New Post has been published on Cinema Assassin
New Post has been published on http://cinemaassassin.com/mumbling-actors-heard-voice-die/
Mumbling Actors are nowhere to be heard in A Voice to Die For.
Mumbling actors have been subject to criticism in the press recently, as audiences continually find themselves unable to understand dialogue in TV and movies. And one veteran British actor was called on by BBC Radio’s Five Live to give his thoughts – and also announce a new film that will critique the British voiceover industry.Bernard Holley, whose career spans six decades, has enjoyed recurring roles in Z Cars, Hollyoaks, A Touch of Frost, The Gentle Touch and Birds of a Feather as well as reading stories for Jackanory. He explained to BBC Radio’s Phil Williams on July 16th that “The first job of an actor is to be heard and understood, so where all this mumbling comes from in British drama, I’ve got no idea. Trying to watch Luther the other night was like wading through porridge, I changed channels almost instantly!” He went on to explain that on a recent television job, he was directed to “take it down” and make the dialogue less audible.
At the end of the interview, when asked what audiences can see him in next, Holley revealed that he has just finished filming A Voice to Die For, a comedy film which tells the story of Jeff Brogan, a former trailer voiceover artist, whose epic career in the 1980s and 1990s has long been forgotten, and he now struggles for work amidst an ageist business, full of young-guns and clique casting.
But Jeff’s former glory has a chance to be restored, when an enthusiastic web blogger, played by new talent Johnny Fleming, interviews him for an article to celebrate his career. Can the article relaunch Jeff’s career? Or even his self-esteem?
Jeff’s illustrious career is brought to life in the film with a series of specially shot fake trailers, and these boast an array of familiar faces, including Dads Army legend Frank Williams as a sword-wielding Vigilante, out to protect his neighbours from a patch-eyed criminal, played by former The Bill regular Ben Peyton, who comments “I’ve done a few random things in my acting career but having a legend like Frank Williams telling me he’ll “cut my face” is arguably the most random.”
Also in on the action are Jean Rogers, well known for playing Dolly Skilbeck in Emmerdale for over a decade, rising star Nicola Posener (Dawn of the Dragonslayer, Crypt) West End veteran Ronnie Grainge and Holley’s Z Cars co-star Ian Cullen, who plays violent rule-breaking cop DCI Frank Blood.
The film is written and directed by Oliver Crocker, whose debut feature film Tanner was nominated for Best Film at both the Swansea Bay Film Festival and the Everglades International Film Festival in 2007. Since then he has produced and directed Special Features for the DVD releases of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, W.E., The Hunter, Fast Girls and The Devil’s Double. He currently works on ITV’s This Morning and A Voice to Die For marks a return to his filmmaking roots.
Crocker explains – “There’s a stigma that young people only want to watch young actors and characters on TV, but to me older actors are so much more fascinating and fun! Frank Williams has never been off the screen with repeats of Dads Army still in the top 10 on BBC2, but there is much more to him as an actor than a grumpy vicar – especially when he is wielding a sword!”
He continues “I have admired Bernard Holley for decades – he has an awesome voice, and I wrote A Voice to Die For with only him in mind to play Jeff Brogan. Bernard sent shivers down the spines of millions of children as the voice of Axos in Doctor Who and even has his own action figure coming out in July, so for me he really is a bona fide Legend and it is a pleasure to hear him narrate a series of over the top action movie trailers in A Voice to Die For.”
“I also put in lots of gags about the way actors perceive the profession: why are only a certain clique group of actors cast in absolutely everything, why do 20 year olds narrate adverts for anti-ageing cream and greying hair, and what are the agents of those perfectly suitable, yet completely ignored, actors doing about it, if anything? So it’s a fun way of taking on ageism and showing audiences that these very talented actors have plenty of tricks left to show off – and you can certainly hear every single word in perfect diction!”
A Voice to Die For will be released later this year.
