Saturday 24 March 2012

Voiceover Scam resolved

In a previous post which we posted here, we mentioned a scam by voicecontacts.com, who promise to send voiceover contacts for a fee but don't send anything or communicate with you in any way.


Anyway much to my surprise, and to Papal's credit, we got our money back. Even though Paypal say that they will only refund money if the item purchased is tangible, we got all our money refunded.

Friday 16 March 2012

How do I avoid a Voiceover Scam?

I was reading a very interesting article about the voiceover business recently on the internet and this particular site recommended growing your voiceover contact list quickly by using voicecontacts.com. I wish that I could remember the website on which I saw the link.


One word of advice: Don’t. This is a scam. This is a con. If you pay them any money you will see nothing in return. Not even an email.

If you order contacts you have to pay via Paypal. But Paypal will only refund you if you have bought a TANGIBLE asset. Which voiceover audio is not. Therefore you lose your money. You have been warned!

Update: The offending website is now offline.

Sunday 11 March 2012

Why don't female voiceover artists record movie trailers?

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook we came across this video about the world of voiceovers recently. It highlights how and why certain voiceover artists are chosen for certain  jobs. It seems that men still dominate the world of movie trailers due to their innate authority - but one woman is making headway.


While men may dominate film trailer voiceovers it seems that women still dominate the world of on-hold although we are not sure why. Phone up any of the Hastings Direct on-hold companies (and there are many of them including Insure Pink, Renew Insurance, Likewise Insurance and the wonderfully-named "Protect Your Bubble") and you will hear voice talent and MD of BigFish Media Ricky Salmon.

So - back to movie trailer voices:

In a world where women work as police, firefighters, fighter pilots, surgeons and engineers, the vast majority of movie trailers are still voiced by men.

Industry insiders cite a perception that men's voices are more authoritative and have a broader appeal to audience members. Action-and-adventure movies, they say, require the gravitas brought by male actors. And for the most part, even female-focused movies employ male voices in the trailer.


That attitude is changing. A small group of female voiceovers are starting to find work on trailers. They predict that as the audience is exposed to women's voices, the stereotypes will fade. Have a listen to this interesting article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17264883

Saturday 10 March 2012

How do I keep recording Voiceovers when I have builders in?

No one said that running a business was easy. Especially a voiceover agency when you are the boss. Long hours. Spending the weekend doing accounts and catching up on paperwork.

But that is made all the harder when the builders move in. Earlier starts - and even later finishes as we have to schedule our sessions after 4pm.


Still I am sure it will be worth all the pain in the end. At least that is what we tell ourselves as Nathan, Daniel and I sit just a little bit too close to each other for comfort or hygeine - cramped into one tiny office for weeks on end.

And when the clients come visiting to direct our voiceover sessions in person, that's when the fun starts.

The fun starts on Monday.
 

Saturday 3 March 2012

Voiceover News for February 2012

Here is what the BigFish Media happy family of voiceovers have been up to in February 2012:

Josey and Chris M recorded voiceovers for Walden University and Italian voiceover artist Max voiced an advert shown on Channel TV


Nathan our Studio Engineer and Audio Producer - recorded a voiceover for an advert for Greenwich School of Management which was shown on Flava TV.

Speaking of audio production, we made a vociereel for aspiring voice talent Paul Gazzard and completed audio dubbing for another 30 programmes for OSN TV: removing the German narration and replacing it with an English narration.

Malcolm recorded a third job for Tork, Matt H voiced for BillyOh sheds, Marcus recorded a voiceover for Samsung, Steffan voiced another SAB Miller video and Sarah J recorded a voiceover for Astella Protopic - a treatment for eczema.


Both Brian and Immy recorded for the College of Social Work, Corrie and James K recorded adverts for Mood FM in Jordan and Ricky voiced for Mitsubishi and the Global Competitiveness Forum

We also gave Voice Training to Eddie from London. Finally we welcomed Craig - a talented young Voiceover Artist.