Voice Actors Vs. On-Screen Talents

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 Many are working 1st time on of experience dubbing or voice overs

PERFORMANCE Flawless May have difficulty coping up

with the microphone

INDUSTRY 5 times more the Those who only made an

POPULATION number of on-screen on-screen debut

(NO. OF TALENTS) actors are considered actors

VOICES Exponential Limited to Conversational

VOICE QUALITY Perfect behind the mic May require additional tuning

EXPOSURE Popular with a niche Has on-cam/modeling

market/captured following advantages

CHARACTERIZATION Can work with new Maybe thrown off with the

set of voices, and idea of changing his/her

experiment. Many voice. Limited to 1

voice actors can do

atleast 5 voices

KNOWLEDGE Adept Enough

OF RECORDING

KNOWLEDGE Knows exactly what’s going Some Familiar.

IN PROCESSES on behind the booth Some Not.

OVER-ALL

PERFORMANCE None better Exceptionally few

FOR ANIMATION

ABILITY TO SYNCH Effortless. Will depend on what the director

AND IMPROVISE Cutting recording says and the material. May need

(faced with reactions) time by 75% to spend more time on recording

SCHEDULING Always present, Will have to be adjusted

easily managed. for appearances and confirmation

No star complex

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.

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