Trish Recommends
Voice-Over Terminology
To begin with, is it Voiceover or Voice Over? Actually both ways are okay, and its also frequently hyphenated, like Voice-Over. The Hyphenated version is used by Wikipedia and is defined by them as: “Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. The voice-over may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice actor. It is pre-recorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used in documentaries or news reports to explain information”
Professional Voice Talent refers to anyone who is paid as Voice Actors. There are both Female Voice Talent or Voice Actors and Male Voice Talent. Voice Actors are typically trained to deliver presentations in either film making, theatre, radio, television, slideshow presentations or internet projects. As stated in the Definition of Voice-Over, Voice Actors are typically unseen, but may also be apart of other scenes. Radio Commercials offer the best representation of Voice Actors, they are the force behind radio commercials for the most part and personalities in their own right. Not to be confused with disc jockeys or dj’s.
There are quite a few niches for voice overs, some of which are e-learning narration, medical and healthcare promotion, casino and night club promotion, on-hold services, automotive promotions, and the list goes on. Think about the commercials over the TV and Radio, most are done with voice-overs. There is too much money involved to let the average hair model’s voice suffice for the delivering the message, most are composites of video and voice-over.
