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subtext

Insider View Pt 2: 7 Secrets to Directing Your Voice Actors

Voiceover Coach, Voiceover Coaching

My Insider View Pt 2: Directing Voice Actors – 7 Freebie Secrets
Source: Deviant Art

You’ve been tasked with directing the audio on a commercial, a corporate video or gaming session. You know how you want it to sound, but are you certain you’ll be able to get that from your voice actor?

Actors are a touchy-feely, capricious lot. They are trained to observe and catalogue the behavior of others, be open to the moment, sound and appear truthful or believable and simultaneously tap into their rainbowed fount of expressive creativity.

 

The Power of Improv

Give your actor licence to play. Get a good take and a safety in the (sound) bank, then invite the actor to improvise. Ad-libbing around the script can unearth sparkling performances. Encourage them to roll into the script with lead-ins, toss in extra words and extros. These can all be edited out. But sometimes enhance the original script. A fellow actor I often work with in commercials is extremely proficient at this. He peppers his performance with Bruce-isms, often cranking up the funny, relevance and sheer entertainment value.

Grunts, Groans & Growls

My Insider View Pt 2: Directing Voice Actors – 7 Freebie Secrets
Source: memegen.com

Ask for non-verbal sounds.  Sighs, moans, giggles, yips. These utterances are paralinguistics and add flavor and punch. Think of them as audible emojis. Welcome them. 7 % of human communication is in the form of words. 38% of our communication expressed through sound is non-verbal. Your voiceover actor’s sound scape will sound more realistic adorned with a few choice non-verbal sounds. Ask for lots, then use your judgement on what to keep and what to toss.

 

Actor W’s: Who, Who, Why and sometimes Where

Every actor needs to know three things going into a commercial, cartoon or any session. Who am I? Am I a businessman boarding a plane? A mom shuttling kids to soccer practice? A peer revealing the latest time saving technology at work? Who am I speaking to? My best friend? A colleague? And why? As in why is it important that I tell them this message of your project now? These are things that we all know in real life. Your actor needs that info, too. Some actors may make those choices themselves, but it is better for the director to understand and communicate that out of the gate. Where will it be shown/heard can also guide the actor. The delivery for a cartoon channel delivery will sound different from a self-help audiobook or a conference hall seating 2000. The “what” is the unfolding performance itself.

 

Cracking the Code

My Insider View Pt 2: Directing Voice Actors – 7 Freebie Secrets
Source: reuters.com

Your script is your brush and paint. Your marble and chisel. The tool you and the actor (and sound engineer) will use to create your audio end-product. You can help the actor interpret the script by pointing out certain words or phrases. Point out triplets and make sure the emphasis is not on the repeated words. Verbs are great places to lay emphasis, especially in a list. The creativity of both you and the actor may be taxed if the client weighs in and insists certain prominence be placed on words that are important to them. Sometimes the thrown away words are the ones that sell the most. What is not said in the script but could be implied in the scene is another layer of nuance and can often be as important as what is said.

 

Evil Line Reads

The worst thing a director can do is give an actor a line read. Meaning, tell the actor, ”Say it like this, Charlie:” and then attempt to deliver the line yourself. This is the mark of either a green or a shoddy director. At best, when you line read, you are doing the actor’s job for them. So, then why are directing? Why aren’t you acting? At worst, you are muddling through your own probably poor rendition of what you want, which does not inspire, may irritate and will probably confuse the actor. Your job is to motivate, guide or propel the actor toward a certain delivery. To do this, you need to a) understand what is important in each line and the narrative in the whole and b) sort out how to encourage the actor to find that on her own.

 

Rhythm and Muse (ic)

My Insider View Pt 2: Directing Voice Actors – 7 Freebie Secrets
Source: MSU Today

There is one exception to the line-read rule as colleague voice coach Martha Kahn points out: kids. Child actors are incredible aural mimics and hone in on the music of your phrase. Your tone, rhythm, accent. Everything. Under 12 years old, they are still incredibly skilled at distinguishing subtle differences in sounds. I talk about the music of a sentence when directing actors. It’s another aspect of observation they will incorporate into performance and it’s another tool for you to helping them create the right sound. Descriptors you can use are giving a line a close (effectively ending the line on a lower note) – this makes a statement sound definitive. It’s opposite, uptalking, is generally a tendency to avoid, unless you’re helping the actor define a less credible character. Too much music, a roller coaster sound sounds fake and “announcery” and too little music or inflection sounds robotic.

 

Vocabulary (Words, words, words)

Good directors speak actor. They understand that to arrive at a certain performance, an actor uses substitutions. For example, your actor may need to be enthusiastic about a casino, but in real life come from a background where gambling strained or destroyed their childhood. The actor will substitute something they can get excited about instead. It may be puppy adoption, Steve Madden shoes on sale or baseball season. You don’t need to know what the actor is using to find that enthusiasm, but reminding them about finding a substitution is important. Another great actor-word is intention. Which means more than objective or target. To the actor, it means how do I get what I want? Another element actors use to help them create is subtext. Smart communication is layered with choice. Often what we say is counter to what we mean. Actors use this to layer in authenticity to the characters they create.

 

Directing takes skills. This blog is Part 2 of a three-part series on directing voice talent and can be applied to most audio or video projects. The first instalment looked at the three positions the voice director navigates in a session. The third focuses on tips on self-direction for working remotely from your own home sound studio, as more and more voice actors are doing nowadays.

What are your pet peeves & what do you think makes a great voice director?

 

Filed Under: Voiceover Coach, Voiceover Coaching Tagged With: actor, character, coaching, commercial, conversational, delivery, directing, director, improv, intention, Martha Kahn, non-verbal sounds, script, substitution, subtext, voice actor, voice over, voice over artist, voiceover narration, voiceover talent

How to Bring Life to a Commercial Voice Over Script

My Voiceovers, Voiceover Coach, Voiceovers Completed

How to Bring Life to a Commercial Voice Over Script You receive a voice over script for a new commercial for toothpaste, insurance, or maybe it’s shoes. You’re want to deliver the perfect sound to match the product, but there are no tags or directions to guide your delivery. How do you get started? Even the most seasoned voice actors need to do a little digging. As a voiceover coach, I tell my students, many of the clues and questions to ask are in the text itself. An experienced pro might take it further and do a bit of research, too. Whether you’re new to narration or a venerable veteran, here are three simple script analysis tricks to bring your commercial voice over script to life.

Who Am I?

Commercials evolve. And so does their sound. A vocal delivery that worked in the fifties or the nineties, won’t work in the 2000-teens. Every commercial requires something different from their voice actors—and that’s all in the script. Are you the voice of authority or are you a dear friend? Are you a stressed-out mom or the beloved pet dog? Figuring out what role you play in the commercial narrows down your focus. Once you’ve determined that, use your actor’s toolkit to embody that character to sell your product as they would.

 

Who Am I Talking to?

How to Bring Life to a Commercial Voice Over Script Now switch hats and put yourself in the potential customer’s head. You’ve probably used this product or something similar to it. What do you want from the product? What would catch your attention? Use your real-world experience to help you find the right sound.

 

Once you’ve figured out your customer persona, research the product itself. Find out what the product is about. Check out past ad campaigns that might be on You Tube. Though it doesn’t always work because they might be going in a completely new direction, past ads may help you more accurately determine the appropriate voice to use. We may think a toothpaste commercial will be more light-hearted than a life insurance ad, but that’s not always the case.

What am I Trying to Say?

Read the text a few times with this question in mind: what am I trying to say? Look beyond the written word and find the subtext. What’s underneath dental hygiene or sassy summer sling backs? Good ads really sell the intangible. Peace of mind, security, connection with others. Find it or create it and let that intangible infuse your read. What is my bottle of detergent voiceover really saying to the girl doing her laundry in this spot for SJVC College?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aSSI44cFyg

Once you’ve answered these three questions, play! Bringing your commercial voice over script to life takes practice as well as trial and error. Even when you understand your audience, the role you play and the message itself, perseverance is the greatest key to success.

Filed Under: My Voiceovers, Voiceover Coach, Voiceovers Completed Tagged With: coaching, commercial, commercial voiceover, delivery, eLearning coaching, script analysis, subtext, success, voiceover, voiceover coach, voiceover narration

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