The all-time favorite commercial was the Twilight Zone promo featuring Jordan Peele. The spot was intriguing from the get-go, and the storyteller voice-over took you on a journey into the unknown.
Your choices for most memorable ad were the Google translation commercial and the Kia Telluride commercial. The writing for both spots was sincere and thoughtful and the voice over matched it perfectly. The Google script featured a unique, reassuring, international voice, while the Kia commercial conveyed vulnerability as strength through the voice of a young boy. Although the deep, (often announcery) voices tended to dominate the Super Bowl ads once again, it was the raw, unique, and vulnerable spots that stood out as most memorable. It's curious that the spots that went against the stereotypical, masculine sports-fan were the ones that stuck with us.
Otherwise, there was a lot of variety: many of the reads were warm and friendly, smoky or sensual, high energy or announcery, and there were even a handful done in character.
The biggest observation that nearly everyone spoke about was the glaringly uneven ratio of commercials voiced by men versus women. We counted 35 spots voiced by men and only 10 voiced by women, and your tallies were all roughly the same. That's right, less than one third of the voice over was performed by women. One might argue that it makes sense in an event with a predominantly male audience, however a recent Forbes article states that "in 2017, the NFL estimated roughly 45% of football fans were female, [and in 2018] women constituted about 49% of the 108 million-plus people who watched the game." Half of the audience is women, which raises the question: if there is equal representation in the audience, why isn't there equal representation in the voice over?
Perhaps the uniqueness and vulnerability that we saw will continue to evolve in voice over throughout the course of the year. Maybe at the next Super Bowl we'll hear even more of what we already know: that women can sell to sports fans, that soft-spoken men can raise our spirits, and that unique voices can inspire us.
We've got some great classes headed your way next week and there are a handful of spaces available in each of them! Take a look...
Guess who's back?! That's right! Lil' Dino has returned to usher in the fall with a Labor Day Weekend Flash Sale!
Inspired by the three-week intensive some of our students recently completed, Danny spoke with Voice One Vocal Health instructor Julia Norton who has over 25 years of experience teaching people how to have a free and healthy voice.
It started on July 20th. 23 days and 138 hours later, our Summer Fast Track is complete. I watched these students grow and flourish over these three weeks, and here’s what I came away with:
Wanna know a great way to end your kids' summer vacation? With Voice Over, of course!
Danny spoke with Voice One Founder Elaine Clark, who has over 30 years experience as a casting director in video games, anime, toys, corporate narration, documentaries, and commercials, about what it means to be a casting director.
Courage to what? Speak, fight back, be heard, perform voice over, recite poetry, sing, rap, record, and amplify your authority.
An Interview with Top Dialect Coach Doug Honorof
Sally shares a bit of wisdom she heard from a former coach that has helped boost her confidence during auditions.
An upcoming class to practice "inhabiting an audition"
Having the backing of talent agents can be critical to our success!
Sally reflects on her early resistance to the union in her prior work, and how important the actors' union is to her.
Please join us for an upcoming event featuring our local SAG-AFTRA union rep!
Sally takes us back to her early days of voice acting and the origins of her cleverly crafted persona, Actor Girl.
Why every voice actor needs personal branding and self-promotion.
The importance of those "additional skills" - A little more about our Business & Marketing, Advanced Marketing, and Home Recording classes
We are thrilled that the incredible Amanda Rose Smith will be here at Voice One for a three-hour audio editing workshop.
The Daytime Conservatory takes you and a small group of peers on a ten-week tour of the core, expanding your range by immersing you in scripts from across the VO-spectrum.
Sally recounts a pivotal moment in her voice over training
We sent out a Super Bowl scavenger hunt to aide you in watching the year's biggest commercials with a critical eye. Many of you sent us your answers, and we wanted to share some of our biggest take-aways.
Voice One offers a beginning improv class that takes you through the the basic rules of improv (believe it or not, there are rules!) through games and scenes. Laura Derry creates a fun and safe space for you to succeed and fail and you'll laugh and learn a lot!
A guide for watching the Super Bowl commercials with the critical eye of a professional voice over actor.
We are premiering a new class called Storytelling in VO. The class takes place over two Thursdays: January 31st and February 7th from 6:30pm-9:30pm taught by Sally. The class will cover the short story format, with scripts from commercials, corporate narration, literature, and children’s books.
Sally tells her own voice over story - how she went from dancer to voice actor.
