VOICE OVERS: WHERE DO I BEGIN? - Voice Coaches

WHAT IS A VOICE OVER?Answering this question seems like a pretty obvious starting place. After all, it’s a loteasier to determine whether or not something is appealing to you if you understandwhat it is.From a literal standpoint, a voice over is a recording of someone reading or workingfrom memorized material without an accompanying visual image of that person. Inother words, you hear the person, but you do not see them.If you ask the average person what comes to mind when they hear the words “voiceover,” more often than not the answer is commercials. Commercials are indeed acomponent of the voice over field. Any time you hear a voice in an advertisementwithout seeing the person attached to that voice, you are listening to a commercialvoice over.When considering commercial voice overs, it’s important to keep in mind that not allcommercials are the same. I’ve run into many aspiring voice actors who say things like“I don’t think I would be interested in doing all that hard-sell commercial stuff.” Whatthey are failing to realize is that there is a broad range of commercial opportunities,many of which do not demand the typical used-car-salesman type of delivery. Forinstance, voice overs for public service organizations, socially relevant material, orpolitical content are all examples of commercial voice over work. Similarly, children’sproducts, upcoming community events, and material related to health care all fallunder commercial work.COMMERCIAL VOICE OVERWhat Is A Voice Over?Regardless of what a commercial is for, thereare three categories, or levels, of commercialvoice work.Local commercials are developed to beplayed in a single area. Examples would becommercials for local businesses or servicesthat does not have locations outside of thearea they are advertising in.Regional commercials are designed to be played in areas where that advertiser offerstheir services. Examples could be a car dealer with multiple locations, or a serviceprovider that caters to a particular region, like the southeast.National commercials are created for companies and organizations that offer theirservices and products nationwide and beyond.8

AN INTERESTING ROADBLOCKWhat Is A Voice Over?“When we meetwith a potential client,While local commercials are potentially the most tangiblewe begin by determining whatcommercial opportunities for new voice actors,would fit their needs based on whothey are targeting with their business.these type of commercials do come with a uniqueThen we create a proposal. In almost everychallenge.case the potential client asks, ‘How will I getmy commercial made?’Offering complimentary commercial productionis a terrific way to close the deal. We offer helpwith the script, free voice overs, and background music. That’s how we sell advertising.”-Rachel, New YorkRadio Sales ManagerMany broadcast facilities, particularly radio stations,provide commercial production and voice overservices to their clients at no charge sort of.Understand that radio stations derive revenue fromselling advertising time or air time. When a radiosalesperson is out meeting with local businesseshoping to sell them radio advertising time, they oftensweeten the deal by offering commercial productionservices at no charge.AN INTERESTING STATISTICWhat Is A Voice Over?Though commercial voice overs are a component of our field, many newcomersdon’t realize that commercial work only makes up about 10% of available voiceover opportunities. A common mistake made by many new voice actors is puttinga disjointed amount of effort into getting commercial voice over work, instead offocusing significant effort onto the other side of our field, the side that comprisesapproximately 90% of all voice over work opportunities: narrative voice over.NARRATIVE VOICE OVERWhat Is A Voice Over?Though there are certainly many sub-categories when it comes to voice over, we willuse the term narrative to describe any voice over that does not directly sell or promotea product, organization, or service.Today, approximately 90% of available voice over work is narrative.Below we’ll list some examples of non-commercial – or narrative – voice overopportunities. You will probably find that you’ll begin to notice voice overs whereveryou go.9

AUDIO BOOKSWhat Is A Voice Over?Audio books first originated in the early 1930swith the creation of the “Books for the AdultBlind” Program. By the mid 80s, audio bookshad exploded in popularity and were rakingin hundreds of millions of dollars a year inrevenue. Today, the most popular format foraudio books is the digital download. As aresult, audio books have become even moreaffordable, portable, and easy to purchase.This means that more of them are beingpublished than ever before, and accordingly,there is more voice over work available in theaudio book field than ever.Most audio books will rely on a single voice actor to provide all of the narration andcharacters in that book. The narrator might use anything from subtle voice or speechpattern changes to various dialects to differentiate the characters. Nonfiction books tend to use fewer voices, while fiction books tend to“I’m notneed more creativity as more and more characters are involved.what you would callHowever, many “characters” can be created through subtlea character voice actor,changes in the pitch, tone, speed, rhythm, and volume of yourbut when I recently narrated anvoice, rather than having to perform traditional characteraudiobook I had to come up withvoices like you might hear in animation.a lot of different characterizations,including a 12-year-old girl. Insteadof exaggerating and working outsideof my voice range, I just softened myvoice here and changed my pitchthere, and voila! A whole bunch ofnew voices were born!”-Kevin, New YorkVoice ActorToday, as we constantly change the way we consumecontent, the audio book industry generates more revenuethan ever before. Voice acting that was once reserved onlyfor bestsellers has now expanded to every corner of theliterary world. And with the explosion of digital media and theresultant lowered cost of production and replication, the industryis expected to continue to grow, creating enormous opportunitiesfor voice actors.EDUCATION AND TRAININGWhat Is A Voice Over?Training materials make up an enormous part of the narrative field. The majority ofwork in this area comes from the corporate and business sectors.Businesses are constantly updating their training materials, creating countlessopportunities in this area of voice overs. For example, every time a new piece ofsoftware or machinery is implemented, a new training regimen may be required, andthat often involves voice overs.10

Continued from EDUCATION AND TRAININGOne of the most common ways that voice oversare used in the business world is for training.Projects can range from a seminar on accountingsoftware or a tutorial on how to use a copymachine to a training video on customer service ora presentation for a board meeting. Other typicalvoice over opportunities in the business worldinclude computer-based training, website narration,and company policy training. And, as technologyevolves, opportunities for voice over work inbusiness continue to increase.Educational materials also comprise a significantportion of the field. With the growth in popularity ofaudio books, an increasing amount of educationalmaterial is available in audio form. In addition to textbooks, things like testingmaterials, scoring procedures, and quizzes & answers are often delivered via voiceover. Add in educational components like web-based games and interactive tests, andthis part of our field presents enormous opportunity.When considering any kind of technical or educational voice over work, keep inmind that if you have a specialized background from a current or previous professionrelated to the topic being voiced, you’ll naturally be a more appealing option to theclients casting the work. If you understand the material, you’ll be much more likely todeliver it in an informative and engaging manner. Therefore, when determining yourskills and strengths as a voice actor, make sure you useany unique technical knowledge you have in other areasto your advantage!TELEVISIONWhat Is A Voice Over?Documentaries, historical material, biographical content,and travel programming are another form of narrativevoice over. The amount of voice-over-driven televisionmaterial produced each year is staggering. While a smallportion of this voice over work will go to big-name stars,the vast majority goes to independent voice actors.Keep in mind that there are other forms of television thatrequire voice overs as well. Reality television may use voice overs to explain tasksand challenges that contestants must complete or win. Talk shows, morning shows,entertainment shows, news magazines, and variety shows regularly utilize voice oversto announce, introduce segments, or convey simple information about what the vieweris seeing.11

GAMINGWhat Is A Voice Over?One of the first video games to successfully usevoice overs was the hit game “Dragon’s Lair” backin the early ‘80s. Since then, a lot has changed!The home video console industry was largelyresponsible for the regular introduction of voiceovers in video gaming to the general public. Oneof the most notable early games to feature voiceover dialogue was 1993’s “Mortal Kombat,” whichbecame a massive hit franchise.Role playing video games (known as RPGs) beganto utilize full casts and scripts, and voice oversbecame an integral part of these games. Gameslike “Final Fantasy VII” were early leaders in this genre. The large cast of charactersand enormous number of scene variations brought the use of VO in gaming to a newlevel, requiring tens of thousands of lines of voice over for a single game!Today, voice overs are produced in almost every game p, from RPGs and sportsgames to action platformers and puzzle games. In recent years, games like the“Grand Theft Auto” series have gained notoriety for scripts that contain nearly 70,000lines of dialogue, taking almost two years to record.In comparison, the amount of dialogue in a video game is much greater than in ananimated movie or TV show. The average Hollywood movie has approximately 2,000lines of dialogue. The average video game has anywhere from 10,000-50,000lines of dialogue. Some of the most expansive video games in recentyears have reached upwards of 200,000 lines of dialogue. And“Believe it or not,while that’s certainly not all performed by the same voice actor,we did an entire sessionmost of the voice actors involved record many, many lines.with me in the vocal boothmaking roaring sounds. And Ididn’t have any visuals, so they hadto describe to me what was going on:‘Alright, you’re ripping apart a giantmetal worm like a Fed Ex package.Give us that roar.’ I got a lot of stressout that day!”-Rick, New YorkVoice ActorBeyond regular dialogue, voice overs for video games oftenrequire vocal sound effects like grunts, screams, yells, andvarious non-verbal styles of emoting. Some voice actorswill spend an entire session in the booth doing nothingbut yelling, screaming, and pretending to get hit, shot, orpunched.Not a bad way to blow off some stress!12

ANIMATIONWhat Is A Voice Over?Animation is another area that requires an incredibleamount of voice over work every year. Regardless ofwhether it’s traditional 2-D hand drawn animation,motion comics, or a CGI-animated project, the needfor voice over is the same.In almost all cases, voice overs are recorded beforeany animation work begins. This is mostly done sothat the animators can match the characters’ mouth movements to the actual wordsbeing spoken.Animation voice overs are often a fairly simple process. The voice actors read off of acompleted script, and for the most part, ad-libbing is kept to a minimum. On animatedmovies with well-known talent providing the voices, however, that can vary. Many ofthe funniest lines in the hit Disney film “Aladdin” were ad-libbed by actor/voice actorRobin Williams.The average animated half-hour show (22 minutes without commercials) can takeanywhere from 1-4 hours per episode for a voice actor to record. Also, not all of thecast will necessarily be recorded together. Most shows tend to record their voiceactors one at a time, with occasional exceptions where an entire cast is brought in toread as an ensemble.PHONE SYSTEMSWhat Is A Voice Over?An oft-overlooked source of ongoing voice over workcomes from professional phone systems. Think abouthow often you call a business and instead of a person,you find yourself listening to a pre-recorded menu ofoptions. This all-too-common recorded greeting isreferred to as an auto attendant.Also common in professional phone systems are on-holdmessages, pre-recorded messages either touting a product or service or thanking youfor your undying patience while you’re on hold waiting for the party you’re trying toreach. This can be an effective way for a business to market a message or product toa captive audience.Both auto attendants and on-hold messaging are a regular source of work for manyvoice actors. In the case of larger businesses, these voice over jobs can be quitesignificant. And regardless of the length of the job, the work is almost always ongoing.Any time extensions change, employees join or leave a business, a company or13

Continued from PHONE SYSTEMSdepartment name is changed, there’s a holiday, or any other changes are made, thevoice actor who recorded the messaging in the first place will typically be brought into update it in an effort to maintain audio continuity.Likewise, on-hold messaging is often updated to reflect the latest product, price, orpromotion, once again leading to repeat work opportunities for many voice actors.AUDIO FOR WEBWhat Is A Voice Over?Another well-established and constantly growing sector ofthe voice over industry is audio content for the web. Thepervasiveness of the internet provides endless opportunities.Many web developers are tasked with building web-based trainingsystems, which can present a large body of voice over work. In addition, manywebsites include some sort of audio component, and that often involves voice overwork. Voice over is also used today to make web sites more accessible to users withimpairments such as vision loss.From animation to tutorials to audio introductions to endorsements andadvertisements, the web is a gigantic and ever-growing source of potential work forvoice actors. And as we continue to integrate technology into more and more facets ofour lives, these possibilities are greater than ever.FIXED INSTALLATIONWhat Is A Voice Over?Voice overs are regularly used in fixed installationsituations as well. These include voice overs you hearwhen visiting a specific place. Some examples of this aremuseums, special attractions, car washes, aquariums,science exhibits, zoos, planetariums, and historical sites.HARDWARE BASEDWhat Is A Voice Over?Hardware-based voice overs come in the form of anything thatcomes proprietarily in a piece of hardware. Think of GPS units,children’s toys, games, handheld electronics, novelty items,promotional gifts, and the like. Whether it’s a talking action figure,a handheld video game, or a turn-by-turn directional GPS unit foryour car, each of these pieces of hardware can include a voiceover component.14

ON THE JOBIn professional voice acting, the job process begins with choosing the voice actor orvoice actors who will ideally suit the particular project being recorded. This process isreferred to as casting.There are three typical ways that casting takes place:IN-PERSON AUDITIONOn The JobIn major metropolitan markets like New York City or Los Angeles, the voice overcasting process can involve performing a live audition. In this situation, demos arepre-screened to determine a group of voices that are close to what the client islooking for. Those candidates are then scheduled to audition in person for the job.In-person audition-based voice over work is traditionally limited to major cities andis most typical when casting large-scale national advertising. For this reason, liveauditions comprise a very small component of our field overall.WEB-BASED AUDITIONOn The JobAs I mentioned before, the web presents a constant and ever-expanding resourcefor voice actors. Those who choose to develop home recording capability oftenseek work through a variety of paid online VO marketplace services. These servicestypically allow a voice actor to create a profile with information about themselvesand demo samples. When a work opportunity is posted fitting your voice on the site,you are automatically alerted. The next step in most cases is recording an audition ofthat job’s specific material and submitting it electronically to the personposting the job.“The producertold me I had the job.He provided a phone number in Europe and when I spoketo him he told me I was to arrangetime in a studio and I was to choosea second voice actor for another part.Every time I talked to the guy he kepttrying to get more and more information from me. I later found out he hadtold a number of individuals thesame thing. Very scary!”- John, MassachusettsVoice ActorThough this area of the industry presents viable opportunity,there are some unique potential drawbacks.First of all, there will typically be an enormous number ofpeople auditioning for the same job. And it is unlikely thata client receiving, let’s say, 300 auditions for one job willlisten to all of them. As a result, in this case a significantadvantage can go to those who audition early. Likewise,in such a large online marketplace with so many eagerapplicants, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish yourselffrom others.Also, keep in mind, it is important to protect your personal information15

Continued from WEB-BASED AUDITIONwhen dealing with any type of web commerce. I recently was contacted by aformer student with the great news that he had been awarded a lucrative voiceover job through a very reputable online service. From the start it seemed unusualto me because I didn’t feel his voice fit the part he had been cast for. After someinvestigation, it turned out that the individual posting as the client was engaging infraudulent activity.All in all, web-based auditions can and are an important component of finding workfor many successful voice actors. However, voice acting in the digital age presents itsown set of challenges, and in a world where gaining internet exposure is easier thanever before, it becomes increasingly important to distinguish yourself from the packthrough skill development and professionalism. And remember, the best results canoften come from the balanced application of many different methods; don’t rely tooheavily on one marketing strategy and forget that there are others! Sometimes there’sno substitute for an old-fashioned phone call or a handwritten thank-you note.TRADITIONAL DEMOOn The JobYour demo is your resume, andit’s crucial you develop a demothat represents you in an authenticmanner. Voice acting is an audiobased industry, and when pushcomes to shove, the only way youcan expect potential clients andproducers to hire you is if they canhear you first.Traditionally, demos were on CDs.A voice actor would develop theirdemo and send physical copies ofit to ad agencies, producers, and other outlets for consideration. However, with thegrowth of the digital age, today demos are usually presented as electronic files. Theinternet is king!The convenience of email and web-based communication presents an opportunityfor voice actors to promote themselves like never before. H

through various voice over web marketplaces. High-quality web services like Voices. com offer voice actors the opportunity to create an online profile with voice samples. When a client posts a voice over job through this service, voice actors with voices that fit the client's needs are automatically alerted about the job. In most cases, the