Production Glossary
Voice Over
The voice-over is a method used in the production of theatre, TV, radio, and film that layers a voice over the action to provide addition narration to a scene. This voice can be a hired voice actor, or a character that is part of the production itself.The voice-over is implemented in several ways:
- Commercial Use- Since the days of classic radio series’, when the ads were read live on the air, voice-overs have been used to sell to the audience. With the arrival of TV in the 50s and the invention of the magnetic tape for high-quality recording, voice-overs carried on through many generations of technology and are still used exclusively today. Oftentimes, a company will employ, sometimes long term, a distinguishing voice to assist in brand messaging.
- Creative Purposes- Voice-overs are used in film to tell the audience a story, usually by the main character, or an all-knowing narrator, ruminating on past events. The voice-over in film also links the transitions of scenes together by providing the audience with knowledge of the action between them. Radio stations even employ voice-over artists to add characters to talk shows, providing an unlimited potential for content.
- Translation- TV episodes and film are often translated into a county’s native language using voice-over. Cheaper and faster to produce than full dubbing, a voice-over is not synchronized with the actor’s lip motion. In order to preserve the integrity of the film or show, a voice-over actor strives to match both intonation and the original voice.
- Descriptive or educational purposes- The voice-over is not limited to fictional productions only. Broadcast news, documentaries, and even live sports all make use of voice-overs to describe the action as events play out. Similar to manufacturers using a consistent and distinct voice for their ads, news stations, TV channels, and sports also utilize experts in their fields with strong, unique voices to establish familiarity with the viewer.
- Creation of a character- Both live action and animated film and television use voice-overs to create characters and narrators. In some cases, these characters posses knowledge that is not known to the other characters but that the audience needs. Or, the voice-over is simply the lending of an actor’s voice to an animated character.
