Political Ad Voice Talent
I heard a great piece on NPR yesterday with two guys who do a ton of attack ad voice-overs. Their normal voices were similar to their TV voices, but they both used subtle changes in pacing and breathing that transformed them from normal deep-voiced guys into all-knowing voices of serious condemnation. Using those voices, they then read various nursery rhymes and turned them into attack ads. Funny stuff.
There's a woman who does a lot of the GOP ads here in Minnesota, and I'm sure lots of other places, too. It's hard to describe what she does, but it's this weird sort of hiss or lisp or cutting off of the last part of a word. It so perfectly captures the prudish, pious disgust that motives certain parts of the conservative frame of mind. I'd love to know if that's really how that woman talks or if she actually uses that voice intentionally. She's either a master of her trade or an actual pious, prudish woman full of disgust.
Both the guys on NPR said they really had to check their own politics at the door. I suppose that's true in a lot of jobs, and we all do check our politics at the door in a variety of situations, such as a Libertarian swingers party. I have to think if you were a hard-core partisan it would be hard to not have second thoughts about literally being the voice of your opposition. I'm not sure I could do it, although it's entirely possible that getting paid like premium voice talent could influence my thinking on the subject.
5:34:42 PM 
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