iguanamountain blog

WHERE'S THE VOICE?

Prompt: You probably heard about the voice-over in movies, radio, and TV, kind of like putting words in one’s mouth. Sometimes, people do that to each other. They start with, ”She said” and they tell what seems to be the most appropriate to them, and not what the person they are quoting has said. What do you think about this kind of a voice-over and/or has anyone done that to you?

Voice-over = a narration not accompanied by an image of the one speaking. Used often in films and even more so by executives who speak live to narrate their PowerPoint presentation of endless slides and screens of text that are too small to read.

Another great practitioner of voice-over are college and university professors who like to turn off the lights and accompany their lecture with slides, sometimes not even in a PowerPoint. After thirty minutes it becomes mind-numbing.

In films and on stage the voice-over even becomes the voice of God.

As far as 'he said' - 'she said', those people maybe have images in their heads but we never see them. Maybe it's true, maybe not. Gossip and personal agenda require digression. I don't call that voice-over...that's just talking or a one-sided conversation. There's a great deal of voice over the telephone and social media. Lots of that comes with images, but I'm not sure that counts?

An element of the process is voice dubbing. In films we don't realize how much voice we hear has been recorded after the time of filming. The actor maybe is even doing a translated language which is laid over the original voice and synchronized with the screen mouth and lips.

The industry of voice recording and editing is extensive and requires great skill and amazing equipment. Don't forget those singers at large events who lip-sync to a perfect sounding voice-over. You never know what is real or illusion. Do you care?

Another favorite voice-over is the voice of the writer of a letter which a character hears while reading---often romantic or tragic bad news. 

Do you hear those voices when writing? I do! I also hear them while reading.

May the voice be with you...>>>iggy

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