Keeping Up With the Guide Voice
“We have the edit ready with a guide voice.” One of the most jitter-inducing lines a voiceover artist can hear.
When I was still editing videos about 20 years ago, I had an ongoing project dumped on me. For starters, it was the most disorganised timeline I had ever seen in my then, more than ten-year career. The OCD in me started to convulse. But, even worse; as I played the edit, I was horrified – I instantly knew that no voiceover artist would ever be able to keep up with the incredible speed at which the guide VO was read. Then, when we recorded with the actual VO talent, my fears were confirmed. He could barely keep up. It was either we remove every natural breath and pause, making the VO sound ridiculous, or painstakingly extend every scene so that voiceover would sound halfway decent.
These days, the AI voice is another sometimes disastrous mix in the equation. They may sound more human than in the past but, there are subtle differences that really matter. First, they don’t breathe, ever. Neither do they feel, nor understand the little nuances in any language. They also don’t know that when you’re trying to end a film, the VO’s tone is key in the closing.
But it’s not all gloom and doom. Use an AI voice or a stand-in voice as a guide, by all means. But factor in some additional time for emotion, punctuation and breaths among other things so that, if any extension of scenes is necessary, it can be kept to a minimum. Another handy thing to note, if the content duration is set in stone, is that a minute of VO at a standard pace is about 150 words.
I recently recorded a script for a project that had been cut to an AI guide voice. I was very impressed with how the producers managed it. When I listened prior to the session, I realised that the editor slowed the VO down by inserting pauses here and there. They certainly didn’t sound natural at all but they allowed for much needed time that a voiceover artist needs to lay some emphasis where needed, take natural breaths and add feel to segments as required. Although the AI voice didn’t do well to end the film very well, the producers were prepared and made some allowance to extend scenes where necessary. The end product was very close to their target duration and this made the job easier for me and for them.
With human guide voices, for starters, it would be good if the person doing it doesn’t read under their breath. They should try to imagine themselves as a VO talent and take their time with the read. Production people, you know what a VO sounds like and the kind of pace at which a script is usually read. So don’t be shy, and have some fun with it! Who knows, you might discover that you have a hidden talent.
But even if that’s not the case, you would have made your team’s job and that of the VO artist easier and more productive… and that’s a big win for everyone.
Share This Post