Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.09.17 - 0625 – Line-Reading For Voice TrainingVOICE BOXLine readingA director may read your script to you, in the style they want you to emulate: a line-reading. This is slightly different from a line-by-line read mentioned above, as it’s when a director speaks a phrase or sentence exactly how they want it (regarding intonation, accent, pace and so on) and they record you repeating it back them exactly. Professional voice-over artists (or VT- voice talent) should rarely need this direction, certainly not for an entire script, but very often ‘celebrities’ who’ve been booked to lend their name and voice to a project, often do.[1]
Don’t take it personally as an affront to your skills. It may be that they are not explaining very well the style or tone that they want – they may not have the terminology or you may not understand the nuance that they need - and it’s easier to show you ‘with their voice’.
So why may it be that you don’t understand what they want? Well, because we are all different. The subtlety of a word they are using, may be different from your understanding of that word, perhaps because of each of your ages, backgrounds, cultures and so on. But a good director should have more in their exclamational arsenal before they resort to a lazy line-reading: they can use images to explain the sound and feel that they want “OK, imagine you’re alone in your house and you hear a weird noise outside…”), synonyms (“let’s try a read with a voice that sounds easy, simple, effortless, straightforward “), similes (“I want you to sound as cool as a cucumber…”, “like you are oozing sweet and sticky honey…” ), adjectives (“imagine biting into a crisp, sweet, juicy, red apple…”), adverbs (“it’d be great if you can attack that line a little more greedily…”)
But if a line reading is suggested, just go with it: you need to be malleable and affable. Oh and directors: if you’re doing this, tread carefully around a voice-actor’s ego, and apologise for using this last-ditch technique!
And it certainly is a last resort. The actor is a professional, not a parrot. And a professional voice-reader, not a robot. That’s because first, someone telling you the actor how to read a line (just to copy them), doesn’t help you connect with the character and the reason or the thinking behind the line. It can make you sound false, as it affects the fluency, the storytelling and the conversationality.
[1] Sometimes it may be that the reader may ask for a line read, if for example, they have trouble following perhaps not very clear help from the director. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.16 - 0624 – What’s Really Happening in a 1-by-1 Voice Over Read·        “I must be rubbish. They’re asking me to record every line one-by-one!” – this isn’t that unusual. It may be down to the timing or the exact intonation that’s needed. Perhaps your sentence, or just a phrase, has to fit with those of other people as part of a poem or montage. Maybe it’s got to fit with the beat of music or pictures. Or it may be that the director is not just thinking of the overall Takes they like, but the lines they like from each Take, and get you to do individual lines, phrases or sentences separately to give them options when they are editing together. For example: “I’ll take line 1 from Take 4, and line 2 from Take 2… and even though they nearly hit each of the last two lines in Take 4 and 8, those two lines really gelled together in Take 11…” Instead: don’t worry that you’re not doing it all right. Politely ask why this is happening, do as you are asked and learn. Maybe ask to hear back the whole script when it’s been edited together so you can hear the overall effect and why this way of recording was necessary. Or if they say that the line is not quite right, ask to hear it in a rough mix with the other lines so you can hear for yourself what the problem is. Recording individual lines in isolation isn’t always easy as you have nothing lead in from. You have to ‘start cold’ on the context of that line and also with your pace and projection, and everything else.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.15 - 0623 – Don’t Nix The Mix
·        “Is this going to be mixed with music?” – as we saw before, when you talk with music underneath you, it affects your read. Music elevates a voice and having it behind makes it more impactful, doing a lot of the ‘emotional lifting’ of the recording. You adapt your style (notably usually the pace and rhythm) to work in harmony with the track. If you can hear now, the bed that will be mixed with your vocals later, then you will be better able to match its style so the two together will sound more in sync in tone and mood. Help the music work with the words. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.14 - 0622 – Take Your Time and Sound (More Than) Fine·        “This is taking ages…” Every job will have its challenges and it’ll all take as long as it takes. Work with the director/producer/sound engineer as they try and get the best out of you. Instead: understand that they may be trying out various styles of read to see what you can do with your ‘voice personality’ in case between you all, you discover something new that they hadn’t thought of. Sometimes this ‘off-the-wall’ approach may be done to fill time at the end of a session, just to test everyone’s creativity and see what happens with a bit of flexibility, spontaneity and creativity. Magic may come from the mayhem … or they may end up going with Take 3 after all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.13 - 0621 – What To Do If Your Script Has Alarming Timings·        “There’s no way I can fit all of this script into just 30 seconds” – there are too many words for the time allowed and you’re tempted to gabble to fit it all in. Instead: maybe the script has just been ‘over-written’ and there are a few words that can be lost or phrases that can be re-written. Obviously, this is down to the producer, not you – although you may perhaps make a polite suggestion if asked. If you have to talk fast, dropping your projection will, by default, also drop your energy and you’ll sound less rushed. Weird, but it works. You may also have to take a longer pause between sentences, so you can take a bigger breath which’ll allow you to take fewer of them and so save time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.12 - 0620 – Don’t Introduce An Excuse For Your Poor Voice Performance·        “Yeah, I’m rubbish today because the cat was sick, I had a row with my daughter and I the bus was late” – Everyone has a similar story, and they don’t need to hear about yours. Winding yourself up will only make you nervous. Instead: Breathe, relax, de-stress with the exercises we’ve already gone through. Listen to the direction, and to how you follow it in your read. Be positive and collaborative.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.11 - 0619 – When It Hits That the Script Is Sh*t·        “This script is really bad. It’s so poorly written, it makes no sense and ungrammatical” – don’t complain about the copy, it may’ve been written by the studio producer or the client themselves. Instead: The grammar may not look right, but it will probably sound right, and it’s your job to make it work. If you still think the words works better on the page than in your mouth (maybe too formal, awkward, or with a difficult rhythm), then consider politely asking “does this sound right to you?” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.10 - 0618 – How To Return After A Verbal SlipTurning Voice-Over Worries Into ‘Wonderful’·        “Sorry, I slipped on that. Sorry. I gotta concentrate. That was stupid…” – trips, slips and stumbled are natural with a new script. Instead: Slow down, take a breath and concentrate and remember it’ll take a few reads to get the rhythm and the writer’s intended meaning. Ask a producer if they’d prefer you to carry on after any slip, or go back and do that sentence again, or the whole paragraph. Remember: You’re not booked because you’re perfect at doing the greatest read straight off the page. You’re booked because your voice is right for the brand and the message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.09 - 0617 – How To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend
How To Make A Sound Engineer Your Friend·        Turning up on time and being ready microphone-ready·        Be confident and competent in sight-reading. OK the odd slip or trip, but be able to see it and say it pretty quickly.·        Be able to interpret what the message is and who it’s for·        Be comfortable not only in reading to time, but being able to shave off or add a few seconds to the duration of the read·        The ability to polish a fast-turnaround dull piece of copy into a diamond – just don’t say it’s dull! Make it work, whatever.·        Being able to listen to, understand and follow direction·        Offering help “I can stay on for a few more minutes to nail this”, and “let me know if you want any more quick turn-around retakes, no problem”…  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.08 - 0616 – The Voice-Over Studio Workflow
Let’s just take a quick look at what happens when you go into a voiceover studio.·        Read the Brief and the script·        Assist the studio engineer in setting the mic position and levels, the level of your headphones and talkback and the position of any script stand·        Have a first run-through of the script and get any questions answered about style or speed, timing and tone, projection, pronunciation and contractions (can you say “they’ll” rather than “they will”, for example?), and so on. Work out[1]:o  who you are ‘talking to’ in the script o  how old they areo  where they are listeningo  what your role iso  the name of the product, brand or serviceo  the overall message and the key words and phrases that help communicate that message. Have you understood the script correctly? “Also, at the food and drink fair, more famous wines…” Is that additional wines that are also famous (“more, famous wines”), or wines that are much more well-known (“more-famous wines”)?o  the mood and tone of the script and how your voice personality can convey it.    In a commercial read, your director should be able to tell you exactly who the script is aimed at, and the ‘part’ that you are playing. This vital information will help you choose an ‘emotional state’ for the read, and an appropriate style and tone.
For example, advertising a car, the copy and the placement of the production (the script and where the commercial will be seen, or alongside which TV programmes), may be directed at a general consumer, parents (perhaps the copy highlights safety features and accessibility), corporate users (mentioning the miles per gallon or comfort), or the ‘petrol heads’ (with technical specifications being highlighted). You can see that each of these scripts would place the production in a different place.
And what part are you playing? Are you the caring mum? Are you the reassuring expert, or maybe the ‘boffin’? Are you an educator, a neighbour? What kind of neighbour: the annoying one from two-doors down who everyone avoids, the one that’s always organising cakes sales and car shares, or the one-next-door who you share babysitting with? Having the director give you the role and the audience will mean you have something to creatively respond to, to help you find your character voice and then the style of the read as well as other elements such as the pace and projection, tone and pitch. ·        Mark up your script with any changes,·        Go for a ‘take’ (sometimes called a ‘first pass’ take) and get more notes.·        More takes and minor adjustments. Possible feedback regarding doing one phrase “like in Take 3” and another “like you did in Take 8” and so on as well as doing it all completely differently, just “because”.
[1] We looked at a lot of these key questions and the reason behind asking them earlier in the series  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.