Finding My Voice

Having worked in the animation industry for nine years, and having been a fan of computer-generated (CG) imagery for many years before that, I’ve heard a lot of comments about how various CG animated projects look.  In fact, the whole purpose of using CG imagery is to achieve specific visual effects that would be more difficult — or perhaps impossible — to create using other techniques.  A human cannot really turn into liquid metal, dinosaurs don’t really roam the earth, and toys don’t really come to life when we’re not looking, so filmmakers chose to create those moments using CG animation.  In doing so, they worked with teams of artists and spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars to get the look just right.

However, despite the massive effort to perfect the look of these visual effects, their only purpose is to serve the story.  Without a solid and compelling story, the best CG imagery in the world is just eye candy, and one doesn’t have to look very hard to find examples of high-quality CG animation and effects that were created to accompany lackluster stories.  In some of these cases, the filmmakers might have felt that the audience would be drawn in by the visual elements, and that the story didn’t have to be that great.  In fact, it wasn’t long after Pixar released Toy Story that aspiring filmmakers began talking about — and trying to achieve — “the Pixar look”, as if the specific look that Pixar created for their film was the reason for the film’s success.  They completely missed the point: Pixar had created a compelling story.  The computer-rendered visuals were simply one of many components that they used to help tell that story.

In the field of voiceover, one of the most troubling examples of this “looking beyond the mark” behavior that crops up on a regular basis is when a hopeful voiceover-artist-to-be utters the phrase, “A lot of people have told me that I have a good voice, and that I should consider getting into voiceover.”  What they fail to realize is that the specific sound of a person’s voice is one of the least important ingredients behind an effective, engaging voiceover performance.  They don’t realize that the key to effective voiceover is the same as the key to effective animated filmmaking: story.

The voiceover artist’s job is to tell a story.  That story could be about a little boy walking through the dark woods, a sale on watermelons, or the proper procedure for treating an asthma patient, but it’s still a story.  The trick lies in knowing how to best present the story using the human voice so that the listener is engaged.  Without a sense of story, the most appealing voice in the world couldn’t keep the listener from disengaging and moving on to something that does capture their attention.  While filmmakers have generally figured out that it’s the story, not the look, that makes a great animated film, fledgling voiceover talent are still getting caught in the same “I’ve been told I have a good voice” trap that snared many of their predecessors.

Before spending any money on pursuing a voiceover career — even on training — voiceover hopefuls should have a firm grasp on this fundamental truth of the industry: If you want to make it in the world of voiceover, don’t get too caught up in the sound of your voice.  Learn how to tell a good story.  Similarly, if you’re looking to hire voiceover talent, don’t get too distracted by the specific sound of the artists’ voices you’re hearing.  Look for those who are effective story tellers first and foremost, and then narrow the field to the folks who you feel would do well at telling your story.

What?  You don’t know what story you’re telling?  No problem.  Drop me a line and we’ll figure it out together!