End Client: Rawlings

Project Description: Video voice over project: Narration and production of 3 Spanish videos for Rawlings
Scope: Talent placement, Script translation, production of voiceover 

Rawlings wanted a digital web video campaign for their new baseball bats. The campaign was targeting 10 – 20 year old Hispanic (first or second generation) players in the US. The main challenge for Rawlings was to find audio talent of a Hispanic speaker who could do both Spanish narration, as well as English with a Spanish accent and match the tone and style of the English voiceover talent that they had. Their national search for talent did not provide anyone.  Our client, Fleishman Hillard, came to us for their client Rawlings to find the right fit.

Our first task was for talent. We determined the age, gender, country of origin and style we thought the client would want and got to work with our talent. We went through our narrators and provided samples to Rawlings. After review of a few samples that we provided, one voice talent particularly stood out above the rest and was chosen for the narration of all 3 videos (English with Spanish accent and Spanish).

The video script for the Spanish narrative had to be translated concisely as the timing was tight. The script also had  plenty of baseball idioms and phrases that needed to be accurate in Spanish. Different idioms in baseball have different translations in various Spanish speaking countries. We did the initial research because we knew the baseball idiomatic language would present a problem.  We found a book online where a writer had cataloged all the various expressions and the different Spanish interpretations.  We worked with the translation team to decide on a translation that fit most Spanish speaking areas.

Can you spot the idiomatic language in the examples below?

“I’ve been helping you serve up pitchers since freshman year.  Now drop that weight and take some real cuts.
“…And that first-rounder on the mound- I don’t care if he goes curve, slider or he’s just throwin gas.”

Together with our studio production team, we tested the scripts for timing in a mock narration process and provided a condensed version that was approved by the client. A lot of attention was put to detail ahead of time in the pronunciation of names to ensure that the client would be happy with everything before we performed the final recording.

Everything came together in our studio where our talent recorded the narrative based on verified client needs.

What do you want from your language service provider as a partner in your success?  Read more here about what you should expect.