Voice-overs
- Ascot
- Athens
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- Hong Kong
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- La Spezia
- Lisbon
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- London
- Los Angeles
- Madrid
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- New York
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- Paris
- San Francisco
- Seoul
- Stockholm
- Tallinn
- Tokyo
- Warsaw
- Zagreb
Foreign voices
We are very lucky in our part of the world to have so many professional foreign voices at our disposal and obviously the more obscure the language, the higher the fees they can command. It's a question of supply and demand. You can't simply pick someone from a restaurant just because they are the right nationality. You might be lucky and find someone who can do it well, but the chances are they won't be able to achieve the quality you want.
The process
Network Languages can arrange to send you sample voice files to choose from, in many languages. Once your choice is made we check the artist's availability and fix a convenient recording date for both artist and customer. Send us the script to work from along with your specific instructions and we do the rest. We can supply the final voice files in varying formats - please call to discuss.
The importance of choosing the right voice-over
People often think that anybody can be a voice-over artist... until they get into the studio and freeze in front of the microphone. It's not just about reading words or we'd all be doing it.
It's about controlling your breath so you don't run out of breath in mid-sentence; it's about clear speech, being able to emphasise words, being able to do regional accents when required - especially when it comes to commercials.
It's about timings: knowing how to read a sentence within a specific time, for example 30 seconds or 40 seconds, without losing the meaning of the sentence. It's about emphasising the right words, inspiring whatever feelings the text requires.
It's about being able to project confidence, enthusiasm, sadness, laughter, humour, whatever mood the situation demands - in other words, it's about acting the part.
It's about knowing how to speak into a microphone without your lips smacking, without intakes of breath and popping sounds.
It's about being able to project the right image. After all, different voices appeal to different people.
It's about being able to interpret what a director wants and being able to render whatever feelings or emphasis he requires for whatever product.
With corporate work, it's not just about acting but often it's about being able to speak at length - often for several hours at a time - without losing momentum or losing your voice or stamina.
People come to do voice tests all the time, because they have been told they have a 'nice' voice. They may well have a good speaking voice, but if it is not trained it might sound flat or lifeless and therefore not be an asset to the product.
Voice-over artists are trained professional actors who can deliver whatever is required of them within the time constraints of the budgets. What may seem a lot of money for an hour's worth of work can make or break a campaign.