Since you have been gone

An entertaining genre-blender that combines all the best elements of cop crime solvers with religious super-natural horror flicks.

The opening sequence could've been straight from "The Silence of the Lambs (1991)." Then the film slips into the "Jacob's Ladder (1990)" territory of super-natural horror and wraps it up with an ending worthy of "Omen (1976)".

Despite the freaky opening sequence, the films dives into the first act as a regular police precinct movie complete with the regular stock characters -- the protagonist handsome Det. John Hobbes [Denzel Washington]; his avuncular sidekick Det. Jonesy [John Goodman]; and the cynical shin-kicker Det. Lou [James Gandolfini]; the hard-ass precinct boss Lt. Stanton [Donald Sutherland].

When the demented killer Edgar Reese (played to the nines by a scary Elias Koteas) is put to death in a gas chamber, Det. Hobbes thinks the worst is over, not realizing that his troubles are just beginning.

Here let's put our hands together and applaud the great cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel since the way he came up with a visual representation of the evil spirit Azazel's point of view is nothing short of genius. It is done so well that at one look we know which character the camera embodies in certain scenes. Without such an effective visual differentiation of the main antagonist's point of view, this movie would have never worked this well, or perhaps not have worked at all.

Hobbes is a cop and rational man. He believes in what he can see and feel and measure. He believes in evidence, not hearsay and myths. But clue after clue tells him that this time, as strange bodies keeps popping up all over the unnamed town [although shot in Philly], he is up against something "different."

The ancient Biblical evil spirit of Azazel is live and well and he changes bodies by just common physical touch. That's why it is almost impossible to nail it down and destroy it. It is the most contagious sickness the world has ever seen. Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan also deserves our kudos for not only coming up with such a clever concept but also creating a pretty well written script.

(To conclude in part 2.)

"Contact" is a very exciting movie about the search and eventual discovery of extraterrestrial life. Jodie Foster plays Ellie Arroway, a young scientist obsessed with the search. She delivers a great performance, as does Matthew McConaughey as Palmer Joss, her religious boyfriend. I mainly like the film for the storyline, however, which is based on the fictional novel of the same title by Carl Sagan.

The movie concerns Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster), a young scientist interested in contacting extraterrestrial civilizations. Despite repeated efforts of the director to shut down the project and cancel her research, she eventually discovers an unmistakable signal from an intelligent source from the nearby Vega star system, consisting of the first several prime numbers. After investigating this signal further, others now working on the project discover a more complex message embedded in the first one, which turns out to be a video recording of Adolf Hitler's opening speech at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. At first the researchers are horrified, but Ellie realizes that this was probably the first televised message powerful enough to be picked up by an alien civilization. Upon further investigation, a third layer of the message is discovered, this one consisting of thousands of pages of at first undecipherable code. The billionaire industrialist S.R. Hadden (John Hurt) finally steps in and shows Ellie how to decipher the message, which turns out to be a blueprint of a machine, whose purpose is unknown.

Eventually the team learns part of the purpose of the machine, which includes a seat for a human passenger, presumably to take that person to Vega. This results in a huge international effort to build the machine, whose construction is begun at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A religious fanatic suicide bomber ends up sabotaging the project by destroying the machine. Fortunately, another identical machine is secretly being built in Japan, and Ellie is invited to take the journey.

Once completed, Ellie boards the machine, which begins operating. It takes her through a series of wormholes in which she witnesses some fantastic events. Finally she is taken to what looks like a familiar beach, where she is visited by an alien who looks like her father when she was a child. The alien explains to Ellie some of the details of his civilization as well as the wormhole transit system which brought her there.

Shortly thereafter, she is returned home. Unfortunately, she arrives at nearly the exact moment that she left and the crew outside think the machine malfunctioned. To add insult to injury, an 18-hour recording of the trip she'd taken went blank. Thus, the consensus is that the project was a hoax provided by Hadden, who now resides on the Mir space station. However, once the presidential advisors realize that there was 18 hours of static recorded in what should have been a fraction of a second, they decide to continue her SETI research, though she cannot offer any proof of her discovery.

People have been telling stories since the dawn of time, drawing upon their voice to convey their messages to others in their circle of influence. Over the centuries, the art of communicating with other people about a given purpose and the transmission of the spoken word, the most powerful, persuasive, and distinctly human tool in any marketers arsenal, has evolved to the degree that you don't have to be in the same room to get a message across, even the same country for that matter. Geographic locations and time zones afford little to no obstacle for communicating with others in a meaningful and cohesive way.

With all of the advantages this new world and new media bestows, it is very important that a message received is a message that is understood, believed and acted upon. Much of this depends on the copy writing and voice over skills of the messengers, which brings us to five different characters if you will that will help you get your message across in a direct and effective way.

1. Instructor (formal, didactic voice over)


2. Real Person (informal voice over)


3. Spokesperson (advocate, authoritative voice over)


4. Narrator (omniscient storyteller)


5. Announcer (sets the stage and calls for action)

Let's explore these types of character roles in detail.

1. Instructor

When teaching someone on what to do, for example, a corporate training video or children's game, the voice over best suited for this kind of project is a straightforward, didactic and educated voice. The role of this particular voice talent is to instruct or provide information to fulfill a specific goal or purpose.

2. Real Person

Projects requiring a more casual approach often benefit from relatable, genuine voice overs. These voice overs are referred to as "Real Person" voice overs, commonly known as the "regular guy" or the "girl next door". The character is homegrown, sensible, and friendly with a touch of familiarity and provides a more intimate interpretation that instills trust.

3. Spokesperson

A spokesperson can be on camera or off camera depending on the medium you are using. The role of a spokesperson is generally played by a confident, charismatic person able to promote a cause, product, or service with ease and authority. A voice over of this nature needs to be driven, optimistic and assured.

4. Narrator

Storytelling is where the narrator is most at home. Omniscient, courteous and honest, a narrator's job is to provide an audio landscape for a listener, briefing them on background information, posing questions, and providing solutions as they guide their audience through a program or documentary. Narrators can be male or female, and the most important factors are that they can communicate clearly and engagingly.

5. Announcer

The announcer, often heard live at events, on commercials, promos or introducing segments for podcasts, is a product of the broadcast age, most celebrated at its height in the Golden Era of Radio and early television broadcasts. Announcers can introduce an idea and assertively make a call for action at the conclusion of a commercial advertisement or short video. One common misconception is that an announcer has to sound like an announcer from decades ago, however modern announcers act more like narrators, and in many cases, adopt the Real Person approach.

Now that you've met the different kinds of people or characters that can help to make your production a success, the next question is where do you find voice talents?

If you are reading this article, you are already on your way to locating a voice talent to record for your project.

Using the Internet to find a voice will streamline all of your efforts, saving you a significant amount of time and financial expense. Over 50,000 people have discovered just how easy it is to find the perfect voice for their project at Voices.com, the voice marketplace. At Voices.com, you can search for, listen to and hire professional voice talents to record your voice over within your budget range. Posting a job to find the appropriate candidate to record for your project is not only convenient, it is also a desirable option, providing you with the opportunity to choose the voice that will best represent your company and deliver on your vision.

The professionals at Voices.com can take your script from concept to completion and quickly become an integral part of your creative production team. Breathing life into the written word is what they do for a living, so you can rest assured that your project is in a good hands with a Voices.com voice talent.

To learn more about Voices.com or search for voices, visit http://www.voices.com/

The Hero's Journey (Monomyth) is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188+ stage template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.

[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY

THE HERO'S JOURNEY:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).

d) Gives you a universal structural template upon which you can superimpose your situational story. This is why stories such as Alien (1979), Gladiator (2000), Midnight Cowboy (1969), American Beauty (1999), The Graduate (1967) and many others (all deconstructed at the URL below) appear to be different but are all constructed, almost sequence by sequence, in the same way.

and more...

*****Backstory*****

Previous to the Journey to the First Threshold, some backstory is not uncommon. In Brokeback Mountain (2005), Jack and Ennis talk in the bar.

*****Polarization with the Shape Shifter post the Road of Trials*****

The gap between the Hero and Shape Shifter increases or decreases (polarization or de-polarization), depending on the exact stage of the Journey and whether the Shape Shifter will turn from good to bad or vice versa. In The Incredibles (2004), Bomb Voyage's attitudes and opinions increasingly fall in line with those of Mr Incredible. In Gladiator (2000), the attitudes and beliefs of Lucilla increasingly fall in line with those of Maximus. In Alien (1979), Ash and Ripley drift further apart. In The Matrix (1999), Neo and Cypher's differences are developed.

*****Final Catharses*****

Many stories end with multiple catharses. Brokeback Mountain (2005) is no different.

a) Catharsis 1: Ennis' postcard is returned marked deceased.

b) Catharsis 2: Ennis calls Lureen, who tells him about Jake's death.

c) Catharsis 3: Ennis visits Jake's folks. Finds his shirt and takes it back.

*****Romantic Challenge Polarized*****

The Romantic Challenge is just that - a challenge that has to be resolved. As such, the Hero and Romantic Challenge are, at first meeting, highly polarized. In Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Marion argues with Indy outside her bar. In The Deer Hunter (1978), Michael is a world away from Linda. In The English Patient (1996), Laszlo and Katharine have the problem of her husband.

One of the great feats of modern technology is that now it is possible for just one company to serve all your telecommunications needs. From television service to high speed Internet, and even digital telephone services, you only have to deal with one company and one monthly bill. The company that can provide this convenience to you is Comcast in , a company that has already proven itself a leader for cable television. With Comcast's selection of services, you can get extremely high quality, good values, and the best customer service available.

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