There are many different kinds of voice overs that everyone hears each and every day. They fill the airwaves with the information that makes our modern world turn.

A voice-over artist is an actor or actress who uses their voice talent in order to give personality to a cartoon character or to be utilized in an advertisement to name a few. The voice over can be spoken by someone who the audience will see or by professional voice talent someone who the audience will not see. There are many different ways to use a voice over. These can be used in character building, creative influences in film, education, or in advertising and marketing.

One of the most common ways to use voice overs is in animated films and television. For instance, animated characters (like the kids from the show ‘South Park') are animated. They need voice-over artists in order to give them personalities and bring the show to life. There are times where well known actors are used as the voice artists, such as Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, who played key rolls in the ‘Shrek' movies, or, it is a specialized voice actor, not a movie-star who voices the characters. Obviously, using an actor's voice is critical to building the animated character and making them seem believeable.

In other examples, there are no animated characters, but the need for off screen articulation is still there. A voice-over can be used to manufacture an ironic counterpoint, or to make a statement in the movie. This is the creative device. It can be a character narrating, or miss-matched voices narrating and the speaking does not match the characters on screen. This creates a sense of imbalance and lends to the movies' originality, such as the film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', wherein this technique is applied.

Moving away from use in films, voice-overs are also used for educational or descriptive purposes. The TV news is broadcast with video clips and commentary by the reporters, who are describing and explaining the significance of the images being shown. Sportscasts also have spoken observations, especially when cast over the radio. There are also voice-overs that are used as commentary by a historian or critic, possibly even production personnel about when a new movie or DVD will be released.

Sometimes, instead of just commentary or news production, voices are also used for advertising and marketing applications. We don't the actor that is narrating the advertising or marketing ad, but we hear it on TV, radio, in stores and the mall, to name a few places. Voice-overs were primarily used on radio, but since the development of the TV, this practice has crossed over into television as well.

Some prominent and memorable voice-over artists are Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Hal Douglas, & James Earl Jones. These artists and the utilization of their articulation talents are ubiquitous in many different facets of our daily lives. It is not just for showbiz. It can be used creatively and commercially, and almost everyone come into contact with it on a regular basis.

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