POST PRODUCTION QUICK TIPS: "Sound" Voice Over Advice

POST PRODUCTION QUICK TIPS: 

“Sound” Voice Over Advice 

By: Jessie Pickworth 

So, your project is edited to pure genius (well done, you), but now you need some voice narration to pull it together. It’s not always easy to find that magical voice that brings your piece together – even with a casting director. Being a post house, our team has worked a ton of voice over sessions and learned a lot of boxes to check to get this done right. We can help break this down a bit for those of you that don’t do this regularly – make it more manageable. 

First, you need to think about who this voice over person is. A general rule of thumb for selecting your voice over artist is to consider who will be watching your piece and select someone that best reflects the majority of that pool of people. Also consider the talent showcased in your project – if the majority of key personalities are male and over forty, it usually makes sense to have your voice over artist be…drumroll, please…a male over forty, and so on. 

On top of basic demographics, you also should think geographic. Everyone is from somewhere, and everyone has an accent…even the white-washed anchorman whose accent was born in the newsroom studio. Just because everyone in Boston “pahks their cah” the same way you do, Mr. Good Will Hunting, doesn’t mean you don’t have an accent. So, think about what accent will create the most relatability with your audience. And, consider what accent will bestow authority on the subject to that audience (a very different accent is required for educating a curious medieval castles enthusiast vs. a duck hunting fan). 

Another nuance that can make or break narration is the person’s tone. Have you ever written an email or text, and the person TOTALLY read it the wrong way? This happens a lot, because only a small portion of meaning is found in words themselves…a majority comes from your tone of voice and body language. In voice over work, in the absence of body language, tone of voice is key. And not everyone is in full control of their tone (just think about your mom and how she doesn’t think she is nagging…she’s just reminding you). If you want to make sure you get the right voice, pay close attention to your voice over artists’ ability to convey meaning and intentionproperly.

(You have your perfect voice over artist…now what?)

In your mind’s ear, you know what you want your voice over to sound like. But now you need to share this with your talent. Don’t try to demonstrate what you want! If you could do it, you would have hired yourself. So, please, don’t. You will just confuse them. The two best ways to convey what you want are:

·      Sound Bytes - Start by listening to voice over from similar existing projects or pieces from your talent’s demo that stand out as close to your goal pitch, tone, pace, mood, etc.

·      Descriptive Words - Use them to communicate what you want, as well as what you don’t want. Words like “conversational” and “nice” are…well, nice. But, using specific words that define emotions, intentions, personalities and audience reactive emotions (ie. Inspired, relieved, etc.) will get you closer to what you want. 

Then you need to get into some real, deep actor-speak. Try talking to your actor about their objective, whether that be to educate, convince, relieve fears or simply add levity. Talk to them about how they should engage your audience, whether that be as the sterile and knowledgeable expert, the chummy best friend, the warm, helpful nurse, or the bold announcer, and so on. And, also talk to them about how they should talk to the audience by choosing a familiarity level. You talk to your kids differently than you talk to your colleagues…and you (really should) talk differently to them than you do your best friend or your spouse. Who an actor focuses on speaking to can alter his tone as well.

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve witnessed a script handed over by a writer who obviously never read it out loud to himself.Words on paper are very different than when spoken out loud. And, once you read it out loud, you will inevitably notice jarring and confusing sections. For one, parts that don’t flow out of the mouth (complicated phrases, tongue twisters, non-conversational grammar) will trip you up. If you can’t get them out of your mouth, likely neither can your voice over artist. And, if they do, it will sound off to your audience. You will also notice that proper names may stunt a reader. Just ask John Travolta how to say Idina Menzel’s name. You will also stumble across words that have multiple pronunciations (neither: nee-ther vs. nigh-ther), or number sequences that can be said differently. Sing 867-5309 in your head…then do it again, but say “zero” instead of “oh”…see what I’m saying? In these cases, you need to tell your voice over talent up front the pronunciations you prefer.

One incredibly helpful thing we have seen producers do is give available visuals and accompanying music from the project to their voice over actor. Receiving this prior to taping can help a seasoned voice over actor make decisions on pacing and mood, and to give you a performance that is in line with your overall direction. If, during the recording session, you can play in their headset the audio that will be heard along with their voice, that can also be useful to the actor.

And, once you have the above nailed down, make sure you have the right sound equipment and sound editor to capture it. We know a bit about that too over here at

16:9 Post.  Just give us a call…