Identifying Voice Over Types

Voice-over talents quite often specialize in a certain style of voice-over, such as radio scripts, television ads as well as corporate and business voice-over scripts. As outlined by James R. Alburger, author of the book "The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and Business of Performing for Voice Over", a lot of people mainly think about advertisements whenever they hear the phrase "voice over scripts." Today, voice over scripts are used for more than just television and radio advertisements. Voice overs have grown to be an indispensable part of giving presentations for media, the web, corporate promotional materials, and also to promote a number of events. There are basic types of voice over talents, and each role requires quite exact narration and on-air speaking skills.

In the radio industry, voice-over artists are used to make commercials, promo materials, in addition to radio DJ segments. For TV, voiceovers are being used for news segments, ads, promo videos and on-air segments to introduce news anchors along with other TV celebrities. The marketing promotions division of the TV channel generally handles the on-the-air campaigns of voice over tracks.

In the corporate community, voice overs are generally utilized to make training materials, internet presentations and promo videos. Voiceovers may also be used to produce marketing and advertising presentations, video demonstrations for trade shows, conventions, as well as for training purposes. Occasionally, a voice over artist can be used to produce a series of telemarketing information scripts or narrate the voice over prompts for inbound callers. Retailers generally produce voice-over scripts to be able to announce in-store offers.

In the motion picture sector, voice overs are utilized to be able to launch any segment, or to provide narration. Voice over talents used to do this type of job generally have some experience working with films as well as animation, and may even need to alter their voice in order to execute a particular role.

Various other in-demand areas for voice over artists includes the making of audio books, Internet streaming audio and web media presentations. These are all fast-growing areas of the world wide web that require a professional voice to support the actual programming, and voice over artists who will be hired for a majority of these jobs usually have professional voice over training.

The Internet: A Great Place To Find Voice Over Talent

The sheer number of voice actors vying for jobs today can be a little overwhelming when you're looking for the one perfect candidate to represent your project. Take your search online can be a great way to streamline the process of finding the right voice actor for the job.

Those working on multimedia would be wise to take advantage of the great online resources available. Need a script? There are plenty of script databases available on the web, and some of them are even free. In order to make the hiring process quicker and more efficient, you can peruse potential hires' websites, which will often contain portfolios. This will help narrow your field of candidates, and give you an idea of what to expect from a candidate early on. In addition to checking out voice talent's resumes and portfolios, some even use the Internet to conduct interviews.

Still, when you are trying to find the right match online, you'll need a strategy and process that will maximize your efforts. You can waste countless hours searching and sourcing candidates, only to find out that they won't follow through on a project or even submit a quality sample. Knowing what to look for and how to proceed online can make your interviews and auditions much more valuable. Here are the steps involved when hiring a voice over artist over the web:

1. After you you initially contact a potential hire, ask for a sample of their work. If the person in question is the true professional they claim to be, they will have .mpeg samples on hand to send to you, or will direct you to a site where you can heir their work. This first step goes a long way towards weeding out candidates who aren't serious about getting the job.

2. Ask potential hires for a resume. Any serious voice actor or actress should be able to provide a formal resume, complete with his or her employment history and references. Speaking of references, they're there for a reason; you should make sure to contact two or more of the past employers listed in order to get a balanced assessment of the performance you can expect from a potential hire.

3. Request a preferred rate. Many voice over professionals have an expected rate for each project, and you'll want to know about both hourly and per-project rates. Some professionals will request payment only after final delivery, while others will require a portion upfront with the remainder due at the end of the project.

4. Interview voice talent over the telephone. If you do not have the opportunity to conduct a face to face interview, a telephone interview is the next best thing, as it will give you a clearer picture of his or her personality, experience, and level of confidence. An interview conducted on the telephone will also give you the opportunity to hear a short sample reading from your potential hire.

5. Ask if they can provide all services digitally. Some professionals have the equipment and skills to record the voice over in their home studio, convert it into a media file for review, and allow you to download it directly from the web. Find out what your options are, and plan accordingly to save on mailing fees, travel expenses, and other costs typically incurred for projects of this scope.

Finding Voice Over Scripts For Talent Interviews

If you're considering hiring voice over talent for an upcoming project, you'll need to schedule an interview, review demo tapes, and request a sample script reading from potential applicants. Voice over scripts make it easier to find just the right match for your business, and can make the interview process much more valuable. Think of the script as a sample of work your applicants can produce for you.

It's up to you how much time you give them to rehearse each piece, but most experienced individuals can complete their testing within a few hours. Since they'll be reading directly from paper, they will just need time to practice their lines, learn about the background or nature of the script, and proceed accordingly. There are very few cases where a voice over script will need to be memorized word for word; since the recording will take place in a studio, your talent will have the script right in front of them.

The general demographic group that you are targeting will be the chief determining factor in the style and tone of the sample script you ultimately choose. Deciding in advance as to what vocal styles will be appropriate for your target market is important for the efficiency of the hiring process, as you will otherwise find yourself performing excessive numbers of interviews with applicants who are not right for the job.

Regardless of exactly what it is that you're marketing, you're going to need several different scripts in order to judge the nature of a particular actor or actress's talents. Think about what your company is trying to produce. Are you looking to create an informal, humorous advertisement, and therefore seeking a voice that will make your audience laugh? Are you trying to create an air of journalistic integrity, necessitating a more authoritative-sounding voice? The tone that you ultimately want in your finished product will serve as the basis for your sample script.

Finding voice over scripts is easy with a simple search online. Many script databases are available free of charge, and give you a chance to search by keyword, theme, or subject. Look for scripts that are similar in scope to your field, or pick something that challenges the applicant to try different styles and themes. Many voice over script collections are royalty-free, affordable, and from trusted sites and projects. These can also be a great resource for developing and adapting your own scripts, and give you some more ideas for making different types of scripts with your key goals in mind.

In making the final decisions as to whether or not to hire a particular voice actor, you're going to want to be able to refer to his or her demo and compare it side-by side with the tapes of other applicants. This demo should include several script selections that are representative of an actor's range of talents, and how well they will fit in with your vision of the marketing you would like to produce. You may either have your voice actors send in demos along with their applications, or complete them in your studio.

How to Record Quality Voiceovers

You've found your voiceover talent and are ready to start producing your script, and the next step will be to create a professional recording for advertising. It is possible that you have a videographer or production team helping you create a voiceover script, but did you realize that there are computer software programs and tools that can create the entire project for you from start to finish?

The environment in which you will record your Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE voiceover has to be prepared properly to assure the creation of a quality advertising and promotion piece. Here are some essential tips when preparing the room for your voice over recording:

1. Equipment check. Booking the voiceover talent for the project and then wasting several hours testing equipment will cost you. Jay Rose, the author of the book "Producing Great Sound for Digital Video" suggests that you make sure you get the right kind of equipment and test it well before production day. Even testing it a few hours before production time can reduce unforeseen delays.

2. Try to eliminate the echoes in the recording room. The only way you'll know if the room is creating an 'echoing' effect is when you turn on the microphone and shut all the doors and windows. Conduct some test recordings with all of the equipment so that the echo effect can effectively be reduced.

3. Adding background music. In a professional voiceovers, there should not be any noise between the narrator and the listener. You want to create an audio space that sounds as if the narrator is having a face-to-face conversation with the audience. If you have a lot of 'white noise', consider adding background music.

4. Find the best part of the room for recording. There are no rules about where the mic should be placed, so you can try to set up your mic in different areas of the room to see which part has the right sound. By moving the mic around, you can find the area where the sounds do not seem hollowed or filtered in anyway. Moving the mic around until you find the best fit.

5. Outside noise like traffic is not a major concern. Noise like outside traffic and the hum of fluorescent lighting can affect the quality of a voiceover recording. Yet, most microphones do not pick up these sounds. If you notice that the recording is affected by these kind of noises, you can add a high-pass filter to the mic to reduce the pick up of these sounds.

6. Reduce noise from vents, air conditioners and computer fans. Noise from computers, air conditioners and other similar equipment may be picked up by the mic especially when you are recording in small area. Machine sounds can cause some turbulence in your recording, so try to turn these machines off while recording each segment.

You should also be able to monitor the voiceover recording throughout the production cycle using a pair of headphones. By using the playback function in a different room to check if production is going smoothly, you can reduce the need of having another 'take' and make any adjustments needed for audio quality of the voiceover recording immediately.