VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Kristin Lennox · Flight Attendant Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 858

I've always been impressed by those of you that do audiobooks and other long-form narration, but my admiration has skyrocketed since I took on my own version...

I'm currently neck-deep in the longest long-form e-learning I've ever done -- about 100,000 words. What makes it even more fun? It's medical narration -- so I get to say sentences like:

"Adult respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, is acute respiratory failure in adults and is characterized by tachypnea, dyspnea, cyanosis, tachycardia, and hypoxemia. It may follow trauma, pneumonia, or septic infections. It is also called acute respiratory distress syndrome."

LOTS of sentences like that.

And did I mention there's a crazy deadline for all fourteen chapters? I'm working about 7-8 hours a day, and I'm still not sure I'm going to make it...

But I'm learning. My editing is getting faster, and I know more about diseases than I ever wanted to know...

So mad props to you Long-Formers. I'm going to need a vacation after this...
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CC Heim · Backstage Pass Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 401

That's a LONG one for sure! I recently did a 30K project and let me tell you, it really showed me the need to be DISCIPLINED in my narration -- primarily for ease of editing!

On a short job you can afford to be a little lazy if you don't *quite* like the way you said something and want to do a backup take. In something that long, I learned I need lightning-focus to articulate the content well otherwise I will be in the deepest level of editing hell (as opposed to the "normal" level of editing hell!).

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:31 am Post subject:

just had to do this line:

ACE inhibitors or ARBs for LVSD (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers for lower ventricular systolic dysfunction)

sheesh! but it DOES pay the bills!
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Bish · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:37 am Post subject:

Pshawww! No problems. Ninja

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Scott Lyle · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:53 pm Post subject:

Yikes! It sounds like one needs to be a paramedic to be able to read this stuff.
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graemespicer · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject:

About as far as I can manage is "Ringer's Lactate with D5W" Smile

(Bonus points if you remember where that reference is from ...)

Congrats to those of you who are able to narrate these medical projects daily - it would take me many, many hours of surely blown pronunciations and subsequent editing!
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Bish · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:02 pm Post subject:

On a serious note regarding tech narration... and I've been caught out by this more than once... clarify the articulation of acronyms. Within an industry there can be no rhyme or reason as to which are articulated as words, and which are spelled out.

In the example above, the acronym ACE (quite common in many fields) may be universally known as "ace" in one industry and a more formal A-C-E in another. This can even change country-to-country within the same field.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:30 pm Post subject:

Agree with Bish on this one. In the space science and astronomy material I've done, I've always asked about acronyms, even when they're terms I've used before. Never hurts to ask, but it always hurts to get through something and then have to do a re-take.

I actually kind of like slingin' that technobabble... space travel, astro, etc. and medical just fascinates me. Haven't done any medical yet... but maybe someday I will.
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Velfin · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:32 pm Post subject:

Way to go Kristin - and good luck! I call projects like those "crucible" projects.

And +1 to Bish's comment about acronyms. On a recent job, the client specifically said to read all acronyms as letters, but then needed a retake because one (DRESS) wasn't.

My personal favorite so far: thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. At the end of a 9-line-long list of side effects.
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todd ellis · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:57 pm Post subject:

government projects too -

i always ask the client about:

TLAs: three letter acronyms ---

EFLAs: extended four letter acronyms --- and

FLABAs: five letter and beyond acronyms
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ccpetersen · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:45 pm Post subject:

Which reminds me of the time a group of us (at the astrophysics research lab where I worked in graduate school) came up with words that would spell GUACAMOLE as an acronym... Wink

Giant Undulating Astronomical Camera And Mid-infrared/Optical Light Entrance.

Wink

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Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:13 pm Post subject:

When I worked as a video producer for Bellsouth, one of the biggest abusers of acronyms ever, I created a comic-strip panel once that pictured a frosted glass office door with this stenciled on it:

DO-TUNA
Department Of Thinking Up New Acronyms
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Kristin Lennox · Flight Attendant Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 858

The company has a HEE-UGE mp3 database of medical terms, acronyms, definitions... but the problem is there are several different narrators, and they're not consistent in their pronunciations. I never know whether they want "anti" with a short i, a long i or a long e sound.... so I just pick one.

But, so far, so good. In the first four chapters, I've only had three revisions, and they were all mistypes in the script.

Here's a good one from today -- "purulent sputum". Try saying that five times fast...
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Always look on the bright side of life.

Dee doo. Dee doot doot doo dee doo.

my website

whalewtchr · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject:

Congrats Kristin! Medical stuff makes my eyeballs roll back in my head and puts me in a coma, good luck-are they at least providing a pronunciation guide for you or or you stuck doing the research yourself?
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Bailey · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:23 pm Post subject:

We had a septic tank pumped twice. Never heard anything about an infection. I guess they would have charged us if they had found some.
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