When creating videos, we work hard to get the audio right. We listen to hours of music tracks before finding a soundtrack with the right pace and emotion. Videos that include narrated voice over are even more complex since the voice needs to perfectly match the music and visuals.
Voice over manuscripts are written in a different way than stand-alone texts. When text is the main medium, it needs to convey all information. But narrated a voice over is only part of a mixed flow of information. This means it needs to be simpler and sometimes stand back to let the visuals or music shine. Scott McCloud explains the challenge of mixing media nicely in his book Understanding Comics.
When we helped Orbital Systems create this campaign video, the voice over track was essential. Orbital are the inventors of an impressive water-saving shower system and their campaign aimed to emphasise the importance of their mission. Working with this campaign, we had to adapt to the emerging pandemic since people were just starting to self-isolate and work from home. This meant that we couldn’t shoot any new footage and had to rely on remixed existing video content. Luckily, there was excellent material to use.
In the end, we wrote a voice manuscript that had a good balance between emotional and informative. Dan recorded it in his closet while he had a fever, which produced a deep tone of voice that nicely matches the visuals and music. We are very happy about how it turned out and we’re excited to help Orbital in their mission to reduce water waste all over the world.