How to make a good narration demo
Your narration demo is essential to getting work. Auditions are extremely rare. Clients will choose to work with you based solely on what they can hear in your demo. Home made demos are possible but only if you have a good mike and the ability to mix and cross fade music to make it sound professional. If you have talent, you will make the cost of a professionally recorded demo back in your first job. Without a good demo you won't GET a job! Please read the following guide and listen to the samples. You can record your demo at our recommended studios
Sample Narration Demo (Donna Burke)
Here is what you need in order to start.
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A Profile
A profile about yourself in English and Japanese. This should be one page and almost read like a publicity sheet for you. In your case, at the top, I would write XXXXXXXX Musician*Performer * Narrator or something like that. Make it only one page with everything on the one sheet
About Your MP3 Demo - Include the following demos:
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Straight Narration
A narration that sounds like it is for a video with music in the background. " In 1971 the Mitsubishi opened it's first plant in Narita in 1856. Since then, productivity has increased every year by 7 %- a remarkable achievement by any standards. In the future, Mitsubishi aims to have similar plants open all over Asia"...blah blah blah. It should be no longer than 90 seconds
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Newspaper
Read an article from a Newspaper. Should be no longer than 60 seconds
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Educational
In a very straight, normal voice you say things like (REMEMBER MAKE YOUR OWN UP!!) "One. The cat sat on the mat" "Two. The cow jumped over the moon" "Three. I have my coffee with milk" Do this up to about 10
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TV Commercial Logo
Just one or two words for example (REMBEMBER BE ORIGINAL!!!) "SANYO" "THAT'S MAZDA" "GODIVA CHOCOLATES" Do this is a few different voices-sexy, deep, whisper
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Happy Shopper Announcement
Like your advertising for a super market "Today in the 2nd aisle we have tomatoes on sale for only 4 cents! That's right! Only 4 cents! Should be 30 seconds maximum
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Character Voices
Read a short play with all the different voices you can do-Grandma, mum , child, baby, witch. Don't worry if you can't do this sort of thing- you can leave this part of the tape out. No longer than 2 minutes.
Successful Voice Acting Recording Sessions
By Donna Burke with Tokyo Comedy Store founder Chris Wells and Spontaneous Confusion actors
This session will give you some tips on how to cast actors and reveal common mistakes to avoid in the studio. It will also help you gain confidence in directing actors by watching real actors act out various situations you may encounter. Finally, it will model good direction techniques.
Prerequisites: Previous studio recording experience helpful but not essential.
How can you make your next narration recording as successful as possible?
First let’s look at what can go wrong on the producing side…
Common casting problems
- Can you trust the voice sample?
- Getting recommendations from other actors
- Casting by demo tape or open auditions?
- Should you pay by the hour or by the session?
Common problems once in the studio for directors
- poor (or just plain wrong) casting
- poorly written script- -- actors keep suggesting changes
- miscalculating recording time
- poor scheduling of other actors
- actors can't/won't take direction
- actors talk too much and are too relaxed
Now let’s look at the actor’s side…
Common problems actors have with directors/producers
- directors don't know what they want and are too vague
- directors chose useless “actors” to work with (no budget for professionals)
- directors want the actor to parrot them EXACTLY, just like a robot
- no graphics or back story
- too many directors giving pointers/arguing
- low-quality recording booth with no air-conditioning due to budget constraints
- working alone on dialogue without other actors present in the studio
Tips for better performances from voice actors
Three things voice actors love
1. Be specific
"I liked the low voice that you did on the Princess Moon anime "
"No -- it's too sexy and breathy. Talk more firmly and straight.”
2. Give character info
"Here's a picture of your character. He’s very cunning but he’s a good person underneath. We want you to play this scene so that we don't know he’s a good person."
3. Provide well-written scripts
Make sure you've had a NATIVE check by a WRITER. Just because someone has an Australian/American/British passport and had to take English at school, it doesn't make that person a writer. Writing and editing are high-level skills, so make sure your native checker really is a writer/editor, not just an unskilled native speaker.
If you can’t afford or find a skilled writer/editor, get checks from several different native speakers with CLEAR instructions on what kind of feedback you need. E.g. “ Can you check this for (a) naturalness of dialogue (b) grammar and spelling (c) layout (d) all of the above!
Use at least a size 14 font with double spacing…it’s easy to read.
COURSE NOTES SUMMARY
How can you make your next narration recording as successful as possible?
Casting tips
1. Get actors to record 10 lines of script at home -- in character -- and email it in as a sound file
2. Listen to other actors. If they say another actor is “difficult,” they are probably telling the truth!
3. Talent is cheap -- an actor with good character and behavior is much more valuable than the “perfect” voice
4. Open auditions are notoriously time-consuming. Only hold them if you’ve got a lot of time and enough people to go through all the samples. Otherwise just cast from voice demos
Successful recording reminders
1. Make sure you’ve had the script checked by a native WRITER prior to the studio recording.
2. Make sure you’ve checked the timing of the script beforehand
3. Provide pictures and/or short character histories to help actors
4. Listen to actors’ feedback and be open with them. “That’s a great idea -- let’s record it your way” saves a lot of arguments and angst on the part of the actor. Then you can also get them to record it YOUR way! Win win!
5. Watch the clock. Don’t let actors eat up your time. Be strict
6. Make sure the sound booth is air-conditioned and water is available. Screaming hurts vocal cords!
7. Decide beforehand who is the director. Don’t make the actor’s job more difficult position by requiring them to take instruction from several different people.
8. Make direction and feedback as specific as possible
9. Make sure you have actors sign confidentiality agreements beforehand. You don’t want them blogging about your project!!
10.Try not to ask for a million different takes. Be decisive about what you want.
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