Do the lines of on-screen acting and voice acting blur? Sometimes, yes. Many actors, such as Alan Shires finds a space of enjoyment in both avenues. Both require a very different technical approach. One being captured on a microphone, whilst the other incorporates the essential use of a camera too. One like a spy in the night hides the face of the performer, whilst the other holds nothing back with its transparency. In this article we will look at the transferable skills between acting and voice acting. Looking at the success found by Alan we will unravil the themes connecting acting and voice acting and what a performer must do to find a career in this field.
Acting and Voice Acting
Alan has been acting for over 20 years. During that time he has worked across both the voiceover and on-screen fields having worked with a number of companies including Starbucks, Samsung, The BBC, Krispy Kreme, Ford, Crunchy Roll, and many other. His work does not end with just brands, with a background in theatre and a love for the screen in 2024 alone he appeared in an Amazon Prime hit TV series.
So how does a performer easily navigate both avenues, on-screen and voiceover? Let’s look at a quote from Alan. ‘’Voice acting is acting. It does not matter to me if I am in front of a mic or in front of a camera, I am an actor. Sure, when I am doing voiceover, I need to understand mic technique and some of those types of elements. But from a performance perspective, I just act. If I am having to throw my voice to the back of an auditorium or scream in pain in a booth – it doesn’t matter, it’s all just acting. Diversifying the performance styles is important for an actor to do. One trick ponies get typecast and struggle to get work initially’’.
Can Voice Actors Act?
So, the understanding is that it is all just acting. Jumping between avenues be it theatre, screen or voiceover is where the skill is found. None do this better than Alan. His long list of clients is evidence of that. But that’s not all, in 2022 Alan won the national award for ‘Voice Actor of the Year’ with his delivery for automotive company ‘Ford’.
Looking at his career, we can see a diverse actor and voiceover artist must be happy with traveling, working anti-social hours, and setting up a recording set up for acting and voiceover. Alan hosts both a vocal studio with his Neumann TLM 103 Microphone and SSL2 interface along with his 4k Camera and Sennheiser LAV microphone and transmitter.
On Screen Acting
It seems most on-screen content is recorded in a studio, but some work does find its way to the creators studio. Particularly with ads and explainer videos. However, for most of the voiceover industry (excluding big names like Disney, Pixar, and such) the need for a vocal studio is almost mandatory in the current day. This may be thanks to how technology has evolved. With connectivity software opening the realms for remote recording and DAWs being available to download for free, any voice actor with a microphone can begin hustling.
To wrap this up, voiceover is acting that everyone hears but rarely see. Both on-screen and voiceover is just acting. None delivers this better than the US-based UK-born actor and voiceover artist Alan Shires who encourages and invites new realms of authenticity and creativity in the performance industry. Acting and voice acting is a lot of fun, many performers manage to establish a career in this field, though, it is not easy.