I’m a mite embarrassed that it took veteran animation writer/director/producer (among the scads of other things he does) Mark Evanier to point this out to me, but now that I’m thinking about it… Isn’t it peculiar that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences failed to include Don LaFontaine in the Oscarcast’s annual “In [...]
Archive for February 2009
No Oscar love for “That Trailer Guy”
February 25, 2009New lightbulbs for my chandelier
February 24, 2009Now that I’ve had a night to sleep on it, here’s a summary of the lessons learned in yesterday’s coaching session. I have a tendency to cut my projection too much when reading at low-to-medium volume. I’m not sure whether I’m subconsciously being protective of the microphone (afraid of overamping it) or simply feel awkward [...]
Little victories
February 23, 2009This evening, I had my first private coaching session with a new director. I’d heard from others that this director had a reputation for being difficult to please (I’d heard another student comment that he had “worked her over” in a recent session). All trepidation aside, I was looking forward to working with this individual, [...]
Demon editor
February 15, 2009This afternoon, I was reviewing some detailed written feedback from my recent narration course (thanks a ton, Chuck!) when I had a bit of an epiphany. I need to be more accepting of my gifts. I’ve always been plagued by a tendency to be overly critical of my own work. (I’m sure there are reasons [...]
Rainy days and Wednesdays
February 11, 2009If I have to trek 40 miles through the rain, Sausalito isn’t a bad place to wind up. Before my private coaching session this afternoon, I sat in my car atop the hill behind the Sausalito Public Library and looked out over Richardson Bay. The sky was glowering gray, the air clean and clear, and [...]
I’m back, and I’m blue
February 9, 2009Saturday’s second two-thirds of my “Colors of Your Voice” class rocked. We explored… Cool, centered blue. Joyful, childlike yellow. Seductive violet, whereby I channel my inner Barry White (oddly enough, white is not a color in the Thom Pinto vocal spectrum). Stark, forceful gray (or grey, if fancy is how you roll). Ominous, emotionless black. [...]
Looking for fun, and feeling orange
February 6, 2009I just got home from the first portion of a two-day course at Voicetrax entitled “The Colors of Your Voice.” It’s a system of vocal technique developed by voice artist Thom Pinto (announcer for The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and promo voice of San Francisco’s KRON-TV), designed to help the voice actor find [...]
“Less is more”
February 3, 2009That’s the mantra that was drummed into my skull over the past four Thursday evenings in my Voicetrax narration workshop. The problem, of course, is that I am by nature a “more is more” kind of guy. I’m working on that, though, at least in terms of my narrative reads. I spent a couple of [...]
