Episode 19

Kenny Blyth: The one with the Dark Horror Story

In this episode of “How do you Say That?!”, Kenny Blyth joins Sam and Mark to talk about voicing technical scripts with vitality, the essence of true horror stories, and how to subvert expectations, and our wildcards include robotic AI voices, a magician and a rather superb horse racing commentator.

Our VO question this week is all about demo reels, and when you should get them done (or re-make them).

We’d love you to join in and send us your version of one of the reads in today’s show – just pop it onto an mp3 and send it to podcast@britishvoiceover.co.uk

Script 1

In regulation 4, paragraph two, which covers ‘Requirements relating to building work’, paragraph two (a), after ‘schedule 1’ inserts: in brackets “in addition to the requirements of regulation 7”

In regulation five which covers ‘meaning of material change of use’ after paragraph I omit “or”; and after paragraph J insert ‘or the building is a building described in regulation 7 - 4 - a, where previously it was not”.

Script 2 (excerpt from "The Chair" by W. Terence Walsh)

As the fire begins to crack and pop and the smoke rises over the rooftops, John resumes his work with renewed vigour, the rhythmic scraping of the chisel helping to drown out the sound of the blaze.

But he cannot ignore the piercing dreadful song of the girl screaming as she is cleansed from this world. A sound so high in its pitch and so disquietingly inhuman, that it beggars belief. Perhaps she truly is an agent of the supernatural after all? The noises of the crowd turn from accusation, to celebration, to pity, to fear, before dwindling to silence.

Only the scream now, travelling through the late summer air and gently brushing up against the blade of the chisel, carving a microscopic record of Mary’s last moments into the tiny groove-like indentations in the wood.

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About our guest: Kenny Blyth is a multi award-winning voice-over and actor who graduated from Queen Margaret’s college, Edinburgh in 2000, the first graduate from there to win the prestigious BBC radio ‘Carleton Hobbs’ award. He spent his first year working only in Radio Drama at the BBC in London, which has provided him with a rare versatility in vocal age, characters and accents, often playing multiple roles in a single production.

Kenny works in all areas of the industry, all over the world, including TV, film, games, commercials, documentaries, audio drama, theatre, animation & audio books. He also co-ordinates and voices ADR for TV & film post production in Scotland, on shows like Shetland, Guilt Vigil and Outlander to name a few. It is as a voice-actor though, working from his own broadcast quality, home-studio, that Kenny spends most of his time.

Kenny's Website

@blythyken on Twitter

@blythvoice on Instagram

Resources:  Find out more about Bill Walsh, author of "The Chair" here and if you want to buy a collection of his wonderful short stories - click here

Mark's demos & contact details: https://linktr.ee/britishvoiceovermark

Sam's demos & contact details: https://linktr.ee/samanthaboffin

About the Podcast

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How Do You Say That?!
A fun podcast showing there are unlimited ways to read a script - sponsored by https://www.voxbox.studio/

About your hosts

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Mark Ryes

With over 40 years representing major international clients such as Google, Emirates and HSBC; Mark has been trusted to be the voice for some of the world’s biggest brands. Beyond the big names, it’s his reputation with clients that truly speaks to his professionalism and work ethic. If your business needs a fresh voice to represent you, then make it a British voice…
Mark's also seen weekly on television across the UK, both on ITV1 and Ideal World.
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Samantha Boffin

Elegantly British with an intelligent, warm and seductive voice, Samantha helps creatives and production companies create great audio that really connects with their audience.

BBC-trained and with over 20 years of broadcast experience on both sides of the mic, she's created award-winning promos, narration and commercials for companies all around the globe, including the BBC, Sky, Games Workshop, John Lewis, Audible and Penguin Random House.