Ai's themes for Voice-Overs at Halloween

 

Click Pics to Play Songs 

 

 

As luck would have it I needed a buffer (that's right, the "family" had a lot of buffers) to get a topic for this Halloween's theme. Wait-a-minute, shant we let Ai's Chat GPT jazz do the heavy lifting and leave us laze-out on this one? Well, like a lot of things these days that you need help with, the answer lies within the Keywords my boy, it's all in the Keywords. 

 

So, we inserted these carefully constructed Keywords...What kind of Keywords son - (Ah-act-Tive Keywords General) for a Voice-Over dude wanting as much algorithmic work he can garner from this Halloween Holiday Blog post. And those Key Words are: I'm a voice-over guy that does Halloween voices and needs content for an October blog topic.

What came back was overwhelming! They broke it down with episodes and then time-etched as Week One, Week Two and so on. One in particular caught my eye (left&below), or is that eyeball? Then, Ai broke it down further and further into Deep Dive categories like; Scary & Eerie Songs. Who can forget that 'ole country fav "Don't fear the Reaper" by BOC.  

 

AI Overview
As a voice-over artist specializing in Halloween voices, October is the perfect time to showcase your craft and build an audience. A blog is an excellent way to share your expertise and engage with people who love the season as much as you do. Here are some October blog topic ideas, categorized by theme, to get your creative juices flowing.

Might want stop by The Mortuary and check out their newest attraction "Origin's of Evil" down there in NOLA...scary stuff! Take a look at their Evil Trailer of 'Queen of the Night' long running and xtra evil for sure. Got time for a Cheezy Slasher Nite Short

Back to Ai Overview

Spooky Voicemail Messages: Provide a list of short Halloween-themed voicemail scripts that people can record for their own phones, with a special emphasis on which of your characters would be best for each. 

As soon as I spotted this one I started making mental lists of where it would be most relevant in the eyes of SEO wattage - TikTok...IG...Utube/Reelz Shorts etc. And instead of providing spooky scripts, why not supply a link to say - some creatively spooky and possibly funny out-going audio messages for people to use...or at least get a few ideas. 

 

So, instead of a link, we put together the below Mp4 as an invitation to take a listen to and use any of the (four) Halloween greetings. Take in the kooky whimsical rhymings of Chris Walken (sorta) doin' his Trick of Treat chant. There's also Bela in his best ACMF form comforting Lou Costello's Facebook friends w/Happy Halloween. Try and decipher a slathering Hitch with a ditty about that Nurse-in-the-House...that's  BEHIND YOU! And Boris K and Peter Lorre with a fun-filled, seasonally persuasive out-going cell phone greeting. Click below pic to Play video

 

I'd like to point out that when I saw in the category area - The Masters of the Macabre, where it says: Write a tribute to the masters of iconic horror voice actors like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, or  Tony Todd,  analyzing what made their voices so unforgettable...I was reminded of Mr. Todd's passing almost a year ago at age 69. Always waited for his presence in the Final's franchises. In the latest rendition and his last picture he's noticeably not well and I believe he ad-libed (unscripted farewell to his fans) his last few lines. He made (3) three that appeared this year...so far. 

I've been enjoying his work for a long time. That man's face (when he wanted) was as creepy as his voice. He could've done conventions till the end of Zacherle-Time. Perhaps best known for his chilling performance as "Candyman", the charismatic 6' 5" actor Tony Todd has consistently turned in compelling performances since his debut in the fantasy film Sleepwalk (1986). Born in Washington, D.C., Todd spent two years on a scholarship at the University of Connecticut, which, in turn, led to a scholarship from the renowned Eugene O'Neill National Theatre Institute. It proved to be the foundation for intense stints at the Hartman Conservatory in Stamford, Connecticut and the Trinity Square Repertory Theatre Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island, where coincidentally,  Miss Viola Davis attended. Todd appeared in dozens of classical and many experimental plays, yet still managed to find time to teach play-writing to high school students in the Hartford public school system.

Todd's considerable theatre credits include the world premiere of award-winning playwright August Wilson's "King Hedley II", where he originated the title role in Pittsburgh, Seattle and Boston. Variety commented: "Todd's King Hedley dominates the stage. A sour-faced mix of rage and resolve, anger and vulnerability. Todd's Hedley was a memorable tour-de-force even on opening." He also received a coveted Helen Hayes nomination for his performance in Athol Fugard's "The Captain's Tiger at La Jolla, the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Kennedy Center. Other theatre credits include "Les Blancs", "Playboy of the West Indies", "Othello", "Zooman and the Sign", award-winning playwright Keith Glover's "Dark Paradise", "Aida" (on Broadway), and most recently, "Levee James" for the prestigious Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference and The New Dramatist Guild.

- IMDb mini biography by: Linda Reitman

 

Oh, yes almost forgot...the real Screamin' Jay Hawkins  

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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NOLA's / The Mortuary's Comeback from Katrina

It doesn't take a graduate degree from the 'Jon Gnagy School of Drawing' to realize for most of the hurricane ridden New Orleans landscape, homes and businesses, it's been a long haul to get back to some established normalcy...let alone thrive again.
A lot of re-invention took place and lots of stick-to-intuitiveness was rounded up for people and Main Street to continue to stay in NOLA.

 

Which brings us to this month's BLOG theme...at the Mortuary "Origins of Evil" .

The Mortuary's been counted out a few times after Katrina hit. But time after time these guys come up with well-thought-out-themes that keep Halloween revelers coming back year after year. After all, these creepers were featured on CBS's NCIS (NOLA) .

 

They have National Status to live-up-to. It wasn't a cameo either - It was featured as an integral part of the show's plot line. The Mortuary's creepy insides are revealed in great detail and offers the perfect venue for mystery & mayhem. Not a bad little piece of exposure for both of us.

Take a look at the details of the CBS NCIS episode that aired: October 17th, 2017, called "Dead Man Calling" -  featuring the Mortuary Haunted Mansion at: IMDb CBS NCIS Link. 

The Mortuary has been home to some very scary voices over the past decade and a half. Nice, The Mort is getting some positive chi as one of the best haunt experiences in the industry.

Google's rating for: "The Mortuary" is a popular, award-winning haunted attraction in New Orleans with high scare factors, jump scares, and a long-standing reputation as a great haunt.

Hopefully, that positiveness can help bring more normalcy where NOLA and Main Street can thrive. 

 

Now as to those scary voices, we had to pull out all the stops on this one! As Alpheus Merchant said in Men in Black II "That pretty lady in there, was causin' all kinda hell". We were tasked to deliver a mood that was shakin'-in-your-boots scary. So we made the Creepy-Guy voice even 

D-e-e-p-e-r  &  C-r-e-e-p-i-e-r - - Oh...NO0oo!

 

THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT

Every ancient horror has a beginning… every myth, every "whisper; in the
dark can be traced back to her. Long before the monsters, before the witches danced under the stars, before wolves howled at the cursed moons, before the dead refused to stay dead…there was a woman...a daughter of Eden. Claimed by Serpent. Forgotten by the Heavens...

And this is HER (:60 sec.) Story…Click Pic

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Strahan, Mr. 3rd Down and Tom CliffordVo...Tops 30!

 

Look at that...it seems just the other day we chose to celebrate another marker or slice of time. So, this month marks the 30th anniversary of working with NY Giants, defensive end Michael Strahan and NY Jets wide receiver, Wayne Chrebet on the Tops Appliance City radio spots here in New York. 

It's August of 1995 and Tops was sorta the new guy on the block. Yes, that's correct, this was before we ever heard of Amazon or Ebay. Tops wasn't likely to be threatening any of the other electronic czars like; Crazy Eddie's, The Wiz, Newmark & Lewis, etc. Tops was branching out and wanted to make a splash with Up-and-Coming footballers. 

Geezering back aways, I remember producing commercials of celeb/political voices on a TEAC 4-channel R/R (The very same the Beatles used). These cats were fly-by-nite electronics joints like Battling Barry's House of Audio and Hi Fi Fo Fum. They were there one minute...gone the next.  

Some of these characters had reputations, warranted or not. One of the most notorious was; Crazy Eddies's. It made its way into the pantheon of plot twists in the movie The Accountant. 

Back to my new best-buds the Wayne'ster & Mikey. It was cool to be in the company of these guys. I was in between "Strapz" and Mister 3rd down aka The Green Lantern while they were talkin' game shiz. Bigger-than-life and there wasn't a stitch of temperamental discourse between them.

But first get this, N.Y. Giants R/B, Rodney Hampton was also booked...as the star attraction. He was the Big-Cheese, though he retired after the 1997 season. A prior commitment made him a no show. So, the three of us headed into the sound booth and aside from a few tips I passed on re: high energy nuances, I familiarized them with the rules & regs of Radio-land...(:30) or (:60) seconds means just that, even though there were some gems that were discarded because they ran long. 

 

Yet, these guys are pro's and were quick studies. We got along on all fronts and had some fun doing The Tops & Sharp Monday Night Live Football Sweepstakes promos! I played the part of the noisy play-by-play sportscaster in the (:30) second radio spot below. Point of interest on that characterization of the sportscaster...it was a necessity. There was sooo much copy they wanted to impart. Geez, the title of the sweepstakes alone had nine words to it...and it was repeated three times. There needed to be a reason to go really fast talker dude. And P-by-P dudes - talk fast. Take a listen on the link below the VU Meter.

 

Click to Play Radio Spot

 

  

The session went great at Compositions Studios, now the Story House Condo. Everyone got along and the director's 2 kids showed up to get a glimpse of some real football stars...or stars to be. And out came the camera and these guys had the kids holding footballs, shaking hands, gosh, even I had a chance to get a few shots with the players.

 

Could this be a captured moment-in-time for the potential 'Wall-of-Fame'? So, I asked for a copy. Be good to be sure they'll actually send a copy of our group shot. Sure, they say they'll mail it, but even with the best intentions, it's tenuous. Same with commercial dubs.

 

Back in 1995 Social Capital hadn't been invented as it exists today. So how do you hedge your bets to get that all important photo that proves I ain't no slouch. I'm professional enough to be with the big-leaguers. Plus, it would be cool as hell to have wallet-sized proof to show my brush with fame ...at least for that week anyway.

 

Wait-a-minute, wasn't there a Modell's sporting goods store that I passed on the way over to the studio? And don't they sell football jerseys? Geez, I gotta go to Moe's!  'Course, the way my brain was percolatin' I'd settle for a street vendor. There it is - Modell's. It's open. They sell tons of jerseys and WTF, they're on sale!

 

Hey, if I can get back to the studio with these jerseys while everybody is still there, I could have a run at - MVP. 

 

 

With breakneck speed I headed back to the studio. Once there I found the gang was still mulling around as I mentioned passing by a Modell's and figured my nephew would love a signed Giants jersey from...but, you know, so would Shlomo and his brother Uri I bet. I'll take 'three' please. So I said, after clearing my throat while handing the director's son's the two jerseys, if Michael & Wayne...wouldn't mind terribly signing a few jerseys... A resounding "give 'em here" followed. The Jets & Giants were equal to the task. I sheepishly handed Mike an additional Giants Jersey for my nephew who's a gigantic Giant's fan.

 

Guess it's no surprise to see that the director kept his word and sent the pic of Wayne, Mike and me. And the social capital I got from my nephew lasts till this day. He assured me that he hasn't worn the jersey, washed the jersey or shown the jersey to just any spectator who wouldn't appreciate fully...its majestic glory. It's ensconced below.

 

 

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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TC & Co's F1 High-Performace (Celeb V-O's)

The story with TR3 Performance is not so much that it was founded by Arthur, Oliver, and Gregory Romanelli in August 2012. Two brothers who discovered how to build and race cars in major circuits and provide street and track aftermarket modifications for exotic cars. It's more about the tale of how my mom's tiny Fiat 500 found a home amongst the likes of: Maserati's, Ferrari's, Lamborghini's...

 

It just didn't make sense. So why on earth are we here at TR3's doorstep, nestled between a McLaren and an Aston Martin waiting to get an estimate to fix the driver's side window of a 2017 Fiat 500 (with a 5 speed standard transmission). Mom is 86. 

It all started while leaving my mom's on our last visit. All-of-a-sudden her car window needed some MacGyver'ing. Once back in N.Y., we contacted local fix-it shops near her in Hollywood Fla. 

We mostly looked online for repair shops that gave estimates. Amongst a few others, TR3 came back with a reasonable estimate. Cool, we called and that's why we're here nestled between a 1/2 million dollar McLaren and an Aston Martin. We being, my wife and I both thinking this can't be the only place in Hollywood, Florida where you can get a Fiat window fixed. 

Of course not. There is a Fiat dealer-ship nearby. But her Fiat was already at that Fix-it-Again, Tony dealer-ship two years ago for the exact same problem.  

That still doesn't explain why there's a TR3 video all queued up with a Jason Statham sound-a-like below... 

But, what might need some splainin' is why a place like TR3 would even consider letting our car in the drive-port let alone take their obviously valuable time to render an estimate on a lowly Fiat 500...2017 no less.

The gentleman that manages the TR3 Showroom said it's because we now offer street mechanical work. Still didn't address our inner concerns of just how much OVER the estimate did we think they'd eventually charge.

Well we got chummy with this gent, if for no other reason, because I knew it was a McLaren we nestled up against. It was a good guess is all. But, before long and while the window estimate was being done, I sorta filled a few lulls with a couple of awkward imitations of Jackie Stewart (skilled F1 race car driver from Scotland) and a drunk Chris Walken trying to find his car at a party.

The TR3 dude got around to asking what I do...or did as a profession. I told him. He said he did a fair share of social videos. So far without any narration, just music. Hmmm. I mentioned that I've been doing these short videos for clients called QuickCuts. Probably better known as; Shorts or Reelz - these days. 15-30 second vids for Utube, FB/IG or TikTok that engage eyeballs & eardrums.

We were bouncing around some ideas of how celeb voices could lend a creative hand/edge to those eyes & ears engaging part. 

It's been a few and on the premise that the TR3 folks might consider a celeb voice for projects, I proffered the idea of associating Jason Statham's character, Frank Martin in the Transporter movie franchise. Figured a voice sounding like Jason's might appeal to their racing customer base.

So, we copied & recorded some of TR3's website text with a pretty close Frank Martin sound-a-like voice along with some of their projects music tracks and passed an Mp3 of it their way...and asked them to have a listen (below). We're crossing our seat belts for this one. 

 

And BTW,  my mother drove to TR3 a few weeks later for the repair and in short order the mechanic came in to the waiting area as happy as a clam. He had just come from road testing her car and first thing he said to her was..." Mam, I love your car". She said "oh sure, I bet with all these wonderful ..." and before she could finish, he chimed in and said; "yeah, but your car is so much more fun to drive. It scoots all over the place. All these eye-poppers, (referring to the exotics), are like precious paintings that we can't really go nuts with".  

TR3 kept to their estimated price, they didn't drag their feet with the 'regulator' repair and have it take all day, which definitely takes its toll on a lady the age of Maxwell Smart's code name! (Not him again)

Oh, and that little Fiat 500 that got pushed around all the time, still gets the business (Leave it to Beaver-reference). But now she can tell the Pixar crowd she rubbed bumper elbows with the best of them! Happy 4th of July from one who knows...

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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"86" a Shell Game Afoot... Missed it by That Much

Without the least bit of politicking or persuasion to any other form or meaning afforded to the term Eighty-Six...whew, do we feature this months Blog topic: Get Smart, the 1965 TV series. And of course heading up the cast are the stars; Don Adams as the title character Maxwell Smart, a highly intellectual but bumbling spy on staff at the CONTROL agency. Max battles the evil forces of rival spy agency KAOS, with the help of his competent and able-bodied partner Agent 99, played by Barbara Feldon. BTW, Max's code name was Agent 86! 

So, you think you might know where this is all going...the Comey two step, perhaps. You're close...but, you're not that close. More like the Comedy 2-step, where I remembered Get Smart as being pretty hep with its tongue & its cheek. With the likes of Brooks and Henry how could it not be. One would think the 86 moniker for Max mighta been leaning more towards humor rather than downright nasty. Control & Kaos aren't acronyms.

  

When I Googled ' Get Smart (86) meaning ' it came back with "86 is used in a humorous way. It's a reference or code in restaurant wait staff/kitchen slang" for; 'We ran out of it' or 'No longer available'. And Don Adams played the character in such a lighthearted manner you'd hardly think of 'em as a radical killer than a metaphor for "We found this agent in the reject pile, why not give him a try".

Perhaps, if you're newly acquainted with the 86 slang, it could be deemed nefarious... in keeping with the situation. 

On a more luminous, benign and Living Alone & Loving it note, is Barbara Feldon and her code name - Agent 99. That penultimate link is to her audio book. Here I am in the picture "Missing it, by t-h-a-t Much" with Barbara along with my dirty shoe-phone. That tag line (while using a 2-fingers apart gesture) was the bedrock of Max's humorous character...always being that close to solving cases.

Speaking of solving cases, Google's Ai version of "Get Smart" and Agent 99's number, 99, was intentionally chosen to imply intelligence and effectiveness, even though her real name was never revealed. The show-runners likely favored 99 over 100 (which was originally considered) because 99 sounded more feminine. The number 99 is close to 100, suggesting near-perfect intelligence and capability, which aligned with the character's role as a skilled and resourceful agent.

Barbara Feldon was born on March 12, 1933, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. She was the younger daughter of Raymond D. Hall, an executive in the paper box industry, and Julia Stewart Hall, a housewife. Growing up in a middle-class family, Feldon developed an early interest in the performing arts. 

We're happy to report that Ms. Feldon (92) is alive and well, as we always hope she is, and living in Manhattan, N.Y. You may have guessed already but Ms. Feldon had quite a career as a silky voice-over artist as well.

Guess what? Agent 99 really was more intelligent than the average bear...Bard none. In 1957, she won the grand prize on the game show The $64,000 Question in the category of William Shakespeare. In addition, she is also an author, writing the book "Getting Smarter: A Memoir" Golly Gosh, wouldn't it be the neatest to see her get to the golden age of 99! 

On the Ai Front with - Stefan Nadelman our (Main Animation/Animation Director) are the advances in Ai generating platforms...particularly with turning still pictures into moving images (spoiler alert) Stefan says 'anyone can do it' !! 

Stefan continued with; You are now able to create the things I've been posting from the comfort of your computer. Websites like Runway and Kling  offer their powerful tools to generate high quality video quickly. Turbo mode costs around 25¢ per 5 second video generation, 50¢ for their higher end models. If you know what you want, it's a powerful tool and relatively cheap. If you just want to futz around and have fun, it's still relatively cheap.

So...I basically got my semi-decent (12 GB VRAM) PC to run ComfyUI a free interface that works with Stable Diffusion (open source Ai) and I can generate video locally on my machine for free. The catch is that I have to work in smaller sizes because generating video takes a lot longer. That's what I've been using for the Terminal Bar stuff. It takes around 5-10 minutes per 3 second video generation. (Runway or Kling can bang out a 5-10 second clip in under a minute). I would not advise this route unless you have a fast PC and have knowledge of node-based interfaces. 

Click the upcoming link to check out how Stefan applied the Ai tools above on his IG page called Workin for the Man. The photo stills are the same used in Stefan's pictorial history of the Terminal Bar, a documentary that won B-I-G at Sundance in 2003. This is where our path's crossed when he very adroitly chose yours truly to voice the characters in TB. And I've been very adroitly thanking his keister since. Hard to believe those stills have been just sittin' around for years. Now they move with extrapolated gesturing. Catch Stefan's magic on his IG page, some that are literally S-m-o-k-i-N' to become somehow alive...(whisper) R-o-s-e-b-u-d ~ ~

 

 

 

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Tales of the Macabre...Here's to Reinvention TC & Co.

People have been saying it...we've been saying it, seasonal event venues need to be operating on all four seasons throughout the year. So, reinvention is a popular item on their to-do-list.

Take for instance Spirit Outlets. They're there to fill-in the gaps of brick & mortars while maintaining yearly occupied tenant leases. Speaking of spirits, how do those folks operating Halloween venues stay afloat the rest of the year? Ah, reinventing themselves...that's how.

Which brings us to Tales of the Macabre an hour-long anthology of dark legends and haunting folklore inspired by the mysteries of New Orleans and the surrounding bayou. Explaining further, it's part cocktail event, part theatrical production and part haunted mansion. This exclusive event weaves together storytelling and mixology to bring four chilling tales to life. Talk about re-inventing an event venue...especially now, during the summertime events.

 

The folks at The Mortuary have gone down the line re-inventing path many times. From Escape Rooms to Blood Weddings (which are very popular) to Santa's Holiday Fright Night. Just when you think they've tapped just about every unique idea, new ways to get not just eyeballs and eardrums interested, but a way to motivate actual bodies to get up and go somewhere and have a good time, was to say the least  ~ inspired.

 

The Macabre in Tales of the Macabre, was to be pronounced as it's Anglicized version (Mah-Kaab as per Google), without the Brah at the end. Get a load of the Dark & Mysterious Cocktails served in elegant crystal glassware.

This is one of those stand alone experiences that blends visual theatrics and delicious themed mixology with state-of-the-art lighting and special effects for a cocktail social event unlike any other...and that's just for starters.

Before  you say, "now wait a New York minute", are you tellin' me that you're gonna serve alcoholic drinks during a live performance? The management is completely sensitive to being responsible with a watchful eye on keeping overindulgence at bay. They have a lot of rules to be followed there. Right down to offering Mocktails for under twenty-oners. To say it another way, if you might want a break from the ordinary, head on over to NOLA. The whole city is pretty much operating on all fours these days, so there's tons to do. Place Plug Here. Viva La Louisiana!  

On the technical voice-over front, they wanted a voice that wasn't particularly scary, gooey and all that. But, a voice and character that conveyed story-telling and a bit of creep-i-ness. 

The voice direction was; Think the seedy streets of England. Be good if he had a Cockney-ish voice to go with his conjured looking figure as he emerges from the shadows to let unsuspecting travelers in on a little known eccentric experience they might be findin' curious...just around the corner. Here, step this way guv'nor, I've got your back!

 

 

                           with Stefan Nadelman

Stefan had laid on me some extra special era breaking extrapolation Ai technology that like a QR code, made a photo instead of a squiggly square, come ALIVE!

Check out his re-animating Ai feature - It's Alive! And it's funny. Stefan put this on his IG a week ago and I'm seeing a lot of similar photo still animation developed throughout the internet spectrum. Those moving pictures you see off the link, have been static stills for close to 50 years now. 

With the right Ai pumped in, they not only come alive but predict so-to-speak...like a car passing by or a bloke who for so long only made the shot glass to his lips, now takes a sip and says "Ahhh" afterward. This is leaps and bounds past our initial collaboration voicing Stefan's Terminal Bar characters. Damn, looks like I better start cataloguing these characters to feed into the Head Ai generator and then we'll all be immortalized till the second or third coming. 

Come to think of it, although slightly morbid, if you have a digital or analogue to digital rendering of a person, such as a voice or video recording (a lot would be preferable) you'd be able to have a fresh conversation of a friend or loved one with the right algorithm Ai program. Think of it, being able to sit as we did when alive and have a conversation with the living at breakfast, let's say. Here's that word actually, but if you have enough voice or image data, and with further advancements in Ai, there's a good chance that the Ai conversation at breakfast would be more extrapolated and probably less repetitive, 'cause human's tend to be creatures of habit and repeat themselves. I guess, particularly as we get older. So, there, you can count on being more interesting than you ever were on earth...after you depart as it were, was...And to whomever would want to take the time to listen...that is!

Check out what else Stefan has been up to on his IMDb Page, including the 2025 "Don't Die" Netflix documentary about health advocate Bryan Johnson, where Stefan is director of visual effects and main title animation.

WHAT IF (Who you talking to ma? Oh, it's grt grt grandpa again. Just wanted to hear his voice. You know, he always said boy, I'd love to be able to talk to my great great grandchildren someday. You want to say hello honey? Sure ma. Hi, grt grt gran pa, how's it goin'? Is that little Jamie, how's soccer comin' along? Oh. it's just OK, you know. Sounds like somebody's got some competition on the field, do you have a handicap yet...)

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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Val Kilmer & Celebrity DeathMatch's Nolte Vs. Murphy

 

All too soon it seems, we heard the passing of another screen icon the "Ice Man" himself, Val Kilmer at age 65. Wish it was an April Fool's joke.

Mister Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. He later recovered, though his public battle with the disease lasted for years. Val's throat cancer was related to other diseases and affected his vocal chords. He said; "When I speak now, I sound like Marlon Brando after a couple of bottles of tequila," Val  recalls, in his candid video memoir.

I'm pictured here with Val Kilmer at his tie-in promotion for the 2008 premiere opening of the movie: Columbus Day 

He's a very cool dude...down to earth and wore the sun glasses 'cause they helped keep the anonymity thing going a bit longer. I'll tell you one thing, for 17 years now, those (f---'g) glasses had me explaining to people that really is Val Kilmer in the picture. When he asked what kinda work I did, I remembered him slipping in & out of character's voices, beginning with his first film: Top Secret. Plus, The@Saint. Even Morrison's band members couldn't tell the difference between Jim & Val. So, I figured I'd give it a shot and say I did voices. He came back with; Would he know anything I did?...ahh, geashh, maybe you've seen a Celeb Death Match or... It was like a switch. He said, which one's. I started bangin' out a few. He stopped me at Nick Nolte vs. Eddie Murphy. So, this one's for you Nick Rivers. From one Nick to another!

We mentioned Val in our July 31st 2021 Blog posting when we shared a link that was titled: Ai gave Val Kilmer his voice back  It spoke to the ill-fated voice of Val Kilmer and how a voice-Ai algorithm has helped him communicate both personally & professionally. Val describes in detail how his voice was restored via Ai after surgery for throat cancer in his new documentary "Val" via Amazon Prime.  

In "Top Gun: Maverick," when Kilmer went to reprise his beloved "Ice Man" character, director Joseph Kosinski told USA TODAY that, despite rumors of Ai, the voice in the film was nearly 100% Kilmer. 

Kilmer’s return to the role was one of the most moving moments in the movie. His character, now an acclaimed Admiral, communicates via a computer due to an unspecified illness. Maverick producer Jerry Bruckheimer told People in 2021: “We all wanted Kilmer, but Tom Cruise was adamant that if he’s going to make another Top Gun, Val had to be in it."

 

It'll be four years ago this July that we not only posted in our Blog about Val Kilmer, but the featured story was that of Ai growing out of it's shell and taking over the whole megillah, figuratively speaking of course. We were covering the advancement of Ai's naturally sounding replication aspect. Industry alarming was Anthony Bourdain's brush with Ai ...actually his Ai'd voice only.

That information came compliments of the director, Morgan Neville about his Anthony Bourdain documentary film called: "Roadrunner" . Mr. Neville revealed it's not all Bourdain's voice the audience was listening too. 

Instead, [click link to hear the difference] Artificial Intelligence (Ai) software was used to replicate (45 sec's) of a few quotes of Bourdain that he never uttered aloud, at least not for this documentary. It materialized in a 2021 New Yorker article by Helen Rosner, where she asked Neville "how on earth he'd found an audio recording of Bourdain reading his own e-mail." Mr. Bourdain's ex-wife Ottavia Busia said - I do believe Morgan thought he had everyone’s blessing to go ahead with Anthony's voice being Ai'd, but, I certainly was NOT the one who said Tony would've been cool with it. WoW, to live-on past one's passing.

by:+Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services   

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