VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Matthew Houston · Joined: 19 Feb 2018 Posts: 10 Location: London, England

Hi all,

Been using these forums as a wonderful reference tool for a while now and would love to get some feedback on my current website design as well as my reels.

https://www.matthew-houston.co.uk/voiceover/

Short bio for those interested, I'm a British actor based and trained in not so sunny ol' London. Voice Acting is my primary business although I have dabbled on TV and stage over the years.

I look forward to your feedback!

Tim Jackson · Joined: 21 Nov 2017 Posts: 23 Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Matthew,

Your black & white approach at duplicating a CV, while not something I have seen before, is very bland and unappealing. +1 for being unique, -2 for being boring. The rest of your site is more interesting, by far.

The closing bit of your narration/documentary demo doesn't fit with the rest. You have other clips below that would work better in that spot.

I hope this helps.

Tim

todd ellis · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:36 pm Post subject:

i don't mind the look of the site at all. utilitarian? yes, it is. here's what i want when hiring a voice.

1) i want to hear your demos - check
2) i want to be able to contact you - check
3) there is no (3)
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Matthew Houston · Joined: 19 Feb 2018 Posts: 10 Location: London, England

Thanks guys, appreciate you taking the time!

Tim, ill definitely take a look at the reel again and have a reshuffle. Unfortunately, it was put together by a 'Voicereel production company' for me last year and I always had the gut feeling it was a bit of a weird mix.

Thanks Todd, I agree! The bells and whistles are only good if the product actually works and you can buy it Laugh

Art · Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:53 pm Post subject:

I feel qualified to weigh in because my own site and demos are considered peerless and the industry gold standard *.

The high contrast, stark black-and-white look is hard on the eyes. Long ago I had a website where I put white text on a black background, and I've been forever grateful to the reader who wrote to tell me she couldn't finish my article because it was killing her eyeballs. Using a dimmer white (try #EFEFEF, for instance) can help until you make bigger changes.

On the commercial reel I feel like your voice is too loud over the music. Your voice is what we want to hear, but when the voice is SO loud over the music it makes it sound more "homemade," which works for lemonade but not most other things. Also, quick cuts at the right time, rather than fade ins, have more impact. When you hear the demos on the CESD and Atlas sites, you'll hear quick cuts. (On the other hand, at this point in life I've observed that what is considered "pro" and "a must" at one point will in no time be considered "dated," and what was "amateur" and "no serious person does this" becomes "fresh" and the new standard overnight. I've heard a few of these fade-in types lately. Is this a coming trend?)

Personal peeve: create a custom Favicon for your site, which is easy to do. When I see that little gray box I know your site is hosted by Squarespace, but it's Matthew Houston we're selling here.

Also, I note your site says you've been on the BBC and won some big acting awards, so maybe you should be giving us advice!

* This may not be at all true.
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Ed Fisher · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:45 am Post subject:

I second the comment on fade out transitions in Demos. I've noticed them also lately in some I've heard. To me a fade is simply wasted time...from the time it starts until it is totally gone...and I don't think "wasting time" is something you want in a :60 demo.
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