All Aboard the Amtrak Train

When two worlds somewhat collide…

When you think of passenger train travel in the US, you think Amtrak. Well, they now also want you to think about getting yourself to the game on a train rather than sitting in traffic like everyone else. As a voice actor, it was my job to get the message across with relatively few words and let the pictures do most of the talking. That’s usually the edict for TV spots, as opposed to radio where the voiceover generally does the heavy lifting.

That’s not to say we don’t have to sweat the details. During this directed session, I probably did 20 takes. Not because I wasn’t hitting the mark (I was! I swear, Atlas talent agency and all you other high-powered agents dutifully checking in on these pages!), but because there can truly be that many ways to get across a relatively short message. You have to dial into your audience. Here, the message is geared toward a younger demographic. I didn’t have the benefit of the visuals while I was recording but the producer did a great job of setting the scene for me.

In any case, the relatively few words also meant they wanted some lines elongated and that’s where the vowels get streeeeeeeeetched.

I recorded this one last summer and didn’t know it was released until a friend on the other side of the country watching MLB Network let me know.

And so brings about a minor collision between my former life in sports and my current life as a voice actor who tends to get booked across the transportation genre.