interview

More than 26 million adults in America are blind or have low vision. But despite their inability to see the spectacular images on today’s cinema screens, many still crave an entertaining night out at the movies. And thanks to audio description, they can enjoy hit films along with other moviegoers.

Audio description (A.D.) uses a prerecorded audio track in which a narrator details what’s happening on-screen, including actions, gestures, facial expressions, settings, and costumes. The customer listens on a headset to narration that augments the dialogue, sound effects, and music that the rest of the theater audience is hearing. As of June 2, 2018, all first-run cinemas equipped with digital projection equipment for at least six months are required to make available both audio-description headsets and closed captioning for their visually and hearing-impaired customers, respectively.

Roy Samuelson is one of the industry’s leading voiceover talents; he can be heard on commercials for Quaker, State Farm, Ford, Target, and many other brands, and on promos for the Lifetime, Discovery and Nickelodeon networks and Los Angeles National Public Radio station KCRW. And for the last five years, he’s been a top audio-description artist, supplying the narration for such films as Get Out, Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Hateful Eight, Fate of the Furious, Atomic Blonde, Venom, First Man, Baby Driver, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Glass, Us, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the current Hobbs & Shaw. Thanks to that work, he’s also become an advocate for audio-description awareness.

“As I’ve connected with the community, I am learning so much about disability and perceptions—my own sighted bias towards people who are blind. And that is changing the entire perception that I have,” Samuelson reflects. “I’m not there yet. This is such a process. I’m really appreciating learning more about how people with blindness live with it, and disability in general. There are a lot of steps being taken right now across the entertainment business, as well as in other areas. It’s really exciting.”

Although Samuelson says that he enjoys hearing from fans of his audio-description work, he knows he’s done a good job if his performance stays in the background. “The biggest focus for me is that the spotlight is on the story. I think a successful narrator is one where she’s able to deliver so that the audience can be a part of the story and keep focused and fully immersed in that story. There are subtle ways to do that, but a lot of it obviously has to do with the writing. And I’ve got so much respect for the describers—that’s what they call the writers of audio description. The narration has to ride the emotion of the story without being overly emoted. It’s exciting to try and find that line.”

The writers, he notes, use different programs that tell them how much time they have in between lines of dialogue or action sequences. Then they have to fit their description of what’s happening on-screen into those pauses. “I always like to use the analogy that a picture’s worth a thousand words. There are 24 to 30 frames a second, and a movie lasts 90 minutes and above. So there are thousands and thousands of images that can be described. The describers really have to focus, like a radio sports announcer, on what are the most important elements that are going to push the plot forward or that people who can’t see might miss in the visuals.”

Samuelson says action films like Hobbs & Shaw are among the most challenging to describe. “Hobbs & Shaw is just back-to-back narration, because it’s all action. The describers did an incredible job of capturing the essence of it, because so much is happening. Sometimes it’s just page after page after page of nonstop action, interspersed with punches and screeches and explosions. If I started thinking about it, I’d just stumble and fail. But [I get into] a zone. And this is, again, a collaboration between the describer doing their job so incredibly well and the director allowing me to sense the feeling of the scene, the intensity of the emotion, and my being able to ride all these different cues happening seemingly simultaneously and still [meet an exact time count].”

Margo Tone, senior manager of operations, audio description/scripting services, at Deluxe Media Inc., confirms how precise this descriptive work is. “The writers are really the foundation—they are the most important part of this. Because if the writer doesn’t know how to describe in between dialogue and capture what’s going on on-screen, while being able to not editorialize, not be condescending to the visually impaired, the voiceover actor won’t know how to read it. But the voice actors are very important, too. All the voice actors that we use are trained, because it’s a cold read. Even people who are experienced dubbing voiceover, we audition them to make sure they can do this read. A cold read is really hard, so the pool of resources that we have are some of the best—they’ve done a lot of the big features that we’ve worked on. You don’t want to be too excited and confuse the listener, but you don’t want to be so monotone that you put people to sleep. When there’s an action scene or something like that, we’ll tell them to do it a little quicker, have a little bit of acceleration to your voice and your tone. It’s definitely a fine line.”

Deluxe has roughly 15 full-time employees and 20 freelancers working in its audio-description division, which encompasses its offices in Los Angeles, London, and Bangalore. “And we also have access to translators all over the world when we get foreign-language A.D.,” Tone adds. “We’ve done quite a bit of French-Parisian, French-Canadian, we’ve done Spanish, German, Japanese; we’ve even done Icelandic. We have access to really any language that is needed.”

Since it began audio-description operations in 2011, Deluxe has transcribed over 1,600 feature films and 700 television shows across streaming platforms. In the past year alone, the company transcribed over 400 feature films.

After the narrator records the audio description, says Tone, “our editor goes in and cleans up the audio, getting rid of mouth sounds, pops, that kind of thing.” Deluxe’s technicians also keep a careful watch to ensure that “what’s on-screen and what’s being described are correct. We want to make sure we are as accurate as possible.”

The final A.D. track, says Chris Reynolds, senior V.P. for localization products and services, is incorporated into auxiliary channels in the digital cinema package that is shipped to cinemas. “Any theater can access it,” he notes.

Tone says the studios sometimes get involved with voice casting. “They want to hear a couple of different narrators to see which one they like. Depending on the genre of the film, we try to match it with the right voice. We have a guy who has a really great low voice, and we give him a lot of the action films. And then some of our female narrators have sweet voices, and we’ll give them romantic comedies or those that are geared toward a younger audience. Every voice actor brings something a little different.”

Tone says she gets great personal gratification out of the work she and her team does. “I went to a conference about four years ago with the Audio Description Project [an initiative of the American Council of the Blind]. There was a blind patron and he was talking about going to see Lincoln, which we did the A.D. for. He said he went with his wife, who is also blind. There’s a scene where a bunch of Lincoln’s troops have been killed and he’s on his horse. So all you hear is clip-clop, clip-clop. And to be able to hear the description of Lincoln’s expression and the emotion that was behind it, he said they were overwhelmed, they were so happy. It means so much to them. Our goal is to give the blind patron the same experience the sighted viewer has. That’s why we make sure we use trained writers, because we want to give people the best experience.”

Tone agrees with Samuelson that action films can be especially challenging. Deluxe did the audio description for the most recent Mad Max, with its many long chase scenes. That meant a lot of descriptive writing for repetitious actions. But, says Tone, “you don’t want to repeat yourself—you want to keep the writing vibrant and let the blind patron get that same feeling, the same experience that a sighted viewer is getting.” One recent and especially demanding film had a first-person point of view, and the A.D. writer had to relay that perspective. “You always have to be ready to change it up a little bit, depending on what’s going on in the feature, while still following those tenets of what A.D. is supposed to do.”

As Tone describes it, some films are talky, and the writer has to struggle to avoid interrupting the dialogue. And sometimes the actors on-screen talk over visual jokes. “So there are certain challenges, but everyone huddles together and says, ‘Hey, look, this is a really difficult scene. What do you think?’ And then everyone gets their two cents about what they think is best. My writers have anywhere from 10 to 16 years’ experience. So they’ve been doing it for a very long time.”

One cinema that has fully embraced the recent legislation mandating audio description and closed captioning is the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, Connecticut, a unique venue that seeks to create employment opportunities for the physically challenged. Three-quarters of its employees, known as “prospects,” identify as disabled.

Says Ryan Wenke, director of operations, “We’re a nonprofit and we employ people with disabilities, so we operate as if people are going to be using [audio-description] equipment every single day. That’s what really sets us apart from other theaters. If you go to other theaters in the surrounding areas, a lot of the time their staff doesn’t know where the equipment is or how it’s used or it’s not charged. Here, every single time we get a movie, we test the devices in all of our theaters and make sure that the new movie is working. We get customers every single day using it, and every month we actually host a group called Guiding Eyes for the Blind. We have the service animals come in with their owners and they’re all watching movies. So we’re seeing this equipment used all the time, in real time, with those who are blind or visually impaired.”

Wenke says that despite the recent audio-description mandate, more needs to be done—better education and more investment in advancing technology—partly because it’s a smart business move. “These are paying customers too, and why wouldn’t you want as many people as possible coming to your movie theater, especially when you have streaming options like Netflix? You’re not doing yourself any favors by not having this equipment ready. I would love to see tech companies especially continue to advance the technology and not just be like, ‘OK, we made something, we’re good.’ But get feedback and work with us, work with other theaters.”

The Prospector supplies Braille cards with instructions for its audio description headsets, and for first-time users. “We’ll have an usher go into the theater with them and walk them through how to use it,” Wenke says.

Wenke has high praise for the craft that goes into audio description. “The voice acting really makes a big difference. It’s a different kind of voice acting when you’re doing narrative description. … It’s like you’re listening to a good friend describe what’s happening and it’s perfectly timed and not overwhelming. It’s not taking away from the action—they’ll tell you just enough but not too much.

“We encourage people to listen to one of these tracks. It’s like an audiobook. In the past, we’ve done a challenge where we blindfold other prospects who work here and we use the headsets to help them understand what the experience is like for somebody who’s visually impaired or blind. A lot of these movies have come a long way. When I’m in the theater and I’m using the equipment or I’m with somebody who’s using the equipment, they’re laughing at all the same jokes that everybody’s laughing at, they’re getting emotional with everybody else in the theater. One time I walked into a theater during a Guiding Eyes visit just to make sure everything was good, and everybody was laughing at what was happening and they all had headsets on. So, clearly, this technology and the narration are working.”

Wenke says the cinema “should be a medium where everybody has a favorite movie, everybody has a favorite actor. It should be a place where everybody can come together, experience something in the same way. Maybe we’re using different technology and different means to experience the art of the movie, but we want to be inclusive.”

Voice artist Roy Samuelson echoes those sentiments: “There’s another narrator who did one of the Toy Story films, and she said the only fan letter that she got was from a parent who had several children, one of whom was low-vision or blind. She wrote the narrator saying, ‘Thank you for the work that you do. This was the first time my family could watch a movie all together.’ And that’s what we’re doing. This is normalizing the experience of watching movies, being able to engage with others in watching and talking about their favorite moments. It provides access just like sighted people have.”

Audio Description, News

Blind New World article

link to article

BlindNewWorld

Many years ago, I worked The Great Movie Ride in Walt Disney World, where guests would go through movie scenes with audio animatronics. I narrated the scenes as a host – and later, as a gangster who gets blown up. In a sense, this was my first experience with audio description.

For movies and TV shows, audio description (also known as video description) is a special audio track where a narrator voices the visuals relevant to the plot. It’s intended for blind and low-vision audiences to experience the film or TV show by hearing what’s happening on-screen, usually with narration in between lines of dialogue.

It works like a sports announcer on the radio, giving the play-by-play of what’s happening on screen. The narration describes visual elements, such as actions, settings, body language, graphics and subtitles.

I started working in audio description a little more than five years ago, narrating some IMAX and Disney short form titles, like Toy Story of Terror. Since then, I’ve recorded the latest two Spider-Man movies, Hobbs & Shaw, Glass, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and several network and streaming series like NCIS, Marvel Runaways, and Amazon’s Bosch.

What Happens Behind the Scenes?
My experience as a narrator is limited to being in a booth recording into a microphone. I watch the TV show or movie on a screen and hear the audio in a headset, and read from a script. The script is written by describers. Those describers take the original film and watch it, noting the essential plot points that are visual. They find the best words that don’t get in the way of the scene, and find the best place in the scene to put those words.

I arrive to the studio, I’m given the audio description script, and we start rolling. I’m reading the script having never seen it before.

While I know the general gist of the movie or TV show, I’m also along for the ride. My goal as a narrator is to get out of the way to not distract the audience from immersing themselves emotionally. In other words, if an audience is aware of me, I’m not serving the story. To serve the story, I need to ride the emotional elements, but not too much or not too little. I also have to keep an eye out for timing issues, reading quickly at some parts, and slowing down on others. And any surprises need to be revealed in a way that a sighted audience person would experience it.

Advocating for Audio Description
I’ve recently been connecting with blind and low-vision audiences and others, through the Facebook group Audio Description Discussion, the Audio Description Project, connecting on Twitter, and advocating for those producers or directors unaware of audio description. For those who aren’t aware, I find they lean in, with curiosity and wonder.

This is a market share of our industry that can reward all those who participate in it, and I do my best to find the positive steps being taken.

Roy Samuelson is a top Hollywood voiceover artist who has been heard in television commercial spots for Quaker, State Farm, Direct TV, Ford, Target, McDonald’s and more. He has been featured in hundreds of spots for Los Angeles’ KCRW-PBS Radio. Currently he is one of the leading voiceover artists leading the industry in Descriptive Narration, enabling members of the blind and visually impaired to enjoy film and television. You can learn more about his work on his website, RoySamuelson.com and follow him on Twitter.

Audio Description, News

Wattpad interview

wattpad interview

(text below)

Victoria G: What inspired you to become a voice actor?

Roy Samuelson: I enjoyed recording on tape as a kid. Once when I was doing an announcement for a performance, I learned about how I could use my voice to be clearer. Enunciation was something I never thought about. That blew my little mind. Then I learned about acting and improv. It all came together with a few different voice over workout groups in Santa Monica. I loved practicing, and stretching, and trying new things.

VG: What was your first voice acting job?

RS: In Disneyworld, I was on the Great Movie Ride. I had a mic and I read off a script. Does that count?

VG: What is your favorite project you have done?

RS: I just finished Audio Description narration for a documentary called “House Of Cardin” – it was filled with subtitles, which the narrator reads. It’s not dubbing, but there does have to be some distinguishing characteristics of the voice, especially when two people are talking to each other. I really enjoyed the challenge of that movie.

VG: What do you love most about Audio Description?

RS: Technically, I love to get in the zone, where the timing of the cues in between dialogue just flows like a dance. I get such satisfaction in being a part of the story like that. I also enjoy learning about better ways to serve our audiences, blind, low vision, or even sighted, and I do my best to make sure all audiences who hear my work are fully immersed in the story.

VG: Do you have any hidden talents?

RS: My superpower is seeing different people’s perspectives of the same thing. And I love to find the good.

VG: What was the hardest voice for you to do?

RS: My own. Hear me out! Most people only hear their own voice inside their head, and it can be jarring to hear one’s own voice on a voicemail greeting or listening back to some kind of audio. We are so used to hearing ourselves from inside our bodies, but everyone else hears us from outside our bodies! So that’s an adjustment that I’ve gotten used to years ago. Then there are words given to me that I have to make my own. Playing a character is fascinating, and I love studying different ways of doing that, following along with the intentions of what’s happening in a story or a scene. But to do my own voice, especially using other people’s words, it’s taken a lot of time and practice to be authentic and still get the story through.

VG: How would you describe yourself in three words?

RS: Curious. Driven. Sincere.

VG: What are your social media handles?

RS: twitter & insta @roysamuelson — facebook is @roysamuelsonbiz

VG: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

RS: My favorite part of this question is looking back at my life from 10 years ago and not even having the imagination to know where I’d be! But there are a few things that I found I was striving for, so I’ll answer like that: I see myself living a life that is filled with good consistency and surprises, growing into more deep and loving relationships with friends and family, and delivering my best work I can when I can. That sounds so esoteric, so I’ll add I’d like to swim with some otters and dolphins.

VG: What are three qualities every voice actor should have?

RS: Ongoing craft development. Human interaction skills. Business sense. (I still work on all three.)

VG: Do you have any advice for an aspiring voice actor?

RS: Yes! Do voice acting. You can use your smart phone and record yourself reading along to something and listen back. Visit social media groups who are focused on the kind of voice actor you want to be. Connect with working voice actors and get the lay of the land from them. Watch where things are headed in different markets. The opportunities are there to grow and it’s up to the person to take action.

VG: What’s next for you?

RS: I’m looking to find pockets of rest in the midst of a few different areas. I’m still working on advocating strongly for Audio Description, and growing that message. And the Audio Description series and movies are a whirlwind of opportunities to help boost that message. I also have a few video games that I’m voicing that I can’t wait to share.

VG: RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS What’s your favorite animated movie?

RS: The Point. The dog Arrow is my zen guide.

VG: What’s your favorite song?

RS: Ke$ha “Woman”. My cousin and I sing it quite loud and she can dance better than I do anyway.

VG: Do you have any pets?

RS: My muttweiler Steve and I had 7 great years together; even though he’s no longer here, he still brings me calm, kindness, and a gentle strength.

VG: Can you play any instruments?

RS: I haven’t picked up a trumpet since 12th grade. I bet I shouldn’t.

VG: Who’s your favorite Ninja Turtle?

RS: I’m partial to Raphael.

VG: What’s your favorite weather?

RS: Snowing outside the window near the fireplace. That summer cool breeze on the hammock in the woods.

VG: What’s your favorite pastime?

RS: Trapeze. I’ve only done that a few times, though, so stargazing.

Audio Description, News

The Hollywood Times interview

Roy Samuelson Interview | The Hollywood Times

Roy Samuelson may not be a name and face whose is easily recognized outside of the Hollywood entertainment industry but his voice is one that most people have heard over and over. Whether narrating for the visually impaired for a film or series, delivering promos on the radio, adding his voice to scenes on your favorite program, Samuelson’s talent embodies the pinnacle of success in the Hollywood world of voiceover artists.

The Review:

In my ever-growing ability to meet new people, explore new and wonderful means of interviews and to boldly go where no other journalist has gone before, I’d like to introduce you to Roy Samuelson. I had the distinct pleasure and privilege to talk with The Voice of Hollywood, Roy Samuelson.

We spoke on a number of topics from Audio Description, the Late Great Don LaFontaine, Roy’s humble beginnings and a bunch of topics. This will be an interview that will not only inspire you but, give you the ability to hear the interview, feel our passion and get to know Roy a little more. I hope that through ‘listening’ to the interview, as well as reading it, below, you’ll be able to understand how a blind or low-vision person can enjoy a film and I’ve included two links to Roy’s site that have a small clip from Pulp Fiction. One is without and the other is with Audio Description. Then and only then will you be totally immersed into the dialog and action and see how over the past 30 years, Audio Description truly gives a person with vision disability the “ability” to see by hearing.

http://webparity.net/media/roy-samuelson-interview-audio-description-9112019-edited.mp3

THT: Hi, Roy how are you? Thank you for allowing me to interview you today.

ROY: “Hey, I’m doing great. Thanks so much for having me here. Good to be here.”

THT: I read about what you do and Audio Description. This is great because I have a 4% hearing loss from the United States Navy and use the Sennheiser Headset to hear TV better. And so my wife doesn’t have to put up with the volume so high. So, to start out with, Roy how long have you been doing voice overs? When did you start and what got you interested in voice overs? Finally, why is it so important to connect hearing loss with sight loss?

ROY: “Well, my own background in voice-over started back in Orlando Florida, actually, with a theme park attraction for Disney World. It was a, imagine…like a movie theater with about 60 seats or so, that would go through scenes of movies with animatronic characters from all sorts of movies. As a host, I would have a mic and point out. “Oh, here’s Gene Kelly singing in the rain” or “here’s Indiana Jones” or whatever it was but it was all timed to certain audio cues and visual cues as well as other things, so it was kind of like live audio description in the sense.”

“But it was my first paying job that kind of got the ball rolling. Most of my work is now in Los Angeles and has been varied in the world of voice over, whether it’s commercials or video games and a lot of announcer and narration work including audiobooks. This work has kind of transitioned to the audio description passion maybe about 5 or 6 years ago although I still do all kinds of voice-overs. But that’s the one I’m most excited to talk about.”

THT: How is it important to connect hearing loss to sight loss? I think that’s something I read in your you’re a brief that I got from Anthony.

ROY: “Well the cool thing that’s happening with media, specifically TV and movies, is access for people with different kinds of disabilities. So for example, with your experience with a Sennheiser, it’s amplifying the audio so it can help include you with the with people who have, who are able to hear a little differently. With closed captioning, I think, it’s a great example with a lot of people. It’s no different from Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram accounts. You see videos, there’s a lot of content that already has closed captioning. It’s become common. So for those who do have hearing disabilities, like yourself, and they have their mute on their device whether it’s a laptop or a smartphone or tablet they’re able to enjoy the content without hearing it.”

“What’s happening with audio description, however, it’s a similar kind of inclusion for those who are blind and low-vision so that people that can see the visuals, are being able to be included in the conversation about what’s happening. If I can dive off kind of in here, the idea that disability is not something to shy away from but it’s something to: Okay, well here’s a disability and here’s how we’re going to include those people with disabilities, to be able to be a part of the conversation, enjoy the content, the story and the producers intent in a way that, for example, a sighted person would be able to enjoy it. I can get into the details later but that’s kind of the gist of where things are going there.”

THT: I get that because as a screenwriter, I’m reading the action and that’s when I listened to your sample that I got the feeling that, you know, he said, “He walks over to the counter, puts the briefcase down, fumbles with the combination and flips it open.” That’s really cool because that’s just action but it’s really brief, but enough to give the listener the intent to say, “Wow! I’m really immersed in this thing,” right?

ROY: “Yeah, and that’s a great word immersed. As sighted people, we absorb that and this is a way for the blind and low-vision audiences to absorb that same content and still remain [immersed] in the story and in the emotional connection that’s happening in the story.”

THT: The late great Don LaFontaine (the Voice) did the voice over for my disc jockey company which I ran on my website until his death. Then with his widow’s – Nita Whitaker – permission, I was allowed to run it for a couple of years after that. I sent it to you and it’s still up there but now as a memorial to him. I know Joan Baker and Rudy Gaskins and Joan told me once that Don did the voice-over introduction to the 2007 Promax BDA marketing conference for her. She said it was funny as hell. Did you ever get a chance to meet and work with Don and what did you think about him as a voice-over artist?

ROY: “He brought professionalism and elevated a standard of excellence that is pretty much second to none. In the Screen Actors Guild there’s a SAG-AFTRA foundation and it has the Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab which has professional studios, coaches and experts come in and teach, mentor, train and work out and play with the voice-over techniques.”

“That’s a part of his legacy that he left for other performers like myself and to be able to hear you say how much you’ve been touched by his contribution, well, it’s just another beautiful story to hear of his care and connection with people. It really wasn’t just a one-sided but he genuinely, from the experiences that I’ve heard from you, and the actual contributions he’s made, it’s real generosity. That’s no wonder he was such a success, you know, I think those two things are tied.”

“I’m sure with your experience it wasn’t just exclusively his talent and exclusively the excellence that he brought. Also, I got to say the word connection. He seemed to authentically connect with you in the way that you described him and your excitement, even in the words, in how you’re bringing it up…it’s just a delight to hear.”

THT: You know, it’s really true because Don’s last email to me was August 15th, 2008. He was so kind. I simply asked him: How much to do the voice over for my DJ company? I sent him the ad copy and what he sent me back was unbelievable. He said he changed one word into two and the MP3 was a gift. I first heard him on the Geico commercials and I simply reached out. His last words in his email to me were: “I deeply appreciate your taking the time to write to me. It means more than I can say.” I’m getting the chills while I read this. How did much did he inspire you personally?

ROY: “Well, I think the example of the talents and the connection that he brought, as an expert in his field, helped him to do his best and that best was always growing. That’s a living legacy that any person, regardless of the field that they’re in, voice-over or otherwise, can follow. It’s hard for me to think of a time where he’s ever compared himself to someone else or made it as if it was a competition against someone else. His legacy was to do the best work. Maybe this is my limited understanding of what he’s done, but to be able to see, again, through the Don LaFontaine voice-over lab in the SAG-AFTRA in the foundation. This is something that he gave back. So it really was two-way street with him as it continues today. That influence and being able to see how he modeled excellence, how he modeled quality, how he did his job in a way that continues to elevate this industry to this day, I think that’s something that we can all get something from and it’s definitely something that I take personally.”

THT: Well, that’s fantastic, you know and it is people like that who really inspire us to do great things. He inspired me. I just was so touched, man! A total stranger. He just did that for me without even a second thought. He was like an angel. Unbelievable. Let’s get into audio description from a moment or video description as they call it.

ROY: “It’s what they call it, yeah.”

THT: I listened to the sample…

ROY: “It’s true. There’s a bunch of different terms. I like to default to the audio description just to keep it consistent, but you’re right, there are other terms that describe the same thing. Yes!”

THT: I listened to the sample without the audio description and then with it. What a massive difference, you know? Like I said earlier, being a screenwriter, you can hear the action that you actually write. It really makes a difference. So tell me about what got you into doing this besides what you already said and can you elaborate more importantly about persons with a disability and blind and low-vision audiences. I think you already touched on it, but can you just get into it to a little bit more, please.

ROY: “Sure, I’d love to but I think like you said it’s the experience as a sighted person, to have a scene from a movie or TV show without the context of visuals its, ah…there are blanks. And there’s almost a hunger to have those blanks filled in. I’ve never used this example before but the first thing that comes to mind is: If you’ve ever been in a public setting where someone is having a phone conversation whether or not they’re talking loud, there’s something that’s missing and it’s the other end of the conversation.”

“You’re only hearing one side and there is this vacuum. It’s an ache, almost to want to know what the other person is saying, even though you have no interest in this conversation whatsoever. It’s like, to fill in that gap. I’m wondering if we can make a leap to audio description specifically with audio description, I like to make the analogy for sighted audiences that haven’t been familiar with it, that people who listen to a sportscaster, on the radio giving a play-by-play of a game.”

“That gives a sense of what audio description does for movie or TV show. It’s not the minute details of every single thing that’s happening in the game, but it’s the play-by-play like, what’s the story? What are the things that you want to hear what’s happening in the game? That’s a similar comparison to audio description and as you said, it’s with audio description, I do read from a special script. It’s been meticulously crafted. The writers of audio description are called Describers and those Describers take original content, they watch the video and they hear it and they may even have a produced it.”

“Take one of your screenplays, for example, they [the Describers] read along with the TV show, documentary, or movie and they fill in the blanks of what’s happening visually. The challenge is that they’ve got a limited time, usually it’s in between dialogue and they do a really good job of not trying to overlap what’s actually being said in production. Then they take the essential elements, that I believe, are the producers or directors intent, visually and communicate those with a script that I narrate. It’s because of that, that fills in the gaps visually, for the blind and low-vision audiences. I can keep going, you can hear I’m getting excited.”

THT: You know that’s great and you kind of, ‘did’ leap into my next question. Who was the very first voice over artist to start audio description, when was its actual launch date, and how many voice-over artists are participating in this medium?

ROY: “Great questions. I’ve only been involved in the audio description for about 5 or 6 years as I said, but the actual work of audio description has been around 30 years. What’s happening, I think, in the last 10 years, is that there’s an awareness that’s growing not only in the entertainment industry but also in the audiences. So more blind and low-vision audiences are becoming aware of this opportunity. Even sighted audiences are becoming aware of it in the sense that people who live in Los Angeles and commuting can be a challenge.”

“This is another form of audio entertainment that you can catch up on your TV shows while you’re driving. Keep your eyes on the road and listen to the audio description and you get the sense of what’s happening. If you’re cooking at home, you can keep your eyes on the baking or the mixing and still be able to be a part of the conversation. So, this kind of work is not exclusively for a blind and low-vision and but that’s the intent. That’s the inclusion that we’re talking about. But in the same way that people use closed captioning that don’t have hearing loss the low-vision and blind community can also enjoy audio description. This is the benefit of all kinds of audiences.”

“One of the more prominent examples of audio description happened about 14 years ago. Stevie Wonder had a video called “What the Fuss.” And an audio track was created and was narrated one of the smoothest audio description narrators and it’s done by Busta Rhymes. The entire video has so many visual elements that Busta Rhymes does talk over all the lyrics. So with a video like that, you can hear the song by itself or you could hear the audio description track, which is also part of the video and it brings you into the world. It’s the vibe. It’s a feeling. It’s the emotional content and you get the gist of what’s happening visually and that was 15 years ago!”

“So there’s a lot of stuff that’s happening even now! Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are going to be fully compliant by 2020. Amazon and some of the new services that are coming out like Apple TV Plus just had an announcement that they’ve got audio description, I think, for multiple languages as well. So this is a really growing field.”

THT: That’s really interesting and you know, I find it an incredible asset to what is out there now because we are now becoming more inclusive to people with disabilities and I think that’s vital to our community. I think it’s really a fantastic thing that we’re doing. Please tell me about your work at Walt Disney World’s Great Movie Ride and with Todd-AO post-production sound facility. What was that experience like?

ROY: “Let’s start with that Great Movie Ride. I kind of gave you a little brush stroke about what it’s like as an audience member and what I was doing. But one of the greatest things about that particular attraction was that I played both the host and also a gangster, that kind of hijacks the vehicle and gets blown up every 7 minutes. Both of those experiences were on mic and it was the same show over and over and over again. You know, as a kid, I was doing this and it got kind of repetitive after the first few times of doing it.”

“The novelty wore off and so I started challenging myself say, like, okay, well, here’s the same script, what can I do a little differently? Like how is this going to work with the audience? And I’d try something out and it might fail. It failed in the sense that people didn’t like it or maybe it didn’t feel right when I did it or it came across as condescending to the audience or people just weren’t paying attention. Whatever, and each time I did it, I tried to find a different way that would adjust my message of the story of what the narration was. If you remember Karate Kid, and Mr. Myagi with wax on wax off and practicing the same motion, right?”

THT: Yep!

ROY: “So that wax on wax off example, instead of cars, it was the script, the spiel, and each time I did it, I tried to find a better way. That kind of training helped to build in the best way and it was fun to experiment and it was playing! It really got me charged up and it helped me learn. Once you do something it’s not like: Here we are going to plateau and that’s it! No, it’s like, what can we do that’s got to be a little better and being able to say: Well, we tried that and it didn’t work at all and maybe I can try this again in that context. That was such a great experience for me to be able to have that repetition and play with a with an audience.”

“As far as TODD-AO goes…I worked in the post-production sound company as you said and that was being surrounded with all kinds of sound experts whether it was the sound mixers or the sound editors and even a little bit of transfer of learning how assets move from one place to another. By being surrounded by the efforts that go into this essentially invisible thing: audio, and learning what works and what doesn’t, with all the specs, requirements, talent and actors coming in and re-recording their lines, I saw how they watched it on the screen and that kind of emerged me in the world of sound. In a way, that educated me to the bigger picture outside of just, you know, the voice over person standing in front of a mic. I learned so much!”

THT: Yeah, you know, you bring up a couple of points. I want to get to them before I forget and I want to unpack these because there are three vital things that you said that bring the up you attempting to find a new way to do something because it was so repetitive. You said I want to try something else and it failed or I want to try something else because that failed. It brings to mind two things: Tony Robbins says if something doesn’t work (hand clap) try something else. If that doesn’t work (hand clap), try something else and eventually you’re going to get there. You know what FAIL is, right? Simply put, FAIL = First Attempt In Learning. So you attempted to learn, you failed, you learned and then you adapted. Then you made it work! Then you adapted even more and you started creating these Neurolinguistic programming capabilities that Tony speaks of. Then, you really shined and that’s what brought me to that conversation. Have you heard of that before? Neurolinguistic Programming?

ROY: “Yeah, and my experience is a very specific experience of that. I’m sure obviously you’re aware of it, so there are hundreds of examples like that where people do find ways to be in a certain situation and I’m calling it ‘play’ and you did with the acronym FAIL, it’s that first attempt and making a new first attempt. There’s a resilience…resilience might be too strong, but you know what I mean, right?”

THT: Yep! And another thing that you brought up was the sound. Sound is so vital in a movie that when I listen to the: example without the audio description and just heard it, the dead space and there’s no music and I’m saying: Wow, this is boring. Then I heard the audio description and then it got more exciting. I was introduced to Scott Martin-Gerhsin by my friend Bill Knopf at NASA who was the head of the Cassini spacecraft mission that went to Saturn. Scott was the sound editor and designer for The Martian, Star Trek, Pacific Rim and worked at NASA for their sound…This guy’s a master in sound, he’s like amazing, and to the human, because it drives the entire story and by you doing this, you’re adding that component that’s missing.

So it’s truly an uplifting angle on how the professionals in the post-production side of the business are providing this inclusion and access to the blind and low-vision community. What advice can you give to our readers who are interested in becoming voice-over artists and how can they get involved with being a part of the audio description?

ROY: “I’d love to share that. I want to go back for just a second to Scott. The one more analogy that comes to mind and I did was excited thinking about this is that, as a sighted audience member, if you hear audio, let’s say footsteps. It’s folly. You see someone walking on-screen and if the footsteps are a little bit off or there are no footsteps; either of those extremes, whether it’s too much, not enough or if it’s off, that stands out so sharply. But when it’s done right, when there’s good folly, when you hear that, that crinkle of a jacket when someone moves their arm or someone’s walking down some steps, it’s just a part of film and you don’t even notice it. That is excellence.”

THT: Yeah, and what you hear is not really shoes walking across the floor. It’s like a little cup or something that they do with a tiny little piece of flooring.

ROY: Exactly.

THT: (laughs)

ROY: “That’s an illusion!”

THT: That’s amazing!

ROY: “It’s so effective the illusion becomes real.”

THT: Exactly!

ROY: “I started my work in the audio description as you know, that the conversation is changing it now not just about: does this show have it or does this network have it or doesn’t but now the audience, the blind and low-vision audiences are now saying, “You know what? I really have my preference. I like this narrator because this or I don’t like to listen to Roy. He sounds like my ex-boyfriend!”

THT: (laughs hysterically)

ROY: “It doesn’t matter! It shows that this nuance is coming out. As sighted people, we listen to an audiobook and it’s like, “Oh, I am not going to listen to my favorite book for 4 hours with that voice!” because it’s too much! Or someone else might say, “This narrator is so great. I love this book! What else is that narrator done that I can follow along with,” that there’s a way that it’s just pure connection and it’s all relative, right? I am not going to be everybody’s favorite narrator but when I am, it’s my hope, that what I’m doing is that I’m bringing the audience into the story in a way that they’re fully immersed.”

THT: Yep, yep! And Don did that when I remember. “In a world where both of our cars were totally underwater,” you know?

ROY: (laughing out loud)

THT: “And a new wind was about to blow!”

THT and ROY: (laughing joyfully)

THT: “This time I know it’s for real!”

ROY: (chuckling)

THT: …and he takes his headphones off and the lady’s sitting there at the kitchen table, deadpan.

(laughter)

ROY: (cracking up) “Right?”

THT: He brought that nuance, he brought that…and the music is like, eerie! It’s like, it really added to the effect even though you were watching it. You can close your eyes and Don just gave you that experience and there’s my car and it REALLY IS totally underwater, you know!

ROY: “Exactly!”

THT: That was such an amazing experience.

ROY: “So that was crafted that and built in such a way that it just felt real.”

THT: I’ll be putting this interview up on the site for those who have low vision and those people are blind to enjoy our conversation and you and I are both putting our emotion into this so people will be able to feel…and hear…our passion. While you’re no expert on him, Don or the history about it…I apologize. I was reading something and I misquoted. So, please forgive me.

ROY: “Oh, no, no, it’s ok!”

THT: See, I’m being illiterate here. You can take away my gold star for today in class

ROY: (chuckles) “You’re great. I’m really enjoying talking to you.”

THT: It’s cool, it’s cool. Being a disc jockey, it’s fun and I’m a close-up magician. So illusion is another thing because it’s all sleigh.

ROY: (chuckles) “Sure, sure.”

THT: Can you share some of your other voice over experiences and what can you offer somebody who wants to do this outside of audio description…

ROY: “Yes!”

THT: …who will just become a new voice over artist. What would I do?

ROY: “Yeah, so, I think when it comes to audio description, there are so many things. When it comes to inclusion, there’s one really simple step that everybody can take right now on social media. Whether it’s Twitter or Instagram and even Facebook. There’s something called ALT TEXT or Alternative Text. So let’s say it was…”

THT: YES! OMG! I don’t mean to interrupt you, but that’s important because as a web developer search engine optimization looks for all text or the title attribute in HTML tag for the image and that is the description that can be turned into…Audio description, correct?

ROY: “It’s describing an image and you’re right. It’s a win-win for everybody. The website host, the person who’s hosting the image, gets the benefit of that extra, SEO, search engine optimization. Also, the blind audiences can participate in your Instagram feed and now all the sudden those memes that you post that are hysterically funny, get a little brush stroke in the ALT TEXT It could be a symbol of this elegant restaurant with a picture of my French toast and potatoes or this one is of two men smiling in front of the memorial. It’s like giving the essence of what the image is about. One of the cool things that I heard an interview that heard ALT TEXT referred to is conscious posting.”

“When you do post an image, you take that moment so you can describe to someone who can’t see it. Like what would I call this? It gives you a moment to say, “Why am I posting this?” “What am I trying to put there?” It allows you as an Instagram poster to give a little more thought to the ALT TEXT. This is how blind and low-vision people experience the internet and specifically with Instagram, which is a photo-specific platform.”

“This is how we can include our blind and low-vision friends and it’s so appreciated. Yeah, it takes like five or ten seconds. In Instagram, you tap additional settings, then tap ALT TEXT, you type a little thing, then you go back and then it posts. It’s that simple and that extra step is so cool and it’s so appreciated. It’s so helpful, obviously as you discussed, it helps the person who’s posting. Also, it helps the people who are there. So that’s something that everybody can do regardless of being involved in voice over or not.”

“And it’s that extra little gesture enough obviously for sharing an image, that is from a web link, you take a little extra, you know, you can do a little extra post and say and its description, in parentheses and then describe it. Making that more common is part of that inclusion is what you’re talking about. We’ve got the technology and it’s simply a matter of using it. Taking that extra simple step means so much. So, specifically for voice-over people, there’s a lot of things voice-over talent can do right now when it comes to audio description. If anyone who is super interested in doing audio description, obviously, you can listen to audio description on these platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu on a laptop or desktop browser.”

“Find a show and click on those three taps to turn on audio description and you’ll be able to experience it. Close your eyes and look away from the screen, if you’re sighted, and see what that experience is like. Then, watch it with the video and your excited. The other thing that’s really cool for voice-over talent that you can do right now is going to a website called You Describe. YouDescribe, kind of like YouTube, but it’s called YouDescribe and there are hundreds of thousands of videos that blind and low-vision that have been on that website and say, “Describe this video to me!” Could be a few minutes, could be 30 seconds and find some video that you want and you can do audio description, right now! This is not something that you have to wait for. Because there’s a need and you know, there are billions of videos out there so why not take some time and see how it goes. Then you can get the feedback from the audience. This is a win-win for everybody.”

THT: Absolutely and so it’s come to the end and I want to thank you, Roy, for your time, your dedication and your passion to the craft and for helping those persons with disabilities to be able to enjoy the entertainment that is created for everyone. Any last-minute words.

ROY: “I’d love to introduce people to Audio Description Projects. Just Google Audio Description Project. It’s a great site to find out all about the different content shows and have it and for those who are blind and low-vision, Facebook has a group led by a guy named Kevin called the Audio Description Discussion. And there are some really lively, positive, and focused discussions happening with all kinds of people with their third describers the writer’s other narrators, like myself and audience members. So those are the two things that come to mind right out the gate and you know, I’m on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, too. So thanks so much man. It’s been such a joy talking with you.”

THT: How can people find you?

ROY: “My website is www.RoySamuelson.com. Twitter is @RoySamuelson. Instagram is RoySamuelson and RoySamuelson on Facebook.”

THT: Thank you.

For More information about Roy Samuelson, please follow the links below:

Follow Roy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Website: www.roysamuelson.com

YouDescribe: www.youdescribe.com

Hear and Watch Stevie Wonder’s: WHAT THE FUSS narrated by Busta Rhymes in 2005.

Play it: Close your eyes and listen: Really, really listen. Then after it’s over, replay and watch it. Man, what an experience!

Click to hear a sample of Pulp Fiction scene without Audio Description

Click to hear a sample of Pulp Fiction scene with Audio Description

Here’s the link to What the Fuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDVZDclDjRM

Audio Description Project (ADP): Audio Description Project

Audio Description, News

Film Daily interview

Meet the voice of Hollywood: Roy Samuelson

Film Daily interview text below:

Listen up! We have interviewed the voice of Hollywood himself, Roy Samuelson. Billions have had the pleasure of hearing this well-established Hollywood voiceover artist in action, but we’re finally getting to know the man behind the voice.

Roy Samuelson is known for his video game work: Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Raphael, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns. He’s provided his soulful voice to a variety of films and television projects (American Horror Story, Librarians), while also voicing commercials.

Not only does Roy do voiceovers, but he also works in audio description, making visual media accessible for all. This service is for the visually impaired and additionally for fans who want to listen to their favorite movies or show, much like an audiobook. Roy has so far recorded narration for over 250 network television episodes and over 100 films.

You can find Roy Samuelson on Twitter @RoySamuelson along with his website.

Without further ado, let’s get on with the interview!

Tell us about your history as a voiceover artist. How did you start your journey?

I worked as a host and as a gangster that got blown up every 7 minutes. This was at The Great Movie Ride at the Disney Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida.

I memorized a script, and talked on mic as the moving theater of about 60 guests went through scenes of movies with audio animatronics: Gene Kelly Singin’ in the Rain, the Witch from the Wizard of Oz, and Indiana Jones. It was live audio description in a sense, narrating what was happening in between music, dialogue, visual, and other cues.

Who were your early influences?

I spent a lot of time with a tape recorder, and loved listening to radio announcers and watching The Muppets. I remember visiting a local radio station and feeling awed at how cool the mic is. By angling it diagonally and away from the mouth, you can remove the pop sound from “P” words.

What’s the most memorable project you’ve worked on? What did you learn from it?

I have worked on audio description for almost 100 episodes of NCIS for CBS; I like the characters and the way they tell the story. It’s got some familiar parts to it, and always some surprises and twists. With that repetition, I continue to learn how to connect with the story on that show, because of those two elements: the familiarity and the twists and surprises, and find the best way to deliver my part of the narration in a way that works best.

Tell us about your career before voiceover.

I was in a touring production of social issue dramas that were performed in schools across the Eastern United States. We performed up to 7 shows 10 times a week. That kind of practice, performance, and engagement with the audience gave me a ton of different ways to engage with audiences.

During my first performance, I found out that talking down to kids doesn’t work, so finding ways that do work with communicating to the audience is still incredibly satisfying.

Tell us about your creative process.

I believe that ongoing coaching is essential to my creative process, so I study with as many voiceover, and other coaches. During auditions, I experiment by trying new ideas that are within the parameters of what is being asked. In sessions, I listen to the intent of what we are working for, director, producer, engineer, and executives, and bring myself to those intentions.

I love to deliver what’s asked and give some shades on top of that. Sometimes those risks pay off.

What tips do you have for newcomers to the industry?

Reach out to professionals, explore forums, and learn from their experiences, and not limit training only on the craft, but the business – the way they network with others, and how their day to day life works. The people who share their experiences from a solutions place, is important – how do they solve problems? These are the ones to follow.

When I started, I had many assumptions I made that seemed right, and I found that those assumptions I made were wrong sometimes, and I could have avoided a lot of time and energy wasted. Learning from others is a fast track and a gift.

What’s your next project?

I am very excited about working on a few characters in a video game, a satisfying role on a re-enactment podcast, and a few audio description series, and can’t wait to share them when I can!

Have you worked with mentors in the past? How would you recommend people go about finding them?

Funny you should ask! This is such an important element of my career. Social media can give you access to what a potential mentor shares in their day-to-day life. Ask others if they know someone who could mentor you, having a referral like that can be best for both the mentor and you!

What’s your creative mission? Name the most important thing you want viewers to experience when hearing your voiceover?

I think the most important thing I want viewers to experience when hearing my voiceover is the story. I hope they feel fully immersed. If I am playing a character, or reading a narration, it’s so important that I don’t stick out. While people are enjoying a show, I don’t want them to think “Roy is doing such a great job”, but rather “This story is so cool and that character did that! Can you believe it?”

While watching a show, I hope people can dive in and immerse themselves into the story. That’s a really important part of the work I like to do, and I’m always finding new ways to do that.

Will you be working on episodic television VOs anytime soon?

I am voicing audio description on the final season of Criminal Minds on CBS, NCIS, and a few others I will be able to share shortly.

What filmmakers that you’ve worked with should be on our radar?

Ebersole Hughes company has some great documentaries; if it’s a study of The Shining, or Cher and her mom, or the drummer of Hole, or Jayne Mansfield’s rumored curse with the head of the Church of Satan, or the upcoming House of Cardin, there are some unique and brilliantly told stories to explore.

Who is your voiceover inspiration? What did you learn from them?

Bob Bergen has a career as the voice of Porky Pig among many many other notable roles. Additionally he has a smart and thoughtful approach to the career of voiceover. His website, classes, and social media presence are a primer for beginners and pros alike. I’ve learned about professionalism, excellence, quality, and practicality with every interaction with him.

Tell us about audio description. What is it and how did you get into it?

Audio description is a way for blind people to watch movies and TV shows. They use a special headset in the movie theaters or turn on a special audio track on their screen to hear a voice narrate what’s happening on screen.

You can think of audio description like listening to a sports game on the radio, giving you the play-by-play of what’s happening visually. It’s a way to include patrons in the conversation to experience a movie or TV show like sighted people do.

I got into audio description by recording a few short films and TV shows. I studied the nuance of the emotional delivery, and I like to find that sweet spot where it’s not too much and not too little.

The balance is so important to me! The more I work on that, the more I want to do more. And as with most voiceover work, different kinds of voiceover can help inform better ways of doing other kinds of voiceover. It’s all one big Venn diagram, and I love exploring those overlaps and those distinctions.

Tell us about the largest AD projects you’ve worked on and how you learned from them.

I’ve worked on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Hobbs & Shaw, Glass, Jordan Peele’s Us and Get Out, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and series like Lethal Weapon, Criminal Minds, the latest season of Bosch, and NCIS.

One of the things I’ve learned from doing these projects is what I call the dance. I read the audio description scripts while watching and hearing the movie at the same time. It’s an exceptional amount of information, and it’s important for me to go along with the emotional tone of the scene I’m in, but not too much nor too little. All these things together are invigorating!

I find that within the script, as long as I’m following the cues, I can best be a part of the story by letting go and getting into the flow. It’s a constant adjustment.

One example I think of is that a pilot flying from LA to New York is constantly adjusting settings because of turbulence or wind or whatever else comes up – so when these environmental interruptions happen, if the pilot remains rigid, she’s going to not land where she wants to.

The pilot has to stay on track by changing tack constantly. To me, that analogy is flow. I find that trusting that flow is a lesson I love learning every time I’m in the booth.

How does audio description help people with limited vision?

Audio description provides access to movies and TV shows. It’s not only about knowing the story, but also being a part of the conversation of TV shows and movies. It’s a way to experience the story like sighted people do.

Have you heard any feedback about your descriptions from visually impaired people? What sort of things do they tell you?

I’ve heard that the evolution of questions has grown from “Does it have audio description or not?” to “I like this narrator, because . . .”. That distinction between having it or not is so important, and now we are in a time during which the nuance of the performance is coming out.

Just like audiobook narrators can be either hard to hear, or easy to hear, audio description narrators can bring out different experiences to different people. I’m not going to be everyone’s favorite narrator, and that’s a good thing – I want to encourage that kind of preference. Where does that preference come from in an otherwise high-quality read performed with excellence?

The bottom line is whether during a movie or TV show the audience can enjoy the story and be immersed in it, or are they paying attention to the narrator? If they are paying attention to the narrator, it’s probably not serving the story. There’s a way to serve the story without being condescending, like reading to a child. Blind audiences deserve the respect that sighted audiences have when watching a movie.

Feedback is not just about the narrator; the writing (describing) makes a difference, and the engineering of the mix of the sound, and how that experience and that quality and excellence is important. And of course the audio description has to pass through, from cinema to streaming services. There are a lot of people involved behind the scenes!

How has a career in audio description affected the way you watch movies?

I’m more conscious of visual elements of the movie, and finding the best way to share those elements. The describers (the writers of audio description) have an artistic job like none other. Let’s do some quick math for #AudioDescription describers (the writers).

A picture is worth a thousand words, and one second of film is 24 frames per second; that’s over 24,000 available words per second. By that math, an average movie is just under 130 million words. A describer, the writer of #AudioDescription, has to choose which elements within those almost 130 million words are part of the producer’s intent.

From those nearly 130 million words, that writer must find a way to condense the best phrase to describe what’s happening visually. Oh, and also fit those words between dialogue in a way that a sighted person experiences it.

This is a professional service provided by describers! And being able to see these perspectives of audio description expand my perspective. I watch movies with a respect for these audio description roles, and so much more.

What’s a great experience you’ve had in your career that you’d like to share with us?

I’m enjoying connecting with blind and low-vision audiences on social media, and so many ideas are flowing. I love to focus on the win-win-win for all parties involved. As people become aware of this work, I get more passionate about how it is coming together for the benefit of all. That makes for smooth sailing.

Audio Description, News

We Are Entertainment News Interview

Voice Over Artist Roy Samuelson Talks His Career & The Emergence of A Ground Breaking Life-Changing Service for Blind and Low Vision

We spoke to voice-over extraordinaire Roy Samuelson. We were intrigued to talk to Roy about his career in voice-over and about the emerging service in the entertainment industry, Audio Description. When we learned how this game-changing service was enhancing the entertainment experience for blind and low vision audiences, we had to learn more. But then we also discovered it was positively impacting the experiences for all audiences and we were even more excited to talk to Roy.

Without seeing facial expressions (smile, scowl, arch of an eyebrow), no body language, no use of your hands just hearing your voice and the inflection of the same. Voice-over performers; “live and die” by their voice. The ability to captivate and stimulate the imagination and to tell a story solely based on your voice, now that is talent. Roy has that voice. Roy has that talent. Trust us we spoke to him. His voice is smooth, melodious, enticing and versatile. Roy told us right off the bat more than anything when he is working he wants the audience, “Fully immersed in the story and going along for the ride.” Interviewing Roy was a fun ride all its own! We discussed Roy’s background, his career and then he enlightened us on this still relatively unknown yet important service so now we can enlighten you.

The average child is talking by the age of two. We all have a voice. But how does one recognize they have the voice? How does one know they have a voice for voice overwork? Roy is like me, old-school. We reminisced about the days of a voice recorder machine. He loved to play around with his. It was this old school machine that first introduced Roy to his own voice. Roy had cousins who were from New York. And Roy loved their “cool” New York accents. Roy would have what he described as, “A kind of Mister Rogers Neighborhood Show. I’d record myself sounding like them. I called it the New York Ghost. It was a rambling mess if you listen to it now. But it was so much fun to record. I guess that was my first show. It had an audience of zero.” Laughter.

Roy’s audience first increased when he got, what he called his start in the voice-over industry when he worked at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. He was a narrator on a scene park ride. How many of us have been on a theme park ride with a narrator? A lot of us for sure. Well this routine experience for us was anything but for Roy. His job as a narrator for Walt Disney World catapulted a twenty-something and counting year career as one of the most sought after voice-over artists. “Everybody’s got a different way of getting into voice over, mine came from a scene park ride in Orlando. I was the narrator at the Great Movie Ride in Walt Disney World. It’s no longer there. Maybe 60 different guests would get inside these theater cars and go to the movies with all sorts of animatronic robots. The ride had certain timing queues, audio cues, and visual cues. As the host, I would point out the different things that we were going through. I also played the gangster which was really fun. I took over the ride, shot the bad guys and got blown up over and over again. To do the show over and over again was great practice. It was also a benefit to be able to watch how the audience reacted based on what I said or how I said it and how to use the microphone to tell a story.”

Roy has been telling stories ever since. Roy has narrated in blockbuster movies such as; Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Spiderman: Far From Home, Jordan Peele’s US, Get Out, Jason Bourne, Pacific Rim. His television Audio Description includes Criminal Minds, Lethal Weapon, Blue Bloods. This upcoming fall we will hear Roy on NCIS as he has been heard for the past four seasons. And he will also work on Criminal Minds‘ final season. He has been the voice-over in commercials for Intel, Toyota and McDonald’s. Roy’s credits are extensive and impressive.

By speaking to so many actors we have learned that some things essential to the craft of acting are; know your mark, watch your lighting, timing and of course know your lines. What is one of the most important things for a voice over artist to learn? We wanted to know. “This is my favorite example because it hit me so personally when I first discovered this. You know how the first time you record a voice mail greeting and then you listen back; you are like, who is that? That’s not me. We all hear ourselves from our own bodies. But everybody else hears that same voice from outside the body obviously. Everybody is used to hearing your voice but you. So I think it’s really important when it comes to voice over to learn what you really sound like.” So true! I distinctly remember the first time I heard my own voice on tape. I thought that’s not me. I don’t sound like that! It is amazing the difference of the sound of your voice when you hear it on tape versus out of your own mouth!”

Roy is also an actor. He has done film and live theater. But without question, “Voice over is the thing that makes me the happiest.” Roy’s love for what he does has contributed to his excitement and investment in the industry’s move to provide this entertainment enhancing service to the blind and low vision audience. We are the new of the newbies in learning about this groundbreaking service, Audio Description; so, we will let Roy and only Roy tell you all about it. “This is so exciting what is happening in the entertainment industry. What we do is called audio description. It is a special audio track that goes on top of a movie or TV show. It is specifically for blind or low version audiences to experience what the film or TV is without having to see it. The audio script is a special script that is written based on what most people see.”

Roy provided this practical example to further explain. “It’s like when you’re listening to a game on the radio like a baseball game. There is an announcer that might mention the weather or say something about the city where the game is being played but for the most part, they are there to give you a play by play of the game. They are giving you a vision of what is happening. And that is what I do as an Audio Descriptionist narrator. I give a listener a sense of what’s happening visually.”

This concept would appear to be so “simple” we wondered why this wasn’t done many years ago. The ability has been around for 10-20 years. But it is the technology that has made it much more accessible. Only now people are beginning to talk about it. And not just audiences but the networks, streaming services, and Hollywood. There is a special headset to see a first-run movie. This headset isn’t for the hearing impaired (to make the movie louder). It is for blind and low vision people so they can experience the show or movie without the visuals. It works for streaming services as well. The audio is merely a few taps away.

Things were starkly different before the dawn of this technology. Before, Roy would work in a pretty isolated environment. Basically, Roy would get hired, go into a small area, read a script and that was pretty much it. Roy did his job and did it well but still felt disconnected. But he wanted to be and feel connected to his audience. What was the best way to start? Roy started talking to people. And when he did a whole new world opened up. As he started learning about accessibility, disability, and how others dealt with things; his eyes were opened. It gave him insight into how he could literally use his voice to help others.

Blind and low vision audiences now have access to movies and TV shows where they can watch it with their families and have an equally entertaining experience. These audiences can now also engage in conversations at work or anywhere outside the home, sharing their own full experience of a TV show or movie. This concept has also uncovered an untapped market for producers, creators, directors, and showrunners to increase their market share. And able-bodied audiences can enjoy it too. Roy gave us a few suggestions on how. “It’s not just for blind people or low vision people. You can listen to these stories or shows while you are stuck in traffic, when you are cooking or maybe you have spent the whole day staring at your computer or iPhone and just want to relax, you can turn on the Audio Description. Also, the more able-bodied people that use it will help blind and low vision people. The more demand will improve the quality and will increase the accessibility as more people use it.” Roy also encouraged us if we find a show without Audio Description to take a moment to contact the network or the streaming service and ask for audio vision services.

The more Roy talked about this subject the more excited he became and for good reason. If you want to learn more, you can Google “The Audio Description Project.” It will give you all the shows, networks, streaming services and movies that have it. You can also learn more about it and about its history. If you want to, there is a lively and engaging Facebook group with a wide range of people, blind, low vision, narrators, producers called “Audio Description Discussion.”

Even twenty years in, Roy says there is always something new for him to learn. He continues to learn, research and work with coaches and plans to never stop learning. In addition, he is at the forefront of this description narration revolution leading the charge.

We learned so much and thank Roy for taking the time to teach us about this valuable, life-changing service!