Do you Know What a Voice Over Is?
There are lots and lots of voice overs that everyone hears each and every day. They fill the airwaves with the messages that make our modern world go around.
A voice-over artist is an actor or actress who uses their voice talent in order to give a voice to a cartoon character or to be utilized in a commercial to name a few. The voice over can be spoken by someone who the audience will see or by a specialist voice actor someone who the audience usually does NOT see. There are many different ways to use a voice over. These can be used in building character, creative influences in cinema, education, or in advertising and marketing.
One of the most common ways to use vocalization is in animated films and television. For instance, animated characters (like the kids from the show ‘South Park') are animated. They need voice-over artists in order to give them personalities and bring the show to life. There are times where well movie stars are used as the voice actors, such as Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, who played key rolls in the ‘Shrek' movies, or, it is a specialized voice actor, not a screen-actor who voices the characters. Obviously, using an actor's voice is critical to building the animated character and bringing them to life.
In other instances, there are no animated characters, but the need for off screen narration is still there. A voice-over can be used to create an ironic counterpoint, or to make a statement in the movie. This is the creative element. It can be a character narrating, or miss-matched voices narrating and the narration does not match the actors on screen. This creates a sense of chaos and lends to the movies' originality, such as the film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', where this technique is used.
Moving away from use in films, voice-overs can also be used for educational or descriptive purposes. Our television news is broadcast with video clips and commentary by the reporters, who are describing and explaining the significance of the
clips being shown. Sports broadcasts also have spoken comments, especially when cast over the radio. There are also narrations that are used as commentary by a historian or critic, possibly even production personnel about when a new movie or DVD will be released.
Sometimes, instead of just commentary or news production, voices are also used for advertising and marketing purposes. We do not see the actor that is speaking in the advertisement, but we hear it on televison, radio, in stores and shopping malls, to name a few places. Voice-overs were primarily used on radio, but since the advent of the TV, this practice has crossed over into TV as well.
Some prominent and iconic voice-over artists are Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Hal Douglas, & James Earl Jones. These artists and the utilization of their voice over talents are ubiquitous in many different facets of our modern world. It is not just for show business. It can be used creatively and commercially, and almost everyone come into contact with it on a regular basis.
A voice-over artist is an actor or actress who uses their voice talent in order to give a voice to a cartoon character or to be utilized in a commercial to name a few. The voice over can be spoken by someone who the audience will see or by a specialist voice actor someone who the audience usually does NOT see. There are many different ways to use a voice over. These can be used in building character, creative influences in cinema, education, or in advertising and marketing.
One of the most common ways to use vocalization is in animated films and television. For instance, animated characters (like the kids from the show ‘South Park') are animated. They need voice-over artists in order to give them personalities and bring the show to life. There are times where well movie stars are used as the voice actors, such as Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, who played key rolls in the ‘Shrek' movies, or, it is a specialized voice actor, not a screen-actor who voices the characters. Obviously, using an actor's voice is critical to building the animated character and bringing them to life.
In other instances, there are no animated characters, but the need for off screen narration is still there. A voice-over can be used to create an ironic counterpoint, or to make a statement in the movie. This is the creative element. It can be a character narrating, or miss-matched voices narrating and the narration does not match the actors on screen. This creates a sense of chaos and lends to the movies' originality, such as the film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', where this technique is used.
Moving away from use in films, voice-overs can also be used for educational or descriptive purposes. Our television news is broadcast with video clips and commentary by the reporters, who are describing and explaining the significance of the
clips being shown. Sports broadcasts also have spoken comments, especially when cast over the radio. There are also narrations that are used as commentary by a historian or critic, possibly even production personnel about when a new movie or DVD will be released.
Sometimes, instead of just commentary or news production, voices are also used for advertising and marketing purposes. We do not see the actor that is speaking in the advertisement, but we hear it on televison, radio, in stores and shopping malls, to name a few places. Voice-overs were primarily used on radio, but since the advent of the TV, this practice has crossed over into TV as well.
Some prominent and iconic voice-over artists are Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Hal Douglas, & James Earl Jones. These artists and the utilization of their voice over talents are ubiquitous in many different facets of our modern world. It is not just for show business. It can be used creatively and commercially, and almost everyone come into contact with it on a regular basis.