Around 49:44, Joel Snyder introduces me to this call in conference. This entire conversation shares a lot of valuable feedback from audiences and professionals.
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SOLD OUT – Audio Description Narration Workshop 2020 March
This workshop has sold out! We will have more coming.
Most details of Audio Description narration, and how to do it, can be shrouded in isolation. There are all kinds of vendors who have different approaches. When the opportunities come, what skills do you bring to the table? Roy has hundreds of big budget features and high profile series in this area of Audio Description narration, including Picard, Spider-Man, NCIS, BOSCH, and others.
Through practice with scripts to picture, you develop your own unique practice, and perfect your own take, on delivering that tight wire act of emotional and timing nuance. This is a judgement-free zone: we focus on what works, and what doesn’t work.
This is a 4 week workshop in the North Hollywood area, 7pm to 10pm, Thursdays in March. We will have blind audiences giving feedback.
email roy@roysamuelson.com with any questions or to reserve your spot.
(Due to the commitments of studio and other students, we are unable to grant any refunds for cancellations.)
Limited to 9 participants. Introductory offer of $295 is limited to the first 5 paid-in-full attendees. A portion of the profits will go to the Audio Description Project.
Audio Description Excellence: an article on Medium
Roy wrote this article on Medium.
(What is Audio Description? Read the first article on Medium)
Over 3000 TV shows and movies have Audio Description narration. And Audio Description has many moving parts.
After narrating Audio Description for over 450 tv shows and movies, I love reaching out and interacting with audiences, vendors, and others directly involved with the process. Along with Audio Description narrator skills, there are many other decisions that impact the experience of Audio Description. I’ve found some commonalities that sit well with an audience. Based on those commonalities from many different perspectives, here are a few worth sharing.
The writing, casting, directing, mix, narration, and access are all essential to the Audio Description.
An Audio Description narration script sample
The writing quality. The core of Audio Description. This writing is more than just the words used. It’s also the amount of words used, which affects timing. Bad writing can impact even the best narrator. Bernadette Peters is considered a brilliant actor, but I sure wouldn’t want to see her in a production of the play I wrote in High School. Besides, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And brilliant Audio Description writing brings out the story in a way that enhances the visual intent of the producer and director.
The choice of narrator (who is cast to read it) plays a huge part. For example, if Tom Cruise was cast in the lead acting role of a “Pippi Longstocking” remake, he would have been miscast. It’s a similar comparison with Audio Description. There are many thoughtful considerations in casting. Some people may strongly disagree with the final casting! It’s an important decision.
The directing of Audio Description. A narrator could be directed to read a line in a way that keeps the audience in the story, not rushing it or putting unnecessary cadences, or even pushing too hard on the emotions or pulling back too much. A director can tell the narrator to pull back, and give some space to a line. So, just like on-camera direction, it’s the job of the Audio Description director to make sure the narrator maintains her audience’s emotional connection.
And now, the narrator’s skills or talent. If a narrator’s voice is flat and empty, it may as well be a digitized voice. But when it comes to stories told in movies or TV shows, the great narrators are a part of the story; not too much “into it” — but certainly not flat. It hurts my ears when I hear a narrator read a line with absolutely no intention during a scene of a movie. It also takes me out of the story when a narrator reads it too dramatically. There needs to be a very subtle balance, particularly with this unique kind of voice over.
Similarly, a narrator may make someone feel uncomfortable, but you might not really be able to put your finger on it. For example, have you started listening to a favorite book on audio, and the voice was annoying? I bet you didn’t listen to the rest of the book. That could also happen in Audio Description — even when the writing or mix is pitch perfect. One possible reason is what I call a “musical” read — as if the narrator is telling a bedtime story to a child in a way that “talks down.” They read it with a sing-songy cadence that can come across as condescending, which is disgusting and demeans both the audience and the quality of this work.
(A terrible audio sample of the musical read)
The final mix (how loud or quiet, among many other audio considerations) makes a world of difference. A great mix can help the Audio Description ride along the movie so that it’s balanced, it doesn’t stand out. But if you are straining to hear the Audio Description, or having to turn down the audio description, it’s sure to take you out, like listening to a loud commercial after experiencing an emotionally intimate scene in a TV show.
And finally, how easy or difficult is it to access the Audio Description? Does the TV show that had it on broadcast carry over to the streaming service or downloaded purchase? I’m a big fan when the Audio Description for the movie travels from the theater, to the tv, then to the dvd and to the streaming service, keeping it’s Audio Description with it. I’ll call it “pass through” — where Audio Description goes along with production, from cinema to streaming. Having to ask “Does my downloaded purchase even have it?” or “Is Audio Description on this streaming service?” means that inclusion is still in process. Thankfully many companies are making significant steps toward this end, if they aren’t there already.
All of these examples (and more!) substantially impact the final Audio Description. A lot of professionals take great care in making these decisions on casting, writing, directing, narrating, mixing, and access. Ultimately, I trust Blind and Low Vision audiences to say, and get, what they want. It’s great to know that more productions are listening.
So when it comes to Audio Description for movies or TV shows, we’re now beyond “does it have it or does it not.” This can now be seen seen as a part of the production: it’s a profession, involving many thoughtful decisions, for delivering the best to all Audio Description audiences.
A little post script: lots of companies, streaming services, broadcasts, and networks recognize the value of Audio Description for their audiences, which also impacts their bottom line. Netflix now requires vendors, narrators, and writers of Audio Description to each be named in the credits of their shows. When I speak with producers of movies who might be unaware of this part of their production, they lean in, interested. And no doubt why: it’s a serious market share, currently 26 million blind and low vision Americans.
This article is based on my own experiences in working these projects, and also in many conversations with audiences who use Audio Description. I’d love your feedback on this, particularly from blind and low vision audiences who use this service. I’ll update this article as feedback comes in, but please leave up to 50 claps below if you find this article useful or helpful in elevating the quality and excellence of Audio Description.
Read more interviews from Roy Samuelson about Audio Description here.
Elizabeth Warren Campaign Ad
Original Elizabeth Warren video, and Audio Description mp3 below with script.
I believe Washington should work for you—not billionaires or Wall Street. I'm Elizabeth Warren, and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/MSnFyiEJxu
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) October 2, 2019
Audio Description Script
00:00
An image of Mark Zuckerberg. if she gets elected president, then you go to the mat and you fight.
00:04
Text: The rich and powerful are afraid of Elizabeth Warren
00:07
They’ll tell you themselves
00:22
An image of a newspaper headline: Wall Street is freaking out at the thought of President Liz Warren
00:43
Liz Warren speaks at an interview
00:50
Warren – join the fight. Text Warren to 24477
Audio Description for Pete for America: “The Only Way” ad
As more Presidential candidates release ads for 2020, I’d like to help provide AD for our American voters who are blind or low vision. Audio description for Pete for America: “The Only Way”
Original video here
Donate to Pete for America
Description by Hedy Burress
Narration by Roy Samuelson
Audio Description Script:
00:00
(music plays)
Photos of Pete Buttigieg, in combat training in Afghanistan then working at his desk in South Bend, Indiana. Pete himself speaks to camera.
00:09
A river runs under blue skies, and Pete listens and talks with concerned and diverse citizens.
00:17
At a rally, Pete confidently leads a large and attentive crowd.
00:21
Pete addresses the camera directly.
Directors Notes interview
How Audio Descriptions Help the Visually Impaired Experience Cinema (directorsnotes.com)
Around 26 million people in America are either blind or experience low-vision, and whilst there are mandates in place to ensure increased access for these audiences to experience the culturally dominant shows and movies that appear on Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc., the awareness of modes to aid experiencing these programs, for those audiences, is increasingly important. Audio Description is an ever-growing part of the entertainment industry, allowing both visually impaired and sighted audiences another means of experiencing their favourite TV shows and movies. DN had an extensive chat with voice over artist and Audio Description narrator/advocate Roy Samuelson, who has provided narrations for everything from Us to Spider-Man: Far From Home, about the place of Audio Description in the industry and the important work that goes on behind the scenes.
A lot of our readers will be familiar with what Audio Description is, but for those who aren’t, could you briefly explain what it is and its purpose?
Audio Description is a special audio track, almost like an audiobook that lives on top of a movie. The intention is, similar to a sports announcer on the radio giving the play by play of what’s happening during a game, Audio Description allows blind and low-vision audience members to truly experience the producer’s intent, as far as visuals go. Obviously we can’t explain every single moment or every specific detail but it does a really, really fair job of giving brushstrokes to indicate to the audience what’s going on. It’s exclusively visual descriptions.
From doing some research, there are benefits of audio description for sighted audiences too.
In the same way that the closed captioning for deaf audience members are used frequently by people who aren’t deaf, people who might be scrolling through social media and have their phones on mute or someone who just wants to keep the TV low in the middle of the night to not wake their spouse up, they can still experience the closed captioning. When it comes to Audio Description it’s another option sighted audience members can use to enjoy the producer’s intent.
Using Audio Description, for a sighted person, when there are a lot of complicated characters or storylines that are a little more challenging to keep track of. That can help as well.
I live in Los Angeles and I have a lot of commute times, and during those commute times a lot of people are now tuning into podcasts or audiobooks, and Audio Description is a very similar experience that you can use to catch up on all your TV shows or all your movies. In a way that it still allows you to be along for the ride and allows you to keep your eyes elsewhere. I’ve also heard of some people using it when cooking or just when running some errands around the house. Obviously, there are certain kinds of films that do fully appreciate your sighted attention, if you are a sighted audience member, and these other experiences, you can still get the gist of what’s happening. One of my favourites is using Audio Description, for a sighted person, when there are a lot of complicated characters or storylines that are a little more challenging to keep track of. That can help as well.
When it comes to spectacle, I do happen to do a lot of action and adventure and some horror films for Audio Description. Most recently, this year, Glass the M. Night Shyamalan movie. There were a lot of flashbacks and other things that were happening, and being able to do the audio description gave me a better insight into some things that I would have missed as a sighted audience member. It wasn’t anything that was a big reveal but it was enough to just give that enhancement, just an extra little nudge, not an easter egg, but somewhere along those lines that makes you go “Oh, I missed that”. It helps focus the attention in a way that a typical non-Audio Description experience might miss.
Could you describe the process of providing audio description, are you provided with a script? Do you have any input? Do you record along with a scene? Can you talk me through the production process?
Great question. This is such a lead-in question because it really helps focus on the describers, the writers of the script. I am given a script, and for a movie that has six reels, a typical hour and a half long movie, each reel has 15 to 20 pages of a special Audio Description script and those scripts are written by describers who watch the original film and, if they have access to the original production script, go through the script and find the breaks in between dialogue to give the visual elements that are essential or important to the story. So, it’s such a crafted experience that these writers do.
I love this example, every picture is worth a thousand words and a typical film is 24 frames a second, so we’re already at 24,000 words and experiences just in a second, when you’re making a 90 minutes movie, there’s a lot going on and these describers really can pinpoint the brushstroke of what’s happening visually in a way that is so specific and so unique. When it’s written right it’s seamless and is a part of the movie and doesn’t stand out, in a way that can take an audience member out of the immersion of the story.
From my experiences as a narrator, because of licensing, privacy and NDAs, I show up, they give me a script and we start rolling. So, it’s an ice cold read. The script itself has cues that are time code based or dialogue based or visuals or audio and I’m given a certain amount of time to fit my narration between those so it doesn’t interrupt the dialogue of whatever’s happening.
While we’re on this, a quick tangent, I find it fascinating that the describers do go with the flow of the movie, so it’s not nonstop narration. They allow the film to breathe and allow those emotions the time that the producers and the directors intend. I think that’s also a really special skill that the describers bring, and I do my best to honour that. I pace it in such a way that rides the film, in a way that hopefully doesn’t interrupt it.
I’m hoping that my narration isn’t noticed by the audiences, in other words, if an audience is listening to an Audio Description track and they think “Oh my goodness, this narrator is so good” that’s a disservice to the audience because that means that I stood out. My goal is to be a part of the movie and to ride the emotions of the scenes in such a way that the audience members don’t notice me. Now, after the fact, or beforehand, they can talk as much about the narrator as they like, I don’t care about that, but when they’re in the movie, I really hope that they’re fully engaged and experiencing what the directors and producers intended, that’s the balance that I’m always seeking to find.
When providing audio description what changes do you have to make to your vocal delivery? Is it a case of providing clear, clean delivery or do you have to engage with the energy of the scene that is playing out?
It’s that fine line, that balance. When I’ve heard narration that’s done right, the narrator who’s able to deliver that, she gets it and she can deliberate in a way that does ride the emotion of the scene without becoming an audience member. I love how you said “the fine line” because that’s really the intent. It varies, there’s no exact rule or rulebook for every movie. Every movie has its own essence emotionally in each scene. Hopefully, the narrator understands that and rides it. As I said, the intent is to almost disappear as if it’s a part of the movie. An analogy would be with foley, if footsteps are too loud or non-existent it’s going to stand out, but when it’s done in a way that professional foley artists do, you’re not even thinking about it, those footsteps are as real as if they were happening.
Where do you find most of your time is spent at the moment? Are you mostly involved with Audio Description or are you working across other forms of voice work?
As a voice artist, I do have a lot of opportunities for different things, there’s a TV commercial right now that’s getting a lot of airplay, I do some video games, animation, and other types of narration. Audio Description is what I’m most focused on, as far as my passion goes, and that’s been my main advocacy, it’s something I really care a lot about so when the opportunities come, I take them but I find that Audio Description is really the one that gets me the most excited.
How long have you been involved with Audio Description?
I’d say maybe five to six years at this point. Audio Description has been around for more than ten, it’s surprising the number of people I’ve met online that have said that they’ve had VHS cassettes that had audio description on them.
A lot of the cinemas, near me, will have the odd film screening with audio description but when you look at everything they’re programming and you see Avengers: Endgame playing like a 100 times in a day or something crazy and you see that two of those screenings will have an option for Audio Description, you realise that there needs to be a balance here because it doesn’t affect the screening, but it provides an opportunity for people that need it to pick up headphones and have a better experience. So, what do you think people, companies, cinemas and film programmers can be doing to create more awareness and accessibility to Audio Description?
There are a lot of great directions that are happening on the technology side, obviously you mentioned headsets. Wireless headsets are, at least in America, available at almost all theatres that have been renovated after a certain time. There’s also an app called Actiview, that is for Android or iPhone which syncs with the existing audio of a movie and certain titles have signed up to have the Audio Description go through the headset of your own personal device, which helps a lot.
My goal is to be a part of the movie and to ride the emotions of the scenes in such a way that the audience members don’t notice me.
As far as advocacy goes, I’m part of the TV academy for the Emmy Awards, there have been a lot of events that I’ve been to where I’ve met a producer, share with them what I do and inevitably the ones that are not aware of Audio Description lean in and say “Wait, tell me more about this, what is this?”. So, there’s a genuine curiosity and a discovery of this other element that is a part of their film that they might not know about. I’ve found that those that are aware of it, of which there are a lot, find a way to make sure it gets passed through from cinema to streaming service and make sure that content travels. It needs a restructuring of a lot of systems to let that pass through to happen. There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes from a lot of caring people. I have a lot of hope that this is growing in a positive direction.
The catalogue of films you’ve provided audio description for is very extensive at this point, I’m interested to know if there were any films or television shows that were particularly tricky to provide description given the nature of what was happening on screen?
The describers that do the writing make it easy for me to say the words. There are some sentences that look on paper like they’re very easy. The best example I can think of, there was a scene where someone was looking with wonder and the describer had written “she looked awed”, and obviously when you say it the homonym is ‘odd’, she looked odd. So, it was something that was verbal and we switched to a look of awe. That was an easy fix. But they’re few and far between, the describers really take into account what the sound of the sentence and what the flow of the sentences are.
From my experience, most recently I did Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s a jam packed action film with a lot of comedy and energy and some touching moments. To be able to do that film in a way that served the story, it’s almost a flow where it’s back to back page turning with timing cues and audio cues. My eyes were reading the script while I’m hearing and watching the film on a screen, so it’s almost like watching a tennis match. If I were to think about every step that I have to take to make the story come alive in a way that matches the emotion in a way that doesn’t interrupt it would be like juggling six balls at the same time. There almost has to be a flow to it, particularly with that movie Spider-Man, I found myself getting in that flow that was incredibly satisfying and I felt connected in a way that I hope served the story.