Voice acting

Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (including those in feature films, television series, animated shorts), doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides. An individual who performs such voice-only roles is known as a voice actor or actress or as a voice artist. Voice acting may also involve singing, although a second voice actor is sometimes cast as the character's singing voice.

In the United States

Broadcast media

For live-action production, voice acting often involves reading the parts of computer programs (Douglas Rain; Majel Barrett), radio dispatchers (Shaaron Claridge), or characters who never actually appear on screen but who give instructions by telephone (John Forsythe in Charlie's Angels), or mailed recording (Bob Johnson in Impossible). "Stunt double" voice actors are sometimes employed; if a voice actor or actress loses his or her voice, someone who sounds similar can step in.

It is not unusual to find amongst the ranks of voice actors people who also act in live-action film or television, or on the stage. For those actors, voice acting has the advantage of offering acting work without having to bother with makeup, costuming, lighting, and so on.

A common practice in animation is to cast a woman to play the role of a young boy. On The Simpsons, for example, Nancy Cartwright plays Bart Simpson and several other juvenile males. This casting practice goes back to at least 1939, with Bernice Hansen as Sniffles the Mouse, and continues with Elizabeth "E. G." Daily as Tommy Pickles on Rugrats and All Grown Up! today. June Foray, even as a senior citizen, can still faithfully voice Rocket J. Squirrel. Casting adult women for these parts can be especially useful if an ad campaign or a developed series is expected to run for several years, for while the vocal characteristics of an adolescent male actor would change over time, the voice of an adult female will not.

Notoriety

For much of the history of North American animation, voice actors had a predominantly low profile as performers, with Mel Blanc the major exception. Over time, many movie stars began voice acting in movies, with one of the earliest examples being The Jungle Book, which counted among its cast contemporary stars such as Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, and Louis Prima. The film which truly brought about this modern perception, however was Aladdin which was marketed with a noted emphasis on Robin Williams's role. The success of this film eventually spurred the idea of highlighting the voice actors as stars of a film becoming the norm in movie marketing, with a greater focus on hiring Hollywood celebrities for name power, rather than performers with more experience in voice acting. By contrast, using anime voice actors as a box office draw was developed far earlier in Japan.

Voice actors have a small but dedicated fan base, with appearances at large events like Comic-Con International, various anime conventions, and sites such as VoiceChasers.com dedicated to profiling their work.

SAG and aliases

A voice actor may be occasionally credited under an alias. Sometimes producers aren't willing to spend the higher cost of hiring members of the Screen Actors Guild, which prohibits its members from taking non-union jobs; but a voice actor needs income, so he or she may take a job under a false name in an attempt to avoid the SAG's notice. If caught, the SAG may respond with fines and suspended health coverage, so the actor has an obligation to do all he can to discourage people from linking his or her name with the alias.

In Japan

Japanese voice actors (seiyū) work in radio, television and movies. Their work largely mirrors that of their Western counterparts: performing roles in animated cartoons and video games, performing voice-overs for dubs of non-Japanese movies, and providing narration to documentaries and similar programs. As Japan produces over 60% of the animated series in the world ^* and a similarly large percentage of the world's computer and video games, the largest market by far for voice actors in Japan is providing voice-overs for anime and computer and video games.

Because the animation industry in Japan is so prolific, seiyū are able to achieve fame on a national level and are able to have full-time careers as voice-over artists. Japanese voice actors are able to take greater charge of their careers than in other countries. Japan also has the institutions to support the career path, with around 130 seiyū schools ^* and troupes of voice actors that work for a specific broadcast company or talent agency. They often attract their own appreciators and fans who watch shows specifically to hear their favorite actor or actress.

Seiyū frequently branch into music, often singing the opening or closing themes of shows in which their character stars, or become involved in non-animated side projects such as audio dramas (involving the same characters in new storylines) or image songs (songs sung in character that are not included in the anime but further develop the character).

External links

Voice Acting 101 by Joe Bevilacqua

Voice actors