VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

.......do you bring it to the writer/producer's attention?

Or is that considered bad form? Input is greatly appreciated.

FinMac · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:41 am Post subject: Always

Most of the texts I get are written by people whose English is their third language.

Almost always there are errors in the texts. Always bring them to the producer and they are usually grateful. Sometimes I have gotten paid for the corrections when they are plentiful Smile

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Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:49 am Post subject:

If I'm self directing, I do it the right way and hope they either don't notice or realize that the way I did it was correct. If they then come back to me and ask me to do it their way, I do.

If I'm working with a director, I usually say something like, "I could be wrong, but I think it might go like this," and then volunteer to give them an alternate, just in case I'm right (which I know I am, but I never act like it). If they decline, that's their choice. If they have to call me back to correct the error after somebody higher up in the pecking order calls them on it, that was their expensive choice.
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ballenberg · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 12:48 pm Post subject:

I'm with Lee, though sometimes I wonder if I should just shut up and read what's on the page. Most of my sessions are live via remote so the self-directing aspect doesn't come up much. For auditions, I read it the right way. If they want to pay me to read it wrong, I'm available Smile

This came up at a Marice Tobias seminar once and she had a good technique..say nothing but accidentally read it the the right way..then the correct version has been recorded and no one has been made to feel that they're wrong.

melissa eX · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:59 pm Post subject:

Had an ISDN session this week and after I did a take, I heard the clients discussing among themselves.

"You know? I like the mistake she made in that paragraph. It sounds better than the way it was written"

Me: "I made a mistake"?

Clients: "Yes, your brain probably just rewrote it on the fly, we'll keep it"

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

thanks folks. I know I sound like an old relic but sometimes the lack of basic grammar and spelling in scripts written by college grads is a tad alarming.

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:15 pm Post subject:

Let your brain "fix" it on the fly...like Mel said.

It's not that people are getting stupid, it's that they are rushed and their eyes don't see what their fingers did.

How many times you do you send out stuff riddled with typos? And we can't blame it on auto-correct!
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Foog · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:41 pm Post subject:

I'm in the same boat as Scott - well, except that the country most of my clients are from (Hungary) is landlocked, so maybe "boat" is a bad metaphor.

If I don't get the go-ahead on any edits I'd like to make by the time I'm in front of the mic, I'll record their original text verbatim as well as an alternative lovingly pruffread/edited version as well. If it is a lengthy text, I sometimes suggest a pruffreader surcharge, which is happily accepted more often than not.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:37 pm Post subject:

I'm paid to make the client sound good and the people for whom I am working are in the room for the same reason.

"Do you want an alt on that?" hardly ever gets refused.

We is hear to help innit.

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:29 am Post subject:

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

I think I am becoming what I swore I would never be:

my grammar-nazi, know-it-all high school English teacher.

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:02 am Post subject:

It's part of the value added of being a native English speaker.
Correct them grammers, 'ey wot.

Random.
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Karyn OBryant · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:16 pm Post subject:

As Ron Popeil said, "Fix it and forget it." Or something like that.
This world is rife with grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. Give your clients a hand, and unobtrusively make things right. They will love you for it. If they hate your little correction, they'll let you know.
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