One of my favorite words of all time: onomatopoeia.
I guess I feel that way mostly because it has more vowels than Courvoisier. Like “encyclopaedia” or “milieu”…how many vowels does it take to make the right sound? 🙂 (those crazy Francophones!)
Well, in the case of a common use of onomatopoeia, you would say Zzzz to mean someone is sleeping…or oink to simulate a pig grunting, or moo to portray a cow. But in this use of the word, Nancy Wolfson is building her 12th video VO tip around another definition of onomatopoeia: “..the use of imitative and naturally suggestive words for rhetorical, dramatic, or poetic effect…” In other words, adding something intimately human to nudge more meaning from the utterance in a way only another human can understand. This is part 12 of 13 video “teasers” leading up to the entire package: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.
Wolfson’s example with the voice talent in this video vignette is so telling. Watch:
[quicktime]http://braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/12_onomat.mov[/quicktime]
You can also see the video here: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/12.html
We’re nearing the end of this set of 13 video “shorts” gleaned from Wolfson’s complete offering of 127 tips. Honestly, I haven’t seen the whole thing in it’s entirety. But, SHEESH!…127!!! I mean, I think Wolfson is a genius, but I had NO idea that even she could stretch that much mileage out of her coursework. I shoulda known better. Even the 127-video package — as good as it is — doesn’t measure up to the time spent with Nancy in session. I’m just sayin’. Ask anyone who’s been there and back…Wolfson knows how to challenge you to be better in ways you didn’t even know you COULD be better.
Check out the offer she’s making (it’s a steal if you ask me!) at HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.
Next week’s final installment: The Trick to Voice Acting on Tag Lines
CourVO
