Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.09.07 - 0615 – Voice Director SkillsThe skills of a director[1]·        They are a bridge between the actor and client. They are likely to work with voice artists more often than the script writer or the sharp-suited client, so they can explain what’s going on, know what language to use, how to get the best out of you and how to get the written word to be an effective spoken word. They understand that voice work is an art and not a science. Oh, and that sharp-suited client? They may also be sharp-tongued as well, giving brash and unhelpful criticism of your performance. A director will be a mediator, interpreting and communicating that a bit more helpfully. ·        A director or producer is a ‘second pair of ears’, giving objectivity and suggestions: “try it this way”, “why not alter your pitch”, “perhaps if you slowed down a bit…”. After all a script is not necessarily black and white but fifty shades of grey (no, not like that), there are interpretations and someone else may help you see them. They coax and explain, to bring out your best performance, giving collaboratory ‘notes’ rather than ‘feedback’.·        They may be your ‘point of contact’ in the session, introducing you to others who may be in the production area, the client, writer, editor, runner and so on; show you into the studio and adjust your mic stand and headphone level, ask if you want to stand or sit, provide water and possibly even give you time and ‘permission’ to prepare with warm-up exercises such as shoulder rolls, neck stretches and lip trills.·        They have the creative overview of the whole piece, how your character fits in and interacts with other ones, the brand voice, and the overall marketing strategy. They know the character you are playing, the purpose of the project, the tone that’s needed, the target audience, the visuals your voice is part of and so on. Especially in animation and gaming, where the lines are often recorded separately, the director gives you the context for your part so there’s a better overall listen and experience for the player or viewer: what you’re reacting to, what’s happening around you, your part in a conversation or story arc. They may provide lead-in lines for you to bounce off from, and so give a more authentic response.·        They know about sound, so will press buttons and fade-up, err, faders, to make the very best of your unique voice.
Although you are being given direction and of course the people who are paying you have the final decision, what happens in the studio should be a collaborative process. Get to know, like and trust studio directors:·        They may support you and your interpretation of the script if there’s a disagreement in the control room·        You may get to meet them in the future on another job·        Heck, they may recommend you for another job.
[1] Again, I am using the term ‘director’, but actual job titles and responsibilities will vary from different studios and stations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.06 - 0614 – Talking About Studio TalkbacksTalk-back micsThe gallery production area will have mics which are used to ‘talk back’ to you in the studio. Sometimes these may be left on (or ‘open’) as you record, either by mistake or deliberately, which means you will hear the coughs, comments, conversations and script suggestions from the producers, directors and clients, live, in your headphones as you read. This can be quite off-putting, so request that their mics can be muted so you can focus on your performance.
After each or a few takes, those in the production area will discuss what they’ve just heard and this will likely happen with the talkback mic off so you won’t hear their conversation. It can be a bit disconcerting to know that they’re talking about you, there may be glances in your direction, and you may also see their facial expressions. Try not to look. You don’t know what they’re saying and the only feedback that’s important is that distilled from the discussion and given to you by the director.
Having said that, it may not come from the ‘director’, it may be from a ‘producer’, ‘sound engineer’ or someone with a quite different title from the agency or the company being advertised, the thing is that any thoughts on what you are doing and changes that have to be made should be discussed and distilled before they are given to you as direction. (For the purposes of brevity, I will call the person who directs you, the director. Cos that kinda makes sense!)
And don’t forget this person is essentially giving you free feedback, which is virtually training. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.05 - 0613 – How ‘Control Room Characters’ May Shape Your VoiceThe Control Room (AKA: ‘gallery’, ‘production area’, ‘ops’ [operations area], or simply ‘studio’!)While you are alone in the studio, other people will be in the area just outside, where the recording actually happens.
There could be several people in here, even eight or ten people in an agency studio situation. Maybe a creative director, a creative writer or two, clients, an account manager, a rep from the marketing department, an engineer or two, maybe the scriptwriter. Someone else because “it sounds like fun”, a trainee perhaps. There should be someone who is in control of the recording and co-ordinates feedback to give you, so you are not party to lots of different ‘direction suggestions’ from everyone. Imagine the mayhem if they all pitch in with their thoughts: too many people telling you too many things.
Keep a note of who you are introduced to, their name and position. Then you can talk to them by name, and is more friendly and builds a relationship (“So, Brian, is that the kind of tone you had in mind…?”)
Lots of suggestions from several stakeholders can be quite a challenge to cope with. To be clear, it shouldn’t be a problem with the requests changing over the course of the recording (“Can you try it a bit slower now, please?” or “I know we said we wanted that line ‘thrown away’ but can we just try it, with more of a punch?”) as they explore options and you become a sounding board for their ideas. But what you don’t want is constant disagreement between various people… of what they want right now. Set some polite parameters at the start “So I think we’ve put aside an hour for this haven’t we? Do you think that’s OK…?” . I wouldn’t refuse to utter a single word when the 60 minutes is up, but be careful your goodwill (“just one more take…”) or voice are not taken advantage of. If there’s going to be another 20- or 30-minutes work and you can fit it in, that’s probably fine (on the same or higher rate), but you should be able to take a 15minute voice-break first. Think that might come over as a bit ‘precious’? Then “So I think we’ve put aside an hour for this haven’t we? Do you think that’s OK…? I can stay for a bit longer if you need me to, but with all this water, I’ll probably need a bathroom break at about X o’clock…”  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.04 - 0612 – Taking Voice Production Notes
Always keep a record of the takes that you do in a session, the number and the direction requested of you for it. That’s because in some recordings you may have upwards of 50 takes, with notes on each one. If you keep a written track of ‘what you did when’ then it will be easier to not only go back and reproduce a read in a certain way (“yeah, I think Take 23 was the kind of brighter sound we wanted…”), but also gives you a ‘roadmap’ of where you have been and where you are going with the performance.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.03 - 0611 – What To Take Into A Voice Recording SessionPerformanceOk here we go. All that training and preparing comes to the moment the red light goes on! But we’re not there yet. Not quite. What to take into a recording session:

• Headphones – closed-back or in-ear types
• Comfort and confidence
• Health
• Water – in a spill-proof bottle
• To top up your hydration
• To give you something to do as the director and colleagues discuss the next take
• To give something to do when you need a break – to fill it up
• The script – either on paper or maybe on a tablet
• Paper won’t run out of a battery but it can rustle
• A pad might break if dropped, and it’s less easy to mark up a script
• Pencil with an eraser on the end – so you can mark up the script, and alter changes as necessary
• A pad of paper - for your ‘take notes’ or a ‘take slate’
• Tea bag – yes maybe this if you know that your particular brand of, say, honey and lemon infusion is calming and soothing.

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2022.09.02 - 0610 – Top ‘Studio Day’ TipsOn the day of a recording or live ‘mic moment’·        Eat early - Don’t take a growling bear into the studio with you: the mic will hear it as it will gurgles. Fizzy drinks will make you burp. Spicy food may cause acid reflux. ·        Lots of water – to top-up your systemic hydration·        Exercise and fresh air – to be mentally and physically alert in the often small, windowless studio where you may be for hours at a time·        Morning shower and exercises – to freshen up your body and warm up your voice for the studio session ahead.·        Arrive in good time - to reduce stress. Again, stress will be heard in your voice and overall performanceToilet exercises – eh? Not how to go to the loo! But exercises you can do in a cubicle: lip trills, tongue twisters and stretching exercises that you can do immediately before, or in a break from, a session.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.09.01 - 0609 – What Is Not In Your Briefs·        Context is important for the style of the read. Words on a page describing a family of tigers, their lifestyle and diet could be read one way if the visuals are of them all playing on the savannah, but another way if the shot is of the dominant male stalking prey.Context may also refer to whether the recording is part of a series, either under the same title, or by the same producer or the same production house. It may be that what’s wanted is a commentary that fits with their ‘sound style’ or ‘audio branding’, and if so this should be made clear to you, probably with edits of previous shows where such a sound is evident.Guide tracks (or ‘scratch track’) may also be provided. This is when a non-professional voice artist has provided a recording of the script so that the visual edits could be created and pronunciations given. In this situation, your job is to replace their dialogue with yours. ·        And the Brief may also say what is not wanted! o  The style is “conversational and informative but not preachy and stuffy” – you can see how ‘conversational’ could be ‘preachy’ but that’s not what’s wanted, and ‘informative’ could otherwise be interpreted as reading in a bit of ‘stuffy’ style o  “Thrilling and suspenseful and not casual and conversational” – this balance is a bit different as what is wanted and what is not are quite different. Here the director is making quite sure you understand exactly the requirements, not by pointing out the nuances of the words (as above) but by deliberately pointing out their virtual opposites.
Adjectives useful when writing a Brief:Warm, friendly, concerned, emotionless, comic, serious, quirky, hip, sassy, trustworthy, calm, slapstick, cool, booming, sassy, movie-trailer, compassionate, soothing, confident, light-hearted, concerned, dry, emotionless, authoritative, straight-forward, sultry, not sultry, quirky, believable, engaging, clear, bright, mature, young, classy, excited. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.31 - 0608 – Your Voice Mixed With Music

• Music and rough cuts – commercials, commentaries, documentaries and so on, often have the voiceover second-tracked together to play over the top of a music score. The choice of music for a documentary, commercial or whatever sets the ‘emotional attitude’ of the whole piece: hope, fear, confidence, desire or optimism for example. So as a reader, it’s useful to know what that music is. That way you can adapt your style, attitude and pace to fit with its tone, and help the editor by hitting certain musical posts if that is needed.

·        Talking of which, the script may be written to hit specific points depending on what is happening on screen at that time, or to fit between on-tape sounds or dialogue. Therefore, even though a required duration for your link is good, having the actual video to ‘record to’ is better: it means you are likely to ‘feel’ the recording more, you will be more accurate, and you will save editing in the final mix. Failing that, a storyboard (a chronological series of images, with accompanying notes, of how a 'story' will play out, scene by scene, communicating the creative's vision), so you can better visualise what the concept is.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.08.30– 0607 – Your Voice Over Role

• What is your role? – You are never ‘the voiceover’. Depending on the script, the situation, the story, the audience and so on, you may be a frazzled dad coping with the kids, a corporate CEO, a first-time DIYer, a reassuring uncle. And that relationship is important: your attitude will change if you are giving advice to that frazzled dad as a friend, or interfering neighbour, or parenting expert… in the same way as, for say a corporate e-learning project (say, a training on a new computer program) you are part of the company talking to a colleague, or as a rep from the computer program company, or maybe neither and are an ‘outside trainer’ character.
• What is your sound? – Just a few words should be provided, say “calm and trustworthy” or “upbeat and quirky”, “big and boomy, like the voice on the XXX ad”. Seek clarity if the Brief describes attributes which don’t sit well together: “authoritative and sultry” or “concerned and light-hearted” may be tricky to pull off.
• The duration – see elsewhere for the speed of a read, but ‘less’ is often more effective than ‘more’. A script will often have better impact if there’s room for it to develop at the correct pace, rather than for you to be reciting it like an auctioneer at a cattle market. 

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2022.08.29– 0606 – Who Will Hear Your Voice?

• Where will this recording be played? – Again, it can change your tone as a voice actor if you know that it’s for TV or radio or cinema, or to be played in an airport lounge. It could be a corporate script for a video that every staff member will see, alone at their desk and through headphones… or played on the big screen at the annual staff announcement event.

For example: a voiceover for the ‘blood donation service’ may at first sound quite serious, but it may be targeted at first timers, say those in their teens or twenties, and so as an introduction the tone might be quite light. But it may be a script to be heard over animated characters with a cartoon Dracula… or maybe a graphic real-life scene of a car crash. It could be purely informational, or to have a shock factor, or to instil pride and patriotism amongst potential volunteers. It may be shown early evening on TV between soaps, or before an 18-certificate film in the cinema. All of these factors would cause a slight change in the voice: its tone, pace, projection, formality, indeed everything we have seen over the course of this podcast and book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.