how to handle long form narrations...

Tom Pagnotti · **Voice Talent** Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 220

I’ve recorded plenty of 2 and 3 minute pieces for business presentations and so on… in fact, I've done three in the past few months. They were rather easy. (I've a session booked tomorrow for three :60's spots... so, what's the difference?)

But I said “yes” to a gig recently that I’m regretting.

And unlike most pieces that I've recorded - I'm self directing. (ugh!)

It’s for a charity – (actually a group that administers a state park) I am a bit daunted by the task.

It’s a half hour tour narration.

My question: When you do these long form narrations, do you record them all in one session?

How do you keep your energy and focus for that long a period?

And if you do split it up – do you find that you have problems matching the level of intensity or lack there of in the presentation?

I recorded three of the twelve segments today… and will try and knock out the rest tomorrow and edit over the weekend.

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for anything you can provide.

Best,

Tom Pagnotti
choicevoicepro.com

Kathleen Keesling · **Voice Talent** Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 746

For me, the best case scenario is to allow yourself 1 day for every 5,000 words for the long narrations. This helps you to stay fresh with more time. It's still a tight timeline at that pace, but it gives you the a good turnaround time as well as time to edit, hydrate, and care for your other business communications.

I stay interested in my topic by being interested in what I'm reading. Sometimes anxiety or tension creeps in perhaps due to tight deadlines. You need to stay calm. Reading with tension and anxiety costs you quality. So, relax and take a nap, meditate, workout...whatever it is that calms you. You will work faster after you relax than you will working through tension, exhaustion and anxiety.

Do not have alcohol even during your non working times during narration jobs. Your voice changes, although subtle, will appear in your recordings.

Be organized and patient with yourself.

Be kind and gentle to yourself. Depending on your current load, narrations can be tough.

Kat

Connie Terwilliger · **Voice Talent** Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 409

There is a difference between doing short pieces and longer pieces. While a 1/2 hour of finished material is not really very long, it takes a different mind set and stamina. In my former life as a producer, I remember booking a talent from his demo and brought him to a studio to do a 20 page corporate narration. It just didn't work. He never "got into the groove." He never grasped the big picture of the project that would allow him to relax and get into the script. He couldn't hold the same attitude and pace all the way through the material. Plus he couldn't keep the same energy all the way through the session.

While I wasn't a slave driver in the studio, I did expect that talent could stay in a studio for at least an hour or more - and be able to keep the same energy all through. There is plenty of down time during that hour - script discussions, engineering tweaks, phone calls to the producer, etc.

The time varies of course, with some sessions taking longer (if they are particularly complex or if the scripts are not written for the eye and can't be changed easily - see below for an example of an eLearning thing I'm doing this week* - or if there are lots of directors with divergent opinions) and some sessions just breezing by, but if you are having trouble finishing a half hour tour in one session, then it is time to do a little vocal training to get your mind and pipes into that mode.

Now, if you have someone in a studio with insufficient air conditioning or for more than a couple of hours, then you should let the talent drive when to take official breaks, but if the talent can't immediately get back to where they were when they left, then it is clear that they don't have the skill set to be marketing themselves for the long form stuff.

Getting back to the first story - I called the talent's agent and told her not to send him out on long form jobs until he had some more practice. He was great at short form spots, but I ended up having to hire another voice actor for the job.

* (I posted this on another board recently, but it seemed relevant to this discussion - the stuff in bold are screen directions and in some cases pronunciations)

Audio Narration (05.00.000.mp3): Welcome to the “Geographic Data Sources” module. In this module, you will learn about [“Digital data” appears] digital data, including [“Vector data” appears] different sources of vector data [“Raster data” appears] and raster data, such as [“Aerial & satellite imagery” appears] aerial and satellite imagery. You’ll also learn about the [“Scanning” appears] scanning process.

And that was a simple paragraph...

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

I started my learning experience with long, and I do mean long, form narration when I was doing regular volunteer work with Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic recording textbooks. They started us off directing the sessions, and learning the system. When you read, you also had to break into your text reading with improvised descriptions of the illustrations/charts/maps/diagrams, etc. They were not looking for a beautiful sound, but it had to clear, confident, consistent and meticulously accurate -- down to the citations and footnotes.
Tough work. I always said they couldn't PAY people to do that job. Very demanding -- so I was glad to have that experience before I took on any paid work of that type.

Tom Pagnotti · **Voice Talent** Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 220

Thanks Diane, Connie and Kathleen for the response.

After I sent a three minute sample of what I’d recorded; I talked with the client again yesterday. They politely told me "I'm not quite there”. But they clarified what they need when they said ... “You're not giving us a narration of a tour, you are telling the story of the island”.

While I have a better understanding, I think you hit it on the head here Connie. I don’t necessarily have the skill set to do long form narration. And I’m even less qualified to do highly technical narrations. (my hat is off to all who do!) Story telling however, I can handle. And since the client gave me better instructions, I’m less daunted by the prospect… and will have to rise to the occasion!