What's so great about voice over? You can literally be anything!

No, I'm serious. If you don't believe me, then you should check out the voice over recently performed by Werner Herzog. In Ramin Bahrani's most recent work, he is a plastic grocery bag.

One of the great things about voice over is the myriad array of characters and things a talented actor can play. Doesn't matter if it's a person (real or fictional), an animal, an inanimate object, or even an idea or feeling... if you have a talented voice actor in the studio, you'll get a story with pathos.

I can't speak for other voice actors, but for me, the opportunity, the challenge to stretch yourself into something you'd never have thought about before is simply exhilarating, exhausting, exasperating, entertaining, and yes, sometime a little scary. All wrapped up into this exuberant amalgamation, contained only by the copy in front of you.

Some people are lucky enough to dedicate their entire careers to the idea of bringing the unimaginable to life. For some actors, you only need one role. Herzog's portrayal of this character, this plastic bag, struggling with its own immortality against the nature of the world is both comical, and poignant as it endures on an epic journey in search of its lost Maker, wondering if there is any point to life without her.

You can find more information regarding the film here. And as you get wrapped into the story of Herzog's character, just remember this:

all the emotions you're feeling... are for a plastic bag.

The Human Experience

Earlier this evening, I was at a local Penn State Campus, to see a screening of a movie I'd heard about in the past but never seen called "The Human Experience". It was one of the first big projects put together by Grassroots Films and while I'll be the first to tell you that the films can get a bit too preachy at times, it's one of those films that you just have to see.

I wish that blogger.com would allow me to share the video, but it doesn't. So you'll just have to hit the site (which I've linked to). For those of us in the rat race the film is a good reminder that life is about more than those things we usually end up being concerned about (money, career, etc.). I was lucky to learn that two of the cast of the documentary (Michael Campo and Jeffrey Azize) were attending the event and it was moving to hear how much the film had affected their lives.

If you get the chance, check these guys out and attend a local screening (and believe me, they'll be happy to work with you to get one local to wherever you are). Their film is one of those healthy doses of reality that we all need from time to time.

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