广告里的画外音是哪个名流配的?

Bright.Crisp.Clean.Pure,” says the silky smooth, perfectly masculine voice on the beer commercial. “This is Budweiser. THIS is beer.”

Quick,who is that?Hint:It’s a big movie star. Though his name’s never mentioned,the makers of Budweiser are banking on2 the fact that you’ll get it eventually―and that you’ll say “Wow!”when you do.

Twenty years ago,voiceovers were the domain of the baritone radio announcer or the character actor.No longer.These days,more A-list stars than you might imagine are cashing in.3

Kevin Spacey’s pitching Honda.Kelsey Grammer does Disney.Kiefer Sutherland voices Apple commercials,and his dad,Donald,did Volvo.There’s Queen Latifah (Pizza Hut),Sean Connery (Level 3 Communications),Christian Slater (Panasonic),Gene Hackman (Oppenheimer Funds)―oh,and then there’s Julia Roberts.That’s right,Julia Roberts,in a recent campaign for America Online.4

It seems no one’s too rich or famous to do a voiceover. It’s not too hard to see why the celebs5 like it: it’s an easy, lucrative form of work―a few recording sessions where you can show up with messy hair and no makeup.The more difficult question is why advertisers are willing to spend a huge chunk of their budget on a star whose voice,however distinctive,likely won’t be recognized by many.

“Honestly,sometimes I’m mystified,”says Maureen Kelly,a casting director6 who’s worked in the voiceover field for two decades.“I guarantee you most people couldn’t tell the AOL voice was Julia Roberts.I’m just not sure why advertisers spend this astronomical amount of money when the voice isn’t even identifiable.”

“By astronomical,we’re talking seven figures,easy.Although companies won’t say how much they pay, industry experts say a megastar like Roberts would have to make well into that range.”

The “whole intrigue of discovery”

Or George Clooney7,that mysterious Budweiser voice. When Anheuser-Busch8 was searching for “a classic voice” last year,the company hit on Clooney as the perfect embodiment of its product.“George Clooney―it’s almost a brand in itself,”says Dan McHugh,vice president for trademark,“It just made a lot of sense for us.”

The idea,says McHugh,is that the consumer will “sort of9 know the brands.”They may not necessarily place it right away,but when they do,they say,“Wow”!“It’s that whole intrigue of discovery.”In other words,the “cool” factor is higher because there’s mystery involved.

Laura Cheshire,a commercial director in New York,says many celebrities have distinct vocal patterns that set them apart―recognized or not.“They have a special authority, even if you can’t name them on the spot,”says Cheshire,who directed a current Panasonic ad with Christian Slater10 (he participated by remote hookup11.) “It’s usually worth the expense,because you get more emotion―which sells more product.”

Advertisers didn’t always have such an array of choices.Twenty years ago,says Linda Weaver of the Access Talent agency,jobs went primarily to announcers from the radio world,with the so-called “Voice of God.”Martin Sheen12 was one of the first well-known actors to make the plunge,voicing ads for Pepsi and Maxwell House in the 1980s.

迈克休说，（广告的）创意点在于“消费者对这个声音有些印象，他们可能不能马上猜对谁谁，可一旦他们对上号，他们定会说‘哇！’这就是发现中的乐趣。”换句话说，片中“亮点”就在于有神秘元素的加入。

纽约商业广告导演查士・劳拉说许多名流独特的音调使得他们与众不同――有的易识有的则不。“即使你当场不能说出是谁，这些声音听起来也有特别的威信。”，由克里斯蒂安・斯莱特（他通过远程连接来参与）配画外音松下广告的导演查士说：“一般来说这个花费值得，因为你得到了更多有助于销售产品的感情共鸣”。

广告客户们并不是一直都有这样的系列选择。寻英人才中介（Access Talent Agency）的维沃・琳达说，20年前画外音的配音工作主要是由有着“上帝之音”称谓的广播播音员来做。20世纪80年代，投身配音领域最早的著名演员之一马丁・西恩就为百事可乐和麦斯威尔咖啡配了画外音。

终于，配画外音被看成是表演性而不是照本宣科性的工作。“我不能告诉你我被告知多少次：‘不是照本宣科，不是照本宣科’”，拥有一间纯声音工作室的凯利说：“每个都对我这么说。”

最近这些年，许多不出名的演员们已经把从事画外配音作为一种稳定的收入来源。他们中的大多数都有一项令人印象深刻的技能：有配音性感的（角色），有配得意洋洋的（角色），有配受尽折磨妈妈的或是爱飙车的家伙的（角色）。一个全国性优秀的商业广告收入介于15 000~20 000美金。一份成功的画外配音职业能赚取不错的6位数收入。

维沃说：“我告诉我的剧院演员们，从事画外配音吧，这样你们就用不着必须赶到小石城做什么《搅局者》的第三版了。”

美女方面

美国演星们经常在其他国家接拍些在美国国内见不到的商业广告，但是最近，他们在国内也接拍商业广告了。凯瑟琳・泽塔・琼斯出现在T-Mobile广告中，艾伦・狄珍妮丝则是为美国运通拍片。

最受人尊敬的女影星们大部分成了时尚和美容用品的“招牌”：妮可・基德曼（夏奈尔），格温妮丝・帕特洛（雅诗兰黛），希拉里・斯万克（娇兰），查理兹・塞隆（迪奥）。甚至布拉德・皮特去年也为喜力啤酒做了广告。

同样，这也是一个巨星们纷纷为动画片配音的时代――罗宾・威廉斯，东尼奥・班德拉斯，卡梅伦・迪亚兹，等等。

百威啤酒酿造商Anheuser-Busch公司的迈克休说，对于跻身全球最火暴男演星之一的克鲁尼而言，配画外音比在摄像机前露面更有吸引力。克鲁尼知道做配音角色是种背叛，并且“他真喜欢配画外音这个创意”，迈克休说：“对他而言感觉会更真实。”

纽约女戏剧演员爱丽森・弗瑞斯说，由知名演员组成的圈子从事配音排挤了那些以此为生计的普通演员。

虽两次获托尼奖提名，但12年来弗瑞斯还是主要依靠配音来谋生。她说，她理解克鲁尼或者罗伯茨们对于广告客户的吸引，并且她也尊重演员和广告客户们的选择。

即便如此，她说，当听到某巨星正在从事配音活动时，她情不自禁地感到一阵刺痛。“天啊，我在想，为什么他们需要去做这个？”弗瑞斯说。