HOW TO DO THE TALENT OF

VOICE OVERPrepared by:

Yvonne Pajuyo

Evenements Services

HOW TO DO THE TALENT OF VOICE OVER…According to a blogger at Voice Acting Alliance and I quote:

“Not everyone can imitate a certain voice actor/character. For example I can do Perfect Cell, Johnny Bravo, Sephiroth, Goofy, Hank Hill, Beavis and Butthead, Arnold Swartzneggar, Majin Buu, Christopher Walken, etc etc. But I absolutely can't do Goku, Light Yagami, Piccolo and my Vegeta is meh at best.

I understand your want to do these characters but if you can't pull them off you should try for something that's more your zone. As for how I do these characters, it's a lot of throat and vocal chord flexing. The first thing you want to do to achieve a different voice is to try and change your pitch, after that start working on the accent. Example being Vegeta he has a low gruff tough guy voice. If you can't comfortably hit low/high then you probably shouldn't go for that character. And if you have a unique voice already try and use that to your advantage. Not everyone wants a imitator some producers love to hear a new breath of life into a character.”

Praxis678

WHAT TO ACHIEVE IN THIS TOPIC? To determine the different kinds

of tone for doing a VO (Voice Over) talent.

To determine the skills a voice over talent should have.

Disguise vs. Voice Over How to tone your voice? Importance of doing Voice Overs

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KINDS OF TONE FOR V.O. TALENTS…There are 3 kinds of voice tones used in doing a Voice Over talent.

Low Tone Kiko Matching Answering Machine Voice Glove Telecom Voice Over

Natural Tone Anabelle Rama

High Tone Casino Betting Voice Cedie

EXERCISE #1. Choose a song where you can hit the

tone. Try to sing a song that your voice can

reach the tone.

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SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Clarity

An actor’s articulation has got to be impeccable. Each words should be well understood, not eaten, not garbled. The actor should have a good enunciation of words not limited to over articulate it or under articulate it.

CleanlinessThis pertains to the mouth noise. Only little number of people are blessed with this kind of talent that makes a saliva a non-issue.

SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Consistency

This is one of the most important skill of a VO talent. The consistency in your voice, breathing, pacing, articulation, eye-brain-mouth coordination.

ConnectedA VO should always be connected to the character that he/she is trying to portray. With this, it goes hand in hand with the talent of consistency.

SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Conversational

This is not an easy talent, it takes effort to lift words of the page effortlessly as if you are speaking in an extemporaneous speech contest. It means reading and speaking at conversational speed; the typical pace that we speak in every-day conversations. This skill is the result of not over or under articulating and is key to engaging the listener and maintaining their attention.

Cold readingThe skill is a MUST-HAVE for long form narration, specifically in the areas of E-learning modules, instructional CD narration and audio books.

SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Chop-chop

Speaking fast like you have to squeeze in a spiel for only 40 seconds because the air time is only a 90-seconder clip.

CoordinationThis is more on the eye-brain-mouth coordination skill. You may acquire this skill by continuously doing a cold reading everyday.

Great EBM coordination is the hallmark of a professional voice actor.

SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Characterization

This is the sole of your VO career. This is a craft to make you one of the best VO talent and high-paying one.

ConvincingThis is like the mantra of all VO Talents. It is like a Penny Abshire's term “Tell. Don’t Sell” Policy. The convincing powers is like letting the listeners believe in your character, in what you are saying and on how the story must go.

SKILLS OF A VOICE OVER TALENT… Control

Control over your voice such as your: Pitch Volume Breathe

Most of the greatest VO talents have this kind of skill. It is the intensity that varies in the character that they portray. They use the volume of their voice to put emphasis to the most important part of their character.

ConfidenceThis is the best skill one VO should have. It comes with being prepared, understanding of the subject, internalizing the character, anticipating the dynamics of the studio session between actor, director and engineer.

EXERCISE # 2. Think of a personality that you would

like to do a voice over. Make a story plot. Give some lines portraying the

character.

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DISGUISE VOICE VS. VOICE OVER TALENT

What is the difference?

When you say you disguise a voice, this means that you are trying to portray or imitate somebody and hiding your true identity.

While voicing over means you are portraying a character in his own identity.

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HOW TO TONE YOUR VOICE?You must identify first what voice type do you have. This exercise is the same as identifying your singing voice tone.

All together your voice type is a result of the following vocal variables:

range – the notes your body can produce weight – light voices, bright and agile; heavy voices,

powerful, rich, and darker tessitura – part of the range which is most comfortable to

sing timbre – unique voice quality and texture transition points – points where you change from chest, to

middle, to head register vocal registers – how extended each register is speech level – speaking range physical characteristics

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IMPORTANCE OF VO TALENT IN THE COMMUNICATION WORLD…Voiceover is most definitely a niche area of show-business!

With today’s technology, there are many ways on how to maneuver your voice. There are also a lot of companies there where VO talents have stiff competition.

VO talents are important because they give life and attitude to characters that are written on books to make it more interesting to readers and/or listeners.

This VO work is very entrepreneurial and expensive business. Just because you have to invest into trainings, marketing yourself and continuous learning experience.

VO works, can’t be learned overnight nor be gained by reading books. It is a tedious study of the character that is trying to portray and the attitude of the character in the story line.