Tuesday, October 31

Shhhhh You Know Who

About fifteen years ago I suggested that we used William Franklyn to voice a BBC One promo and in reply other guys in the office said they were sure he was dead. As it turned out he was very much alive and keen to do the voice-over.



I'd always been a fan of his voice (and his personality) and since then I've wheeled him in to do countless jobs for the BBC. What always struck me about him was that he was not only very professional, but that he had a boyish enthusiasm for the art of voice-overs. After every session we would end up talking about voices and the things he'd been working on. He was thrilled to have been asked to narrate a version of Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Talking with him was a bit like talking with your dad but with a bubbling, youthful excitement for the job in hand. "Supposing we did it this way", he'd say, "would we get into trouble? I hope so".

The last conversation I had with him was about growing old. He explained that when you get to a certain age something happened to your voice, "it was a bit like a teenager's voice breaking but in reverse". Your vocal chords would crack and all of sudden you'd sound like an old person, he explained. He seemed a little worried about this prospect, but as it has turned out - even at the age of eighty one - it never happened.

Sadly the next time someone says, "why don't we get Bill Franklyn to do the voice over" I'll have to say that he's no longer on the agent's books.

Sunday, October 15

Saturday Night

The Secret Policeman's Ball was fantastic. It came at the end of a stressufull day with doubts as to whether we could face going. Glad we did. The highights for me were Russell Brand and Eddie Izzard.



The presentation of the event I thought lacked flow. They opted for using a scripted announcer voice over to link the items. For me this didn't work. Being in the round, you were never quite sure where you were supposed to be looking. There was only one live link - from Russell Brand hanging off the balcony which was perfect.

The Grace, VOX, service was a success. Jonny has a note about it on his blog. The idea was that we would reflect on why some speeches are so powerful and yet other important voices go unheard. We gave people the opportunity to make their great speech. On the new Grace website the contents of the service are available, click here.

Friday, October 13

Good Living

Russell and Bevan Davies have put together some good living tips on an excellent little site which I hope you'll support.

In the presents section he says, "one of the best presents we have ever been given is a Kalashnikov automatic rifle...." Full details at http://www.goodlivingtips.co.uk/

Monday, October 9

Grace on VOX

Just completed the final planning session for this weekend's Grace. It should be good thanks to the amazing talents of the Grace team.

Having set it up, Deborah and I will be heading off to The Secret Policeman's Ball that evenining to celebrate our anniversary (torture and unjust imprisonment!).

So if you can't get tickets for the Amnesty gig, here's my definite recommendation:

















Just occasionally someone stands up and says something the whole world takes notice of. Think of those like Luther King and Winston Churchill - what made their words so powerful?

Now think of your words. Are they lost in a chattering world? What do you want to say? How do you want to say it? Is there anything stopping you?

A service of reflection on the human and divine voice. VOX.

listen to the opening montage




Friday, October 6

BBC ONE Idents

















And you thought that hippos didn't do synchronised swimming. New BBC ONE idents produced by Red Bee begin tomorow at 10am.

Tuesday, October 3

Appearing Rooms


Appearing Rooms
Originally uploaded by markwaddington.
Another picture of Jeppe Hein's Appearing Rooms at the South Bank Centre. Quite pleased with the drama of this picture - a lot of people getting very, very wet.

Elvis Promo for Radio Two

I have to say that for all the creative effort put into the advertising industry, there is still a lot of crap out there. But occasionally, just occasionally, someone makes a promo or an ad which is really good. Steve Cope directed this one for Red Bee Media.



Elvis BBC Radio Two Promo on Vimeo

The opinions expressed on this site are those of Mark Waddington and not his employer. If I have made any errors or published anything unfairly please bring it to my attention and I will make corrections if appropriate.