May 2003 RAP
May 2003 Highlights
Feature: Voices for the Voice-over
Actor
By Don Elliot
We hear straight from Vanessa Gilbert of the
Tisherman Agency, one of the leading voice-over
agencies. Veteran LARP, Neil Ross, Beau Weaver and I
share, in a very positive way, how we made the
transition from DJ to V/O actor. And we get a truly
inspirational story from Shotgun Tom Kelly, who
reluctantly took action and invested his time and money
into learning a new craft and reaping the resultant
payoff.
Interview: Ed Gursky - VOA Music
Mix, Washington, DC
By Jerry Vigil
The Voice of America is a government funded,
international multimedia broadcasting service with a
weekly audience of some 94 million people around the
world. VOA broadcasts over 1000 hours of news,
informational, educational, and cultural programs every
week from its facility in Washington, D.C. The VOA
employs more than 1200 people in the U.S. and overseas.
One of those individuals is Ed Gursky, the Operations
Manager for VOA Music Mix. Ed's intriguing career has
included programming, on-air, and production gigs at
WKTQ and WWSW in Pittsburgh, and WPGC in Washington,
D.C. as well as a stint with the FCC! This month, Ed
sheds some light on that understated broadcasting
monster known as the Voice of America.
Test Drive: Waves Broadcast &
Production Bundle
By Steve Cunningham
Its been more than three years since we last sampled
the software plug-ins from Waves Ltd., arguably the
"Rolls Royce" of software audio processors. The company
has been busy in that time indeed. Waves have developed
several additional ranges of software processors, and
most recently they've packaged the best of several
categories together as the new Broadcast and Production
Bundle.
Radio Hed: Time Stretch
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Y'know how sometimes a single moment in your life can
seem like an eternity? How about that experience where
you want to go back and savor a special moment again and
again?
With radio, you can give the listener those experiences,
because the constraints of time disappear when you're
interacting with the imagination..
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks -
How Do You Make Your Commercial Copy "Creative"?
Q It Up: This months question is for those of you who
write commercials. How do you make your scripts "creative"? What resources
do you use to generate creative copy? Do you have an idea bank? Do you use
online services of any kind? Do you have brainstorming sessions? Perhaps you
just take a walk outside or listen to a sound effects CD. Tell us how you
inject creativity into your commercial scripts.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
There was a time when I wanted one piece of gear in
my studio above all others. They could keep Pro-tools,
Neumanns, Focusrite blue pre-amps, and every keyboard or
rack-mounted synth in my drool-stained audio catalogs,
as long as I could have the one magic tool that I had
seen during a visit to a big league radio station. With
that mystical device, I knew that I could transform
myself into a real Creative Producer.
Feature: My Own Private Dilemma
By Craig Jackman
I'm in a dilemma. I don't know if I should feel the
way I do about this, but I do know that Im not going to
hear strings of sympathy from the vast majority of
Producers around the world. What's bothering me is a
"gift" of assistance from my PD. To be more specific, a
barter service that includes pre-produced IDs just
waiting to have the station voice draped over them.
Feature: The Biggest Enemy of a
Successful Campaign Could Be the Client - Part 1:
Changing Copy
By Holly Buchanan
You've spent a lot of time writing and/or producing a
commercial for a client. Its your best effort. You feel
like its really going to work for them. You send it off
with the sales rep for approval. The next day you hear
back. The client didn't like it. They want all sorts of
changes. So you make the changes and send off your
second best effort, only to have it come back once
again. On your 4th best effort, the client approves the
commercial. One problem, the commercial is 4 times less
likely to be successful.
The Monday Morning Memo: Advertising
in Time of War
By Roy W. Williams
Q: Id like to show my support of our men and women
serving overseas and would appreciate suggestions on how
to go about doing this in my ads.
A: Step One - think of everything that you'd like to say
to our brothers and sisters who are currently in danger,
far from the warmth and safety of their homes. Step Two
- write all these things on a sheet of paper. Step Three
- fold the paper and carry it in your pocket until the
day these people return. Step Four - give one of them
the paper, face to face and eye to eye.
|