Drop the mic!

It’s very common to receive Portuguese voice-over scripts that are translations from English texts. It’s also very common to record voice work that has time constraints, or synchronizes with a video that has been designed for English-speaking scripts. Also, sometimes I’m sent translations from English, with time constraints, and I’m asked for a clear, natural and engaging voice-over, so the listeners follow along easily.

It all sounds right. Right?

Not so much…

There’s a problem that some scriptwriters, producers or casting directors don’t realize despite having access to the English and Portuguese scripts and being able to compare them: the Portuguese language needs more words, and often bigger ones, to say the same thing as English.

In other words, when I’m given an English translation and there are time constraints, I’m forced to transform myself into the alter ego ‘Speedy Fernández’ in order to say more in the same amount of time.

Speedy Fernández can do voice-overs extremely fast! He specializes in narrating a lot in a short time. It’s the dream of any medicine or insurance company voice-over who has to leave the fact sheet at the end! Muahhahahha! Speedy F laughs in the face of the DAW’s Time Stretch! But he does it quickly, sounding choked up…

Speedy Fernández can read translated scripts in a hurry, like an unbridled horse, but it’s impossible for him to communicate effectively. I mean, how can someone narrate in a clear, natural, engaging and, at the same time (literally), in an ultra-fast way? The audience won’t get the message.

Here’s a suggestion for scriptwriters, translators, producers or casting directors: if the Portuguese script is translated from English and there are time constraints, it would be a good idea to stick to the same number of characters. I’m sure some parts of the text don’t need a literal translation, and other words can be chosen maintaining the idea, and the time to narrate it.

¡Arriba, arriba! Ándale, ándale!

Uff… Let Speedy Fernández catch his breath and avoid his listeners to think “what a hell was that lightning read!”