VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[gswartz]

As I've been listening to other people's demos, I've noticed that many of them pronounce certain words the same way I do. The thing is, I thought I was pronouncing them incorrectly. For example, when I say "for", I actually say "fur". When I say "I'm going to the store", I often say "I'm going tu the store". When I try to pronounce "for" correctly, it actually sounds weird. As a VO artist/actor, you strive to sound real so the person feels like you're talking directly to them, so does that mean that your speech, although needing to be clear, will continue to use some of the more "normal" pronunciations of these kind of words?

[Deirdre]

You need to sound natural and real while assiduously pronouncing things correctly and using proper grammar.

That can take some real acting.

One of the things that we can do when reading copy is use vernacular shortcuts now and then-- like using "t-[apostrophe]" instead of a fully-pronounced word "TO" in the sentence "I'm going to the store."

What are never acceptable are:
GIT insead of GET
JIST instead of JUST
-EEN instead of -ING as the end of a verb or gerund formation.
FER instead of FOR when the word is fully pronounced. When the word is unaccented, it sounds like F'R where the "O" is implied, but not fully given voice.
For instance: "We're there for you" with emphasis on the word "there", the word "for" is unaccented, and doesn't need a full, round pronunciation.

There are other decisions one makes over time about pronunciation choices. That's what makes a ball game.
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DBCooperVO.com

[anthonyVO]

everything db said.

Plus it depends on what you're doing (but still the basic stuff still applies) - most of the stuff i do (commercial-wise) i use ("fer" instead of "for" or something in between, "in" instead of "ing" if street, etc.) I'd never do that for industrials.

In terms of things "sounding weird" when it comes to learning "Standard American-English", it takes time for you to stop listening to yourself. If you can, try to find a local or reputable speech pathologist if you're having trouble with it - they will let you know what sounds YOU make that are not part of the Standard and then work on making them part of your everyday speech.

I, for example, have a tendency for weak R's and TH's - although I can now turn it on and off, it no longer sounds weird to me when if use it "correctly."

-Anthony

[BenWils]

The term..."barstool announce" is used quite a bit now a days....so while wanting to sound correct and proper is "right on" you have to, as said before by DB and Anthony, find the balance so you sound like a regular person conveying a message to another regular person..... "regular" is up to you to define. It is also an art/science, which I have not yet mastered.....

Too proper and you sound like an announcer....so whatever sound you are going fer....os....for....keep that in mind. Hitting your t's on words and other things makes one sound more on the announce side of things and possibly somewhat un-natural.

Welcome to the vo-bb!
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Ben


"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

[Spacegypsy]

Ultimately, it depend on your director or the person you send the files to.
Even as a British VO, I get asked for "fur" rather than for "for"!

[Bruce]

The use and pronunciation of the English language will continue to change, with or without us, but we can certainly slow the change down, keeping some semblance of a civil tongue about us.

I just hope that "Ait" and "Sup?" don't supplant the original "Everything is all right" and "What is happening my good man?" any time soon.

I'm reminded that the upstart students of Harvard University were chastised severely by the community at large in the 1700's for contracting and slurring the original farewell salutation of "God be with ye" into "Goodbye".


Bruce
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Hart]

caught a national spot on our station today. Well known ESPN talent doing an endorsement spot. Not sure how he pronounced vase but it wasn't with an S or a Z. Something in between the two. Kinda funny sounding.
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Hart Voice Overs Blog
Brian Hart Productions

[anthonyVO]

s'all good, do'.

-Anthony

[Diane Maggipinto]

In OOOtah, it's ignernt and awnry (that's ignorant and ornery, used to describe in some way other than its intended meaning, and usually to convey rudeness. Huh?? It's true). And, (bear with me--I know I've mentioned this before) it's sell, not sale, dill, not deal, and ohfercute to exclaim one's liking to something. Want more gravy? Poresmoreon. Weird. Luckily, I'm a Yankee by birth, and my dad always corrected our grammar. And somehow, recently, I learned to pronounce quarter as quarter, not qwahter. Then there's Italian bread and American bread. It's what we learned as kids in our Connecticut household. Now, open the light!
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

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