What is a voice-over?
In French, it is also called voix hors champ. In English, we speak of Voice Over.
But what is it exactly? It’s the voice you hear in radio and TV commercials, commercial videos on the Internet, movie trailers, etc. It’s the voice that sells the product, the narrator who tells the story, the voice of the person you can’t see on camera but who’s talking to you.
This art form is performed by professionals known as voice-over actors.
It’s not just about having a good voice. It’s about understanding a text and being able to deliver it. You have to grasp the message and convey it to the audience. You have to know how to interpret a text, and you have to know how to play it when it’s a character.
There are also several styles of voice-over.
Advertising voices are sales-oriented, often dynamic, and demonstrate the effectiveness of a product or service. Corporate videos call for a more neutral, corporate tone. In e-learning (online learning), the tone is calm and the phrasing is clearly segmented to encourage learning. A narrator’s voice is more like a storyteller. The voice of a movie trailer is more like talking into someone’s ear.
And of course, when it comes to the desired tone, the customer’s tastes and needs also come into play. So you need to know how to adapt.
Voice-over is an art in itself.
As for me, I’m an actor, a graduate of the Conservatoire d’Art dramatique de Québec and I have training in Voice and Microphone from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal. I have nearly 25 years of professional experience. And I have my own recording studio ( StudioYvesAmyot.com).
As an actor who works in the field of voice, you could say that I’m also a voice-over actor.
Now you know a little more about the subject.
And if you’d like me to do the voice-over for your project, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Website of Yves Amyot’s recording studio. Narrator, off-screen voice, voice-over, narration.