VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Deirdre

The Differential
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Gp · Guest

Love it! Although it is a little bit condescending in manner...sort of...I really like that style. Not that it could work today...or could it?

JBarrett · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:33 am Post subject:

Fun video! If that were being cast these days, though, they'd ask for Morgan Freeman and do all the visuals in CG.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but part of the reason stuff from that time period sounds the way it does is because the mics weren't as sensitive. The voiceoverist had to project more, and therefore the delivery didn't sound as natural/conversational. That might have contributed to that condescending feeling you described.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:50 am Post subject:

I'm sure you're onto something, there, JB. Not only did these announcers project more, but they also made sure the consonants at the ends of words were heard clearly.

And, if anyone has ever wondered why the golden age announcers sometimes cupped their free hand over their ear, it's because many of them worked on the live radio broadcasts that featured orchestras and studio audiences. Whether they chose not to wear headphones or there weren't enough to go around, the announcers would cup their hand over their ear to hear themselves over the music, laughter and/or applause.
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bobbinbeamo · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 1:17 pm Post subject:

The VO reminds me of the same approach in those old B&W newsreel films we used to see in theaters from long ago & far away.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:31 pm Post subject:

Did someone say 'newsreels?'

Here's one of my faves. Today, we take for granted live television feeds from around the world. It all started in 1962 with Telstar (designed and built in NJ).

From this newsreel page, you can find many others. Have fun, history buffs!
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KarenL · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 11:08 am Post subject:

re: Telstar
Check out that analog screwdriver (:20)!
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KarenL · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 11:12 am Post subject:

Remember this musical tribute to the historical moment? Of course I was only a baby when it came out...
Ninja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGhxayGDa5Q&feature=related

(oops - thread hijack - sorry!)

(edited to apologize Embarrassed

)
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Not only were mics not as sensitive, but there wasn't our contemporary compression or processing so you had to hit even levels all the way through. Ends of words could get masked by all the analogue noise. Talk about a noise floor!
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Frank F · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 1:41 pm Post subject:

Ya know, the old tube compressors from the 1940's were pretty darn smooth. The quality was far superior to those of today's FET brands as far as how they handled audio.

Mic's were very sensitive, take an old RCA ribbon mic and compare it to today's Neumann's. Other than the amplification in the new mics they both will be as sensitive.

Carbon mic's on the other hand had almsot NO sensitivity.

In those days there was a feeling about "how" to present VO. and it was a more "newsy", forceful, presentation which allowed for a non-emotional point of view. Today, VO's have bas^&*&*dized the style to mean "promo voice" or in your face.

Take an older mic, add contemporary preamps and there will be virtually the same noise floor as with a good condenser microphone - maybe less. Analog tubes of the day were in their infancy and yes there was noise, but with the audio playback equipment of the day, you probably didn't notice it much.

History doesn't lie about the quality of the old analog equipment.

Do not make the mistake of confusing LOUDNESS for quality.

Frank F
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Bruce · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 6:42 am Post subject:

That voice style and the newsreel style were the voices of "authority" too. If they talked that way it must be important was the feeling of the day.

B
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Gp · Guest

What I meant was, although he does sound a little condescending, it's in part because we were much more wide eyed then as a world. We didn't have all the information available to us then that we do now.
We are also quite a bit smarter than we were back then...so the delivery kind of fit, authoritative, informative, and people believed it as fact.

It doesn't work for today...you can't talk down to people, you have to talk with them. A one sided conversationalist.

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 12:04 pm Post subject:

I was thinking my mother told me she had worked with Ed Herlihy (the narrator of the Telstar video) but all the biographical data on him indicates he left Boston radio in the 1930s and she didn't work in Beantown until the 40s, so I must be mistaken. I'll ask her about it.
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