Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Day the Voiceover Died.

Voiceover master Don LaFontaine died Monday at the age of 68.

In case the name doesn't ring a bell, watch the video below:


You may have heard people suggest you watch a movie with the sound down to feel the impact a soundtrack truly makes. A voiceover artist does just as much in a preview, or in driving the plot of a commercial. Mr. LaFontaine's voice became identifiable to us without us even realizing it. He narrated both our TV and Movie lives.

His voice was his brand, just as much as Sinatra, Johnny Cash, and Pavarotti.

Is there something about you that you can brand? It doesn't have to be exclusive - there were plenty of other voices on the airwaves. It doesn't have to be complicated or catchy. Carol Burnett had the ear tug, Johnny had the golf swing, Michael Jackson had his glove. Not their only talents or IDs, but memorable nonetheless.

Look for things that make you who you are, instead of always looking to create new concepts. The do it everywhere for 25 years. And you will be remembered as fondly as the Master of Voiceovers.

1 comment:

Abel said...

Can't believe I missed that! I gotta go look that up. I'm curious about what other movies he's done that I know. I did, in fact, know that he was the 'in a world' guy. I also recommend the video that brought together the 4-5 biggest voice-over guys in the biz. I think it was for the MTV movie awards, or even for the Oscars. It was fantastic...