Voquent’s “The Perfect Voice for Every Moment” promo was the result of tireless work for a team of creatives.
Today we are speaking with Stuart Langfield, the creative mind, writer and director behind our promotional piece. Enjoy this sneak peek behind the curtain.
Q: The Voquent Promo looks impressive! We are so pleased with how it represents us – how do you feel about the final creative?
Stuart: I’m really happy! It was a fun and challenging project to bring to life from a conceptual standpoint, but I think it translates well to screen and there’s some really beautiful imagery in there.
Q: What was the original vision for the promo, and how much of that changed throughout production?
Stuart: There was a long ingestion period between when we first spoke about the project, and when it was green-lit, which gave us plenty of time to rework things. The initial concept had more of a montage feel, covering lots of different locations, characters and experiences, but in the end, I’m happy we landed on something much more focused and intimate. I think it works better for the subject matter.
Q: You are a professional filmmaker. Which of your skills were essential to the success of this project? Did anything test your abilities in an unanticipated way?
Stuart: It’s less about my skills and more about the team as a whole. Making films is a collaborative process. I got lucky and had an amazing team on this one. Huge shout out to Marcy at MTP, our producer who pulled off a string of magic tricks to make the shoot happen.
Q: Voice-over is inherently based on sound. Was it a challenge to promote voice-over in a video format? Did you have to learn anything new?
Stuart: It was a huge challenge. Frankly I underestimated how unique a film it was until we’d wrapped our shoot and began editing. In the end we stripped things back and kept it simple, giving the voice-overs room to breathe, and allowing the concept to be a slow-burn.
Q: The music choice is excellent. What was your process for choosing this track?
Stuart: We went through a few iterations of music before landing on the final track. With some projects I already have the music selected before we even shoot. With others, like this project, it’s a case of feeling it out, trying different tracks on the timeline and seeing what works. We played around with many different genres, I even had ‘Clair De Lune’ in there at one point, but ultimately I wanted a feeling of energy and excitement which is how we landed on the final track.
Explore Epidemic Sound’s music library >
Q: What scene did you enjoy creating the most, and what about it connects with you?
Stuart: The running track and the beach scene are two that stand out. Both were incredible environments to film within for different reasons. Waiting for exactly the right light on the beach at sunset is always a highly stressful but exciting experience.
Q: The story of the video is central to the message. How did the script and story evolve?
Stuart: After landing on the overall concept, we took some of the primary mediums that Voquent creates voice-over for, and wrote scenes around those. This kept the film highly relevant to the product, whilst giving us some room to explore different emotions and actions within each scene.
Q: As a director, movies are likely a passion; do you have a movie that you think every budding filmmaker needs to watch?
Stuart: There’s too many! I watch so many films from different genres and time periods that it’s hard to recommend a single one. I just rewatched Donnie Darko yesterday, which I think is a little slice of perfection.
Q: Were there any clashes of ideas onset, or were you all of a unified vision?
Stuart: None. That would be rare on a commercial production! Generally, things are pretty locked down on commercial shoots before anyone steps on set.
Q: Restrictions due to COVID have impacted the film industry worldwide. What challenges have you faced during this time? Did this affect filming the Voquent promo?
Stuart: It’s obviously had a big impact on the film industry. 2020 was a bumpy one. In 2021 things have slowly but surely picked up again, but the industry as a whole is still incredibly cautious. It didn’t affect us too much during the Voquent shoot. It was filmed locally, using local cast and crew, so aside from the now-standard covid measures such as daily testing of crew etc, it was pretty smooth sailing.
Q: Just for a bit of fun as we close. What product, under £150, have you recently purchased that has changed your life in some small way?
Stuart: I honestly can’t think of anything! My regular supply of coffee from Manifesto is the most life-changing thing I can think of.
Q: Who inspires you?
Stuart: My wife and kids. I didn’t really try to become a filmmaker until my kids showed up. They’re great at helping me cut through the bulls**t.
Q: Are you working on anything you would like to promote? Where can our audience find and follow you?
Stuart: Lots of writing. After a busy summer on commercial projects, I’m enjoying some quiet time to revisit some TV/Feature concepts I have in development.
Thanks, Stuart! And here is the finished film:
We hope that you enjoyed reading more about the creative journey behind our short website promo. It is a lot of work to put together a production of this calibre. We are so pleased with the outcome of our promotional video. We think it highlights the beauty of the voice-over industry and what it means to us.
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