Despite never (or very rarely) appearing visually in a production, a voiceover artist still needs to be "seen". Potential clients like to know who they're dealing with and a good photo can tell a story.
A few weeks ago I booked myself a session with a professional photographer with a clear idea of what I wanted to get out of it...
...photos, yes. But my idea was to go in, mess about with silly faces and come home again. The plan was to get the idea of voiceover across in facial expressions.
You can see from the first 2 shots below that the quality of image is excellent. However, my face pulling on command needs more practice than I could ever have imagined. Which is bizarre as a huge part of my job is pulling faces to get into character and produce emotions.
Exhibit A: The Fish.
What sort of emotion did I think this was producing?! A surprised cod?
Exhibit B: The Ugly.
When I saw this, I bought a megaphone. When it arrived, I went into town, stood on a bench and said (loudly) "How will this photo ever be useful?!" Nobody answered.
Exhibit C: The Storyteller.
Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I was telling Ben (that's the photographer) about how my dad used to do the invisible string pulling the lip trick. Story telling IS voiceover.
Exhibit D: The Natural.
In between all the ridiculously bad faces, we were laughing a lot. As a by product of being so un-natural, we produced perhaps the most natural looking photo of me in existence. For me, this perfectly captures my personality - fun, happy, thoughtful. But along with that, it captures what I was aiming for - the essence of voiceover. Genuine, real, believable, relatable and other cool descriptive words.
What you've probably noticed is that all 4 of these photos are being used in my website header, my Linkedin profile, my Facebook page, and anywhere else I have a profile that requires a header image.
After more considered thought, I realised the first 2 shots were appropriate for my needs. They show a side of me that is carefree. A side that takes risks. A side that isn't afraid to step outside of the box of convention.
I like to play.
The photos are staying.
Ben Bowles is a wonderfully engaging snapper and I've already booked in for a second session. If you're in need of some headshots, I would highly recommend him without hesitation.
Edit: Just so you know, I was so impressed with the photos that I've already booked a second session with Ben. This time I'll be taking my microphone with me for some "action" shots. Yeah!
Of course, it's time for a call to action relating to words from the blog...
...if you need a natural, relatable, happy voiceover artist to compliment your production then get in touch to have a chat.
