Standing the Test of Time

Written by Johnny George Tuesday, 20 July 2010 17:11

     I was going through some of my old tapes and "stuff".  Yeah, I'm one of those Pack Rats.  I've got tapes going back farther than I'd like to admit.  And the trouble is, many may be nothing but scrap now due to them being stored in a haphazard way.  No low-humidity special rooms or packaging.  Are you serious?  But I digress...

 

     I wanted to share with you something I found that I have now re-saved as a MP3.  In Indianapolis, we had a woman's clothing store back in the 70's called Dorothy's.  Some of you may remember it.  It was at several of the main shopping centers.  But the point here is their unique form of advertising.  The "Voice".  Dorothy's husband, a real down to  earth, straight-shooting kind of guy, voiced all the ads.  No acting experience.  Just told it like it was.  In other words, exactly what agencies want the voice talents to sound like today.  Natural, "real", non-announcer type.

 

     Give this spot from 1975 a listen and see if you don't agree that this spot stands the test of time. 

 

DOROTHY'S - RESESSION SALE :60 seconds - 1975

 

     Listen how Dorothy's husband, Herb voices the info with a "I don't give a damn - listen if ya wanna" attitude and then closes out with his signature tag, "...My wife is Dorothy."  Great ear-catcher that worked well. And received a lot of attention back then.  Would probably win an award today. 

 

     Did ya like that cool jazz music they always put under copmmercials back then.  Aggh!

 

 

 

Stop that NOISE!!

Written by Johnny George Friday, 16 July 2010 09:38

 

If you are a voice talent and record at home, you no doubt have run into the problem of landscaping mowers, etc., right?

 

We live in a small condo community where our previous landscaping company was made aware of my recording needs and promised to start at our condo when they first got in at 9AM.  They were pretty much done around us by 10:30 and I was a happy camper.  Our new landscaping company comes in at 1PM and doesn’t seem to have the same people here each week, so my pleading of quiet on Tuesdays falls on deaf ears.

 

It is hit or miss on those days.  First they cut, then a guy comes around later with the weed whacker and then another guy finishes up with the blower the next hour.  So my Tuesday afternoons are shot or at least I have to work around them.  It’s very frustrating.  I try to push off clients to other days all together.  It doesn’t always work.  Lately, God has been helping by raining on Tuesdays.  Trouble is – that just pushes them into Wednesday, etc.

 

The way I’m set up, there’s no real “other” place in my condo to go and hide from the noise.  I deal with it the best I can.  It’s the low frequencies that kill us. 

 

 Amy Taylor, a fellow VO artist had some suggestions:

 

1)    Record during periods when you know it will be quiet. This might mean keeping a log that details the intervals and times that buses go by or when the neighbor has their lawn mowed.

2)    Choose a different part of your home to record in. Maybe there is a better place soundproofing wise that you can record in. The environment might not be as inviting or bright, but if it improves the ambiance for recording, give it a shot to see if you can make a new arrangement work.

3)    Build an isolation booth. There are ways that you can soundproof your recording space. A number of videos are articles are online about how you can do this. The solutions range from expensive whisper rooms to cheap do-it-yourself projects.

 

My walls are doubled and the R factor of the insulation is the best I could get when we built this.  Most of the noise comes in via the window.  My next move WILL have an isolation booth.

 

Doin’ the best that I can…

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe Audition for MAC

Written by Johnny George Thursday, 24 June 2010 10:07

Hey Production People 

 

Adobe Preps Audition for Mac

 

San Jose, CA - June 23, 2010 - Adobe is preparing to release a new version of Audition, the recording, mixing, editing and mastering software, that will be available for the Mac for the first time. Adobe encourages creative professionals to sign up to be notified when the beta is available so they can test some of the new features and provide the product team with their feedback at http://www.adobe.com/go/audition_labs. The beta version for the Mac is expected to be available in winter 2010.

Updates planned for Adobe Audition 3.0 include native multichannel support for 5.1 surround sound, noise reduction and restoration capabilities, and new audio effects, including de-hummer, de-esser and volume leveler.

 

Adobe Audition 3.0 for Windows is available now.

 

 

Quick Tips

Written by Johnny George Saturday, 19 June 2010 16:29

Easy PDF's

If you need to create a PDF file that all computers can see and you want to do it for FREE - try www.PrimoPDF.com.  You can create a PDF from more than 300 different file types (Excel, Word, etc.) Basic version is free.

 

Virus Scanner

If you feel you have a file that may possibly have a virus, trojan or other type of malware, go to www.VirusTotal.com and upload the file.  This site will analyze the file with nearly 40 different anti-virus engines using the most recent virus detection information and give you a report for each file.  This is a FREE service.

 

Word Count Tool

If you are needing to figure out the proper word count to a script, article or written text - just copy & paste into this simple Word Count Tool and hit "submit".  Ta-Da!  www.wordcounttool.com/

 

 

Have you any "Freebie" ideas that would be helpful for others?  Please feel free to list them here.

 

 

How far will YOU bend over?

Written by Johnny George Thursday, 03 June 2010 16:41

I just had to write this in my blog for one good reason.  I was stupified!  Grrrrrrrrr....  That is a word, right? 

 

I was checking out the available auditions on Voices.com when I ran across a budgeted narrative for 100.00.  Now, if you know the SurePay system of Voices.com, you know that they keep a portion of that 100.00 for themselves.  Ok.  That will leave the talent 90.91 for their efforts.

 

Ok...so why am so dismayed?  Well, I usually will not bother with the 100.00 jobs if my plate is full from my regular load.  Well, I had a minute to peruse the info and check out the script they wanted the voice talents to audition for.  When I opened the script, it wasn't a few paragraphs or a page for a hundred bucks....it was a 3,125 word narrative.  Three-thousand and twenty-five words...for 90.91???  Are you serious?  O-M-G!  For you faint-at-heart mathematicians - that is almost 20 minutes of copy to be recorded, edited, converted and uploaded for 90.91 and even less if you were to be paid by PayPal which would take another 2.94 out of that!

 

For an average 3125 word narrative project, my rates, which are competitive, would span from a low of 20.00/min. to a high of 75.00/min. which translates to a low of 390.62 to a high of 1464.85.  And this joker was lucky enough to get 20 people to respond and then one of those respondents will cut this lovely script and only be paid enough to possibly fill up their gas tank twice.  (Your mileage may vary)

 

Who ARE these unscrupplus idiots who devalue our efforts and offer such a ridiculous rate or better yet - who are these morons willing to do it for that price?  As long as there are bottom-feeders on both sides of the voice business - these rates will exist.  And it's so sad to think that some feel that this is an appropriate fee to pay or that it's an acceptable rate to receive for that amount of work. 

 

I don't care if you are brand new to the biz...figure it out or ask questions or challenge things like this to see if it's competitive.  Don't settle for a low-ball figure or you'll be looking up to everyone for the rest of your young career.  Set a standard.  Or follow the advice of some of the pro's who are always available to offer their help on about every forum out there.

 

And you, Mr. & Mrs. Thrifty - please ask around and find out what a good rate should be for your project.  The Internet is full of information today and there's just no good excuse for ANYONE not being able to make a judgement call on something that effects so many peoples wallets.  This effects us all.  Novice or pro.  Clients who hire cheap labor are just like the scabs that do it out there in other industries like, clothing, construction, farming, etc...  Look on the Voices.com Rates page if you don't know what to charge or receive.  OMG!  This should bother EVERYONE, because it touches all of us.

 

(Climbing down off my soapbox)

 

Ahhhhh...I feel better now.

 

 

 

Auditions - Spring 2010

Written by Johnny George Friday, 21 May 2010 13:52

     Spring has sprung.  Seems the economy isn't slowing down in this area.  Ever so often, when time allows, I'll post some of the more interesting auditions that come my way via my agents, P2P and direct client requests.  Some of these got away...some we got.

 

  Glad to say that several of these came through to completion.  It's still a great form of practice to capture the good jobs!  

 

The Voice Talents Prayer

Written by Johnny George Wednesday, 19 May 2010 15:21

I read this prayer from one of my fellow voiceover associates and he has graciously allowed me to reprint it.  Take a look.

 

Dear God,

      Thank you for giving me the unique and privileged opportunity to be in the voiceover business.  Not too many people can say that they absolutely love what they do, but I can!

      I’m grateful for clients who must be the absolute best in the world.  Well, except for that one guy that totally scammed me, but that’s between You and him now.  Please bless my clients!  Make their efforts and hard work completely successful.  Overwhelm them with the rewards of a job well done.

      And thank you for the fellow voice talents You’ve put in my life.  You’ve made me better by knowing them, and I am inspired, motivated and challenged by each of them.

      Lord, there are some folks who don’t get enough credit or appreciation in this business: the engineers, and producers, and writers, and translators that make magic out of my often inane and inadequate performance.  Please bless them in a special way!

      But most of all, thank You for a wife and kids that put up with my idiosyncrasies and weirdness.  You’ve given them great patience and a high tolerance to my obsession.  I know it’s not right to stay up until 3am working on a silly audition that I have a 1 in a 1000 chance of getting, but how cool is it that I can!?!?!

      I really only have one thing to ask for.  Would it be OK if I kept doing this?  I mean, would You connect me with the right people so that I can keep doing this for a long time?  That would be awesome!

      So, I just wanted to say THANKS!  I know I don’t deserve it, but WOW, You’ve been good to me!   I am of all people most fortunate, and I am deeply, deeply grateful.

      dan

P.S.  By the way, thanks for helping me figure out where that stupid buzz was coming from in my studio.


A Voice Talent's Prayer by Dan Hurst - May 2010

 

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Thanks Dan.

 

 

JC Video Promo

Written by Johnny George Monday, 03 May 2010 13:45

Now Showing...

 

     As you opened the Johnny George Communications website, in the center was our new Video Promo.  The window is one of several that slide up to allow you to focus into what you are looking for on our Voiceover pages. You may also access it via our menu on the left.

 

     Produced by good clients of ours, Pixability, we wanted to be able to market our style, share some of the company we work with and give our potential clients a taster of what we are all about. 

 

     Many thanks to Bill and the gang at Pixability for putting up with my knit-pickin'.  They are the best.  If you need any sort of web video, these are the guys to call.  See their web address at the end of our video.

     Grab a small bag of popcorn and give it a watch!

 

 

 

Auditions - Winter 2010

Written by Johnny George Friday, 16 April 2010 17:40

We last checked in on our latest auditions in January.  Here are several of what we have had the opportunity to audition through February so far:

 

• Cabrini College
• Atlas
• Mediacom
• Bank of Ann Arbor
• Disney Alliance
• Sears Service
• Bright House Networks
• Hungry Howies
• Captain D's
• Centerpoint Energy
• Rhode Island Lottery
• Sage Technologies
• Exxon
• Shoney's
• Carmax
• Huntington Bank
• Elanco
• Tom Adam's
• Milwaukee Journal
• YMCA, NYC
• GW Hospital
• Billy Graham Evangelical Assn.
• Coton
• Scoop Away
• Bailey's Irish Coffee
• Value City
• NASA
• Cardinal Health
• AAA
• Budweiser
• OK Tourism
• White Castle
• Lee County Tourism
•  

Auditions listed are from current agencies, my talent agents and online membership-based online sites.

•  
•  

 

Social Links now available

Written by Johnny George Thursday, 15 April 2010 17:31

     If you haven't been by our website recently, we just launched our new Social Links to Facebook, Linked in and YouTube.  You can follow our dribble and nonsenceical rants and raves on Facebook and Linked in.  You'll noitice that the forums on Linked in for the voice talent community has become quite, uh, vocal.

 

     Additionally, we have uploaded a variety of TV spots to YouTube we voiced for clients over the past few years. Car spots, colleges, doctors, amusements and more.

 

     We welcome your comments and opinions, as always, and hope to see some participation in the forums and our daily observations.  Jump in - the water's fine.