Forum:What "voice actor" means on this wiki

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Definitions

Editors have used "voice actor" in two different and inconsistent ways on this Wiki.

• The actor who dubs in the voice of a character played by another actor or by a prop. Example: John Leeson voicing K-9 or Nicholas Briggs voicing the Daleks.

• The actor who played a role in an audio play previously played by another actor on television, etc. Example: davidbailey (his preferred spelling, BTW) as the Celestial Toymaker, a role originated by Michael Gough or most of the cast of the webcast version of "Shada".

Which one, guys? --204.167.92.26^{talk to me} 00:27, May 1, 2012 (UTC)

I don't think that the second meaning you list is entirely accurate. In fact, we use "voice actor" to refer to any performer in an audio drama, not just those taking over roles originated by another performer on television. For example, see pages like Maggie Stables and India Fisher, not to mention all the contents of Category:Big Finish voice actors and Category:Doctor Who voice actors.

And I don't think that those two meanings are inconsistent. They're both an actor who plays a role using solely his or her voice. It also applies to actors who voice animated characters, or even actors whose voices are dubbed over another performer's on-screen work (though I can't think of any examples of that in Doctor Who off the top of my head). It's a fairly broad term, but I don't think there's a problem with that. —Josiah Rowe ^{talk to me} 02:44, May 1, 2012 (UTC)

"actors whose voices are dubbed over another performer's on-screen work".

every instance of a monster played by an actor having another actor read the lines. Daleks, Cybermen, etc. as noted above. --50.138.227.67^{talk to me} 17:08, May 1, 2012 (UTC)

I think medium has a good deal to do with the performance and what the actor is called upon to do -- but then I did graduate work in McLuhanesque communications theory in the 1970s. I would split it even further, with "voice actors" being limited to those who appear in TV and the films; always distinguish the independent licensed folks (Big Finish et al.) from BBC Radio; have a separate listing for actors reading what used to be called books on tapes but are now cds; another for performers involved in video games; and finally, one for animated DW, which at this pointed would largely be Dreamland and that 60-second add-on to Let's Kill Hitler that us Yanks saw.

However, I try to keep in mind that we are not writing this wiki for us but for others who come seeking information and we need to consider whether those readers would find these distinctions useful. I am pretty sure that people would find it useful to have workers in pure-audio works distinguished; am convinced a fair percentage would like to know who reads books; but where to place voicework for animated stuff like the videogames and cartoons.... not so sure.Boblipton ^{talk to me} 12:34, May 1, 2012 (UTC)

Are we talking about the use of terms within an article's text, or about categories? In categories, we can cut quite fine in terms of which medium an actor is working in, but I don't think that we need to be — or can be — over-precise in the use of terms in article text. In practical terms, the phrase "voice actor" is in fact used quite broadly — take a look at the Wikipedia article on voice acting, which includes all the sub-categories we've mentioned.

In terms of in-text terminology, I agree that reading an audiobook and performing in an audio drama are quite distinct, and should probably use different terms. By contrast, I don't think that the distinction between BBC Radio voice actors and Big Finish voice actors is particularly meaningful, especially since there are cases like the early Eighth Doctor audio plays which would fall into both categories. —Josiah Rowe ^{talk to me} 14:01, May 1, 2012 (UTC)

"Are we talking about the use of terms within an article's text, or about categories?"

I meant in terms of the sidebar credits.

like you I wouldn't engage in that kind hairsplitting like BBC Radio versus Big Finish. --50.138.227.67^{talk to me} 17:06, May 1, 2012 (UTC)