Voice - Over: More than just a voice?

This morning while waiting in line for my cappuccino at my neighborhood Barista, I watched 3 commercials back to back with the same female voice-over. The same voice that told me how to turn into someone beautiful and irresistible to men like Priyanka Chopra (by bathing in strawberry's and cream thanks to the new LUX soap), also asked me to use a particular brand of sanitary product and choose a new brand of cooking oil. Isn't advertising amazing?

Voice-over in advertising has been around for as long as radio has been around. The first medium to advertsie your product where you could add some personal touch to it. In the begining, radio stations had live recordings done at-once in the studio, the entire crew would perform live. Voice over artists also performed "live" radio shows or series.

Today there is huge money to be made if you have that sexy husky voice, the chirpy fun tone or the serious scary grunt that can make you want to lock your doors. Many VO artists make good money from lending their voices and some are even preferred and therefore end up doing more than one TV commercial or Radio Spot.

My favorite kind of VO has always been the narrator/character/omniscient character (sutradhar) in movies or TV shows. I like the voice that takes you through the storyline. It always gives me the feeling of seriousness and adds depth and yeah at times intrigue to the movie. If you have ever watched Desperate Housewives (actually the narrative is the only thing I pay attention to when my sister watches the show), you will know what I mean.

But more than the voice, the script, the requirement of a VO, the placement of the same, all play a big role in making the VO play the role of a successful storyteller- be it in ad or movies or spots.

VO's help to sell a story esp in ads...I hope ad film makers and movie makers ensure they keep selling them well...