The Guy in the Booth
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Watch out, I’m going to gush! I’m doing a little job for Harper Collins Publishing, recording author Thomas Cobb reading his novel, Crazy Heart. Yeah, that Crazy Heart. The one that was adapted for a movie in which Jeff Bridges gives a performance that may very well win him the Best Actor Oscar. And here’s the best part; Cobb’s a nice guy and he can READ. It’s like watching a movie to hear him, and, believe me, that’s not always the case. I’ve recorded other authors reading their works (no names) and the results could be painful. The producer from Harper is Michael Conroy, also nice and a real pro.I guess you can get from my site that I love the spoken word. It’s why I got into the business. And the spoken word presumes a speaker, i.e., the talent. The good ones are my heroes. They can take even mediocre copy and turn it into something fresh and surprising. How? I’ve been working with talent a long time and I’m still not sure. I think the great ones go beyond the explicit meaning of the words to the heart of the message and have trained their voices to make that heart beat. It takes a special kind of intelligence and a musician’s ear.
Sometimes I’m called upon to direct talent. I prefer to give as little direction as possible. If you have to tell someone which words to emphasize or that it’s important to give the client’s name its due, the cause is not necessarily lost, but it’s on life support. Good talent gets it and just nails it in a few takes. And when that happens, we feel a rush of endorphins that’s like a runner’s high for the sedentary.
So here’s to Tom Cobb and all the guys in the booth. Somewhat in the words of Randy Newman, “They give me reason to live.”
Labels: Crazy Heart, Harper Collins, Thomas Cobb, vo talent
posted by Martin Gleitsman 1 Comments
The Sincerest Form of Larceny
Monday, February 8, 2010
There’s a local, and very successful, furniture retailer that has serially co-opted other peoples’ creative in their TV and billboards. Most recently they have used the cut-out- figure style from South Park to represent the three brothers who are principals in the business. They do it rather well. They may have sought permission. I doubt it. But it really doesn’t matter whether they have or not. It’s a kind of abduction. In this case, an entity, barren of ideas, steals somebody’s brilliant, subversive baby and puts it to work selling stuff..... I feel better now.I hear you shouting, “Satire, Parody, FAIR USE!”, and I reply; even if it’s legal, that doesn’t make it right. Full disclosure: in the past, I have deployed sound-alikes, both voice-over and music at a client’s behest, and, frankly, it’s always made me a little queasy. I routinely warn my clients about possible legal problems, and cite the case of a Maine client who used a Woody Allen sound-alike in a book store spot. Permission wasn’t asked; the client was caught (Mr. Allen’s sister happened to be vacationing in Camden that summer) and the ad was yanked. Very embarrassing.
You might think that Allen was being petty when he sicced his lawyers on a little agency in Maine. I disagree. The Allen persona is a creation, something he spent years fashioning into a unique and successful vehicle. It is not public property.
So where is all this going? Well, there’s a lot of emulation in advertising. Much of it happens, I believe, because a client sees a movie or a TV show or a terrific spot, turns to his agency and says,‘gimme something like that!’ And because we are by profession and inclination enablers, we do.
Let me suggest an alternative. If possible, ask the client, ‘wouldn’t you like something original, something uniquely yours?’ If he or she says no, do what you gotta do.
But if you can help it, don’t short-circuit your own creativity by taking a ride on someone else’s. Be the creative the others copy.
Somebody say Amen.
Labels: advertising, creative, fair use
posted by Martin Gleitsman 2 Comments
Accidental Mentors
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
There were two of them. One was lanky, the other stout. One, a man; the other, a woman. Both were married, Both, the owners of successful agencies. Both came up in the "Mad Men" era of advertising. He in Boston; she in Chicago. Their names were Dick Conwell and Janet Body, and their philosophies of advertising were diametrically opposed.Dick was a pragmatist and used media like a blunt instrument: straight to the point, no frills, massive, highly targeted buys. Move the product any way you can, Janet felt that commercials were an art form; that quality and intelligence would move product. She was the best radio copywriter and producer I've ever worked with. She loved awards; thought they validated the work: Dick thought they were beside the point.
Janet thought Dick a vulgarian. Dick thought Janet a dilettante. I think they fascinated each other.
I met them both when I started a tinker toy of a studio in the mid '70s in Portland, ME. They were my first clients, and I was their first local studio. Before I opened, they worked with the big boys in Boston and New York. They took a chance with me in spite of my nonexistent resume and taught me everything I needed to know.
Dick swore allegiance to the client and made war on their competitors. He enlisted you and said, in effect, "follow me, this is going to be an adventure! We're going to kick the shit out of the other guys. And we're going to have fun doing it."
Janet was a master, and I, her apprentice. She demanded perfection, and stripped my skin off with a very sharp tongue if I didn't deliver. She created radio so vivid you'd swear you could see it.
Neither one of them made it to fifty. Dick had a series of strokes born of hard living and recklessness. Janet had cancer.
I am one of many who miss them.
posted by Hippo Studios 0 Comments