ChAiNz.2da Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 Quote (CNN) -- Don LaFontaine, the voiceover king whose "In a world ..." phrase on movie trailers was much copied -- and much parodied -- has died, according to media reports. He was 68. Source R.I.P. Mr. LaFontaine... your pipes will be missed I've actually had the pleasure to 'work' with Mr. "Don" twice acquiring VO's for some of our spots (specialty of course). He was a hoot to work with.. albeit over conference call. You could only imagine how kewl this guy was face to face. Commanding presence, (you could listen to him all day) but took direction like the true professional he was. Mr. Don LaFontaine had class. Often imitated, but never duplicated, movie trailers just won't be the same for me.
Jae Onasi Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 I loved his voice--it was rich and deep, and he knew how to use it well to convey all sorts of feeling. It is too bad he's gone. RIP.
mimartin Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 I had no clue who Don LaFontaine was, but I knew that voice. I can think of no better tribute to the voiceover king than that. RIP
Astor Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 Everyone who's seen virtually any movie trailer knows his voice. And everyone's got their own impersonation of him, too. RIP
Ztalker Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 Always brings a smile to my face when I watch 'Little Tortilla boy' that parodies him... He will be missed
Miltiades Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 RIP, Mr. Don. You and your voice will be missed.
Litofsky Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 RIP, Mr. LaFontaine. You and your voice will surely be missed.
Rachel_Ewok Posted September 4, 2008 Posted September 4, 2008 This is terrible!! Who is going to make me feel like I have to see the movie now!?!
ChAiNz.2da Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 tk102 said: Chainz, you worked with him? Whoa. Yeah, just not "in person".. Alot of VO work is done over conference call where you 'listen in' on the session, give direction, and listen again.. over and over and over... hehehe. Once you get your take.. then the VO guy/gal has their base from which they reference to do their re-reads, timing, Pro Tools magic, deliverables, etc. Mr. "Don" rarely had to do more than a take or two (especially for the stuff we did), so it was brief. But it was/is still a highlight of working here. We used him for 2 of our special events programs... so I had twice the honor. The guy had a presence even over the phone, and a day rate that reflected it.. $$$ Worth every penny.
tk102 Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 That brings it home. Thanks for sharing that ChAiNz. RIP Don.
Aash Li Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Woah... talk about unexpected. O.o Sorry to see him go. Like Waldorf and Statler, no one will be able to do his voice just right to copy him. :|
ChAiNz.2da Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 tk102 said: That brings it home. Thanks for sharing that ChAiNz. RIP Don. heh.. dug up one of the items he did for us. Nice long dvd teaser so you can get a feel of just how influential he can be (other than a cinema movie trailer). 3mb, dl or stream .mov file http://www.jumpstationz.com/JTVstuff/GetToKnow_M.mov
mimartin Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 ChAiNz.2da said: ...just how influential he can be... I'd say extremely influential not only would I like to see the program, but for some reason I now want to buy gemstones. Very nice ChAiNz, thanks for sharing.
tk102 Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 I'm disappointed in JTV's managers -- missed the chance to hypnotize the public with LaFontaine's convincing voice: "It's time to buy a lot of jewelry, but only from Jewelry Television."
Q Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 It will be interesting to hear what his replacement sounds like. RIP
Bob Lion54 Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Oh wow. I saw this thing on TV with him once. I can't remember what it was, but he seemed really cool. They interviewed him about his career and showed him doing a few voice overs. The best part was a bit they did at the end. They showed a random movie trailer with his voice over, but then they cut to the theater and it's him and the host sitting there watching. The joke was that Mr. LaFontaine was sitting in the theater talking. The host turns to him and says, "Would you stop, I'm trying to watch the movie." He replies, "Oh, sorry. Force of habbit," without breaking "the voice." It was hilarious. RIP Mr. LaFontaine
Aash Li Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Bob Lion54 said: Oh wow. I saw this thing on TV with him once. I can't remember what it was, but he seemed really cool. They interviewed him about his career and showed him doing a few voice overs. The best part was a bit they did at the end. They showed a random movie trailer with his voice over, but then they cut to the theater and it's him and the host sitting there watching. The joke was that Mr. LaFontaine was sitting in the theater talking. The host turns to him and says, "Would you stop, I'm trying to watch the movie." He replies, "Oh, sorry. Force of habbit," without breaking "the voice." It was hilarious. RIP Mr. LaFontaine I remember that too, but cant remember what it was either. Pretty darn funny. xD He was like commenting on the movie as it was playing, like people do... or something. Could you imagine him heckling bad movies in MST3K? lol Im pretty sure I would be dead from laughing so hard.
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