Lasting sound        

Voiceover is one of the most divisive tools in all of the screenwriting industry. When it works, we get a clear picture of a character’s inner thoughts or a narrator’s version of the story. When it doesn’t, the story drags and can be confusing. The acting profession offers many formats and media types in which to display your performing talent. As an actress, you may be able to work in TV commercials, stage plays, films, live events and more. Understanding what actresses do on a regular basis and what they need to be successful in an acting career can help better prepare you. In this article, we discuss job duties and expected salary of an actress, as well as the necessary education, steps and tools you’ll need to become one.





Actresses perform various roles in front of cameras or live audiences. They often work long hours rehearsing scenes, studying lines and performing on screen or stage. Professional actresses can be found working in dinner theaters, major theaters and repertory groups. Many travel with theater groups or help in the training of other actors for larger roles. Actresses are required to memorize scripts, research characters and rehearse performances. They may be required to confer with others, including directors or other actors, to correctly display the right emotions, gestures and facial expressions.





Today we’ll go over uses of voiceover in film and television and look at some examples of the best voiceover of all time. We’ll even talk about how to use voiceover in your own screenplays. So listen to the voice in your head and keep reading. An actor’s job is to fully represent the character they are playing and to convince their audience that character is real by engaging them and drawing them into the story. This applies to major roles and smaller parts, as all roles combine to create a successful production.





A voiceover is the non-diegetic use of a character or omnipresent narrator talking over the visuals of a film or television show. This voiceover can be existential, like in Terrence Malick movies, or it can be directly related to what’s happening on the screen, like in Casino. No matter which voiceover you use, you have to make sure it carries the story and doesn’t over-explain what we’ve already seen.





When you’re writing a voiceover you want to make sure the information your character shares isn’t something we could glean without the voiceover. Try to focus on internal thoughts or observations that add another layer to what we’re seeing. That means using it for irony usually works, but also using it to emotionally charge things as well.





Check out this voiceover example from Little Children. This movie uses voiceover from an omnipresent narrator who’s not a character in the movie but provides context to what the characters each experience. There are many ways to get into character and actors often research the jobs, hobbies, or activities of the characters they play so they are able to put themselves in that frame of mind. Physical appearance can be important in creating a character as well, and actors will often lose or gain weight, or change their hair colour to physically create the character they are playing.





Voiceover narration has always stirred up controversy in the screenwriting world. Many screenwriters, script readers, and other Hollywood experts seem to hate it and call it lazy writing. An actor’s workplace will vary depending on the type of production involved. Some film and television shows, as well as most advertisements, will be filmed in studios and on sets. This can be quite exciting in itself, seeing how a location can be created by set designers and made to seem real. Other film and television shows are filmed on location and might involve a lot of travel – sometimes to distant and exotic places.





Think of voiceover as more than just a person telling us the story or giving us their specific opinion. It can be a complex stylistic element that helps create the tone and atmosphere of your film. It can also provide a perspective that the character isn’t free to share in front of other characters; perhaps they are confiding in the viewer.





Alternatively, the character could be commenting on the story in the future, providing some distance, and demonstrating how much they have grown over the course of the story. This style of voiceover is often linked to the film’s theme since a character might suggest a message, lesson learned, plot connection, or insight about the film.





Finally, voiceover might also add some humor or irony if what we’re seeing on screen is at odds with what the narrator is telling us (the show Arrested Development is a masterful example of this style of voiceover). Theatre productions take place on a stage and have very different considerations than filmed performances. Performances will be in front of a live audience – in theatres and in studios for some television shows. Other performances do not have an audience and the feedback from these performances is not instant.





Be creative with how you use voiceover. It doesn’t have to be spoken by the main character. For example, a minor character or perhaps a supernatural character we never meet could provide an unexpected point of view. An Actor portrays a character with their physical presence, voice, and ability to emote through both. To bring a character to life, an Actor must analyze their motivations via the script, memorize the dialogue in it, work with the Director to further develop the character, and mine their own emotional life to authentically embody the figure they’re portraying in the script.