February 2007 RAP
February 2007 Highlights
Production 212: The Producer's Ultimate Head Trip
By Dave Foxx
WOW! When I asked for responses from multi-station producers last month,
I thought I’d see a half-dozen emails and that would be the end of it. Guess
again Toulouse! As I write this, the ink is still wet on my copy of last
month’s issue, and I’ve gotten a TON of email with notes of congratulations
and advice. All of them offered some interesting points of view and several
commented on the actual topic of the column, using EQ to make the voice jump
out of the promo without a lot of ducking. Let’s begin with an idea for EQ
I’d never thought about and then move on to the main topic for this month;
producing multiple format imaging from one studio..
Interview: Jamie Watson, Voice Boy, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
By Jerry Vigil
This month’s RAP Interview stops off in Toronto, where we find one very
talented gentleman by the name of Jamie Watson. If you read the credits on
the RAP Awards winners, you’ve come across his name several times as the
writer and/or VO talent for several winning spots and promos. Jamie likes to
stay under the radar, but this month we’re bringing him into the spotlight
to find out what makes this Creative tick. No doubt, we’ll be hearing a lot
from Jamie in the years to come. Be sure to check out his sampler on this
month’s RAP CD for some amazing and inspiring work!
Test Drive: VoXover - Voiceover Automation Software from
Audiofile Engineering
By Steve Cunningham
While most of our voiceover sessions are simple affairs, elaborate dialog
spots using multiple voices (and actors) can become complex. Different
character’s lines may end up being recorded at different times and in
different places. Scripts are changed and re-written to accommodate new
approaches during the session, requiring manual markup or re-printing. And
while accomplished actors can often "get it right" on the first take, many
of us require several attempts to capture the writer’s intent. These takes
must be tracked during the recording process so that the best can be used in
the final spot.
Those of us who work solo have even more on our plates, since we have to
engineer as well as self-direct and act. So anything that will lighten our
load on the engineering side, so we can concentrate on our performance, is
welcome.
A few companies sell dedicated software to automate this process, although
it tends to be expensive. Now a relatively new company has released a
voiceover automation program for the Macintosh computer at a reasonable
price. I discovered Audiofile Engineering’s products about a year ago, and
have become a fan of their Wave Editor stereo audio software. Their latest
effort is voXover, which was released just after the New Year. VoXover was
created for large VO projects like videogames, but it’s highly useful for
radio production as well.
Feature: Waiting for the Rainy Season
by Craig Jackman
I've been there, often. You’ve been there too, and maybe you are there
right now. Creatively dry. The Rep comes in, needing a buffo spot or
campaign to blow the socks off a client. This time, they’ve even brought in
all the needed information, and surprise, surprise it’s even correct. The
deadline seems quite reasonable. You clear out a couple of things from your
work list to concentrate on this challenging task. You begin, and… nothing.
There’s nothing there except for the occasional rolling tumbleweed and that
Ennio Morricone spaghetti-western harmonica theme in your vast creative
wasteland.
Feature: Surviving a National Emergency... ah, err...
Contest
by Drake Donovan
It’s 2007; a brand new year! I walked into work on January 2nd refreshed
and ready to tackle the challenges that lay ahead. I was hoping those
challenges would present themselves later on in the calendar year and in the
form of several new voice-over clients willing to pay me ungodly sums of
money to be a station imaging voice. In reality, the new challenges of ‘07
were just a day away, in the form of a national contest. What follows is a
cautionary tale of ‘be careful what you wish for, because you just might get
it!’
Feature: What's In Your Toolshed?
by Steve Pigott
For years and years, people have used the saying "a bad workman always
blames his tools." In production however, sometimes "a good workman" can
also blame his tools. You can be technically and creatively brilliant, but
if you haven’t got the right quality of tools in your box, then you’re
instantly on an uphill struggle. Think about what our "tools" actually are.
OK, so they may not be big bulky things that fill up a shed, but they are
equally important instruments that enable us to do our job efficiently and
to a high standard. Radio production tools can be related to tools of other
trades in certain ways. If you buy a cheap basic drill, then you’ll get
substandard results compared to the Black and Decker 18V GELMAX with a
two-position gearbox! In our language, buy substandard tools…get substandard
production.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
A couple of months ago, we played around with the tone generator and
several effects in Audition to whip up a nice little sweeper whoosh. Judging
from the positive response, not only are some of you aspiring synthesizer
programmers and/or Sound Designers, but you’d like to learn more. Frankly,
so would I.
Radio Hed: Visual Inspiration
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Ever been emotionally touched by a painting, drawing or photograph? Why
not use pictures as inspiration for commercials? Example: your client is a
hospital that specializes in delivering babies. Search the web for pictures,
photos, paintings or drawings of your target audience: moms, babies, kids,
possibly dads and families in hospital waiting rooms.
Notes Off the Napkin: Oh, Words! Where Art Thou?
By Andrew Frame
La la la laaa.Need an idea for an article.Dee dee dumm, dee dumm.One
thousand words, give or take... now a month late to the Esteemed Editor. I
hate this. Not so much actual writer’s block, but a loss of what to write
about. One of the difficulties of writing for a trade magazine is that the
very subject-theme of the magazine gets autopsied in excruciating detail on
such a regular basis that coming up with something new – or at least a fresh
take on something old – really makes for a testy afternoon.
Monday Morning Memo: Fact-Based, or Values-Based?
By Roy H. Williams
Relentless repetition was once enough to drive your message home. But it
isn’t quite that simple anymore. The impact of your message in this
over-communicated hour depends largely on the structural basis of your
statements. A statement is either fact-based or values-based.
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