Voice over: a question of organs
In this article
· Listen before speaking – a French voice actor (or any voice actor)’s work starts with understanding the client’s needs
· A team effort – Like a musician in an orchestra, the voice over must work in harmony with other elements
· Clarify expectations – Ask the right questions
· Stay calm – Keep your composure, even after multiple takes
· Use your instruments in the right order – Listen first, speak second
Our customers want us for our organ... and no, I'm not talking about our vocal cords
Let's start with a truism: obviously, as a French voice actor, my job is not to 'read aloud with an appropriate tone' but to speak with intention to an audience, a topic I develop in the article Voice Over: a Plea For Imperfection. But to think that this is our only task would be missing the point.
What is expected of us first and foremost, you may ask? That we listen. Whether it's a post-production studio session, a remote session we're recording in our home studio (I cover this topic in my article about voice actors and home studios) or for a session where we are self-directing following a brief, our job is above all to listen to what the client wants from us.
We're chosen for our voice, we're remembered for our ears
En voice actors, c’est exactement la même chose : l’égo n’a pas sa place. Les précieuses ridicules n’ont pas leur place en studio d’enregistrement, un sujet épineux que je couvre dans mon article Artists Exit.
The conductor is the client, the other musicians are the sound engineer, the images, M&Es (Music and Effects), and the script. Let's start by listening to what the client wants. Either verbally or through a brief. No brief? Don't hesitate to ask questions. Who are we addressing? How many people? How far away are they? What tone? Intimate and warm? Serious and authoritative? Introversion or projection?
Listening to the sound engineer is gold. He's our best friend. The pictures and the M&Es dictate the rhythm, a bit like a metronome. The script itself contains its own rhythm.
It's only by following and respecting all these different elements that we can bring our interpretation, our added value.
Even if the session isn't going the way you;d like to, never get flustered. EVER. For a voice director, there's nothing worse than a voice actor behaving like a diva. So, even if the client wants yet another take - yes, the 23rd - you have to remain calm. Maybe they want to explore different directions, maybe they want to cover all the angles, maybe they want to present diametrically opposed interpretations to their client (to use some of them as a 'foil' to 'sell' them the one they prefer, which is why they ask us for intonations that seem inappropriate), maybe they're waiting to hear THE take to know that it's THE one, maybe we're just not in tune with the producer yet, maybe... whatever.
The voice director is not an evil character whose only reason to live is to make the voice over talent suffer. Most don't play Big Boss, they know that they're here to serve the voice over talent so that they serve the script, bringing it to life. They simply want to get the result THEY want out of the voice over artists. If the talent get irritated, tension will rise, nothing good will happen, and the voice over artist will never get called back. Staying calm, trying to understand, asking the right questions calmly and really trying to understand what's expected, that's the recipe for repeat work.
A tip that applies to many situations, including our sessions: use your organs in the right order. I guarantee you, it works much better that way!
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I like this article, because for the former engineer that I am, it speaks in terms of project management! Listening to the customer's needs and adapting to them... well, depending on the budget all the same. At your level, customers pay the price and can therefore 'take up more of your time'. At ours, isn't it better to be a bit firm from time to time?
I don't quite understand the question, Gweltaz?