Phoning it in ...

jamesm123

This seems to be a popular thing to say regarding Sean Connery and YOLT. I happen to disagree but that's beside the point. Who was the first person on this site to use that phrase? Im curious. Whoever it is should be paid royalties by the other users!

Thunderpussy

The phrase seems to have originated in the entertainment industry. When doing voiceover work one can sometimes record one's lines by phone. Its useful when you can't quite make it into the recording studio - when you're just too busy, or have a committment in another part of the country and simply can't physically be there. However, many people will phone in their lines when its a gig they aren't getting paid as much for as they'd like or when its a gig they just don't care so much about. So in that sense, "phoning it in" has come to refer to slacking or doing things half-a**ed

MooseWithFleas

I don't know but I don't buy it. I've seen Connery and other Bond actors give "weaker" efforts, but would never consider any outing to be simply phoning it in.

Thunderpussy

I agree I don't think any Bond actor has " phoned in " a performance, as I think they'd all be too professional.

Thunderbird 2

I am a voice artist.

Phoning it in is not a second hand approach. Many voice artists never have to leave their studio to record work, esp short voiceovers or for commercials. Most often as not using good quality equipment on an ISDN line. Usually studio visits are utilised for larger or longer pieces of work, or if it has to match in with other recordings. Even then, such as an animated film, it is quite common for the voice artists to have had no contact with each other.

Bond is different. I do not know, but the scale of the films and the resources poured into them prob mean artists would be expected to attend a studio of the producers choice.

Have I gone too literal here?

bailorg

MooseWithFleas wrote:

I don't know but I don't buy it. I've seen Connery and other Bond actors give "weaker" efforts, but would never consider any outing to be simply phoning it in.

In terms of Connery, it's not so much that he started "phoning it in" as in he didn't care, it's that instead of playing the literary James Bond he portrayed in DN and FRWL, it's that he basically changed James Bond over time into a more light-hearted character who was constantly cracking one-liners. So, IMO, he was "phoning it in" in the sense he was playing the character he wanted to play instead of being the literary James Bond.