In my many years as a professional voice performer and producer, I often encounter comparisons to a trend in the industry about Screen Actors taking the job of those who have been doing it decades. This popularity of On-cam Personalities performing behind them mike is nothing new, however it has been a rising factor in movie theaters and animated features nowadays.
Animation is the reality of imagination. The justice to any script for which, depends entirely on the voice actor’s performance. That is why voice overs, require a unique set of skills and mastery of the art, in order to deliver what the animator intends to show. No matter how good an animation is, if you have a poor set of voices, you will end up with something that is worthless. However, if you have a simple animation on hand, but with an exceptional lineup of voice actors, you will be surprised with the results. Here are some pointers why hiring a voice actor against an on-cam actor is beneficial for your animation project.
VOICE ACTOR | ON-CAM ACTOR/MODEL | |
BUDGET | Relatively Cheaper | 20-30 times more expensive |
AVAILABILITY | Always | Depending on project/product restrictions |
KNOWLEDGE OF THE CRAFT | Perfect | May need to attend workshops and 1 on 1 coaching |
MIC SKILLS | Honed thru years of experience | Many are working 1st time on dubbing or voice overs |
PERFORMANCE | Flawless | May have difficulty coping up with the microphone |
INDUSTRY POPULATION (NO. OF TALENTS) | 5 times more the number of on-screen actors | Those who only made an on-screen debut are considered actors |
VOICES | Exponential | Limited to Conversational |
VOICE QUALITY | Perfect behind the mic | May require additional tuning |
EXPOSURE | Popular with a niche market/captured following | Has on-cam/modeling advantages |
CHARACTERIZATION | Can work with new set of voices, and experiment. Many voice actors can do atleast 5 voices | Maybe thrown off with the idea of changing his/her voice. Limited to 1 |
KNOWLEDGE OF RECORDING | Adept | Enough |
KNOWLEDGE IN PROCESSES | Knows exactly what’s going on behind the booth | Some Familiar. Some Not. |
OVER-ALL PERFORMANCE FOR ANIMATION | None better | Exceptionally few |
ABILITY TO SYNCH AND IMPROVISE (faced with reactions) | Effortless. Cutting recording time by 75% | Will depend on what the director says and the material. May need to spend more time on recording |
SCHEDULING | Always present, easily managed. No star complex | Will have to be adjusted for appearances and confirmation |
Like they say, kids go to movies to watch and love the story. They do not care if an on-cam actor is doing the part or a voice over. What is important is that they believe and react to the characters, and be motivated by it.. by statistics anyone can easily spot who can deliver the story between the two. You can always get a screen actor to do the job, but you can never beat a voice over’s performance.
You be the judge of which.