Voiceover, The Art Of Adding Value
Creative Lessons From a Military Career
I was working for a Military Unit in Belize and a category 5 hurricane was due to roll through in 36 hours. The Government charged us with planning the medical emergency response in the immediate aftermath, doing what we could before flights could resume and international aid could arrive.
It was expected the capital would be under water.
The plan was to collate as many medical supplies as possible and provide basic aid to the population, but I remember a difficult conversation with a local medical facility that refused access to their emergency supplies.
This was understandable, they were responsible for the local community. It was just a problem of perspective and the breakthrough came when their role was explained in the wider context.
Having moved into the creative world, lessons like this taught me how I need to be aware of the wider production effort and how a myopic view of my role within it impacts others.
As a creative freelancer I’m just one cog in a wider, collective effort. If my work is late or needs endless revisions, it affects others along the chain.
From Military Man To Audiobook Narrator
An old boss of mine in a former life use to shout ‘add some f*****g value’ at people that irked him. It was actually quite funny but I struggle now to reconcile it with how it would go down these days.
There are lots of ways I heard it put in the military, my favourite being: ‘you’re either p**ing out of the tent, or into it’.
These analogies are universal, just maybe put in a bawdy way in the military.
Part of standing out as a creative provider is having a USP, we know that. What people don’t shout about enough though is their ability to lean in as a team player.
It’s just a mind-set where you’re poised to offer something else if you see the opportunity to grease the wheels.
Sometimes the voice artist that gets re-hired again and again isn’t the Morgan Freeman sound alike, but the one that shows up on time, delivers to the brief and is is easy to work with.
Sometimes it’s because you helped the Director by making unforeseen problems go away.
I was recording character voices for Nioh 3, (nice project by the way). There was a 3 way live connection between Japan, France and the London studio.
There came a point when the Game Directors and Project Manager disagreed over a turn of phrase for this English dub. As the only native English speaker present I chimed in and actually that’s what they went with.
I’m not a script writer, but that was an appropriate time to step out of lane.
You sometimes offer technical advice, or suggest the re-wording of a phrase. It’s not being bigger than your boots, it’s adding value.
I’ve found the best way to differentiate yourself as the ‘go to’ voice artist, is ultimately to make a client’s life easier.
Sound Design Affects Performance
The forward leaning, value adding mind-set also sees me asking for any music or sound design the client is intending to use beneath the VoiceOver.
I can’t over state how powerful it is to have this. It informs the read in a way that makes it night and day without it. I’ve auditioned for commercials that I didn’t get but then later saw on TV.
What they eventually chose was a vibe that I didn’t pick up on. The brief can often be subjective, but hearing the music and sound design before reading is like having an instant brain meld with the Director.
Check out the sound design for my reading Dracula here to see what I mean. Without it, there’s no way I’d have delivered the same emotional intensity.
Enjoy The Moment
An old man walked with his grand-son by a railway track.
The boy, a bright, inquisitive 5 year old, did his best to keep up with him.
They rested on a tree stump and the boy asked why the tracks of the railway seemed to join in the distance, but they never seem to get there.
‘Ah’ , said the old man, ‘you should go on ahead and see if you can find it while I rest’.
So he set off and was out of sight in 5 minutes.
When the boy eventually found it he was over come with joy and ran all the way back to share the news.
On arriving back at the tree stump, the old man was dead.
Sometimes it’s best to just enjoy the moment.
James Fowler Voiceover
I’m James Fowler, an experienced British Voice Artist with a passion for character work, audiobooks, audioguides and game audio. I’ve shouted instructions on the sinking Titanic, guided tourists around museums, sold everything from luxury apartments to Romanian Apple Pie and pride myself on adding value for clients.
Check out my work here.
If you have a project that needs quality audio and an efficient, painless process, just drop me a line.
