Spirit Halloween Store
Voice Direction:
Script:
Vampire, cheerleader, astronaut - the possibilities are endless. So much fun, it's scary! Spirit: The world's #1 Halloween costume store.
Congratulations to our winners, Moose Warywoda, Ashley Damsgard, and Tom Sabatino. Maybe a lot of entrants found this challenge rather scary, because many held back, while others pushed too far. And a lot of them may have thought they were exaggerating, when actually they sounded quite restrained. Just as key: A large number of people – including some on our shortlist – got so involved with the characters aspect that they seem to have overlooked that this is a commercial. Here are some tips on how to pull it all together on your coming auditions.
The initial list (vampire, cheerleader, astronaut) really stumped people – There was also a lot of odd phrasing, with emphasis on the wrong parts of words, as well as unnecessary pauses.
Edge Studio VO Tip #1
Research the client. Unsure what the client wants? Researching them can often uncover meaningful/helpful vocal direction — resulting in an increased chance of pleasing them. For example, our Second Place winner sounds young (whether she is or isn’t, we don’t know). The point is whether or not a teen or even younger voice is appropriate for this commercial? We think it is. Because if you visit their website, or find them on YouTube or elsewhere online, you’ll see that they’re not a local one-off store; Spirit is a major chain. And while their home page shows costumes that involve adult fishnet stockings, you’ll also see lots and lots of kids’ costumes. In fact, some are officially licensed from Disney, Chucky, and SpongeBob. Which brings us to …
Edge Studio VO Tip #2
Make your delivery distinctive. But be consistent – with the “personality” you present, and with the personality of the client. We heard many people trying to be distinctive, but they either went overboard with the playfulness (making the rest of the commercial anticlimactic), or stretching beyond their capability, and arguably not following direction (more on this under our First Place winner). At the other extreme, many people rushed through the opening words without coloring them at all.
Where is the middle ground? Well, above all, don’t push yourself beyond your capabilities. If you can’t do a deep voice without sounding strained or unnatural, it’s likely better not to try (unless in character, for comedic effect). Same for a juvenile voice and so forth. Expert coaching can help most people learn to expand their range. But even if you already have a whole menagerie of characters in you, is that what the client seems to want? The Director’s Notes did not say to do character voices, so they don’t want that. (When a client wants something unique, they typically state it.)
Edge Studio VO Tip #3
Pronounce the client’s name correctly, prominently, and memorably. Wow, most people forgot to do that. Almost everyone, including two of our winners, didn’t pronounce the T sound at the end of “Spirit.” (They said “Speer-ih.”) Other people rushed it. In either case, once the voice is mixed with music, or if the listener isn’t paying close attention, they might not catch it. What good is a commercial where people don’t catch the advertiser’s name?
Edge Studio VO Tip #4
Record what the client would want. Some examples: Don’t mumble. The word “fun” is not “fuh,” it ends with an “N” sound. Don’t pause unnecessarily; it lets the listener’s mind wander and sounds unnatural. And hit the important words. We lost count of how many people said “costume STORE,” rather than “COSTUME store.”
1st place winner: Moose Warywoda
Judge's Comments
Great variety and creativity. Among our top contenders, he is the only one who pronounced the client name without rushing it and/or saying “speer-ih.” We will suggest that having such different characters is not good. While this ability is sometimes a very big plus in auditions, in this case if the client wanted different characters, they likely would have said so. (As noted in our article, Spirit is a major marketer and thus probably a sophisticated talent seeker). Adding words is also usually a no-no. They could be taken as a mistake, or refusal to follow directions. Adding “non-verbal” sounds is typically fine (e.g., a laugh or a sneeze). So, while the “bah bah bah” after “vampire” is good, the words (“go team go”) after the cheerleader are not, and astronaut’s “(crackle SFX, Roger)” is somewhere in between. Also, he said “ennless” instead of “endless.” But the second half of his audition rocks; it’s clean, clear, and consistent in character. Thing is, this contest is a simulation, a learning experience, so we listen to far more than most screeners do in a real audition. (We know, because at Edge Studio, we wear both hats!) In a real-life audition, the screener would have not listened all the way through to hear how awesome his second half is. Recording quality is very good, although the volume is a bit low for maximum impact in an audition situation.
2nd place winner: Ashley Damsgard
Judge's Comments
Wonderful, playful variety! This is a very big plus. Her youthful energy is perfect for the Halloween theme. She’s pretty unpolished — all three of the opening “costumes” are the same, the name “Spirit” ends with an “ih” sound, the first word sounds like “thampire,” the word “number” sounds like “nubber,” and it sounds like she wears braces. But there are a bunch of things that are right – she sounds like a real kid, braces and all, she has good pace, nice exuberance on “endless,” the word “scary” is like a kid would dramatize it, and she punched “costume,” not “store.” Recording quality is good, though she’s a wee bit too close to the mic and it’s a tad overmodulated (too loud in spots, thus technically distorted).
3rd place winner: Tom Sabatino
Judge's Comments
A very fun addition of the laugh sound effect. There’s lots of variety on the first three words. But some uh-oh moments include the client name being the fastest word in the entire recording, and further it sounds like “Speerih.” It needs to be clear, distinct, and people need time to catch it.
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