Voiceover Basics for Video Production
by Connie Terwilliger www.voiceover-talent.com
Whether
you are a professional or home video producer, at some point you will
likely be adding some narration to your production.
And, as you probably know, there is a lot more involved in a
successful voiceover than the simply recording the voice onto your
media. Understanding the basics of the artistic side of the narration
process will enhance the overall quality of your production. If you are
going to be doing the voice over – or if you are going to be coaching
someone else, here are a few ideas for getting the best read possible.
Ultimately
you want to have the script delivered in a natural, often conversational
style—without sounding like the words are written on a piece of paper.
And this needs to happen quickly (without a lot of preparation and
direction)—after all time is money. The goal is to “communicate”
– to connect with the audience – and deliver a specific message to
your particular audience. Your video may be talking to family, friends,
co-workers, or customers. Whoever will be watching your production is
who you need to keep in mind when you are recording the narration.
The
following pointers are primarily directed at someone who is delivering
the script (someone else’s script or one that they wrote themselves),
but these ideas can easily be applied to someone directing a voice
talent by simply changing the point-of-view slightly. As a director, you
need to understand many of the same things about delivering copy that
the narrator does so that you can offer suggestions when you are not
hearing what you want.
How
do you get a “natural” read?
This should be easy if you are doing the narration
yourself – after all you either wrote the script or shot the video –
or both! You know what is going on in the video. So take some time to
review the video clips and remember the circumstances or the event
clearly before you turn on the recorder. If you are going to be
directing another person, then make sure that they understand what is
going on.
As
in the previous bullet, a good narrator is digging into what really
happened. They are reading the words in the script of course
(occasionally a subject matter expert will ad lib to images, but in
general the talent is using a script), but a good narrator learns to
read under the words – around the words – between the lines. They
look for the nuances of meaning that lurk beneath the ink on the page.
They think about what might have happened just before they
open their mouth to read a particular sentence. Was it funny? Was it
sad? Did someone ask a direct question? This is sort of a warm up for
the mind.
The body also needs to be ready for the recording
session, so
work on breathing. This is actually a good idea for everyday
living, but absolutely a voice talent needs to be warmed up and ready to
breathe life into the words.
Stand up straight and stretch and breathe deeply from
the diaphragm for a minute. Concentrate on expanding the lower part of
your lung area around the waist. This draws the air deep into your lungs
and helps give you the air support necessary to make your vocal cords
function without stress.
If you are stressed, you will carry tension in your
upper body, which constricts the vocal cords and makes the words you say
sound strained. It is also bad for your vocal cords to work under
tension. You will get tired more easily and your voice will start to
sound gravelly or scratchy. The ends of words – particularly vowel
sounds – will sort of “flutter”.
Articulation is very important to a clear understandable
voice track. And even the best voice actors need to be ready to wrap not
only their brains around the words, but their mouths as well. Your jaws,
teeth, lips, and tongue are your articulators and allow you to form
words clearly and correctly. So before you open your mouth to record,
open it to do a few exercises to limber everything up. The very easiest
thing you can do to quickly warm up is to count out loud to 25 –
o-v-e-r-a-r-t-c-u-l-a-t-i-n-g e-v-e-r-y
w-o-r-d. Open your jaws, and stretch your lips and tongue.
Tongue twisters are also good. I have several posted on
my website at http://www.voiceover-talent.com/VoiceoverExercises.htm#TongueTwisters.
Even if your subject matter is not a happy topic, you still
need warmth and sincerity to communicate your script. If you find that
your reads sound flat and lack energy, then simply add a little smile to
your face as you read the script. Adjust the size of the smile, but
remember that without it your delivery may lack that all important
element—warmth.
Unless your video is a parody and requires an
old-fashioned “announcer” sound, you will want to try to deliver
your script as one real person talking to another real person. It makes
for a much more listenable end product.
Listen to the voices delivering similar scripts on TV.
Become observant-and critical of the things you hear, so that you can
use some of the techniques in your own delivery.
As a director of voice talent, you need to be able to
effectively communicate your desires so that the talent can make the
right adjustments to their delivery. This comes with practice...with
working with a variety of talent...with knowing your script and your
audience.
Picking the “right” voice in the first place will help a
session run smoothly. That means listening to demos not only for a
particular voice “quality”, but also for the way the voice actor
communicates the message. You want someone who connects and
communicates.
If you are new to the narrator role, practice by
reading the same script for a different audience. You should be able to
hear a difference in your delivery. In the end you need to enjoy the
sound of your voice and what you can make it do.
Remember,
while video is certainly important to a video production, the audio
track will make or break your production from a watch ability point of
view. Think about it...you can watch pretty much any kind of video
– how many of you haven’t gotten parked on a scrambled premium cable
program? But if the audio part buzzes or is boring, you will turn it
off. Don’t turn your audience off. Spend a little time understanding
the role of the narrator and your video projects will connect and
communicate.
Copyright
2004 by
Connie
Terwilliger
Connie
Terwilliger
is a working voice talent/spokesperson/actress and scriptwriter. She
teaches voice acting and media performance classes at
San
Diego
City
College
when she is not in her studio recording voice tracks for clients around
the globe. Additionally, Connie is on the National Board of Directors of
the Media Communications Association-International (MCA-I). www.mca-i.org
You will find script samples and audio demos on her website at www.corporatevideo.com.
|
