When I first started doing voice overs I came from a live performance background. I’d been onstage doing some acting and playing in live bands. As a live performer you are taught to fill the auditorium with your voice and project to the back of the room so the people in the back row can hear you. When I first started doing voice overs, I have to give credit to a guy by the name of Andrew Sidwell, affectionately known as Bag. He was working at Austereo in Melbourne at the time. He taught me to have the same kind of dynamic range and emotion in my voice, but instead of operating in a space this big, to operate in a space this big.
I interpreted that and thought, “Okay, I’m just in this tiny box and onstage here, and the people in the back row are up here. Instead of projecting to them there, I just need to project to them there.” Still have the same kind of emotion and color in your voice, but just in a much smaller space.
I’m going to give you an example here. The script is for a car and it’s just one line. It’s, “Reinvent yourself in Australia’s number one selling SUV.” I’ve just made that up, by the way. I’m going to give you the big version of that line and then I’m going to give you the tiny box version so you can here the difference.
Here’s the big version, “Reinvent yourself in Australia’s number one selling SUV.” That’s pretty big, and it’s filling the room and projecting to the people in the back row.
Here’s the same version in the tiny box. “Reinvent yourself in Australia’s number one selling SUV.” There’s still nice melody in there. There’s still light and shade, and it’s still kind of ups and downs, but it’s just in a much smaller space. I’ll give it to you again. “Reinvent yourself in Australia’s number one selling SUV.”
Cool. That’s the Tiny Box concept and I hope that helps. I’ll see you in the next Voice Over Tips video.
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