and gets people to take action.

Ask for the amount you need, state when you need it.. and create urgency!

Filmmakers often have the fantasy that one big wealthy donor or a big foundation will write one big fat check to cover the full budget of the film. Don't get me wrong. It can happen. And it certainly doesn't hurt to ask, however here's the strategy that will most likely work best for you, especially if you are a new filmmaker.

Ask for small, specific amounts of money from a lot of different people and set deadlines for when the money is needed. Even if your documentary funding budget is $250,000, don't ask for that full amount all at once. It's a daunting number that will intimidate most people.
Raise money in manageable chunks based on how much you need at that particular moment and how much you think your donor can give. Say you need $5,000 in documentary funding at the very beginning to film your first 10 interviews. Tell people that's what you're doing and that you are raising money for that particular purpose.
Build trust and confidence. This is KEY to fundraising. Make sure to report back to your donors when you've raised the money and done what you said you were going to do. They may be willing to give again or at the very least be willing to fundraise on your behalf!
Use crowd funding. If you are a first time filmmaker with no track record, you are going to need to embark on a grassroots fundraising campaign among people you know. A great place to start is with online fundraising hubs such as KickStarter or IndyGoGo.
It is absolutely essential when fundraising for a documentary to create the best trailer possible. People need to see what you're trying to accomplish and they need to feel inspired to help you. You must convince people you have the passion and the determination to pull off your project.
Remember that success follows success. If you can raise the first $5,000 - $10,000, it gives you more credibility (especially with larger donors) when asking for the next $10,000, $20,000 or $50,000.There is no substitute for picking up the phone, pitching your idea and making the ask for a specific amount of money for a specific purpose. Filling out forms for a grant can take days, sometimes weeks and you are competing with who knows how many other projects. A passionate 10-minute personal plea to an individual who is already pre-sold on your documentary idea will often yield better and faster results.
As a general rule, cold calling does not work with fundraising. For a brand new contact, where there is no prior relationship or credibility established, send a letter of introduction first (hopefully along with your trailer) and THEN call and follow-up as needed.
Do your research and approach people at their level. Before asking someone for money, make sure your project is a natural fit for them and that you have a general idea of what they might be capable of giving. Your college buddy might be able to pitch in $20 whereas your businessman uncle might be able to pitch in $1,000.
Last but definitely not least, communicate excitement and urgency. Making a genuine person-to-person ask is one of the hardest things you'll ever do, but it's one of the most powerful and effective ways to get documentary funding.

Faith Fuller is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and author of Desktop-Documentaries.com, an online resource guide for documentary filmmakers. For more documentary tips and articles, visit http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/.

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Is Watching 3D Bad For Your Eyes and Health?

Anyone who has ever watched a 3D movie knows that if you take your glasses off it hurts your eyes to watch it, and there may be much more to it than that it seems. What if it hurts your eyes permanently or what if it hurts your mind, as your eyes are connected directly to that, you know? Okay so, this is a good question isn't it? Is watching 3D TV, movies, or 3D commercials on your personal tech devices bad for your health?

There was an interesting article in SlashDot Online News recently titled; "3D Hurts Your Eyes" on July 23, 2011 posted by Timothy where he quotes "sajjadG" which stated;

"A research team at the University of California, Berkeley has determined that viewing content on a stereo 3D display hurts your eyes and brain, noting visual discomfort, fatigue, & headaches. 3D content viewed over a short distance from personal tech devices is more visually uncomfortable when the stereo content is placed in front of the screen. In a movie theater, it's the opposite: Stereo content that is placed behind the screen causes more discomfort than scenes that jump out at you."

Incidentally, after writing on 3D technology over the last good many years, and holographic technology as well, it appears we will be seeing more and more as time goes on. There was also an interesting article in the Review Section of the Wall Street Journal on July 16, 2001 (A Cultural Conversation with Lenny Lipton) titled; A 3-D Maven Weighs In, by Michelle Kung which stated; "If you're going to charge more for a 3-D Movie, you better deliver." Something, I myself have always believed, as I am sure most of us serious movie goers do.

This does bring up another point, that is this; if the movies are done poorly then the 3D movie might hurt your eyes worse, and if the companies making the movies don't care, or get lazy with this technology, they "might" be harming their viewers, and hurting human health. Personally, this makes perfect sense to me, as there have also been other studies with computer monitors with certain types of screens which turned out to be bad for the eyes and brain as well.

Perhaps, there is a lesson here for early adopters of new technologies, as well as those companies always on the leading edge of these technologies. Meanwhile, it's definitely something to consider for those of us in the industry. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,222 articles by July 22, 2011 at 2:22 PM is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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Mock and Awe - It's a Mistake

Not long ago, the screenplay writer who wrote Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, and the Brady Bunch had passed away. He had brought quite a wonderful thing to American society, and injected good values in all of his writings. It seemed there was a lesson in every single episode. Then things changed, and we went into the era of nastier sitcoms, and the writers had changed too, instead of lessons involved in the shows, it was all about who could cut the other person down, and get in the last laugh.

What's unfortunate about this is that people imitate what they see on TV.

We all know that television has had a profound effect on American society, and globally as well. Often, the television has been used for good things, but in the case of situational comedies it has detracted from the family unit, pulled people apart, created animosity, and all of that has played out in the real world. We see it today with negative political attack ads, in Internet forums, and there are a lot of folks with hurt feelings. Running around mocking your fellow citizen is not wise, and it also Institutes the revenge factor.

"Mock and Awe"

Mocking another human being, a friend, an associate, or someone in your office at work is not a wise thing to do. Yes, the individual who gets the last laugh, or creates the greatest put-down is often admired by others, but I would suggest and submit to you that people didn't like it when that was done to them in high school, and they still don't enjoy being mocked in adulthood. When we look around on TV, and this latest era of reality TV shows, all we see is more of the same.

Indeed, it's all been a terrible mistake, and it's far too late to go around and blame the screen writers Guild in Hollywood, or the directors that put forth the movies and TV shows which people mimic in the real world. Rather, I would suggest to you that it's time to change this nonsense, bring a little humility, respect, and courtesy back to our society, and that goes for online social networks as well. We hear all the time people complain about bullying, but where does it all start?

They say that sticks and stones will not break your bones, and names will never hurt you, but apparently that isn't true. It seems people are quite upset these days, and now are calling for anti-bullying laws online, and trying to dictate people's free speech, reduce the hostility, and mean-spirited comments online. Yes, it would be nice if people controlled themselves, but race baiting after all these years of "mock and awe" doesn't seem appropriate either. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,222 articles by July 22, 2011 at 2:22 PM is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now...

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The Elements of a Great Racing Movie

Today's technology allows just about anybody to make a great racing movie. Yet a tremendous amount of content is produced which has little or no value to the viewer. What I'm talking about is the onboard or in-car racing movie, not the mega-studio production ones. How do you make a motor sports film that captures the imagination of the viewer, yet shows all the critical action on track?

Everybody knows that actual racers produce the most realistic films. However, the production quality is usually less than perfect, even with today's high definition cameras. The first step is pretty simple in concept but tricky in practice, that is, mounting the camera correctly. Without a good camera mount that isolates the camera from the intense vibrations of a racing vehicle and points it in the right direction, it is impossible to capture the video you want. At the beginning you should spend the money for a good camera mount and place it in the interior, on your helmet, or the bodywork in such a way that it captures the most exciting racing action.

The next step is the racing movie content. This includes not just the video component, but the audio and car data as well. Assuming you have the camera pointed in the right direction and it's capturing great racing scenes, what should it sound like? Most people go with the good old motor sound with screeching tires approach. This is great if your vehicle has a nice sound like a V8 or wailing motorcycle. There are other alternatives for sound as well. You could do a voice-over, for example, if you were creating a teaching video or wanted to remember all the in-depth details of a particular race. Or you could make a music video out of it by dubbing over a song with the appropriate intensity level.

Do you have a racing data analysis system? Most of these systems allow you to add a data overlay to your racing movie, showing RPM, G-forces, braking, gear selection, and other performance metrics. Unless you are producing a technical race driving video, however, you should be conservative with these types of video overlays because they can distract the viewer from the main racing action. Less is more if you want the best entertainment experience.

Finally, if your racing movie is for advertising purposes you might want to add a title, introduction, and conclusion featuring your company with contact information, logo, website, etc. Video is an excellent way to advertise your product or service. The key is to produce an engaging, exciting racing movie that has a chance to go viral, or at least gets forwarded around because it's entertaining.

To get a free service that delivers an exciting racing movie selection from hundreds of motor racing websites visit http://www.trackvids.com/

About the author: Dann Roberts is an auto racing and motorsports enthusiast who writes about products and services that enhance your driving, riding and racing experience.

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Slow and Low: Great Death Scenes

Great death scenes are really hard to come by. Lots of death scenes in film. I'm talking about the really good ones.

Loud and explosive or slow and low? Slow and low are best, most suspenseful and shocking. Scare your hairs on end.

Take an early film noir death scene that has cinephiles still in awe today: Double Indemnity,the 1944 film Billy Wilder directed. Film noir was then called a "B" movie until the French took a fancy, noticing the great contrasts of shadow and light and the peppie story lines and anti-heros. Big in those days, like Indy flicks today. This one has Barbara Stanwyck in a lip-lock with lover Fred MacMurray when he pokes his pistol in her ribs and bye bye Barb. Double Indemnity is an entertaining tale of greed, sex and betrayal in LA. And you thought MacMurray did nothing exciting before he raised those three boys.

Another slow and low is the fast shot the heart scene in LA Confidential, leaving Kevin Spacey a few gasping moments, enough enough to breathe the movie's greatest clue: Rollo Tomasi.

The best slow, and scary and creepy is the cross-bow through the gut in Deliverance.That scene let actor Bill McKinney all but almost steal the movie. John Boorman directed the 1972 film and was nominated for an Oscar. A tale of four city businessmen who thought they were going to take an adventuresome but safe canoe trip down a Georgia river, but had no idea what lawlessness lurked within. The movie is based on James Dickey's best-selling novel, Deliverance. The film propelled Burt Reynolds to stardom, added fuel to Jon Voight's already rising star, put Ned Beatty on the map and showed off Ronny Cox's beautiful guitar playing.

McKinney, a terrorizing, murderous hillbilly, is impaled by Reynold's cross-bow. He inches forward, slowly, back arched, pointing up at something. The camera swings around and around, character to character, showing their bulging eye shock, terror, curiosity, revulsion. Until the man finally plops on a tree limb, staring up, mouth agape. Everyone is paralyzed. The dead man's hand twitches. "Is he dead?"

I saw Deliverance again a few days ago after many, many years. When it came out, a friend and I snuck in the local theatre because we were young teens and heard it was a wild movie and Reynolds and Voight were mega hunks. It was and they were.

I never followed either Reynolds' or Voights' careers. Deliverance, though, still is a riveting, excellent movie. Directing, acting, cinematography, Dickey's terrifying tale. Anyway, John Boorman is one of my favorite directors. I love Point Blank. People think Lee Marvin's best role was in The Dirty Dozen but Point Blank really was his film.

The HD and Blu-Ray versions have running commentary by John Boorman, the Blu-Ray also has a vintage feature called "The Dangerous World of Deliverance." The movie was made for $2 million and grossed something like $46 million. Well. Squeal like a pig.

GM Thomas

I'm a lover of great books, great cinema, great music and great people. Oh yeah, I dig gardening, too. I have been writing even before my graduation from the University of Florida many moons ago. I've parlayed that with a love of nature and wildlife, using what I earn to help pay for wildlife rehabilitation supplies. Oh yes and a new DVD now and again.

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How to Improve Your Voice Over Career

If you work in voice over, sometimes it's easy to forget that you are your own product. With this in mind, it's very important that you keep not only your voice in tiptop shape, but also, your brand. In addition to working at your technique, there are several ways to improve your overall product. Learning a few tips will not only increase your marketability, but overall, will enhance your voice over career as well.

Remember Your Target Audience

Often, we get so caught up in work that we forget who we are working for. Don't let this mistake happen to you. Keep in mind who your target audience is. Doing this will help you keep things in perspective. Besides, voice over is a bit different than traditional acting, it's important to stay focused and remain truthful to your trade. For instance, if you are targeting a certain audience, avoid wasting your time by training your voice for another.

Develop Your Brand

One very easy way to improve your voice over career is to develop your brand. In other words, define exactly the type of voice over you do and do it well. If you present a fantastic character voice, than choose to highlight your talent by finding work that showcases your ability to bring characters to life. Do not get caught up in the "jack of all trades and master of none" routine. It makes no sense to market your voice for something other than what you are capable of providing. In addition, an important part of developing your brands is to decide what name you want and stick with it. If you are going to have a stage name, fine, but be consistent.

Increase Your Visibility

One of the best ways to get unnoticed is to be invisible. On the other hand, if you are looking for work actively and make your presence well known, it is more likely that you will get seen. If you are not already online, create a website and hire a professional webmaster to make certain that your online presence is professional. Nothing turns off a potential client like an amateur website with spelling mistakes or unpolished material. In addition, remember to include a contact page that is visibly pleasing and easy to navigate. Avoid flashy design and anything that is too wordy. Clients are looking for voice over talent not website design.

Improve Your Technique

A fairly obvious suggestion, but one that gets overlooked nonetheless - Practice, practice, practice. This means go to seminars, read literature on the industry and educate yourself. There is never too much knowledge when it comes to learning a profession. Learn what types of voice over is the hottest in the market. Learn the trends in voice over, or anything else you can get your hands on. Consider hiring a voice over coach. Working with a professional a few days a week gives you the opportunity to focus specifically on any areas that may need improvement.

Enhancing your voice over career is easy if you follow a few tips. Improve your technique, develop your brand and increase your visibility with a great website.

For a terrific Premier Voiceover course see http://www.mouthymoney.com/

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