- You've hired great voice talent,
but now you have to give them notes
to get exactly what you want.
So what's the best way to do that?
Even the best actors can sometimes fall into traps
of reading a line the same way over and over.
Here's a few tips and tricks to get your actors
to vary their line readings.
First, only the director or producer
should ever give notes to the actors.
And make sure that the clients, if you have them
in the room with you, know this.
And if they have any notes they should give them
to you or the director.
Start every session by explaining to the actor
who their character is, and what they feel,
and what's happening to them.
Don't assume that the actor will know what you want
or know the actions leading up to every line in the script.
And also watch your actors, whether you're in person
or via Skype, because their actions can give you an idea
on how to direct them.
So for instance, if we're doing a scene where the character
is happy and you see the actor with his head down
really studying something and giving a line reading,
ask them to smile, because when you smile
your voice has a different kind of tone to it,
it has a joy and it softens your voice.
You can ask your actor to physically act out some things
because that also affects the voice.
So have them jump around, or act it out,
or emote physically, throw their arms around.
Different physical activities can really help their voice.
You can ask them to stand if you want a little more energy,
or sit if they are giving you too much energy.
You can also ask them to emphasize specific words.
Rather than reading it to them just say,
on the word boat, that's really important
so I really want you to punch it hard on that word,
things like that.
You can also suggest a famous character
that you might want them to emulate.
Now if you're recording a recurring voice
that they've done before, ask your audio engineer
to play back a previous recording for reference,
that'll help a lot.
But one thing you definitely want to try not to do
is give a line reading to a seasoned actor
because they find it insulting.
Now, if an actor is having a hard time with a specific line
you might want to just move on to other lines
and then come back to that one later.
And then there are times if you want to get a really big
emotion or big expression, feel free to push your actors.
Keep up the energy, give quick concise notes,
and push them, bigger, can you try it a bit bigger?
Stand up, move around, you know, get that energy going.
Match them on energy if you can
because if you're getting excited and you're into it
you can help drive them further.
Don't be afraid to direct, don't be afraid
to tell them exactly what you want.
The more you take control the better
they're going to be for you.
Now one thing sometimes happens, as well,
is that when you get an actor to repeat the same line
over and over, they'll often lose their inhibitions
and then they're able to sound a bit more natural
because they're not trying to think about the words,
it just starts rolling off.
So if you go back and forth real quickly
with notes and thoughts of yours
or you can read a line leading up to it
so they react to you, that can help a lot.
Because it's amazing how you can get incredible readings
if you and the actors are willing to go beyond
the basic first takes.