VO Weekly Workflow – Go Back & Begin Again

In voiceover, we can often find ourselves thrown back to the beginning. It might be a directed session where we are asked for multiple takes of the same script. Revision requests pop up on projects that we thought we nailed. A studio software glitch might teach us a lesson as it evaporates our hard work. Any of those and more will put us at the starting line again.

Although those instances may seem an unfortunately step backward. But, most voice actors come to terms with that bit of recursion (though there are things you should be doing to avoid data loss). Whether taking the Edison mindset of “succeeding first in finding all the ways not to make a lightbulb…” or the more philosophical approach that “no person can ever cross the same river twice…”, every act we take should teach us something. Many times, it’s the “strong, wrong choice” that guides us most effectively to a better result.

However, there’s a more self-inflicted version which can derail our effort: those times we “hear” something in the moment of performance that causes our director brain to jump in and take charge. We then stop and repeat the line “better” than before. Often that version can feel more forced than the first, so we reset and start. This gets us toggling back and forth between our talent brain and our director brain. The result is seldom better.

As certain as we were in the moment, when we go back and listen, it’s typically not obvious what caused us to stop the moment of creation. More frequently, we realize that our “helpful” director brain interrupted a very compelling performance.

This can be a deeply insidious habit, becoming more pervasive until we’re unable to read through a simple commercial script without multiple stops and restarts. Even if we take the time to cobble together the wreckage of that approach, the sum of those parts is generally underwhelming. We lose the creative tension of a contiguous take, which, while it may not be “perfect”, often is the more compelling read.

Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.

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