Great Video with Don Lafontaine

[rfhertz]

And other great voices!

[Force Commander]

That's funny! If you are a Sci-Fi geek you might remember Nick Tate. He played pilot Alan Carter on the 1975-1978 series Space: 1999.

[jag]

You gotta love the "D.L.F." on the door of the limo!

The Disney voice guy was hilarious...so perky and happy, while all the others were so "doom & gloom."

Can any of us even hope to come close to the level of talent that was in that video? I'm pleased that this was put up (perhaps in part a tribute to Don?). I started a thread about him just after he died, but it seemed to lose interest.

No matter...it pleases me that he's getting talked about.

[Arp2]

Can any of us even hope to come close to the level of talent that was in that video? I'm pleased that this was put up (perhaps in part a tribute to Don?).

No...it's been around since the awards event it was made for.
As a matter of fact, it's been discussed here before....from that, it's been on my computer since 1/27/06 (or earlier).....

That's funny! If you are a Sci-Fi geek you might remember Nick Tate. He played pilot Alan Carter on the 1975-1978 series Space: 1999.

Never would have occurred to me! Is that still on anywhere? I'd like to see a few of those again....

[RadioCriminal]

Can any of us even hope to come close to the level of talent that was in that video?

Yes, I think as long as you've got talented people with the smarts to make themselves relevant in this specialty craft, there will always be new players among the best of the best.

Ironically, working in broadcasting has the potential to damage a voiceover career more than help it. Think about all those mush mouth, sloppy fast talkers and all those fake smiles stuffed into vocal deliveries. Radio and tv announcing will brand you and limit your horizons if you let it happen. If you're always "on" and can't relax and blend with the way regular people talk, you might be at risk right now. Sure you can't help having those great pipes. But lose the schmaltz once in a while.

While the voice actors train in pursuit of believability, range and flexibility ... we spend entire careers spitting out 85 seconds of copy in 60. At most local stations, the commercial writing is horrendous and will humiliate anybody who reads it. Give Don Lafontaine the kind of crap we read everyday and he'd still have his pipes but he wouldn't have the flow, the edge, the magic. Most of us live in a world where bright, literate, intuitive copywriters don't exist. The art of under-writing a script was never taught, never learned. Never will they hand us a crafted set of words that will make the production sound like anything other than small time hype.

My suggestion to anyone wondering if they might have potential as a voiceover talent: Try reading some good material. You'll probably have to transcribe it off of something that came out of New York or LA. See if you can read it. See if you can feel it. When you're not constantly fighting a stopwatch to force-fit the words into a much too small timeframe, you might be able to make some magic yourself.

What a giant of a talent Don was. And we've got plenty of indicators he was a good human being too. He has offered lots of advice for up and coming voiceover talents. Including getting formal voice-actor training. That's exactly what I'd do if my goal was a piece of the big time VO action.

Cheers,

Mike

[Force Commander]

[

That's funny! If you are a Sci-Fi geek you might remember Nick Tate. He played pilot Alan Carter on the 1975-1978 series Space: 1999.

Never would have occurred to me! Is that still on anywhere? I'd like to see a few of those again....

I have not seen it on TV in several years. Supposedly there is discussions with the company who now owns it for not only reruns, but a possible revival as well with a possible title of Space: 2025. A few years ago there was a fan production made called Message From Moonbase Alpha that featured former castmember Zienia Merton reprising her role as Sandra Benes. It is not available for purchase that I know of but can be watched on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnychZc03xM

I just purchased the DVD's off of ebay earlier this year and really had fun watching them in order. As extras on the DVD's they have several season 2 :30 second promos that Barbara Bain and Martin Landau did with local call letters mentioned, including a promo for WCHS-TV. I didn't even remember who ran it back in the day until I saw that.

[jag]

No...it's been around since the awards event it was made for.
As a matter of fact, it's been discussed here before....from that, it's been on my computer since 1/27/06 (or earlier).....

What I was suggesting, Arp, is that the video was posted here, at this time (i.e., soon after his death), which makes it, seemingly, a fitting tribute to Mr. LaFontaine. Surely, the vid wasn't produced as such, as it, clearly, has seen a few turns of the odometer, so to speak.