My Films

Module 5 · Lesson 1 of 3

Choose one voice for each character.

Each character gets one voice, kept for the whole film. This lesson shows you what to listen for, so the voice fits the face.

The steps

  1. One voice per character, from the first line to the last. If the voice changes, viewers think it’s a new person.

  2. Think about four things: their age, where they’re from, how fast they talk and how much energy they have.

    Write where they’re from into the description. “A woman in her 60s from Georgia, warm and slow” gets a better voice than “older woman”.

Real voices

  1. Your own voice comes from a recording of you talking, called a voice clip.

    A voice service makes a copy of it from your clip. That copy is called a voice clone. In Google Flow, your avatar records your voice the same way, in Module 8.

  2. Anyone else’s voice only with their written permission. Never a famous person’s voice.

Pick by ear

  1. Most voice services and studios let you play sample voices before you choose. Play three or four for each character.

  2. Listen on your phone speaker, not just headphones. That is where most people will hear your film.

  3. Pick the voice that sounds like the face on your casting sheet. Write the voice’s name on that sheet.

Describe each voice

  1. Write three words for each character’s voice. “Low, slow, Southern.” “Young, quick, bright.”

Your film

My Films

Fill it in here. It saves as you type, and later lessons use it.

Do this now

Write three words that describe each character’s voice, on their casting sheet.

Check yourself

  • Does every character have three words for their voice?
  • Did you write down where each character is from?
  • Is every real voice in your film yours, or used with written permission?

If any answer is no, go back over the steps, or look below.

Stuck?

Every sample voice sounds the same to me.
Play two very different ones back to back: one old and slow, one young and fast. Then narrow down from there.
None of the voices sound like where my character is from.
Write the place and the accent into the description in plain words, like “a man in his 40s from New Orleans”. Then play the new samples.
My own voice clip sounds bad.
Record it again in a small room with soft things in it, a hand’s width from the phone.

Still stuck? Email info@bookwriter.vip and say which lesson you’re on. A person reads every message and writes back.