Posted by David Zema on October 15, 1998 at 18:00:44:
In Reply to: Definition of voiceover posted by Rosalyn E. Beason on October 15, 1998 at 15:45:38:
: I am been reading a lot about voiceover. What is a good
: definition of voiceover? I don't want to be confused.
: Is radio announcing voiceover?
Rosalyn,
Radio Announcing isn't quite the same as a voice-over. First, radio announcing differs because it is often live spontaneous speech adlibbed by the deejay. However, my brother, who is a radio personality in the Pittsburgh area, tells me that some radio personalities may speak from notes that they have prepared in advance. Also, radio performers often read commercial copy or news, traffic and weather reports live on the air. Then there are times when they pre-record a commercial. Now, it is these pre-recorded messages that are the closest to what we do in voice-overs.
My definition for a voice-over is: Any time (other than live radio or television announcing not read from a script) that you hear a voice without seeing the person who is doing the talking. This is sometimes referred to as off-camera in the film industry. For example, the voice of the unseen narrator in a documentary would be "off-camera." Today we often refer to radio commercials, animation, new media, internet and telephone recordings as voice-overs.
I would also say that a voice-over is any time that the performer is required to read from a script and emulate spontaneous spoken speech. Also, the artist is often being guided through the "read" by a director, while the live radio announcer doesn't have a director present for an air shift. The radio announcer at a station's production studio may or may not have a director present when doing a reading for a recorded commercial. Also, voice-over people rarely write their own scripts (unless they are also the producer/writer), while newscasters and radio personalities as noted above may read some of their own writing. So this is where the skills come in to play. A voice-over artist must be able to read something written by someone else perhaps in a speech pattern that is not familiar to the artist and make it sound like spontaneous spoken speech that he or she uses every day.
As you can see there is some cross over between the two forms but they are not exactly the same. I hope this clears it up for you. I'd be interested in what other voice-over artists have to say on the matter.
Best Wishes!
David Zema
DavidZema@ aol.com