What Happens If You Just Don’t like the Voiceover Recording
Well, I hope this never happens! And it would usually never get to this stage as we go through a few steps to pre-empt this situation from occurring.
So let’s see how we avoid this circumstance…
Steps Taken To Get The Voiceover You Want:
- Firstly, before you even reach out with your initial contact, you would have heard my voice on my demos through my website or social media channels.
If you’re not looking for a female voice with a British accent then you’re going to dismiss me right off the bat. Even if I fit these initial criteria you just might not like the sound of my voice. This can happen – so don’t worry. I may not have the right ‘sound’ that fits your project, your brand, your product. That’s totally fine.
STAGE TWO
- So if you’ve listened to the demos and like what you hear, then you get intouch with your project.
The next stage we go through is to record you a custom demo from your script. Although this is only going to be a small section, it will give you a really good idea how the final voiceover will sound.
Not all projects will need this, but it can help nail down exactly how you want your script to be read. It’s also at this stage we can go over any tricky pronunciations that may occur – like brand names or person or place names.
STAGE THREE
At this stage, we should both be clear how you want the voiceover to sound.
You should also be happy with how the script is written and that the information contained in it is correct. Feel free to double-check with your script writers if you want to make any amendments at this stage – and I’ll hold off from recording until you’re absolutely happy you’ve given me the final draft of the script.
Once these steps are taken I then go into the booth and record. Usually, I will self-direct the session based on our previous conversations and decisions. However, you are also welcome to remotely direct the session if you prefer. Once recorded, I can edit the recording and deliver the final voiceover in the audio format requested.
I’m not sure I like it!
Having gone through the previous steps you should have received a voiceover that you are totally happy with. If not, what are the options available:
- Script changes – it may be that on listening to the VO that you realise that the script needs some changes to make the final project work better. Re-doing a full recording or partial record may well incur further costs. However the original recording will not be charged the usage fee (if that is applicable), but this will be passed to the second read.
- Tone/Style changes – on reflection, and with the benefit of hearing the voiceover in its final context ( be that video, with background music etc) You may come to the conclusion that the original style/tone/pace decision doesn’t quite work. No problem. Let’s discuss how you’d like the new recording to be different and then we can re-record. It would be useful to hear and see how the VO is to be used, so please feel free to pass on any visuals or music that is to be included.
It may well be, that in my original session I recorded additional versions that may have this new revised style already. I’ll have a listen through to the original session and pull out anything I think that may be suitable for the new direction. Avoiding any potential re-records will avoid incurring too many additional fees!
“I’m just not loving it!” – if you don’t like the initial recording and you don’t feel a re-record will make any difference to your opinion, then it may be time to call it a day. Sadly I would still need to charge for the studio time but no fee would be made for any usage agreed. As I’ve said before, it’s really rare to get to this point. But like all creative projects, it can be a matter of taste and creative instincts. These things can happen – we can still be friends 🙂