Voiceovers – S
For my observational documentary I want to add voiceovers over scenes of my video to highlight key points throughout the day. This is to help the blind and partially sighted follow the video and also tell a story for my target audience.
Reading a script
Staying relaxed when reading your script is key. It can be very hard for me to overcome the nerves but once I am into it and reading I am confident. To help I could do some breathing exercise and take test runs of reading so I don’t make any mistakes and remain calm. Reading my script a few time before hand will definitely help me. Another tip this website gave me was to stand up to do my voiceover. This allows you to breathe deeper and speak alot more clearly. This will help me to not make mistakes and allow me to read more smoothly.
Another tip for reading my script is to time my script reading. For each segment of my script I need to take into considerations the timing so I don’t read too fast or too slow. This will make the voiceover flow and show continuity within my piece.
Tones of my reading needs to be considered aswell because my audience is teenagers I need to address them and talk to them like young people would. I wont be using big words within my piece and I elaborate what Im saying so all of my audience understand what I am showcasing.
Overall I will use these tips to prefect my voiceover. I will do a few practice runs and make some scripts and come up with my final one. Once I have done this I will set up my microphone and I will be using a piece of software called audacity to record my voice. I will have to put my microphone onto a recording pole I have which will allow me to stand up and make my voice clear.
Software
There are three main softwares that I have access to for my video project. I will be reviewing each one below to see which is best to use if I want advanced and high quality audio to put into my observational documentary.
Audacity:
This piece of software is free to use and I have access to this at home. I am used to using this software and it has always been good in past project to giving me high quality audio. Some reviews on audacity say it is “packed with effect” and has “advanced audio editing.” While reading up on the features audacity has in the review the writer also goes on to say “You can use it to make your own recordings, remove noise, cut and combine clips, apply special effects and much more, and achieve truly professional results.”
Overall this is a great piece of software.
Adobe Audition:
This piece of software is brilliant. I have used it for a few projects and I have also used this to put together a scene of a video using only audio. Audition allows me to really modify audio and add tiny detail to improve the quality. In the review I read about audition they go on to say “You can set gain levels appropriate to each person’s voice, then give them individual EQ and processing treatment in post-production.” This allows me to add multiple voiceovers over each other if needed and create those finer details. The review also goes on to say ” In Adobe Audition, you can apply effects to the entire track, or to individual clips themselves. These effects can be anything from compression and EQ, to reverb or telephone filter effects.” I have used some of these features before and have worked out for me so when I get to the recording stage I will look back at this research to help me see if I need any features for my video project.
GarageBand:
Garage band is another software I can use to record my voice. This software offers more musical effect to add so if I wanted to add a soft sound of a piano or an upbeat instrumental I will have a lot more options within this software. It is also very easy to use and the user interface doesn’t seem to technical like the other two softwares. In the review I read it says “Released as version 10.3, this huge update saw the addition of new Roots and Jazz style drummers, 1400 new loops and sounds, all new Mellatron instrument patches and new traditional Chinese and Japanese drum sounds.” This could be a great option and for sound effect to be added to my piece.
Conclusion
I will definitely look back at this research to help me decide which software is best to use. At the moment my ideas for my project is to have a voiceover but looking over this research I have found out I want to look into adding sound effects that are appropriate to my video piece so I may have to use two softwares to get the right audio and also the correct sound effect I want to add.
Music –
Best genre of music for documentary:
For my project I want to include some backing music to go with the piece. For my observational documentary I need some music but I am stuck and cant decide what genre to go with for a documentary and if I go for multiple songs for different scenes of my video. I decided to research and in this article it talks about what I can look into before I decide a song.
Mood and tone
Before I even decide the music I need to identify the mood and tone of my piece. There will be serious moments of my documentary and some elements that are funny so various songs will need to be used. I can have some relaxed songs and some more comedic upbeat or slow songs added. In the documentary film ‘into the mind’ it highlights tones of the film perfectly. It starts off very slow and then picks up as the scene goes on. It really highlights the importance of music and how it impacts the audience.
Emotion
On the topic of how it impacts the audience the emotion it brings to is very key. Music that impacts the audience can make the audience feel what the people in the film feel and they can get a sense of emotion towards your piece. Human emotion is heavily linked to music says studies at oxford university. For my documentary piece It will have points of emotions and happiness so linking my music can set the tone better for the audience. The documentary samsara shows this technique.
Example of instrumentals:
There is a song I know and it really impacts an audience when played. This instrumental shows all the techniques above.
Conclusion –
In conclusion this audio research has helped me identify I want multiple songs to be in my video piece that create emotion and set the tone for the scene. I have also identified the softwares I want to use and sound effect I could use in my voiceovers. I will look back to the research when I get to the planning stages and also editing stage of my observational documentary.
References
Victoria’s Voice. (2019). How Do I Prepare a Voiceover Script? | Victoria’s Voice. [online] Available at: http://vicsvoice.com/resources/how-to-write-a-voiceover-script.htm [Accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
The Voice Shop. (2019). Reading a Script | Voice Over Tips & Resources — The Voice Shop. [online] Available at: http://www.voiceshopcoaching.com/reading-a-script [Accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
Ellis, C. (2019). Audacity review. [online] TechRadar. Available at: https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/audacity [Accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
McLean, M. and McLean, M. (2019). Adobe Audition CC Review | Top Podcast Production Processes. [online] The Podcast Host. Available at: https://www.thepodcasthost.com/editing-production/adobe-audition-review/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
thegaragebandguide.com. (2019). GarageBand 2018: Year in Review – thegaragebandguide.com. [online] Available at: https://thegaragebandguide.com/garageband-2018-year-in-review [Accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. (2019). Things to Remember When Picking Music for A Documentary Film. [online] Available at: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/how-to-pick-music-for-documentary-film/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Bella Coola Gnar Segment (from INTO THE MIND). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/pOlxcpXW2V0 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Intro. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMV6l2y67rk [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Samsara: Intro and Myanmar. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/MRWZ7-M4gCg [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
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