VoiceOver Terms and Lingo

In this blog, I want to talk about something I get asked a lot when I’m working with those wanting to enter the industry. 

What’s the difference between ‘voiceover’ and ‘voice acting?

It’s a good question and there is a difference.  So, let’s have a look.

 

Let me begin by explaining what a voice-‘over’ is?

Think about an audio-visual production.  It could be a television or online ad for a motor vehicle perhaps. 

Or it could be an explainer video on the website of a mining company.

For that project, first, images are assembled and an audio track or sound effects chosen to fit with the tone or mood of the ad or production.

Often the voiceover script isn’t finalised until these first two steps are completed.

Then the right voice talent is cast. 

Now it’s the talent’s job to make decisions about tone and mood, as well as energy and pace,  and apply a voice ‘over’ the visuals and the sound bed, to bring the story to life.

You can also have a voice ‘over’ on a track that is audio only.

Often, the script style is called ‘announcer style’, which was the first style used almost a hundred years ago when radio used ‘announcers’ to voice radio programs sponsored by advertisers.

This style of script is common today and is often full of information.  Almost always you’re speaking on behalf of the company advertising the product.  You may be using the possessives ‘we’ or ‘our’ in the script. 

So, keep a look out for those words as clues for how to approach the read.

 

Now what about voice ‘acting’?

In my experience, there are two quite different ways voice ‘acting’ is required and applied in scripts.

First, it’s to highlight single words and phrases with an emotion or an attitude that suits the message in the script.

So, let’s talk about the most common way that this happens in the commercial world, where you’ll be delivering a message connected to the brand. 

It may be information about a new product, a sale, an offer.  Or it could be simply building the brand profile.

Say, you’re handed a script for a bank.  It’s only 15 seconds long.  Approximately 40 words.  ‘How hard can that be?’  you might say. 

But trust me, the fewer words you have, the more specific the choices will need to become.

Here’s the script.  It’s an audio-visual production, so images and a sound bed already exist.  You’ll almost always see and hear the visuals before you decide how to approach this script.

“When you’ve had enough of feeling anxious about choosing the right home loan.  Remember.  St George is big enough to be Home Lender of the Year but small enough to still help you make the right choice.  That’s what sets St George apart.”

First, work out what you’re talking about.   In this case it’s the problem of ‘choosing the right home loan’.

Then look for the words about that problem that carry any emotional meaning connected to that problem. 

In this case, it’s the word anxious.  So, that’s the ‘single’ word that you apply voice ‘acting’ to.  As in, you say the word as if you’re feeling slightly anxious.

Not the sentence.  Just the word.  ‘Anxious’

The rest of script has you doing a voice ‘over’.  But you apply voice ‘acting’, to deepen the meaning for the listening audience.  That listening audience will be the one on the hunt for a home loan.  That’s who the advertiser wants to capture.

When you say anxious, anxiously, they’ll recognise themselves, id that’s how they’re feeling.  You’ve just created an empathy between you and the listener.

When I hear a voice artist who understands the message, where the language is that’s about what it’s about and then hear them ‘playing’ with ‘meaning’ or applying an emotion or attitude to a single key word or phrase, I’m a happy camper.

When you work in this way, the jobs will keep coming.

 

Now Let’s Talk About Character-Driven Voice Acting

The second kind of voice acting is the kind of script and voice performance that makes the audience say, “What’s this ad about”?

I call it a ‘character-driven’ script, where you’re telling a story, ‘your’ story…but you don’t mention a product.

It’s basically a device to attract and entertain a half-listening audience.

The text is usually about something related to what it’s about, but as a listening audience, we aren’t sure what it’s really about.

But when you as the voice actor understands what the story is trying to do, and you, the voice actor, does it well, you’re engaging the audience with that story, reeling them in, until you have their attention. 

Then they discover, often after an end tag ansd almost always performed by a different voice, what it is indeed ‘about’.

To pull this off successfully, you need to ‘inhabit’ the script, make the language in the script your own.  And even though you may be using your natural voice in a characterful way, you’re performing it, like an actor would who’s learnt the lines, then performed the story to an audience.  Except you’re reading from a script.

When you do this, you are voice acting

Here’s a short script, an example of something you might get, where you need to create the right characterful read and inhabit the story. 

I want you to notice that you don’t mention the productSo, the listening audience may say at any time. ‘What’s this about’?

“YOUNG FEMALE (talking fast, barely pausing):   Well, I was just standing here, next to my boyfriend… like talking on my phone and texting…Then I heard this really strange sound…like a…whooshing…and when I looked…He’d just disappeared.  All that was left was his aftershave.

TAG:  Escape.  By Calvin Klein.  It’ll take you away from it all.”

I always love this style of ‘character driven’ advertising.  It’s clever.  I’m often amazed at how much a brilliant team of creatives can bring to 15 seconds of screen time.

I love how they shrink the language needed to tell their story – and convince us of something – by using just the right words and phrases that catch in our mind and our psychology…and cause us to want whatever it is their selling.  Or at least to regard that brand more favourably.  

And then they cast a talented voice actor to bring it to life.

The truth is, many commercial scripts will require some ‘voice acting’ in specific and different ways.  It’s your job as a ‘voiceover artist’, a ‘voiceover’ or a ‘voice actor’ to know how to look for those differences, work out what’s needed and deliver the meaning.  

Enjoy playing at voiceovering!!!

And if you’re in Melbourne and want to learn more about how to apply your unique voice to any script, I’m running a one-day course at The Malthouse in Southbank on Saturday August 17th.  Here’s a link to see what happens on the day