Recording Voice Overs for Mobile Applications
By Stephanie Ciccarelli
July 12, 2010
The market opportunities for voice over have expanded since the launch of destinations such as Apple's iTunes App Store.
With more work out there than you can shake a stick at, voice over narration and character voiceover work for mobile applications is an exciting avenue to pursue as a voice actor.
Hear about some of the work being done for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and more in today's VOX Daily.
Mobile Applications Using Voice Over
Earlier this year, Voices.com CEO David Ciccarelli published a report on the industry that focused on mobile technologies and how voice over is booming in markets such as audiobooks, gaming and podcasting.
While many apps are designed to be cross-platform applications, this article will be looking specifically at mobile apps for Apple products.
To give you an idea of the categories apps are divided into, here's a list straight from the iTunes App Store:
๠Books
๠Business
๠Education
๠Entertainment
๠Finance
๠Games
๠Health and Fitness
๠Lifestyle
๠Medical
๠Music
๠Navigation
๠News
๠Photography
๠Productivity
๠Reference
๠Social Networks
๠Sports
๠Travel
๠Utilities
๠Weather
Storytelling Apps
There are many opportunities online now for authors of short stories, mainly children's literature, to bring those stories to life in a slide show like presentation complete with narration. I've found a number of services this year and want to introduce you to a couple of them.
StoryBoy
StoryBoy Kids' Books are a great way to entertain and educate kids anytime and anywhere. It is your portal to a world of interactive animated e-books made especially for kids between 1-7 years old. StoryBoy is created by parents who understand the importance of having educational, fun and safe content for children.
3 StoryBoy apps I'm familiar with include:
๠A Day in Paris with Cassie
๠A Day in New York City with Noah
๠Kid's First Bible
iStorytime
iStoryTime brings the joy of a children's book to the convenience of your iPhone, iPod® touch, or iPad. Our books are illustrated and narrated, so your child can enjoy them even when you're busy. Best of all, the app is drop-dead simple to use because it's actually designed for a 2-year old.
Karen Commins wrote in to tell me about iStorytime, relaying "I was delighted to voice 3 children's stories using both an adult and a child voice for iStorytime. The stories are beautifully illustrated, work on both iPhone and iPad, and can be viewed with or without narration, giving the child more control. I would love to do more of this kind of work! Each story is sold as a separate app in the iTunes store."
Independent Projects
Sometimes I hear about projects in great detail from publishers who write to us with their success stories. This is one such tale of how "The Icicle Story" came to fruition as a narrated app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This app is brought to you by author Michael Anthony Stiber and his company Crystal Lantern, LLC.
Michael Stiber shared his story with our team about how he found and hired Sonny Warner to narrate "The Icicle Story" via Voices.com. To learn more about his experience, you can read Michael's story on our Buzz blog.
Corporate Apps
There's all kinds of storytelling opportunities out there. Voice talent Alex Rain wrote to me about a gig he booked at Voices.com called the ICD10 Helper that helps medical professionals and "pro patients" to:
๠Convert between ICD-9 and ICD-10 code systems
๠Lookup and see details of ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes
๠Help reducing the ICD-10 transition costs!
Even if this sounds like Greek to you, it's still voice over work that is helping people who need it to get the job done! Check out the video below "ICD-10 Helper by Ringful Health" to learn more about what the app does.
Apps That Are Just For Laughs
As you might have guessed, there are not only business related and educational apps but there are also apps that are geared toward humor, entertainment and general silliness. This is a great opportunity for your character voices to come out and play. From a therapist in your pocket (thanks Lee Gordon for the heads up on this one) to celebrity impressions, this work can be plentiful and diverse.
Have You Recorded for an App?
There are so many wonderful opportunities for voice over talent in the mobile space and I hope what was shared with you today has provided some inspiration and options to consider.
Have you recorded VO for apps sold in the Apple iTunes Store? I'd love to hear from you! Comment to join the conversation.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
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Becoming a voice actor, working from your own home recording studio and auditioning for voice-over jobs is within your reach!
I have recorded two of them. It was for an educational kids game. I don't own an iPhone, but I think it would be cool to see the game with my voice in it! :) He was pleased with my work, he came back a second time.
http://www.exedria.com/nene-gifts-lite-kids-free-iphone-app/
Posted by:Hey Stephanie,
I recorded an advertising spec for an iPhone app with a voices.com client. It was called Zumodrive: a personal content mover app. It was a great little animated clip. Lots of fun. I think the app. got picked up too - congrats.
Larissa
Posted by:This sounds like a great opportunity. My problem as a VO actress who is just starting out, is finding out how to contact these apps and try to get them to listen to and consider my voice for the spot(s).
Posted by:I just completed a gig for a new iPhone game company, due out later this year - can't say more just yet ;-)
Posted by:Any recommendations on who to talk with about designing an app?
Posted by:I just started working for a company called HearPlanet that makes apps that geolocate your position and then when you get info on the places around you it gives you text info plus voiceover content for the place. I'll be sharing voice over duties with another woman at the company and will be overall in charge of the audio production for these apps.
Posted by:Excellent article on the new horizons opening for actors. I'd like to add another mobile phone app to the list above - although maybe this is what Lee Gordon was referring to. MMS (multimedia messaging service) often uses voice-over. I've recorded many jobs for ATT, Verizon, 1-800 Flowers and Hallmark - all have been greeting cards - for Birthdays Easter, Christmas, St. Paddy's Day, July 4, Halloween etc. Not strictly an app really but it is another area where we, as actors, can earn a paycheck.
Posted by:Hey Stephanie, I worked on a voice over for a walking tour of Paris. This app is developed by a company called Itineris. They create guided tours for iPhones. It was a fun and informative project, describing the famous Paris landmarks and their history. I loved working with the team at Itineris. Can't wait to do more! The app is on sale now on the iTunes store.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiotour-paris/id367255483?mt=8
and a link to the company:
Posted by:http://tours.itinerisinc.com/paris/
I did the British vo for Wordweb (dictionary) for iPhone link here http://www.wordwebsoftware.com/WordWebiPhone.html and kids stories for 22Moo here http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/boo-boos-big-blue-bin-narrated/id312642500?mt=8 Dolch words here http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/dolch-sight-words-primer/id312437743?mt=8
Can't remember any more links :)
Posted by:Hi Stephanie,
While it's not a mobile app, per se, I did record the English voice prompts for a Facebook app called "woopCall".
It is developed by a German company called woopla. woopCall lets you send voice messages to your Facebook wall with a phone call from your mobile (or land line) phone.
Kinda cool.
-Matt
Posted by:I voiced an app that was just released. I am the narrator for this kid's app. Vol. 2 will be out soon.
Posted by:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mother-goose-reader/id381023287?mt=8
I've just recorded VO's for some first aid videos for use in an app. Not available yet, but should be soon.
Posted by:Hi Stephanie,
I've been voicing several apps recently for an iPhone app company called appsNminded. It's been a tremendously fun adventure, as most of the projects require character voices, which one can never get to do often enough! The experience has even helped me to further explore and expand my range of accents/dialects. Definitely a wonderful market to pursue work in!
@Cat Marshall: appsNminded actually created an instructional video all about startup in the app design business. Here's the link: http://www.appsnminded.com/appsolutelyeasy.php
Hope that helps! :)
Posted by:I've been lucky enough to not only voice my clients Apps, but also work with a developer to get my own iPhone and iPad App produced. My 'British Accent' app was created from my "Learning the RP British accent" presentations that I had available on the internet. I found the whole experience really interesting, and managed to create some great publicity (locally and nationally) which not only helped promote the App but also my work as a Voiceover Artist. The app can be downloaded from the iTunes store.
Posted by:I've recently recorded the animation voices two kids apps:
Kezza Bee Farm Adventures, and coming soon, Kezza Bee Peeka Boo.
http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/kezza-bee-farm-adventures/id371065862
Posted by:Hey, Stephanie!
This all sounds like immense fun and I'd love to get in on it.
What's standing in my way is the fact that, like Darla, I'm just starting out and am encountering roadblock after roadblock, mainly in the form of sites that want money from me in order to represent me. If I had the money, that would mean I already had jobs!
What I need is a reputable agent; anyone know of any in the Chicago/Northern Illinois area?
Posted by:Where could I obtain information on how to become employed to do a voiceover.
Posted by:Hi Keisha,
Thank you for commenting and for asking :)
I recommend visiting the Voices.com Help Section for answers to your question. One of the first things you'll need to book a job is a demo. If you don't know what one is or need a demo recorded, check out these podcasts and search for the keyword "demo"
http://podcasts.voices.com/voiceoverexperts
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Posted by: