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WHY HIRE A VOICE-OVER?
That was the 64,000 dollar question I asked when I introduced myself to this network. In all fairness I should tell you that I am a voice-over professional, and as you can imagine, I am not totally impartial to this issue.
But in order to get a broader perspective, I wanted to take this discussion away from my personal intro. Ultimately, it's not about me, but about whether or not you think it is worthwhile to pay a pro to do your narration, especially when you're on a tight budget.
Take real estate videos. First we had the stills. Then came the slide shows. Now we have slick productions that sometimes rival what we see on HGTV. There's an ongoing debate in this community whether or not to use voice-overs.
Watching these "home movies" can be a painful experience. Every producer seems to have made a secret pact that these videos have to have elevator music to showcase a property. It doesn't matter how annoying or repetitive it gets; muzak is a must. But when it comes to voice-overs, it's a different story. Quite often, there's no narration, just information.
Some of these house tours are nothing but moving pictures with floating titles like "marble counter top"... as the camera zooms in on..... a "marble counter top". There's no attempt to make an emotional connection, even though for many, buying a house is a very emotional experience. In my opinion, a great voice-over narration would add some heart to the home. Every neighborhood and every house has a story to tell, but you need someone to tell that story. There are exceptions, though.
I have watched quite a few of these open houses on video that did use voice-over narration. It wasn't all good. Some real estate video producers were either trying to save money by doing it themselves, or they got a Craigslist talent with no training, no experience and cheap recording equipment. In both cases, the result was often very, very mixed, and I was glad my computer had a mute button.
If there is a serious disconnect between the quality of the film and the quality of the voice-over, it brings the entire production down. To me, it just doesn't make sense to sell a million dollar home using an amateur voice.
We all have our strengths. I would never attempt to take an expensive camera on the road and start shooting. I don't think the result would be anything my clients would be willing to pay for. But it seems that there are quite a few videographers out there, who really know how to handle a camera, but who aren't nearly as good with a microphone. It's nothing personal. It's purely professional.
One last thing, I strongly suspect that some people don't think it's worth hiring a voice-over professional because it's easy to underestimate what it takes to do this well. Or they might have experimented with a few voices in the past, and weren't pleased with the quality of the talent or the price tag. Some of my best friends still wonder why I get paid for reading a few words off a piece of paper. Until they give it a go....
So, what has been your experience? Where do you stand? Is this even an issue? I look forward to your responses!
Paul Strikwerda
Views: 15
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on -
Not sure, but has anyone explained the cost of having VO?
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Permalink Reply by Paul Strikwerda on -
Great question. Not so easy to answer. Here are a few things I'd need to know before I 'd be able to give you a quote (I will assume that you want to hire a professional voice-over):
1. Are you hiring Union or Non-Union talent?
2. Does your voice-over need to have special skills (e.g. a certain accent or language; the ability to impersonate a celebrity).
3. What type of project is it? (motion picture, documentary, video game, industrial, commercial, imaging etcetera).
4. What's your market? (local, regional, national, worldwide).
5. Is this a full buy out; are there residuals?
6. How many words in the script? How much time is involved in the production?
7. Would you like your audio files edited, or are you paying for dry read only?
8. Is this the beginning of an ongoing relationship, or is it a one-time deal?
9. What's in your budget?
I completely understand the focus on cost. But, as with any other investment, the benefits should greatly outweigh the expenses. Let me give you a real life example. A relatively unknown software company posted a video (with narration) on their website to highlight their services. That video alone worked as a search engine magnet. Picking the right voice-over resulted in a 15% increase in business! See if you can put a price on that!
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Permalink Reply by grinner on -
I use VOs when I need em. I don't when I don't.
My voice actors are usually around $250 per script and it's usually pretty short. Less than 2 pages and seldom for videos longer than acouple of minutes. I like same day turn around. Other than that, I'm pretty laid back about it. I just explain the flavor and let em do their thang. It's all done via email.
As with all videos, I only use em if I have to. It's always best to let the story be told by someone on camera.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mecca on -
You do what you need to create a superior product. And remember a lot of times you get what you pay for. I'm a OMB here but I also do freelance VO for e-learning, doco, educational etc. and my clients seem happy as they come back. ;-)
I did a project several years ago where the client had someone on staff who "had a nice voice" and they had him do the VO. He does have a nice voice, but not when there is a script in front of him. Tarnished the entire project IMO.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Strikwerda on
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Well put, Bill. For some reason, I tend to do a quite a few medical narrations. I get scripts with sentences like these:
"Bisphosphonates are antiresorptive medicines. If you take alendronate or risedronate, you may not be as likely to break a bone. Taking bisphosphonates at the same time as parathyroid hormone (Forteo) does not build more bone density."
As you can see: FUN STUFF!
The videographer I work with wanted to try out a new microphone, and he decided to narrate the script himself. He couldn't get past the first two sentences without stumbling over the words. When I came in, he said: "Now I finally realize why we're paying you to do this job."
I'm not telling you this story to pat myself on the back, but only to illustrate that all of us have our strengths and weaknesses.
As for Grinner (great studio tour BTW!), $250 for a short script is quite reasonable, assuming that your talent is Non-Union. You mentioned something else I really liked: "I just explain the flavor".
A text can be interpreted in a million ways. You don't want your narrator to give you a super sweet read, if you're looking for bitter. I truly appreciate the producer who gives me context and clear instructions as to what he expects. Armed with that info, it's easier to hit the mark. Less retakes. Time saved. Everybody wins.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mecca on
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Yes, a little direction goes a long way. ;-)
Paul Strikwerda said:Well put, Bill. For some reason, I tend to do a quite a few medical narrations. I get scripts with sentences like these:
"Bisphosphonates are antiresorptive medicines. If you take alendronate or risedronate, you may not be as likely to break a bone. Taking bisphosphonates at the same time as parathyroid hormone (Forteo) does not build more bone density."
As you can see: FUN STUFF!
The videographer I work with wanted to try out a new microphone, and he decided to narrate the script himself. He couldn't get past the first two sentences without stumbling over the words. When I came in, he said: "Now I finally realize why we're paying you to do this job."
I'm not telling you this story to pat myself on the back, but only to illustrate that all of us have our strengths and weaknesses.
As for Grinner (great studio tour BTW!), $250 for a short script is quite reasonable, assuming that your talent is Non-Union. You mentioned something else I really liked: "I just explain the flavor".
A text can be interpreted in a million ways. You don't want your narrator to give you a super sweet read, if you're looking for bitter. I truly appreciate the producer who gives me context and clear instructions as to what he expects. Armed with that info, it's easier to hit the mark. Less retakes. Time saved. Everybody wins.
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Permalink Reply by grinner on
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Paul Strikwerda said:As for Grinner (great studio tour BTW!), $250 for a short script is quite reasonable, assuming that your talent is Non-Union. You mentioned something else I really liked: "I just explain the flavor".
A text can be interpreted in a million ways. You don't want your narrator to give you a super sweet read, if you're looking for bitter. I truly appreciate the producer who gives me context and clear instructions as to what he expects. Armed with that info, it's easier to hit the mark. Less retakes. Time saved. Everybody wins.
Union talent is a deal breaker here no matter what. The voice actors I use are the best and they only cost me once per project. I don't even use folks with agents. I like to go directly to the source... usually a friend at that. I don't have time to go through channels.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Strikwerda on
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I'm glad it worked out for you. Your work sounds as good as it looks! It's always easier to go to someone you know.
In terms of Union versus non-Union, the jury's out on that one. I just heard from a videographer who said he would never hire non-Union talent. He always contacts an agent and has the agent come up with three or four voices. Then he makes his selection. He says that -in the long run- this saves him time and money, and he's guaranteed to get a pro to do the job.
He hired from "Craigslist" in the past, and the narrator turned out to be an unprofessional nightmare with cheap equipment. Then he used an online casting site, and within the hour he received over 100 auditions, which took him an entire day to listen to. 95% of the demos was substandard. He said: "I can't afford to waste my time on that."
Personally, I think that there's a lot of good talent out there that does not belong to a Union. The AFTRA initiation fee is $1,300 and the SAG fee is $2,211.00. For many voice-over talents, that's a huge stumbling block.
I don't belong to a Union, and I get a lot of work through word of mouth. That's pretty funny, because that happens to be my specialty!
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Permalink Reply by grinner on
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he hired frmo craigslist the was surprised it didn't turn out well?
send me a demo, man. I always need fresh new voices on a wide variety of projects.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Strikwerda on
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You got it! My demo should be in your mailbox by now.
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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on
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I am looking for someone with this type of voice that is in this video SAVE THE DATE
I am going to be doing a video like this soon and need a VO like this.
Joan
Shaw Productions Inc.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Strikwerda on
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Hi Joan, that's one amazing "save the date" video. Was this one of your productions? My custom demo should be in your in-box by now.
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