True Power of Emotions in Voice Over - Vikings Project

That's not a common project. It's not simply a Corporate video. It's not simply a Brewery brand. I was not directed by any Director. And I was challenged to deliver way more than a voice-over.

To make justice, this project is not a project. It's a tribute. Mourning and a revival. It's about Kinho. About Death and Life. About Love.

And - no exaggeration - that experience changed how I've been seeing my work since then.

The Director

Ramon Rodrigues and I met when I was beginning my career. Since his very first message for my first project for Opera Multimídia, he treated me like I was her friend.

We ended up becoming real friends, that kind of friendship that endures distance, silence, difficult times and honest comments. He always tells me the truth, even when that's not what I would like to hear, regarding my concepts, deliveries and his expectations, and he somehow knows that after all I really expect and can endure sincerity. However, he still has a constant warm and shiny personality.

I feel so lucky that he's patient at the same proportion he's honest.

The invitation

On 19th June, Ramon send me the poem. He told me that I had the voice that he envisioned for that ode, which Kinho's sister wrote in tribute to his life and to Vikings, a brewery that Kinho had founded in Espírito Santa, Brazil.

He asked me for a sophisticated, poetic read in Brazilian Portuguese and I remember that when he gave me that direction, I started to think technically. Later that day, I recorded - technically - and sent him 3 versions from my first recording. I explained the details of each version, and then he said...

The recording

It's beautiful and I liked the 2nd and the 3rd. versions, but I wanted it to be slower. No worries about timing. The important thing is that you have the phrases inside you before you read them. Like a thought, a daydream.

I replied, being technical and methodic again. I said I was going to get notes on his feedback, I would slow down, and see how to intersect versions 2 and 3.

But he interrupted me and took another path:

I could never prescribe the tone of voice with which an artist should read. I cannot do that, even being a director, I can't tell to an artist to say something in a specific way. It would mean stealing the art of interpretation from somebody who does it way better than me.

And then he gave me an example of how he would do it with an improvised text:

I want you to bring emphasis where there's emphasis, and subtlety where there's subtlety. Amanda, I'm serious, almost nobody in the industry, in the advertisement environment, does it so well as you do. Antonio Viviani, Ferreira Martins, o Kaká, from Clube da Voz, they do it. You also do it. Women? I don't know - I only know you.

I felt empowered to divest myself of the predetermined patterns, labels, and styles that guide me in most commercial projects.

I felt trusted and backed up by him to be raw, transparent, be myself and make my choices.

I went to sleep with that in my mind. The next day, early morning, at 6 am, I felt safe and capable of letting the "professionalism" go, and I recorded 2 more takes, in the midst of tears. I sent the new recording to him, without further comments.

Only now, after almost 2 months from the beginning of the project, I wonder why I was so afraid of diving inside the poem right away... Now that I'm writing this, I suspect that the fear of talking about death and lack added to the high expectations that Ramon had for me, prevented me from truly feeling that story and letting Kinho's sister's words flow. I was afraid to feel the deepness of Death, Life and Love.

The tribute

The emotions

And then the family's feedback and the repercussion on the internet started to add...

Project's file

• Final Client: Cervejaria Vikings
• Production: Opera Multimídia
• Genre: Corporate voice over, Manifesto, Poetry, Tribute, Testimony, Narration
• Audience: Vikings' audience & customers and Kinho's friends & family,
• Techniques: free-style poetry recitation, monologue.
• Voice: Middle Age, Genuine, Real person, Sad, Poetic, Authentic, Conversational, Intimate, Introspective
• Usage: National, online, distributed for the Brazilian Portuguese market through social media
• Artistic Direction: "Don't read it and do it your way"
• Studio: Recorded offline in Amanda's Voice over Home-Studio

By following the steps and applying some of that out-of-the-box principles, we can also design a unique voice and sound identity for your business project with ease and objectivity, while still being creative and original. Other creatives and entrepreneurs have been creating and growing the value in their businesses with the help of our processes - and if you are ready, you're the next. Send us a message with your questions and ideas or get in touch through other platforms and we get started.