To Voice or Not to Voice?

By: Michael Saba, President, Saba Studios

We’ve produced tons of animations, but I guarantee you, like snowflakes, there are no two projects alike. Because animation allows us to create our own world and populate it with whatever our imagination conjures up, the possibilities are endless. Having said that, though the end result will differ from one project to the next, the steps to produce any animation are more or less the same. However, when in the pre-production phase, there are a few factors that need to be considered before we jump into production. One of those factors is voice.

I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve sat in kickoff meetings and were asked, “Do we need a voice-over?” This is indeed a good question. First, let’s clarify what a voice-over is.

A voice-over is defined as a piece of narration in a movie or broadcast, not accompanied by an image of the speaker. Yup, that sounds about right. Furthermore, it’s a narrative which supports the visuals which the viewer is watching. Now that we understand this, there are two basic questions that you must ask yourself to determine if your project requires voice-over.

1) Can the subject matter in your presentation be understood without a detailed explanation? Consider your target audience and what they already know.

2) Will the audience understand what is happening and the message you are trying to communicate with only the support of call outs? In other words, if you were to sprinkle a few short sentences to support the visuals, would that be sufficient?

If the answer to the above questions is “yes”, then it’s likely you don’t need a voice-over and can use call outs for simple explanations to support the sequence. If the answer is “no”, then you will need to get started on writing a script because your project, my friend, will require a voice-over.

Now there is one exception in which an animation with a complicated subject matter may not require a voice-over. If you plan to have a live presenter narrating the presentation, then the presenter assumes the role of the voice talent. Typically this would be a keynote speaker at an event or sometimes even a sales meeting. We have a handful of clients that prefer to speak through the presentation themselves.

And there you have it. Two simple questions with one exception to be considered and you can determine yourself – to voice or not to voice?