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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2019)
A18 COMMUNITY Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Voiceover artist gives life to characters By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Most people who watch car- toons or listen to audio books wonder, sooner or later, about the people behind the voices. Local resident Amanda Berry can give you a pretty good idea. The Enterprise resident does just that, provides voices for both cartoons and books. Berry, raised in San Antonio, Texas, attended New York Uni- versity. After 13 years in NYC, she decided to visit her father, Lostine resident Ron Polk, who had invited her to stay for a year. She stayed a lot longer. About two years ago, Berry got into her voiceover artist career while doing theater in New York. “I auditioned, and they hired me, and now the show is on Netfl ix,” Berry said. “It’s called The Ollie and Moon show. It’s for children.” Berry does many of the voices on the show, which is about two cats that travel all over the world, learning about different cultures. She enjoys watching the show as well as performing the voices. When Berry moved to the Wallowa Valley, she started beefi ng up her recording stu- dio and equipment. She’s also auditioning for more roles. She nailed an audition for read- ing a book series and recently fi nished the work on the sixth book. Berry said doing voiceovers is very similar to acting for the most part. “The difference is, you’re not really acting off anyone else,” she said. “It’s more like playing pretend than acting is, because with acting, you get props, you get costumes, you get another person to react off of. With this, it’s just me in my studio, some- times laughing, sometimes cry- ing, all off of things I imagine.” Preparation depends on the type of project. For a book, Berry reads the book before doing any voice recordings. She has to understand the char- acters and their relationships to one another as well as an idea of Steve Tool Amanda Berry has forged a career as a voiceover artist. Her work includes providing voices for animated fi lms and recorded books. the whole arc of the book. Other factors for pre-reading include knowing how to pronounce dif- fi cult words and understanding their meaning as well as decod- ing what characters will sound like. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’ll come through, no matter how con- vincing you think you sound, it’ll be obvious,” she said. Berry considers every audi- tion a form of practice in the sense she has to be able to read on the fl y without making errors. “It’s all within a pretty nar- row range that seems far away from me because everything’s in a British accent,” Berry said. Berry received the British accent training while at NYU, but she sometimes runs across characters from other cul- tures that she has to prepare for. Depending on the project, Berry can use her own voice, for example, on a commercial project. She added that cartoons demand different, exaggerated voices that usually require the artist to play multiple charac- ters, all with different voices. A novel can have as many as 30 different characters. The artist also provided the voice for a young adult action-adventure novel that she really enjoyed because of their similarity to cartoons. “Young adult novels can be very dramatic,” she said. “A lot of crazy things can happen, and that can allow you to just play and have fun.” Auditioning for a reading is generally done on websites, of which there is a number. The main one is called, ACX, for Audiobook Creation Exchange. Authors post several pages from a work that will show if the applicant can do multiple char- acters and convey a story arc in a short time. The applicant makes a recording of their read- ing and submits it to the author. The process is similar for com- mercial and cartoon work. Knowing what clients want is the most challenging part of the job for Berry. Sometimes she can be convinced that her choices in portraying a charac- ter are the right ones while the author may disagree. “You have to come at your audition with the conviction that this is the right choice for this character, and hope that you can convince someone else that it is the right choice,” she said. For an interested person to hear Berry’s voice on books, they can go on audible.com and search for “The Bennett Ward- robe,” which is the name of the book series she is current nar- rating, or search for her name as a narrator. Berry’s favorite project remains the Ollie and Moon cartoon. “Cartoons allow you to play,” she said. “Anything that comes to mind — sure, it’s usable. You get to have fun.” Even though Berry still intends to pursue acting, she doesn’t plan on letting her voi- ceover career stagnate. “I would love to continue acting, but I like to think of where I am right now as the start of my career,” she said. “I put a lot of time, energy and effort in it for a lot of promis- ing early returns, and I can only really see it getting better.” GET INFORMED! BE INFORMED! JOIN HILLOCK INSURANCE FOR A VERY SPECIAL Bill Bradshaw Classical guitarist Derek Brown plays Saturday, Oct. 12, during a performance before a crowd of about 65 at the Stein Distillery in Joseph. The Wallowa native was thrilled to play in his home county. Wallowa native guitarist brings music to Joseph Plays classical, Spanish pieces at Stein Distillery By Bill Bradshaw Wallowa County Chieftain JOSEPH — a standing-room only crowd of family, old acquain- tances and new friends turned out to hear former Wallowa resident Derek Brown perform Spanish, classical and one fl amenco piece on his clas- sical guitars at the Stein Distillery in Joseph on Saturday, Oct. 12. About 65 people crowded into the bar, with its concrete fl oor not ideal for recording, but fi ne for a live per- formance, Brown said. Brown brought two guitars to play. He built one using spruce, rose- wood and cedar. The other was built by a friend in Spain using ebony for the back and fretboard and a rare piece of pine that came from a hos- pital in Granada, Spain, that dated to 1492. He said that was signifi cant because pine has so much resin it must be thoroughly aged for the resin to dry so the wood is good for use in a guitar. Brown’s audience had glowing comments on his performance. “I loved it,” said Richard Shir- ley, who was there with his wife, Trilbey. “I thought it was an amaz- ing, generous, well-accomplished performance.” Linda Chrisman, of Wallowa, had been a teacher at Wallowa High School when Brown was a student there. “I thought it was beautiful, gorgeous; the music is so intricate,” she said. “It was different from what I thought it might be, but I thought it was beautiful.” Though she didn’t have him in class, she remembered him from the school. “It was fun to see him,” Chrisman said. Chris Severin, who now lives in Spokane, Wash., knew Brown grow- ing up and still has a lot of family in Wallowa. “I thought it was amazing. To have someone of that caliber up here in Joseph, Ore.,” he said. “I’ve known Derek for almost 45 years. To see D.J. play like that, it was really great.” Brown’s wife, Carol, and daugh- ter, Chayse also were in the audience. Asked how she liked being mar- ried to a professional musician, Carol Brown said, “I love it. We actually met in music school. A bond devel- oped over music.” As for the guitarist himself, Brown was glad to be able to share the music he loves with a hometown crowd. “Oh, it feels so good to come home,” he said. “The people here are so wonderful and the chance to see family and friends and the beau- tiful fall colors. It’s kind of a magi- cal place.” You’re Invited! 24 th Annual OPEN HOUSE Healthy Futures Dinner Auction OCTOBER 23RD 11AM - 3PM Help us raise money for a new 4x4 transfer ambulance with greater capability to evacuate critically ill or injured patients Our staff of professionals are here to answer questions and offer FREE information about OREGON HEALTH PLAN OREGON MARKETPLACE AND ENROLLMENT DATES (11/1 - 12/15) PRIVATE INSURANCE PLANS • FEDERAL TAX CREDITS and much more! Tickets on Sale Now! Saturday, November 9, 2019 Cloverleaf Hall, Enterprise Doors open 5:00 pm Emcee Randy Morgan Auctioneer Jake Musser Special musical entertainment Doors open 5:00 pm with Silent Auction & Social Hour Elegant Dinner by Backyard Gardens, choice of prime rib, chicken or vegetarian Bar by La Laguna Wine bar Live Auction at 7:30 pm To purchase tickets — $60 per person Stop by the Foundation Office at Wallowa Memorial Hospital Or mail check made out to WVHCF to PO Box 53, Enterprise 97828 Please specify prime rib, chicken or vegetarian entree DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY 616 W. North Street, Enterprise, OR 97828 541-426-4208 Space is limited, reserve your seats today! Your support is greatly appreciated The Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation