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A Voice Showreel is much more than merely recording a script, adding music, sound effects and burning it off to CD.
A good Showreel should represent a voice - it’s qualities and character – accurately, displaying an artist’s talent in it’s broadest range of capabilities, using material best suited to that artist and presented in the most professional package possible.
Here at the Showreel we offer our experience and expertise while using the best equipment to craft your Showreel into a product as individual as you are.
We use experienced Voice Producers not Sound Engineers who just press buttons. From the initial consultation and planning stage to the final product we make sure your Showreel receives the individual attention it deserves.
Our Showreels are not demo’s, The're the real thing!
Each voice is unique.
The same script will not suit everyone. Our scripts are specially tailored to each individual artist and we never re-cycle them. Our music and sound effects library is constantly updated with a over 2,500 (and growing) compositions to choose from.
The Format
The Voice Showreel contains a selection of audio tracks grouped into two categories :- Commercials and Narratives. Your Voice Showreel will include a selection of Commercials and three contrasting Narrative reads.
Commercials
We’ve separated the vocal delivery of commercials – in other words, the style in which they’re presented - into four categories which you may wish to include on your Showreel:
The hard sell, the soft sell, the natural or real read and the character voice.
The Hard Sell
A hard hitting, enthusiastic delivery selling anything from newspapers & video games, to film promo’s and sporting events to ‘buy now before you lose out’ offers. This type of read is usually a male domain conveying a sense of importance and urgency to the listener.
The Soft Sell
The Soft Sell is a sexy, subtle, softer delivery typically selling cars, chocolates, perfumes and more ‘sophisticated products’. It is designed to entice the listener to consider it’s subject. Lets face it, coffee can be sexy!
‘Natural’ or ‘Real’ read
The Natural voice sells charities, youth products, financial services and those products ‘normal people’ can associate with, It adds a more trustworthy, personal touch. A natural voice is just that – often possessing an accent, or slight imperfection – which adds to it’s “realness”, and further engaging the listener often subliminally. Voiceover artist’s are often asked to “take the read out of” a script in attempt to sound as natural as possible.
Character
The Character voice can be anything from the zany, ‘off-the-wall ‘delivery - usually associated with childrens’ toys, soft drinks, fast food and animations - to impressions and impersonations. Requiring considerable energy and quick interpretation, it often needs artists who are versatile and good at ‘thinking on their feet’. Such an artist may - in the same day – play a talking cat in a petfood commercial, post-sync a Russian U-boat commander, and then have to sound like Tony Blair – honest!
A worthwhile point to remember is that many character artists, are booked for being good at one thing. You might only have one, but if it’s a good one, don’t try to fix it, and let’s get it down on your Showreel!
Narrative, Commentary and Descriptive vocal deliveries.
These are scripts which generally go hand in hand with documentaries, films, wildlife programmes, travelogues and specialist subjects such as medical, technical, and financial topics. They are necessary to include on the voice Showreel, as they prove to the listener that you, as a voice artist can talk clearly and coherently for more than 30 seconds! They are often challenging but essential to include. They should be handled with care, and unlike a short commercial read, may expose your sight reading abilities.
Nature
This delivery is in fact very hard to achieve. The voice artist has to talk in such a way as to not scare the animals away, while at the same time convincing the viewer that they are actually there with the film crew on location. (If the camera panned left slightly you would see the v\o under a bush, microphone in hand slightly scared yet quietly confident.)
Travelogues
The ability to pronounce foreign place names faultlessly while sounding enthusiastic as well as retaining a sense of humour often after a glass or two of vino, is an art. These scripts are fun yet challenging and should not be tackled without serious preparation.
Medical
These scripts are generally only tackled by people who have a background in the profession or voice artists who have a “natural ability” to pronounce words that are longer than an ant -eater’s nose!
This delivery has to be mature, educated, thoughtful and patient yet understanding and all at the same time. Having a “real “ talent in this field can be very lucrative, as specialist areas of the voice arena pay very well.
Multimedia
More and more people as well as schools are now choosing to use multimedia tools as an alternative to traditional teaching methods. These teaching CD Roms inevitably use the voice to communicate the product to the student. This delivery requires the voice artist to be reassuring, calm, confident, patient, yet not patronising. The voice must have the ability to reassure the student that if they make a mistake that it’s not a problem and that time is not an issue.
Technical
Like medical scripts, technical ones can pose an equal challenge. The reader has to have the abilty to visualise almost everything they read. In doing so, the listener feels you are in complete control.Some technical background will help, but having a “weighty” or “corporate” voice will strenghthen the sense of authority and put the listener at ease.
Talking Books
This part of the voice arena is initially hard to break into.The trend in the past has been to use “Lovies” to sell these audio books, as their public status ensures the product will sell.
However, their expensive vocal fees and demand for a percentage of sales have now opened a new niche in the market for equal talent to enter this arena. Projects range from children’s books, the RNIB to radio 4’s “book at bedtime”. Whatever the trend, a talking book of some form should be included on the Showreel.
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Our two studios and vocal booths are fully soundproofed and air-conditioned with ample room to relax and focus on your Showreel
The audio quality of the Showreel is essential in professionally presenting your voice to agencies and clients. We have invested heavily in the best equipment creating a totally Digital environment where the only thing heard on the Showreel is what we decide to put there.
At theShowreel we master, duplicate and print our CD's in full colour with 'on-body' printing. We never put a sticky label on your duplicated CD's and lower the quality of the final Showreel. Best of all we include duplicated CD's in each of our Showreel packages for FREE.