Vocal control in movies

[Hawgdriver]

Man I hope I get this right because it's a hell of a great concept. I've shared this one before, a youtube clip:

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And right now, I'm rewatching There Will Be Blood.

Last week I scored the district high school mock trial event and I kept thinking, over and over, about vocal control. It's like everything in life is a form of vocal control.

Anyways, I just want to share the message of our lord and savior, vocal control.

No offense, Jesus.

(Imagine the vocal control Jesus had!)

[Hawgdriver]

Just as a random exercise, I want to consider this scene as a litmus test for my concept of the importance of vocal control.

1. How important is the vocal presence of each character--how much does the character control his environment through the tone, dynamics, pacing, musicality, and force of his voice?
2. Does the movie itself warp to the voice of the character?

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[Hawgdriver]

Yes, damn. Absolutely. Someone bring another. I find this fascinating.

It's no different than politics, or sales, or anything. Mastering this is probably pretty close to mastering the human state.

[Hawgdriver]

Cruise is ok, vocally speaking, but Nicholson is sooooo much more present with his voice. It's close to a 10/10. So Nicholson owns the scene as a whole through that power. Cruise is great, and this is perhaps his best critical performance, but he cannot compare. And his voice is frayed and at its bursting point when Nicholson is still completely in control.

[chazoe60]

Here's one for you, Sam Elliot. He has a great voice and excellent control over it. Also, you can't have this thread and not mention James Earl Jones.

[chazoe60]

https://youtu.be/EBwhjAhNmKA

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I’ve always loved Clint Eastwood’s solemn, ice cold vocal tones when he’s about to shoot someone.

[chazoe60]

Got home and the wife had just started watching Meet Jow Black, made me realize Anthony Hopkins excels in this area as well.

[chazoe60]

Man I hope I get this right because it's a hell of a great concept. I've shared this one before, a youtube clip:

8JUXtUeWUTQ

And right now, I'm rewatching There Will Be Blood.

Last week I scored the district high school mock trial event and I kept thinking, over and over, about vocal control. It's like everything in life is a form of vocal control.

Anyways, I just want to share the message of our lord and savior, vocal control.

No offense, Jesus.

(Imagine the vocal control Jesus had!)

BTW finally got around to watching this video. It was excellent. It sent me down a DDL rabbit hole. Holy shit that dude just becomes another person.

[Hawgdriver]

I'd like to test this against the 80's and 90's Arnie movies--Terminator, in particular. Cuz that boy wasn't known for being the most articulate. But he left a kind of John Wayne rep in the box office.

[aberdien]

Brad Pitt has some great vocal control.

[Hawgdriver]

Brad Pitt has some great vocal control.

Give me a movie of his that is a good example.

[aberdien]

Give me a movie of his that is a good example.

I'm not sure. I'm still trying to totally grasp the concept of vocal control. But I feel like Brad Pitt has it.

I need to dive deeper into what this is. Because what's the difference between vocal control and simply being confident with your voice and/or playing more or less the same character in every movie?

Is it actors who have vocal control or is it directors that give them the ability to have vocal control depending on their movie?

[aberdien]

All I know is I enjoyed that video and I 100% miss nerding out and overanalyzing movies.

Makes me want to rewatch the Story of Film series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey

[Hawgdriver]

I'm not sure. I'm still trying to totally grasp the concept of vocal control.

It is a concept introduced by the narrator of that youtube clip and it is not rigidly defined. It is well-defined, but not explicitly. I have been thinking that a crisp formal definition would be nice if we are to discuss it.

I'll begin.

Vocal control is the ability of a speaker's voice to entrance, capture, or commandeer a listener or audience so that the only sensory activity of the listener is parsing the speaker's meaning. In movies it is emphasized by framing of the voice--for example when John Wayne speaks his voice may come from off-camera but take 'center stage' in the overall composition of the movie. In a mock trial or in live litigation, vocal control is the advocate's same ability. In real life, or in a free-form debate, vocal control contains all these same elements, but the onus is on the speaker to frame his or her 'composition'--that is, he or she may be interrupted, or may have to interrupt.

[Hawgdriver]

All I know is I enjoyed that video and I 100% miss nerding out and overanalyzing movies.

Makes me want to rewatch the Story of Film series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey

Oh me too. I looked through Bitt's entire ouvre to see if anything jumped out. I'd want to begin with A River Runs Through It, but maybe he's not full-formed then. So then I think Ben Button or Fight Club, maybe even Babel?

[Hawgdriver]

I think this is the same guy that analyzed John Wayne and DDL.

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Chazoe would appreciate.