The Voice Over Actor's Handbook

Book excerpt: This voice over guide will teach you how to break down, understand, and read aloud scripts for expert delivery. Prominent voice over coach John Burr developed this handbook when he recognized that his students didn't understand the fundamentals of the English language and grammar-the first step in analyzing voice over scripts. In this in-depth guide, you'll discover what it takes to become a successful voice over actor. You will acquire the skills to pronounce words clearly, pace yourself through a script, take pauses at appropriate times, and incrementally express emotion. As the chapters unfold, you will learn the importance of understanding the meaning of the script, how to compare and contrast, and how to handle dialogue and quotes. A section on language dynamics instructs readers on deciphering sentences within a script and highlighting the right words and phrases to communicate effectively. It gets into the nuts and bolts of language so that readers can understand how sentence structure and grammar affect delivery. You will learn how to mark a script to ensure a consistent delivery from take to take. The Voice Over Actor's Handbook is the next best thing to having a voice over coach in your living room.