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Hyemin Park
Darren Zufelt
ENGL 357
03 February 2014
Exploring the Timeline on the History of Voiceover
The animated Disney film, Frozen, was released on November 27
th
, 2013. It has
received global attention and has become a popular animated film these days. The graphic or
technique skill of the animated film is important and pivotal in order to be a box office hit
and to get good reviews, but the role of a voice actor is also significant in the animated films.
This is because features or qualities of a character can be changed depending on the
expressiveness of a voice actor. Furthermore, the role of a voice actor is evolving in many
different fields as various media contents are developing. However, an important point is that
people are familiar with voice actors very well, but people usually do not know what the
voice-over business is exactly and where it came from. For that reason, Scott Reyns, a voice
actor, publishes the timeline about the history of voice-over over 150 years in media.
Scott Reyns is a voice actor based in San Francisco. Reyns went to San Jose State
University, studying graphic design and illustration, and he has been doing voice-over since
the early 2000s. Today, Reyns is working as a voice actor who has voiced hundreds of
projects across formats including radio and TV commercials, industrials, e-learning, games,
apps, animation, and on-site placements. Reyns published this timeline in order to make
people understand the business and history of voice-over easily. Following the horizontal
timeline and seeing various images and explicit explanations, readers can easily understand
how the voice acting business has developed and where voice-over has been, and where it is
going to. Moreover, readers can note the milestones of voice-over in the development of
advertising, business, technology, politics and culture (Reyns). Not only he gives this succinct
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timeline historical perspective of voice-over industry, but also he provides interesting chart,
map, and diagram at the top of this timeline which attracts the viewers interest at first.
Formal Analysis
Big Triangle (McCloud 52-53)
In Understanding Comics, McCloud explains the concept of Big Triangle as being
defined by three points each representing a stylistic extreme. He wanted to put all the
comics visual vocabulary, such as words, images, and specialized symbols, into the easily
comprehensive map (McCloud 51).
(Figure 1)



(Figure 2)
When we look into this timeline, Figure 1, Reyns well uses all the realistic, iconic,
and abstract images. When we apply this timeline into McClouds Big Triangle, this goes
like this, Figure 2.
To be specific, Reyns uses realistic images which are marked with a navy circle.

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Those images come under the category of left corner of Big Triangle, because those images
are realistic and lifelike. By showing a real image, the viewer can easily understand what
sound recording machine looks like or how the condition of voice-over business was at that
time. In contrast, the image of a purple circle is a little bit different from previous images.
This is because the background image is a realistic image, but it has a language. For this
reason, this image takes a left corner of Big Triangle, and ventures very little into the
world of non-iconic abstraction (McCloud 54). By combining realistic image and words
together, we can notice that what the awards at that time looked like.
On the other hand, when we look into a red circle, he uses iconic and abstract images.
Those images are under the category of the right corner of Big Triangle. This is because the
images of a red circle are not realistic images but resemble images, and they still retain their
own meaning. Although those images lack in a reality, they draw interests in terms of
abstraction by retaining own meaning. However, when we see the images of a yellow circle,
those images are more symbolic and written in a language. For this reason, those images take
a place of the right corner in Big triangle more than the images of a red circle. This is
because in comparison with the images of a red circle, the images of a yellow circle have a
full meaning, but they have no resemblance. The readers can understand what the logo of
each association looks like.
Finally, when we look at the image of a green circle, this image is mixed with simple,
direct language and iconic characters. For this reason, this image is under the category of
right corner of Big Triangle, and ventures the world of non-iconic abstraction (McCloud
54). By using this image, we can see how the poster of the movie looked like at that time.
Therefore, Reyns used realistic, iconic, and abstract images which are appropriate to back up
his explanations about voice-over history.
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Division of the Time
McCloud says that the panels in comics function as a sort of universal indicator that
time or space is being divided (McCloud 99). Time can be controlled through the content of
panels, the number of panels and space between panels. Furthermore, the panel shape can
actually make a difference in our perception of time (McCloud 101). In other words, he says
that the closure is the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole (McCloud
63). Closure acts an important role in comic books in the aspect of panel-to-panel transitions,
because by using this, the readers can get the picture easily.
(Figure 3)
When we read the timeline, information is arranged from left to right from 1860s to
2000s. Reyns divides his timeline by using a fine line and this fine line makes each panel
which describes each period. He uses different fonts to indicate each time period, making
each more recognizable. Furthermore, he classifies distinct events in one panel, so we feel as
the events within one panel happen in the same time range. Moreover, we can notice
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effectively what the important point is through subtitles and description of that time.
In addition, the panels show scene to scene closure. This is because the panels
move us across significant distances of time and space (McCloud 71). Even though there are
many omitted events in the timeline, readers can understand clearly the flow of voice-over
history because of the panel above, which clarifies the meaning of it.
Word and Picture Combination
McCloud explains that words and images combine to show a connected series of
ideas (McCloud 152). Besides, he says different ways in which words and pictures can
combine in comics. When we look into the timeline, the relationship between words and
images is word-specific combinations. This is because the pictures just illustrate the idea or
concept that Reyns intended to show us, but they do not significantly add to a largely
complete text (McCloud 153). By using this combination, the readers can concentrate more
on his explanations. For example, there is a kind of subtitle in bold type, so the viewers can
understand the important terms and events in voice-over history easily. In addition to this,
Reyns uses exact images which explain and back up his description about each events. In
other words, the visual materials in this timeline act a role to support the textual materials,
and for this reason, we can understand the flow and history of voice over very easily.
Content Analysis
As the title of the timeline references, Reyns covers the whole history of voice-over
business in easy terms. For the reason that the creator of this timeline, Reyns, is a voice actor,
this timeline is considered more reliable and credible. Furthermore, the graphs and charts at
the top of this timeline strengthens the ethos appeal in the aspect that those materials are
objective and trustworthy. In addition, this timeline effectively meets its purpose. This is
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because Reyns wanted to make people understand how the voice-over technology has been
developed, and what the voice over business is exactly. In other words, the readers can get the
gist of whole voice-over history over 150 years when they read this timeline. Through the
whole timeline, pathos, the emotional appeal, is the most powerful aspect that we can notice.
By using various images which match with each explanation, this timeline is not felt as
boring or tedious; rather it seems interesting. Furthermore, readers can have curiosity when
they first look into this timeline because of various images and interesting graphs. Then,
when they read the timeline in detail, they understand the whole flow of voice over history as
Reyns intended.
Evaluation
I think that this timeline is well-made. First, I perceive that the relevant concepts of
McCloud are well in harmony with the content of the timeline. For example, Reyns uses
various formal concepts of McCloud, such as icons, symbols, realistic images, panels, scene
to scene closure, and word-specific combinations. Furthermore, the various images and
explanations are inter-related, and they are organized well in regular sequence. Therefore, it
meets a fundamental condition as a good timeline. In other words, by making the best use of
those concepts, it stimulates my curiosity and helps me better understand about voice-over
history with various, evident and notable images. The aspect that he uses different fonts to
indicate each time period is quite interesting. In addition to this, I notice the publishers
intention easily when I just look at this timeline. It is not very hard to get the history of voice-
over business when I just follow the horizontal timeline. For this reason, even though I had
no background knowledge before I read this timeline, I understand whole voice-over history
without difficulty.

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Work Cited
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994. Print.
n.p. Frozen. Wiki. n.d. Web. Jan 29, 2014.
Reyns, Scott. The History of Voiceover Over 150 Years in Mediums and Media. Nov 05,
2011. Web. Jan 29, 2014. http://scottreyns.com/history-of-voice-over.php.