If you ever watched the TV show, “How I Met Your Mother,” you already know that almost every episode starts with a voice of a dad telling a story to his kids. You don’t see the dad talking, right? No, you see the kids. You probably assume that the dad is just behind the camera talking to the kids, right? See kids, that’s why you don’t assume. It makes an ASS out of U and ME. It’s actually a voice-over talent, in this case Bob Saget (Yes, Danny Tanner from Full House), who is in a studio completely separate from the set used for the show. People like Bob Saget are in a lot more places then you think.
When people think of voice-overs, they usually think of this guy:
That announcer guy from the movies. Don LaFontaine. But there are more recognizable voice-over artists than just him. While some are well-known actors like Morgan Freeman and Robin Williams, many of made careers with just their voice. Nancy Cartwright for example. You probably don’t know her by name, but you know the characters she voices. Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Nelson. All those boys from the Simpsons are voiced by a girl. Same applies to the Rugrats. E.G. Daily is the voice of Tommy Pickles and Christine Cavanaugh is the voice of Chuckie Finster.
The voice-over industry is a growing industry. The industry has grown to an over $10 BILLION industry. It’s not just movie trailers, T.V. narrations and cartoons. It’s radio commercials, video games, marketing videos, station imagaing, audiobooks, anything you can think of that has a voice, a voice-over can be part of that. My blog is to educate you about the voice-over industry and how I am part of it. Some days might include interesting tidbits while others will provide tips for other voice-over artists. I might pose a question where I want to engage my readers in a friendly conversation and I might post a video where I imitate celebrities (I do a lot of them that you will see soon).
Hopefully in the end, my posts educate, entertain and encourage you.
