Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic) is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. The voice-over may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice actor.

Voice-over techniques

As a character device

In the 1956 film version of Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'', Richard Basehart, as Ishmael, narrates the story and sometimes comments on the action in voice-over, as does William Holden in the films ''Sunset Boulevard'' and ''The Counterfeit Traitor'', as well as John Mills in David Lean's ''Great Expectations'' (based on Charles Dickens's novel) and Michael York in a television remake of the book.

Voice-over technique is likewise used to give voices and personalities to animated characters. Among the most noteworthy and versatile of whom include Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Don Messick, Paul Frees, June Foray.

As a creative device

In film, the film-maker places the sound of a human voice (or voices) over images shown on the screen that may or may not be related to the images being shown. Consequently, voice-overs are sometimes used to create ironic counterpoint. Also, sometimes they can be random voices not directly connected to the people seen on the screen. In works of fiction, the voice-over is often by a character reflecting back on his or her past, or by a person external to the story who usually has a more complete knowledge of the events in the film than the other characters.

Voice-overs are often used to create the effect of storytelling by a character/omniscient narrator. For example, in ''The Usual Suspects'', the character of Roger "Verbal" Kint has voice-over segments as he is recounting details of a crime. Classic voice-overs in cinema history can be heard in ''Citizen Kane'' and ''The Naked City''. Other examples of storytelling voice-overs can be heard in ''Gattaca'', ''Fight Club'', ''Megamind'', ''Ratatouille'', ''Tangled'', ''The Magic School Bus'', ''The Emperor's New Groove'', ''Kronk's New Groove'' ''Blade Runner'', ''The Rugrats Movie'', ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ''Big Fish'', ''How to Train Your Dragon'', ''Moulin Rouge!'', ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'', ''Rugrats'', ''Raising Arizona'', ''Goodfellas'', ''Clash of the Titans'' and ''Star Quest: The Odyssey''.

Sometimes, voice-over can be used to aid continuity in edited versions of films, in order for the audience to gain a better understanding of what has gone on between scenes. This was done when the 1948 ''Joan of Arc,'' starring Ingrid Bergman, turned out to be far from the box-office and critical hit that was expected, and was edited down from 145 minutes to 100 minutes for its second run in theatres. The edited version, which circulated for years, used narration to conceal the fact that large chunks of the film had been cut. In the full-length version, restored in 1998 and released on DVD in 2004, the voice-over narration is heard only at the beginning of the film.

The genre of film noir is especially associated with the voice-over technique.

In radio, voice-overs are an integral part of the creation of the radio programme. The voice over artist might be used to remind listeners of the station name or as characters to enhance or develop show content. In the 1980s UK broadcasters Steve Wright and Kenny Everett used voice over artists to create a virtual "posse" or studio crew that contributed to the programme's. It is believed that this principal was in play long before that time. USA radio broadcaster Howard Stern has also used voice overs in this way.

As an educational or descriptive device

The voice-over has many applications in non-fiction as well. Television news is often presented as a series of video clips of newsworthy events, with voice-over by the reporters describing the significance of the scenes being presented; these are interspersed with straight video of the news anchors describing stories for which video is not shown.

Television networks such as The History Channel and the Discovery Channel make extensive use of voice-overs. On NBC, the television show ''Starting Over'' used Sylvia Villagran as the voice-over narrator to tell a story.

Live sports broadcasts are usually shown as extensive voice-overs by expert announcers over video of the sporting event.

Game shows formerly made extensive use of voice-overs to introduce contestants and describe available or awarded prizes, but this technique has diminished as shows have moved toward predominantly cash prizes. The most prolific have included Don Pardo, Johnny Olson, John Harlan, Jay Stewart, Gene Wood and Johnny Gilbert.

Voice-over commentary by a leading critic, historian, or by the production personnel themselves is often a prominent feature of the release of feature films or documentaries on DVDs.

As a commercial device

The commercial use of voice-over in television advertising has been popular since the beginning of radio broadcasting.

In the early years, before effective sound recording and mixing, announcements were produced "live" and at-once in a studio with the entire cast, crew and, usually, orchestra. A corporate sponsor hired a producer, who hired writers and voice actors to perform comedy or drama.

The industry expanded very rapidly with the advent of television in the 1950s and the age of highly produced serial radio shows ended. The ability to record high-quality sound on magnetic tape also created opportunities, as has the proliferation of home computers capable of recording, often using inexpensive even free software and a microphone of reasonable quality.

Manufacturers will often use a distinctive voice to help them with brand messaging, often retaining talent to a long term exclusive contract.

As a translation device

In some countries, such as Russia and Poland, a voice-over provided by a single artist is commonly used on television programs as a language localization technique, as an alternative to full dub localization.

In Bulgaria, voice-over translation is also common, but each film (or episode) is normally voiced by at least four actors. The voice artists try to match the original voice and preserve the intonation. The main reason for the use of this type of translation is that unlike synchronized voice translation, it takes a relatively short time to produce as there is no need to synchronize the voices with the character's lip movements, which is compensated by the quieted original audio. When there is no speaking in the film for some time, the original sound is turned up. Recently, as more films are distributed with separate voice and noises-and-music tracks, some voice-over translations in Bulgaria are produced by only turning down the voice track, in this way not affecting the other sounds. One actor always reads the translation crew's names over the show's ending credits (except for when there are dialogs over the credits).

See also

Bumper (broadcasting)

Bumper music

National Audio Theatre Festival

Voice acting

External links

National Audio Theater Festival, a national conference which trains aspiring voice actors and audio dramatists.

Notes

Category:Film production

ca:Veu en off cs:Voiceover da:Voice-over de:Voice-over es:Voz en off fr:Voix off it:Fuori campo (cinema) ms:Suara latar nl:Voice-over (commentaar) ja:ボイスオーバー no:Voiceover ru:Закадровый перевод sv:Berättarröst tr:Kafa sesi zh:旁白

Coordinates	28°36′50″N77°12′32″N
name	Andy Richter
birth name	Paul Andrew Richter
birth date	October 28, 1966
birth place	Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
medium	Television, Film
active	1993–present
spouse	Sarah Thyre (1994–present)
notable work	Sidekick for Conan, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, & Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Paul Andrew "Andy" Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He is best known for his role as the sidekick of Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: ''Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' on NBC, and ''Conan'' on TBS. He is also known for his voice work in the ''Madagascar'' films and for starring in the sitcoms ''Quintuplets'', ''Andy Richter Controls the Universe'', and ''Andy Barker, P.I.''.

Early life and career

Richter, the third of four children, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His mother, Glenda Swanson (née Palmer), was a kitchen cabinet designer, and his father, Laurence R. Richter, taught Russian at Indiana University for more than 32 years. Richter was raised in Yorkville, Illinois. He is of Swedish and German descent. In high school, he was elected Prom King.

In the late 1980s, Richter attended Columbia College Chicago as a film major. While at Columbia he learned the basics of comedic acting and writing by starring in numerous student films and videos. After leaving Columbia in 1988 Richter worked as a production assistant on commercial shoots in Chicago. In 1989, he began taking classes at Chicago's Improv Olympic. His quick wit and acting skills catapulted him from student to "House Performer" within a year. Richter branched out working with "The Comedy Underground" and the Annoyance Theater.

Richter's reputation earned him a writing job on the short-lived Jonathan Brandmeier television show.

In the early 1990s the Annoyance Theater hit gold when producer Jill Soloway staged ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'' with live, word-for-word performances of the '70s sitcom. The show was so popular that it attracted national attention and moved to New York City. Richter was not an original member of the cast but the actor who played "Mike Brady" in the Chicago cast opted not to go to New York. Richter asked Soloway if he could play "Mike" in New York and since Soloway had not cast a replacement, she agreed.

At the same time ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'' was playing in New York, two fellow Annoyance members (Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell, who played Marcia and Jan Brady in the "Real Live Brady Bunch" stage show) were hired as cast members on ''Saturday Night Live''. With friends on ''SNL'', Andy was able to get into the after-show parties where he met ''SNL'' writer Robert Smigel. Two years later, Smigel hired Richter for a new show he was producing, ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Originally hired as a writer, Richter was upgraded to Conan O'Brien's sidekick just weeks before the show began airing in 1993, after it became clear the two had a strong rapport, something Smigel noticed after sending Richter to join O'Brien on stage during a practice run-through, hoping to calm the host down when it became obvious that Conan was very nervous on camera.

After seven years with the show, Richter departed from ''Late Night'' after his final show on May 26, 2000. He later said of the decision, "After seven years of being on the show, I got itchy. I have a philosophy that if you enjoy good fortune, rather than sit there and say, 'Oh, that's fine, this amount is good enough for me,' you should try and push it. You should see how much you can stretch your good fortune. And I was curious."

Television work

Series leads

Richter left his post at ''Late Night'' in 2000 to pursue a career acting in films and television. His first major venture, Fox's ''Andy Richter Controls the Universe'', was canceled after two mid-season runs. His next Fox sitcom, ''Quintuplets'', lasted one season. His most recent television series was ''Andy Barker P.I.'', which was co-written and executively produced by Conan O'Brien. In the series Richter played an accountant who could not attract clients. After a woman comes to his office thinking he is the former tenant, a private investigator, she asks him to find her husband who she thinks faked his death. Barker decides to pursue this job and becomes a private detective in earnest, and continues to do his accounting job, which seems to pick up as the series goes on. The series played on NBC, with all six episodes in the first season on NBC.com. The series was canceled after very poor ratings despite being named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Top Ten Shows of 2007. He also guest starred on the T.V. series ''Monk''

''The Tonight Show''

On February 24, 2009 it was announced that Richter would be joining Conan O'Brien once again as the announcer for ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' in Los Angeles. Richter frequently appeared in comedy sketches on the show and often commented and interacted with Conan during the opening monologue; he was also part of the show's writing staff. In mid-December 2009, Richter also began joining Conan on the couch during the celebrity interviews, much like he did in his former sidekick role on ''Late Night''. Richter said he enjoyed having a steady paycheck again and not having to deal with production companies while developing television shows. Richter said, "Now I'm so happy to be back and making TV every night, not asking permission from somebody and waiting six months to get their sparklingly clear and cogent notes. And then wait another month for them to get back from Hawaii and say, 'Yes, now we can go make television.' I felt like a plumber who kept going into the building and saying, 'Can we put some pipes together?' and watching my wrenches gather dust."

''Conan''

When Conan returned to the air as host of his self-titled TBS show, Richter followed. He again reprised his roles as announcer, writer, interactor during the monologue, and participant in comedy sketches.

Other roles

In October 2005, Richter appeared in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. In "The Old Man and the Sea" he played an annoying blind date that was teased and mislead by Grace Adler who only dated him to prove she was not a snob.

Richter appears in the Fox series ''Arrested Development'' in the 2006 episode "S.O.B.s." He plays every member of a fictional group of identical Richter quintuplets, Donnie, Chareth, Rocky, Emmett, and himself.

He also provides the voice for the character Ben on the TV show ''The Mighty B!'', Simon Cristini on ''True Jackson, VP'',and the voice of the character Mort on the TV show ''The Penguins of Madagascar'', both of which air on Nickelodeon.

Richter was considered to be a potential host of the classic ''Pyramid'' game show that was being developed for CBS, but was ultimately not picked up by the network. Had the series been picked up, it would not have affected Richter's role on ''Conan''. On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of ''Pyramid'', again to be hosted by Richter.

In June 2010, he hosted the ''Team Coco Presents the Conan Writers Live'' comedy special for TBS at the Just for Laughs festival in Chicago. Richter hosted in place of O'Brien, who was still prohibited from hosting any television program until the fall of 2010.

Film work

In addition to his television work, Richter has appeared in motion pictures such as ''Aliens in the Attic'', ''Big Trouble'', ''Elf'', ''Seeing Other People'', ''New York Minute'', ''Madagascar'', ''Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', ''Madagascar 3'', ''My Boss's Daughter'', ''Scary Movie 2'', ''Cabin Boy'', ''Frank McKlusky, C.I'', ''Pootie Tang'', ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'', ''Blades of Glory'', ''Semi-Pro'', ''Lenny the Wonder Dog'', ''New York Minute'', and ''Dr. T & the Women''.

Other appearances

In July 2009, Richter played for the American League as a first baseman in the 2009 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Representing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Richter hit a home run in the game.

After the end of ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'', Richter joined O'Brien on his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, a stage show touring the United States and Canada over the spring of 2010. Richter served in his usual role as announcer/sidekick. Due to performing with O'Brien, Richter was forced to drop out of the ''Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational'', in which he was a semifinalist. Isaac Mizrahi replaced Richter in the tournament. Richter also made an appearance on the Disney Channel sitcom ''The Suite Life on Deck'' as, a non-religious hooded brother, Brother Theodore in the episode "Silent Treatment".

Personal life

Richter is married to comedic actress and writer/author Sarah Thyre, and they have two children, William and Mercy. Thyre was part of the cast of the cult comedy series ''Strangers with Candy'', on which Richter made frequent cameo appearances. Richter and Thyre also appeared together playing Hansel and Gretel in an episode of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998. Richter is also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

References

External links

Kittenpants.org interview

Category:1966 births Category:Actors from Michigan Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:American television personalities Category:American voice actors Category:Columbia College Chicago alumni Category:ImprovOlympics Category:Late Night with Conan O'Brien Category:Living people Category:People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Category:People from Kendall County, Illinois Category:Second City alumni Category:University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni

de:Andy Richter es:Andy Richter fr:Andy Richter id:Andy Richter it:Andy Richter simple:Andy Richter fi:Andy Richter sv:Andy Richter

Coordinates	28°36′50″N77°12′32″N
name	David Kaye
birth name	David V. Hope
birth date	October 14, 1964
birth place	Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
occupation	Voice actor/Announcer
years active	1986–present
spouse	Maria Hope
website	http://www.davidkaye.com/ }}

David V. Hope (born October 14, 1964), known professionally as David Kaye, is a Canadian American actor who is better recognized for his work as a voice actor. His most recognized roles include Sesshomaru in the shōnen anime ''InuYasha'', Treize Khushrenada in ''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'', Megatron in five of the ''Transformers'' series (''Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron''), Cronus in ''Class of the Titans'' and Clank in the ''Ratchet And Clank'' series of video games.

Career

Kaye began his career in radio in the early 1980s, working in London, Ontario and eventually transferring to station LG73 (also known as CKLG, which became CHMJ (AM) in 2001) in British Columbia, Vancouver from 1989 to 1994. Whilst there he was part of "The Morning Zoo" team, writing and improvising material as well as creating characters such as "Cowboy Dick." Kaye also had his own slot, the time of which changed over the years. In 1991, his slot aired from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays.

His acting studies include film and television, cold reading, classical theater acting and character voice study.

His big break in animation came in 1989, when he was cast as the voice of General Hawk in ''G.I. Joe''. Consequently, Kaye lost interest in radio, an integral reason behind his departure from LG73. Since then, he has voiced hundreds of characters, his excellent range allowing a wide variety of ages, accents and dialects. For many, his most notable role is of Megatron in ''Beast Wars'' and the related ''Beast Machines''. Kaye continued to voice the subsequent incarnations of Megatron in ''Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformers: Energon'', and ''Transformers: Cybertron'' series. Kaye was not asked to voice Megatron for the ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' series. He originally was not going to play the character in ''Transformers: Cybertron'', however, Kaye was later asked to reprise his role after a handful of episodes were recorded with a different actor. This gap was the reason the initial three episodes of the series did not air in the United States until later (and even then, the first two were compressed into a single episode.) He has played Megatron for the longest duration when compared with other voice actors of the character. Kaye provided the voice of Megatron's antithesis Optimus Prime in 2007-2009's ''Transformers Animated'', which makes him the first actor who has voiced both Megatron and Optimus Prime on a regular basis.

He is also well versed in automated dialogue replacement (ADR, commonly known as dubbing) in anime, playing Sesshomaru in the popular ''InuYasha'' and Soun Tendo in ''Ranma ½''.

His voice has also carried him into audiobooks, video games and commercial radio and television announcing and advertising. He is the current voice over for the Fox Sports Network and can be heard on radio stations worldwide.

Kaye's live action roles consist of a large majority from the Sci-fi genre, such as ''Battlestar Galactica'', ''The X Files'', and ''The Twilight Zone''. He is often typecast as a television reporter or anchor. Kaye has stated that he often becomes more interested with the technical aspects of live action acting rather than preparing for the roles themselves. Consequently, his on-camera roles have waned. Besides there is little time, as 12 hour days in studio recording tend to cut into his time to seriously pursue on-camera roles. He's been asked on several occasions to 'jump back in'. "When the time is right and I can devote more time to the craft, you bet." Additionally, his theatre work has included the popular plays ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and ''Of Mice and Men''.

Currently, Kaye has chosen to dedicate his working hours to voice work, placing his theatre and live action roles on the sidelines.

Filmography

Animation

''Barbie and the Three Musketeers'' - Alexander

''Barbie as Rapunzel'' - Hugo

''Barbie Mariposa'' - Royal Guard

''Broken Saints'' - Lear Dunham

''Class of the Titans'' - Cronus

''Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island'' - Bunga Berry

''Night Warriors: The Anime'' - Pyron

''Dan Vs.'' - Additional voices

''Death Note'' - Shinigami (ep4), additional voices

''Dragon Ball Z'' - Recoome, Brocco

''Eat-Man '98'' - Bolt Crank (Only in the first two episodes; the remaining episodes were not dubbed into English)

''Exosquad'' - General Draconis, Lt. Hallas

''Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes'' - Iron Man

''Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle''/''Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture'' - Kim Kaphwan

''G.I. Joe: Renegades'' - Narrator (uncredited), Patrick O'Hara

''Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG - Individual Eleven'' - Batou

''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' - Deezel "Porkchop" Riggs

''InuYasha'' - Sesshomaru

''Key the Metal Idol'' - Tomoyo Wakagi

''Kleo The Misfit Unicorn'' - Slim and Various

''Kong: The Animated Series'' - Professor Ramon De la Porta

''Maison Ikkoku'' - Master of Cha-Cha Maru

''Make Way for Noddy'' - Noddy

''MegaMan NT Warrior'' - ProtoMan.EXE

''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'' - Treize Khushrenada

''Monster Rancher'' - Monol, Captain Clay, Celius, End Bringer, Moo (final episode)

''Ranma ½'' - Soun Tendo, The Gambling King, Daisuke, Additional Voices

''Regular Show'' - Addtional Voices

''Ronin Warriors'' - The Ancient One/Narrator

''Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated'' - Argus Fentonpoof, Dr. Phobos, Bill Buntman

''Skysurfer Strike Force'' - Jack Hollister/Skysurfer One (season 2)

''Street Fighter'' - Akuma

''The Greatest Heroes of the Bible'' - Various voices

''Transformers: Animated'' - Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Lugnut, Cliffjumper, Warpath, Highbrow

''Transformers: Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron'' - Megatron, Savage/Noble, Galvatron

''The Twisted Whiskers Show'' -Claude

''Up'' - Newsreel announcer

''X-Men: Evolution'' - Professor X, Apocalypse

Live action

''Battlestar Galactica'' - James McManus (Season 1: "Colonial Day", Season 2: "Lay Down Your Burdens (Part 1)", "Lay Down Your Burdens (Part 2)")

''Carpool'' - Scott Lewis

''Death Note'' - voice of Koreyoshi Kitamura

''Happy Gilmore'' - Reporter

''Martian Child'' - Andy

''The X Files'' - (2 episodes)

''X2: X-Men United'' - TV Host (Uncredited)

Video games

''Batman: Arkham City''

''Beetle Adventure Racing'' - Game Announcer

''Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 '' - Üso Ewin

''Impossible Creatures'' - Upton Julius

''InuYasha: Feudal Combat '' - Sesshomaru

''Kessen'' - Narrator

''Lost: Via Domus'' - John Locke

''Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects'' - Iron Man, Daredevil

''Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2'' - Captain America, Col. Nick Fury

''Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond'' - Matt Hazard

''Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS'' - ProtoMan.EXE

''Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space '' - Random Pilots

''Need for Speed'' series - Game Announcer

''Psychonauts'' - Ford Cruller

''Ratchet & Clank series'' - Clank

''Resistance: Fall of Man'', ''Resistance 2'' - Nathan Hale

''Spider-Man: Friend or Foe'' - Electro

''Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions'' - Mysterio

''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow'' - Suhadi Sadono

''Transformers'' - Megatron

''Transformers Animated'' - Optimus Prime and Lugnut

'' Overstrike'' - Dalton Brooks

Other

''BBC Radio 1'' - Announcer: Coverage of Miami Winter Music Conference 2007 Radio 1 In Miami

External links

Interview with David Kaye - Jan 2004

Category:1964 births Category:American voice actors Category:Audio book narrators Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Canadian voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from Peterborough, Ontario

ar:ديفيد كاي fr:David Kaye ja:デビッド・ケイ fi:David Kaye