VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[JimRon]

Deirdre's post in another thread made me think of another point... this one coming from the copywriter side of me. As voice talents, how do you prefer copy to be written with regards to phonetics. Do you prefer the word to be phonetically spelled out within the copy, do you prefer the word followed by the phonetics, or do you prefer the phonetics at the end of the copy?

As a copywriter I always try to write the copy so it's easy for the talent to read and understand.

As a VO talent myself, I like to have the phonetic written out within the script. But as a producer and writer I've had some talent I've worked with say that trips them up when voicing.

And that brings me to another point: phone numbers. Do you prefer the 123-4567, or the actual words spelled out.

Yikes so many points.

So what do y'all think?

jimron
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[Bruce]

Phonetics (fo-NEH-tics) buried in the script are OK. I just cross them out before I read. I just don't want to see it for common words I'm likely to know. I did a large project for a medical firm and they were providing phonetics for words like aspirin!

I hate phone and other long numbers spelled out, i.e. ONE EIGHT HUNDRED NINE ONE FOUR SIX ZERO THREE ZERO, THAT'S ONE EIGHT HUNDRED NINE ONE FOUR SIXTY THIRTY. That's the way I get all copy from one of my regualrs. In fact, they type everything in ALL CAPS.

I hate all caps, even though that's the way I was raised reading radio news. There's so much more nuance you can offer the talent by saving capital letters for those times you need them.

Also, please feel free to use punctuation...more than is grammatically correct...to guide us with timing, and pacing.

Many thanks,

B


P.S. By the way, that's my 800 number that I think is so clever, ending in 60 30, our common time frames in this biz, but nobody ever notices. Sigh.
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[bobsouer]

Jim,

I always prefer the real word in the copy (followed by a phonetic, when needed). Written out numbers are a trip-up for me too. I'll write them as numerals before the session if I can, just to avoid the confusion. (In fact I had a session earlier today with numbers written out as words.)
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[JimRon]

numbers written out as words always trip me up too.

and I too have to write them out. i also always like to find out how they like their number read. is it 5-5-5-5, or 55-55.

that said, does everyone life to say ZERO or OH. I've always been taught there's no such number as OH. but sometimes it sounds too formal, so as a producer i've relaxed a little and have allowed my VO folks to say OH. same for when I voice it. I tend to say OH more often than ZERO.
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[Moe Egan]

I agree with Bruce on numbers, I don't like it when they're all written out. For phone numbers and addresses, I prefer you clump them the way you want them written 800- 9-1-4- 60-30.

I DON'T LIKE COPY WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS. As a dyslexic - it makes it very hard for me to get a handle on sentences, and pacing when scripts are in all caps. Like Bruce I came from radio news, and I would rewrite everything for myself that was in all caps.

I prefer the phonetics at the end of the copy for two reasons. First it gives me a heads up that there will be funky words coming in the script, and secondly, it breaks up the flow of the copy for me when there are parentheses mid sentance (it's another dyslexic thing - keep my copy clean!)

Thanks for asking!
moe
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[JimRon]

Moe... interesting about the all caps. I was taught that it's easier to read when it is all caps, and would use underlines, bold type or italics for words that needed emphasis. When I voice stuff I've always found it is easier to read all caps.

hmm.... i'm glad i asked.
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[Diane Maggipinto]

I GOT VERY USED TO ALL CAPS WHEN IN RADIO, FOR NEWS, COMMERCIAL COPY, STERN WARNINGS FROM THE BOSS...

but when it comes down to it, any of us should be able to read on the fly the copy in its format--magazine articles, mattress tags, scripts...and i don't have any big preference.

i like phonetics immediately following the word, and really like when i don't have to clarify what the phonetics say!

but not all is easy. at v.o.i.c.e. 2007 in vegas, when i spelled my name phonetically in case my ticket was pulled for, like, a hundred years free at v123, it failed me. that is, when [so-and-so who shall remain nameless] pulled my ticket, the long pause after 'diane' was the clue. he couldn't read my writing or couldn't figure out the phonetics.

madge-uh-PINN-toe
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[bobsouer]

Diane,

Flash back to 1970s TV commercial for Palmolive dish washing liquid. Outside the window of the salon, a new, small Ford pulls up. Her client says:

Look Madge, a Pinto!

Madge says:

No, Palmolive, your soaking in it.
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Deirdre]

MOST VO PEOPLE HATE ALL CAPS.

English readers tend to use word shapes as visual clues for reading easily, so all caps wipes that out.

The business of spelling out phone numbers is to try and keep people who must use copy-timing templates from overwriting copy. Most of the time, the talent will rewrite the numerals above.
At CBS radio in Boston, the "rule" for reading phone numbers is "oh" in the area code and "zero" in the rest of the number.

I also prefer phonetic assitance at the bottom of copy as long as it's freakin' helpful! Sometimes the loon who writes the copy will provide something like "maj-a-pin-to" (nothing to show emphasis or stress) and imagine that's supposed to inform.



A similar conversation went on Here.

and Here.
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[JimRon]

[Lizden]

Can I chime in?

As a former copy writer, I TOO was taught that Radio Copy should be written in ALL CAPS....but I never liked it.
Copy is a lot easier to read in "Sentence case"

Which also brings up the issue of font: Serif or Sans-serif?

Personally I always found Times New Roman the easiest to read, but have gotten used to Arial from V123 & Voices

Numbers: NO to spelling them out!

Phonetics: I like them an the end so as not to break up the flow....but like DB said: As long as they make sense!

That's my 0.02

Liz
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[ConnieTerwilliger]

I didn't click on the links Deebs provided, but I assume they are for the old threads on this topic.

If you want more thoughts on this, you could read my article published in AV Video and Multimedia Producer (now Studio Monthly) a couple of years ago that includes some stuff about scripting for Voiceover. It's called "Getting the Right Results from a Voiceover Session" http://www.mca-i.org/en/art/?116

About big numbers - I too am a bit dyslexic - primarily with numbers, so I have been known to say 13 hundred, when it was supposed to be 13 thousand.

I heard one on the air the other day - newscast - the anchorwoman said - "They expect over a hundred people at the event." Considering the event, she meant to say over 100 thousand, not sure if the teleprompter had numerals or was simply wrong, or if she just left it out. But it cracked me up.

And I too like the look of Arial, but the serif fonts really help when trying to quickly discern between a capital "I" and a lower case "l." Particularly tricky when you are saying made up product names.
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[bobsouer]

[Lizden]

That's really interesting, Bob!
I never thought to make the distinction....
Time to test!
Thanks!

L.
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[MelissaVoicer]

I cannot STAND numbers written out. If it's a big number, I would not mind them writing "13 thousand" rather than 13,000. I agree that is confusing, but phone numbers SCREW ME UP when they're words. Especially because on the first pass, I never know if it's supposed to be an area code then the first three chunk and then the last four chunk...so I end up reading the second set of numbers as if there's going to be four of them...get it?

For phonetics..first...please give them to us! I mean I come from a place where we have a Versailles (vur-SALES, NOT vur-SIGH) and an Athens (AY-thens, not like the Greek city). But I like people who rhyme things..like if I'm going to say Vicky Laris (like Harris) it's easier than trying to write the name out phonetically.

I had a narration script the other day where they didn't even write the actual word..they JUST wrote it like it was spelled...now that kind of messed with me too because I couldn't tell what the word was supposed to be...a name, a brand. whatever... I do prefer pronouncers IN the copy text though because sometimes they'll print them at the bottom of the second page of the script or something and then you see it and you're like, "shoot, I already read that wrong way back when!"