𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

taken  from  the  2007  film .  swearing  &  alcohol  references  present .  please  amend  prompts  where  required !

“ this  is  so  creepy . ” “ you’ll  have  to  forgive  me . ” “ you  can’t  expect  me  to  stay  here  ! ” “ it’s  a  little  rough  around  the  edges ,  darling  . ” “ there  seems  to  be  some  kind  of  mistake . ” “ i’ve  done  nothing  to  feel  guilty  about . ” “ don’t  you  think  i  make  a  remarkable  queen ? ” “ snooty  cow . ” “ oh  my  god !  you  want  us  to  steal  scarlett  johansson ? ” “ you’re  only  supposed  to  blow  the  bloody  doors  off ! ” “ your  girlish  laughter  hit  me  like  the  lash  of  a  hunting  crop . ” “ no  biting ,  no  scratching  ,  kicking ,  no  gouging ,  no  kickboxing ,  no  punching ,  no  slapping ,  and  no  spitting . ” “ you  are  so  blonde . ” “ that  hurt  more  than  a  brazilian  wax . ” “ we’re  facing  the  biggest crisis  of  our  lives  and  you’re  behaving  like  a  bloody  child ! ” “ so ,  how  do  you  feel ? ” “ what  about  the  problems  we  had  with  the  last  batch ? ” “ houston ,  we  have  a  problem . ” “ you’ve  had  this  coming  since  the  day  you  arrived . ” “ i  don’t  mix  business  with  pleasure . ” “ she  who  angers  you  conquers  you . ” “ i’m  sorry ,  i  didn’t  get  your  name . ” “ i’ll  give  you  a  slap . ” “ oi .  are  you  calling  me  a  chav ? ” “ what  are  they  betting  on ? ” “ now  we’ll  see  what  she’s  made  of . ” “ i  want  you  to  come  and  pick  me  up  from  this  hell  hole  right  now . ” “ i’m  tucked  up  in  bed  watching  desperate  housewives . ” “ i  can’t  believe  what  you  just  did . ” “ i  don’t  know  what  came  over  me . ” “ if  that’s  permanent ,  i’ll  see  you  in  court . ” “ you  wanted  a  word ? ” “ no .  stupid  idea . ” “ incoming  10  degrees  south ,  possible  hostile  intruder  located . ” “ she  looks  like  she  hasn’t  got  a  pot  to  piss  in . ” “ i  daresay  you’ll  do  very  well . ” “ very  careless  of  us . ” “ you  must  try  the  latest  concoction .  it’s  a  real  beauty . ” “ have  you  been  drinking again ? ” “ go  on  .  i’m  dying  to  know  what  you  think . ” “ they’re  bloody  animals . ” “ i  think  you’ll  find  you  and  i  both  want  the  same  things . ” “ i  used  to  eat  people . ” “ hello ,  big  boy . ” “ we’re  onto  you ,  so  watch  your  backs ! ” “ what  have  they  done  to  you ? ” “ we  do  play  a  little  rough . ” “ maybe  we’ll  be  seeing  a  little  more  of  one  another . ” “ i’m  afraid  after  last  night  we’ve  only  got  smirnoff . ” “ aren’t  you  lucky ? ” “ final  demand ?  how  can  there  be  more  than  one  final  demand ? ” “ i  can’t  believe  you  haven’t  already  told  me  about  this . ” “ the  subject  of  today’s  lesson  is  crime . ” “ you’ve  gotta  search  for  the  criminal  inside  yourself . ” “ we’re  talking  mission  impossible . ” “ if  tom  cruise  can  do  it ,  so  do  we . ” “ how  do  we  get  into  the  building ? ” “ we  need  some  kind  of  cover . ” “ check  out  our  battle  cry . ” “ no  one  can  stand  in  our  way . ” “ we  are  the  best ,  so  screw  the  rest . ” “ we  do  as  we  damn  well  please . ” “ if  they  complain ,  we do  it  again . ” “ until  the  end  ,  st  trinian’s .  defenders  of  anarchy . ”

i would looooove some plots for marnie ! she's a blackjack dealer who works nights at a casino n ran away from home @ 15 n she's technically a missing person but no one really looked very hard n she's got a rocky history with add*ction and i want thingies for herrrr < 3

— Gabriella Wilde | St Trinian’s 2 gif pack.

By clicking the source link or [ this link ], you’ll find #67 gifs of Gabriella Wilde (1989) as Saffy in the movie St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold [2009]. Gabriella was born in England, U.K. and is of English, Scottish, Northern Irish, Irish, and remote Dutch descent. All made by me from scratch, so please, don’t repost or claim them as your own! You can use them in editions, or crackships, but please credit me (@youngfcs).  If using, like or reblog ❗

[ ! ] Contains: partying

[ Don’t include them in any gif hunt, don’t crop these into gif icons without my permission, don’t use them in any smut threads/rps or for taboo roleplays and don’t use to rp the celebrity itself ]

       WE ARE THE BEST. SO SCREW THE REST. WE DO AS WE DAMN WELL PLEASE.                   UNTIL THE END – ST TRINIAN’S !! DEFENDERS OF ANARCHY.

Open RP

“What’s wrong with this look? I don’t look that bad.”

Having listened to the latest episode of ‘David Tennant does a Podcast with...’ Jodie Whittaker (five times). I have a few thoughts:

I love that when she was younger Jodie was more impressed with Peter O’Toole being in King Ralph than being in Lawrence of Arabia or all the other critically acclaimed movies he was on or that she was more excited with the girl band, Girls Aloud than having the other A List stars in the St. Trinian movies.

Is it me, or does Jodie’s accent sounded a little thicker in this podcast with David? (Just really fascinated with how accents change or how they choose to change accents).

Speaking of accents, David (or DT as both Olivia Coleman and Jodie call him) was so surprised Jodie asked Chibnall if she should use an RP accent.

I’m really surprised that Chibnall actually decided on Sheffield way before Jodie was cast. I knew Chibnall once studied in the university in Sheffield but I didn’t realize that was a factor for the Yorkshire setting. On the other hand, Chibnall seems to really like to set things outside of London.

Jodie is actually a very private person. She has a public persona which she already shares a lot of herself and then a private self that she is very protective of. I now get why she plays Thirteen’s very friendly facade and yet putting her friends at arms length so naturally. (I don’t mean they’re the same but I get now why it’s something she portrays it well).

I love how articulate Jodie is about well, I’ve put my favorite quotes from the interview below this post.

Jodie is very, very aware how sticky and political things get if she favors one side of Yorkshire over the other.

I like that Jodie’s clocked the ‘Not Like Other Girls’ mentality people have when grows don’t grow-up ‘girl-y’.

I now get why Jodie prefers to know about the other Doctors through reading than watching while she’s in the role.

I want to read Chris Chibnall’s Wikipedia style/Dissertation of Doctor Who: Who the Doctor is, who he thinks the Doctor is, and the contradictions and through lines of the Doctor. GIMME CHIBBS!

Jodie is so aghast that Tennant chose to use a different accent for the role because of all the lines the Doctor has.

David Tennant! Don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t answer Jodie’s question if he had a hard time because David had all the baggage of knowing Who-history.

Also, I love how they’re comfortably teasing each other, like the one where David said: ‘So what do you know about Doctor Who— Nothing!’ and Jodie quickly retorts with: ‘Not nothing! Don’t throw me under the bus like that!’

To my untrained ears both their accents really do seem to be thicker, getting more and more Northern!

49 minutes isn’t enough time! I want more! /entitled fan moment. 

Favorite quotes:

“The conversation is, let’s open up points of view and to not always tell the same story from the same perspective that is the conversation. ‘Isn’t it interesting to see the world through many different eyes?’ That’s the conversation.” I really really love this bit. I love how articulate she is about this point.

“As a feminist and opinionated, I’m quite happy to have a voice in certain things. But I’m certainly not an expert, is my thing as well so there has been time y’know where someone could have said a load of statistics or something to me and I feel like: ‘I feel like I emotionally disagree with that but I can’t actually back that up and I think the fact that—‘ I don’t think anyone’s giving me the mantle to know loads of stuff but I would hope to reiterate: I know what I know, I know how I feel but I’m in a lucky position that maybe I’m able to give voice to it. But I also don’t think my opinion is law. It’s an opinion.”

“We are all very flawed characters and that is okay because the young people should have many different types of people to look up to. And none of that should be perfection. And the Doctor certainly has flaws. And therefore all the people that played that character have flaws. And, I think, the fact that you are in the position that any wrong thing you say is: ‘No! No! You’ve said this!’ Well, of course I’ve said something wrong. I’m going to say loads of stuff wrong! Y’know and I’m sure I’ll be misinformed sometimes but so far, if you ask me my opinion on something I feel like I’m in an emotionally engaged person enough to basically say it. But I certainly won’t want to think I decided, like, I’ve decided that this is fact. It’s not. Too many people out there who think their opinion is fact.”

I really like the two quotes because I like that she’s very articulate and that she’s also not comfortable with anyone looking for a role model who is ‘perfect’ and free of flaws.

What I’ll Write/Requests

(as of 9/20/19)

Since this is currently on my commission page and I’m no longer doing fic commissions, I figured I should copy it & update it with the new fandoms I do? So here it is.

Requests are currently CLOSED until I catch up on the hundreds of prompts I have at both my blogs. The only exception is if I reblog a prompt/prompt list here.

The following is a list of fandoms I write and characters/ships I feel most comfortable writing:

Sherlock I’ll write just about any ship you can throw at me. I write F/F fic (with the exception of NC-17 fic), M/M fic (with the exceptions of NC-17 fic and anything other than Mystrade, Sheriarty and MorMor, and Johnlock for special friends), M/F fic (almost any ship, NC-17 rating only for Sherlock Holmes/Female Character pairing fics) and select OT3s (Sherlock/Mary/John, Sherlock/Molly/Irene, Lestrade/Mycroft/Anthea and Molly/Moriarty/Moran). No Mrs. Hudson pairing fics except the canon one and Wilf from DW; no Magnussen or other bad guys not already mentioned above.

Doctor Who Generally I only write Eleventh Doctor era and some of Twelfth Doctor era (I am not current with Rose, Martha, Donna, Bill and The Fam eras yet, but I have all the box sets by Doctor save Thirteen). At the moment I mostly can write Eleven, River, Amy, Rory, Martha and Mickey, and can kind of write Clara, Vastra, Jenny, Strax, Jack and a few other recurring ones…ship wise I write Rory/Amy, Eleven/River and Vastra/Jenny (though I can possibly be persuaded to write Twelve/Clara, maybe, depending on the prompt). No NC-17 fic.

Elementary I’m much better at Joan, Marcus, Gregson and Alfredo than Sherlock. My only real ship for this show that I’ve written is Marcus/Joan though I’d love to try Jamie and Sherlock/Jamie in a twisted sense or Jamie/Joan. Also, fair warning: I’m mostly familiar with season 1 and the Kitty arc in season 3, but I have access to all the season save the last one via my library..

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series I do not do a whole lot of ships for this verse aside from Spock/Uhura, Sulu/Ben and a kind of biased Kirk/Uhura (I RP that ship in one of my games) personally but I am willing to write any ship except Bones/Carol (I have issues with that one). I do write slash ships for this series; just ask and I’ll see what I can do. I do not really write Scotty or Chekov with their accents often though I will through in Chekov using Russian occasionally. I will also acknowledge aspects of the Discovery verse (ie, usually Michael Burnham on her own, but occasionally Tilly and other Discovery characters as they might be in the AOS series). No NC-17 for any ship except Kirk/Uhura, and then only in my RP verse fics.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Ship wise I’m pretty open amongst Captain America characters, as well my personal OT5 is any combination of Steve/Sam/Bucky/Nat/Clint with a dash of either Peggy or Sharon given the situation. AoS I’m pretty much either Coulson/May or Daisy/Jemma at the moment (though I will write a few other ships for both, like Jemma/Fitz, but NOT Skyward). I am familiar with Thor characters, Peter Parker, Iron Man characters, Stephen Strange, Wong, and Shuri. Anything else, please ask and I’ll see what I can do. I do have access to the entire MCU to watch, but prefer to avoid certain movies. Will write NC-17, but it depends on the characters/ships.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries I’m pretty much primarily a Jack/Phryne writer in this fandom. I can do a decent Dot and Hugh but I haven’t attempted anyone else. Also, shorter stories are best. Will not write NC-17 for this fandom. Am planning to add “Crypt of Tears” to the list of what I’m familiar with when it comes out.

Star Wars Movieverse I’m still refamiliarizing myself with this series (so far I’m current/mostly current on the original trilogy sequel trilogy so far and “Rogue One”) but I’m pretty fair game as to characters and ships I will write for those three sections of it. However, I will only write brother/sister Luke & Leia stories, and when it comes to Rogue One I’m iffy on just who I can write since all I’ve written so far is a Jyn POV piece. Other than that, feel free to toss an idea at me prior to requesting and I’ll give a more resolute yes or no answer. No NC-17 for this fandom

NEW FANDOM - Good Omens So I am vastly more familiar with the book than the miniseries, but I do have access to the miniseries and plan on watching it soon. I will probably end up writing Aziraphale/Crowley and Gabriel/Beelzebub because that’s what my enabler writes, but feel free to toss other ideas at me. No NC-17 for this fandom, and would actually prefer a ton of gen prompts if given prompts for this fandom.

NEW FANDOM - DCCU So I’m limited in this one, as the only one I’ve attempted is Wondertrev fic, but I’ve seen “Batman vs Superman” and “Wonder Woman” and am planning on watching the rest at some point. Would probably feel most comfortable with Wondertrev, Clois and Wonderbat. No NC-17 for now.

NEW FANDOM - Legends Of Tomorrow I am much much more familiar with this show than the rest of the DCTV shows, having seen the first season and following various developments since here on Tumblr. As I am still in Series 1, will probably focus on Captain Canary for a while until I get used to the newer characters. Potentially will write Avalance, Constagreen, Zari/Amaya and Constantine/Sara as I get more into the show. No NC-17 so far.

NEW FANDOM - DCAU Very very familiar with the random DCAU shows (minus Superman: TAS and The Zeta Project). Big Harley/Ivy fan, big Wonderbat fan, Big Question/Huntress fan, big Green Arrow/Black Canary fan, big Batcat fan, big Terry/Dana fan. Don’t know how well I can write all of the above except I know I can write Harley/Ivy, as I already have. No NC-17. For other characters in DCAU (excluding The Zeta Project, Superman: TAS and Static Shock for the moment) ask and we’ll see what I can do.

NEW FANDOM - Midsomer Murders So this one…I’ve watched pretty much every episode up to Winters at least once, if not more? I’m willing to give any character and implied/hinted at/”will they or won’t they?” ship a chance. Send me Jones prompts and I may give you a longer fic (he’s my fave). No NC-17 for now, nothing probably over 500 words for most fics until I get more comfortable in this fandom.

CROSSOVER SHIPS I do write crossover ships as well! Most of them are Sherlock oriented, but I ship McCoy/Molly (Star Trek AOS/Sherlock), Khan/Molly (Star Trek AOS/Sherlock), Sherlock/Amy (Sherlock/Doctor Who), Lestrade/Donna (Sherlock/Doctor Who), Eleven/Molly (Doctor Who/Sherlock), Rory/Molly (Doctor Who/Sherlock), Martin/Molly (Cabin Pressure/Sherlock), Bucky/Clara (MCU/Doctor Who) and McCoy/Donna (Star Trek AOS/Doctor Who). Other potential crossovers are welcome, just run the ship and a prompt by me and we’ll see if I can make it work.

Also old fandoms I could be persuaded to do again (but under very limited and probably non-shippy circumstances, and not for anything long unless it’s for a special present) would include Bleach, St. Trinians movies, CSIverse and early season Supernatural.

          and мy нearт waѕ pυмpιng, cнeѕт waѕ ѕcreaмιng                          мιnd waѕ rυnnιng, aιr waѕ ғreezιng                                                pυт мy нandѕ υp,                                                pυт мy нandѕ υp,                       ι тold тнιѕ ĸιd, " ι'м ready ғor a ғιgнт! "

XX Indie RP blog for Jake Reed/Jacob Everton II, Waldrick Everton, Fionnula Coralbroom, Gladwin Lightwing, Josephus “Tex” Munroe, Ravyn Vambrace, Isabelle and Archimedes Bradford, Helena DuVal, prince Janos, Jacob Everton I, Dr Celestus, Nixella Marie Valentine, Maddox St Trinian, and two OCs. Sideblog to @wolfwished

Dialect Coaches on Actors and the Best and Worst Accents

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Congruity is important in fiction. Trust and verisimilitude are the first casualties when breaches of the unspoken contract between creator and audience occur. Each of us has our own limits on what we’re prepared to accept before that crucial tipping point is reached and our minds unmoor from a piece of fiction. Although we understand that show-runners and directors will sometimes bend reality or sacrifice elements of the truth or historical record in the pursuit of spectacle or entertainment, some things are sacrosanct.

Arguably our ears are the fiercest arbiters of truth. These days, botched accents or dialects in entertainment vehicles are the elements most likely to trigger flash-bangs of furious incredulity, and offend cultural sensibilities (especially now that we’re past the era of casting people in serious dramatic roles out-with their own ethnicities). Though the 1995 movie Braveheart was rife with historical inaccuracies – akin to Abraham Lincoln teaming up with Grover Cleveland to fight WWII alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger – it retained a plausible and satisfying emotional core in the hearts of most Scots largely thanks to Mel Gibson putting on an eminently passable, forgivably imperfect Scottish accent. That wouldn’t have been the case had he sounded like Christopher Lambert or Pee Wee Herman.  

So accents are important. They strike at the truth of who we are, where we’re from and where we’re going. It follows then that the gate-keepers of the human voice – the vocal coaches and dialect specialists that lend their expertise to the entertainment industry – perform a vital function that transcends mere entertainment. Den of Geek spoke to three of them, to get a flavor of the work they do, the professional choices they make, the role they see themselves playing, their views on the industry, and their take on the issues of the day filtered through the prism of their profession. 

Nic Redman is a well-known and knowledgeable vocal coach and voice actor who hails from Northern Ireland, but now lives and works in the north of England; her coaching helps regular folks, commercial clients and famous faces alike. 

Paul Meier is a voice coach, actor, professor, Shakespeare enthusiast, theatre director and archivist of dialects who made the leap from the southern UK to the mid-western US in 1978, bringing with him a wealth of expertise. 

Joy Lanceta Coronel is a Kentucky-born, NY-based dialectal wunderkind, who, as well as being an eminently qualified voice and acting coach, conducts research into Asian identity and cultural representation, particularly those aspects that intersect with her profession.    

Of course you can’t have three voice coaches on hand without first asking them their opinion on the worst and best examples of accents in TV and film. 

Music to your ears

Let’s start with the best.

Nic singles out Jodie Comer in Killing Eve. “I’d seen her in one other thing, and she spoke in Received Pronunciation (RP) – like a standard, southern English sound – and I just assumed she spoke RP. And then I saw Killing Eve, and I was like, ‘Wow, she’s good at accents’. And then I heard her in an interview, and I’m like, ‘You are kidding me’. Because she’s a proper Scouser, like [from Liverpool, England]. And unabashedly, unashamed, wearing it proudly, as everyone with a regional accent should.”

Paul’s pick is Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady. “I’ve never seen a better impersonation. She transcended impersonation and totally got the accent, but it was a brilliant impersonation as well. I did a podcast with the dialect coach on The Iron Lady, Jill McCullough, and Jill just sat in the corner twiddling her thumbs while Meryl Streep worked her magic.” 

Joy is also quick to laud Meryl Streep, particularly her performance in Sophie’s Choice. She also gives special mentions to Renee Zellweger in the first Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. When it comes to picking the worst examples of the craft, Joy favours diplomacy over dirt-slinging. “Ah this question is so nuanced because I’d hate to call people out on something that might have been the result of so many different variables. There are several instances when a coach might not have as much time with the actor for them to fully inhabit the accent. You also have to factor in that an actor might not be very familiar with an accent, and oftentimes it makes it more difficult for them to take on the sounds if it is difficult for them to hear them in the first place.”

Luckily for us and our salacious appetites, Nic and Paul have no such reservations. “I really want to give shout outs to Gerard Butler in P.S. I Love You,” says Nic. “As an Irish person I found that pretty horrific. Keanu Reeves in Dracula, Don Cheadle in Ocean’s Eleven. And, then, just a couple of shout-outs for some ladies. Anne Hathaway in One Day. I know she tried really hard. I married a Yorkshireman so I think I’m a bit more sensitive to that one. And Mischa Barton in St Trinians.”

Paul goes with something of an old classic from the accent hall of horrors: Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. He follows up his choice with a salient point: “I did a podcast with my son, who is a movie critic, talking about best and worst. I found myself saying that Dick Van Dyke was so utterly charming in the role of Bert the chimney sweep, that despite his egregious cockney accent, you would say, ‘But this is how Bert speaks. This is Dick Van Dyke’s Bert’s cockney’, and it’s almost become institutional now, even though it’s a really bad cockney.” 

You could say the same of Karl Urban’s accent in The Boys. Butcher is supposed to be from London, but his accent is a hotchpotch that takes in the antipodes via South Africa. Again, though, the character, and Urban’s portrayal, is such a powerhouse that you stop caring. Perhaps we make allowances for bad accents by great actors just so long as the place they’re evoking isn’t an integral part of their character’s make-up; or that the character isn’t intended as a vessel to speak for, or about, people from that place. 

Do the coaches agree that many actors from the US seem to struggle with UK accents in general, and London accents in particular? 

“The thing about Americans encountering British accents,” says Nic, “is they have two representations of what we sound like: Downton Abbey and anything by Guy Ritchie. English or Cockney. You’d think that would help them be specific, but I think they really struggle with it because it shares a lot with Australian as well, for very specific historical reasons, and I think they flip stuff around and get a bit confused.”

Paul believes that US actors struggle with some UK accents mainly for social reasons. “Brits and Australians are better at American accents than vice versa. And it’s not because of any innate ability. It’s just because Americans tend to be more insular. American English is the global language, very few Americans have passports, they don’t travel. It’s a big country, very self-sufficient. And so for these social, socio-linguistic reasons, Americans don’t tend to be as good at accents.” 

Sometimes, says Nic, we the audience will not have been privy to the decisions made on the modelling of a character’s accent – their background, their idiolect – and thus can judge a performance unfairly. “That’s how I felt about Elizabeth Moss in Top of the Lake. She got a lot of flak for her accent, but I loved the performance so much, and she was a person from a place living in a different place, so there were going to be influences from that side, so maybe she made a conscious decision to do it that way.”

A Day in the Life

How, then, does a voice coach operate? How do they assist performers? And what’s in their toolkit? Joy clues us in:

“Sometimes I get pulled in at the last minute and I have to work with an actor who has already spent time with the script without my guidance, so those instances can be challenging,” she says. “What I do enjoy is that I get one-on-one time with the actors, so it is an intimate process. I shape my sessions based on different variables: how much time I have with them; how familiar they are with the accent or dialect, how difficult the accent or dialect is, what kind of space we are working in. It’s usually a conversation that triangulates between director, actor, and coach. If possible, I try to find an audio sample of a person who meets the criteria we discussed, and we work from those audio samples. Using a real speaker as a model is the best way to humanize the work.”

What about those rare cases where a play, movie or TV show is set in a non-English-speaking country, yet casts English-speaking actors as natives, and has them speak in English? The examples that spring to mind are the TV mini-series Chernobyl and the movie The Death of Stalin. Do voice coaches have any opinion of, or involvement with, those scenarios? Paul takes the mantle:

“If you start with the idea of a Chekhov play; all of those characters are speaking Russian to each other, and we, simply for our own convenience, are speaking a translation into English, so does it make any sense to play your Chekhov characters with a Russian accent? Not really. Because they’re not speaking a language other than their own, their first language, so why would they get it wrong? If you have a play or a film where the Russian character is speaking English, then it wouldn’t make sense not to give him a Russian accent. And then I think of exceptions, like [the movie] Chocolat. All of those characters were speaking French to each other. We, simply for our own convenience, hear them in English. And yet the director and the dialect coach very astutely gave a very slight French accent colouration to the film. And I thought it helped. It put me in that little French village.” 

Authenticity and avoiding stereotypes

Authenticity clearly plays an integral role in both the coaching process and ethos. This article has so far concentrated on those dialects that predominate within the English-speaking world, but what of the importance of ensuring the authenticity of accents from other parts of the world; countries and continents whose languages and cultures may well have become an integral, though still too often marginalised, part of the shared experience of living in the US or Europe?    

“I can speak from the work I’ve done in the past with accents such as Thai, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean,” says New York-based Joy. “These East Asian accents have a long history of stereotyping, mimicry, and caricature and it has hurt these communities. So, for that reason, it is all the more important to add as much authenticity and humanity to the accent and frame the accent through the lens of a real human being, and not just the stereotypes that were so often seen in TV, film, and stage. Studies show that most Americans don’t know a lot about Asian culture, much less the nuanced sounds of each language. It’s just not something Americans have paid attention to because of racist portrayals and phrases like ‘Ching chong chang.’ I feel a great deal of responsibility for showcasing these languages authentically, and it is my hope that audiences will begin to recognize these sounds and hear the drastic differences among East Asian languages, so that we can slowly veer away from our problematic past.”

The issue of representation within the entertainment industry, which dovetails with notions of authenticity, gained prominence during last year’s Black Lives Matters protests, and put a lot of hitherto accepted (sometimes only grudgingly) conventions under the spotlight. Animated shows like Big Mouth, Family Guy and The Simpsons were forced to reckon with the new paradigm by recasting, or un-casting, white actors who had been portraying POC. What do the coaches think about representation in this context, and where would they weigh in on versatility versus verisimilitude?   

Paul, whose life and work have straddled seven decades, responds with intellectual honesty and a sprinkling of Devil’s Advocate: “I have two takes on that really. One is that it’s a shame if you take any work away from an actor. Actors, that’s what they do: they impersonate everybody, without politics, without judgement, and it seems a shame in the world of infinite imagination to deprive anybody of the ability to impersonate or play any role. To me, it depends upon the spirit in which the thing is done. Take the role of Godbole in A Passage to India, played by Sir Alec Guinness. If we made the film today, of course we would cast Indian actors, but was Alec Guinness derogating or mocking India when he played that? No, he did a sterling job, with total respect for the culture. And then, you look on the other side of it. There’s an employment theme: why would you want to – with so many great African American actors – why on earth would you want to cast a white person to do that – unless there is some sort of exceptional necessity in that casting?”

Nic is slightly more unequivocal. “Yes, every actor can potentially play whatever they want and whoever they want, but it’s not about whether they can at the moment, it’s about whether they should. And we all have a responsibility in many ways in life right now to open up the doors to some of the more under-represented ethnicities and cultures. I feel that the only way I can responsibly be a coach in the current climate is to – if anything comes along that I feel could be coached by somebody of a more appropriate ethnic background, then I’ll pass that along. And that’s a no-brainer.”

Nic still has to grapple with and practice even those accents she couldn’t in all good conscience tutor someone to speak. “It’s important for me to understand how those accents work because I may get someone of that ethnic background coming to me wanting a different accent. Everybody starts at an accent from a different place, because everyone’s accent articulation patterns are different. So, for me, I may say the ‘ow’ sound as in the word mouth. I know I have to drop my tongue, because the northern Irish accent has more of a high tongue position. If I was teaching that ‘ow’ vowel to someone who wasn’t northern Irish, I’d have to understand where their tongue position may be. I can’t say to everybody, ‘Oh, for this sound you need to lower your tongue,’ because they might not need to lower their tongue. They might need to raise, flatten or loosen their tongue. So it’s not one-size fits all. It’s part of my job to look into these histories and cultures, and understand how these sounds work and feel.”     

Joy picks up the question of representation as it relates to The Simpsons and other animated shows, and examines it all through a wide cultural lens. “I appreciate the movement to re-cast these roles. There is no justification for characters like Apu and Doctor Hibbert being voiced by white actors, and it’s something I’ve opposed for a long time. It simply perpetuates stereotypes and caricatures. And there’s no justification because there are a multitude of actors who could have voiced these characters, and who could have embodied the racial, linguistic, and ethnic background of these characters. BIPOC actors already have limited opportunities as a result of limited stories on BIPOC, so why deprive them of the opportunity? In addition to perpetuating colonialism mentality, white characters voicing Indian, American and Black characters completely ignores the history of Blackface, Brownface, and minstrel performances, all of which were racist practices meant to mimic and inaccurately portray these communities through humor.”

In closing: with whom were the trio most proud of working; who was the actor or person who shone the brightest under or alongside them? Paul plumps for Tobey Maguire, Joy for BD Wong, actors they lavish with praise. Nic takes a different approach, declining to name anyone specific. “I’m most proud of the clients who come and commit to the work – and they come back as much as they need, as they can afford, as they want, and they make genuine improvement, and it has a genuine impact on their life and their career. That’s the amazing kind of thing about this job. With the right attitude, and enough time and money I think anybody can learn an accent… but that’s a Holy Trinity that doesn’t always come together.” 

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Please tell us your picks for the best and worst accents in film and TV in the comments below. Also, there are links to our interviewees should you wish to enlist their services, or are curious about their work. 

Paul Meier – Dialect Services www.paulmeier.com

Nic Redman – Voice Coach and Accent Specialist Nicredmanvoice.com

Joy Lanceta Coronel – Speech, Dialect and Communication Coach joylanceta.com

The post Dialect Coaches on Actors and the Best and Worst Accents appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2OoSTE1

tag thingy

I was tagged by the fantastic @pighmypuff and @iwperius, thank you loves.

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 people (or however many you want, I won’t manage 20)

nickname(s): alice, al-pal, galice (gryffindor alice when hufflepuff alice (‘halice’) is also on shift), frodo.

gender: female

sign: gemini

height: 5’5

time: for a moment I thought this was time of birth? that was 4am. actual time now is 8:30pm, I feel like that is what the question was going for 

birthday: june 20th 

favourite bands: iron and wine, mcfly, fall out boy 

favourite solo artists: billy joel, halsey, macy grey

song stuck in my head: dj got us falling in love tonight by usher, what a tune

last movie i watched: st trinians

last show i watched: f.r.i.e.n.d.s

when did i create this blog: end of august 2017

what do i post: 99% hp rp let’s be real

what did i last google: ’thomas the dank engine’. I don’t even know???

other blogs: just this one for now 

do i get asks: yes and I love every single one, thank you pals

why did i choose this url: cor the marauders vibes 

following: about 180?

followers: i’m about to hit 600 aaaay

average hours of sleep: it’s either 5 or 12 and there is no inbetween

lucky number: 14 and 28

instrument: accordion, guitar, vocals and a very poor amount of piano.

what am i wearing: pajamas and my favourite jumper

dream job: a researcher and writer for historical documentaries.

favourite food: LA-SAG-NA. honestly I could eat it all day every day.

last book i read:  i’m trying to reread the conquest of lisbon in the original latin lmao (it’s really hard but i’m halfway through)

3 favourite fandoms: harry potter (surprise surprise), lord of the rings and pjo

i’ll tag these lovely people, @gryffindorkus @thehumanrat @rainbowsandsilverlinings @askpadfootsiriusblack @notanotherweasley @sirussly @siriusly-sly  @askmischiefmanaged @the-moon-and-stars-my-love. feel free to ignore if you’re not feeling it though. or do it even if you haven;t been tagged. it’s 2018 my dudes, go wild.

✧ — ⋆   𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

part two.  tw: drinking and alcohol references .

“i wondered if you weren’t too busy, maybe one night this week, shoot me down in flames if it’s not a good idea, but i thought we could pop along, the two of us.” “i don’t think so.” “no. stupid idea.” “i don’t mix business with pleasure.” “incoming 10 degrees south, possible hostile intruder located.” “she looks  like she hasn’t got a pot to piss in.” “sorry, she doesn’t look like she’s got a pot in which to piss.” “i daresay you’ll do very well.” “very careless of us.” “you must try my latest concoction . it’s a real beauty.” “i call it the gerald after my first husband. cheap, bitter, and completely alcoholic.” “have you been drinking again?” “just a little breathless.” “go on, i’m dying to know what you think.” “they’re bloody animals.” “i’ve got some shelves that need putting up and the kitchens need a good scrub.” “i think you’ll find you and i both want the same things.” “i used to eat people.” “hello, big boy.” “i did really well in my last oral, although i did find it a bit of a mouthful at first.” “we’re onto you, so watch your backs!” “does anyone have any smelling salts?” “what have they done to you?” “we do play a little rough.” “maybe we’ll be seeing a little more of one another.” “i’m afraid after last night we’ve only got smirnoff.” “aren’t you lucky?” “final demand? how can there be more than one final demand?” “i can’t believe you haven’t already told me about this.” “the subject of today’s lesson is crime.” “you’ve gotta search for the criminal inside yourself.” “we’re talking mission: impossible.” “if tom cruise can do it, so can we.” “how do we get into the building?” “we need some kind of cover.”

“You don’t go here.” New kid? Visitor? Whatever they were, Kelly wanted to KNOW - it was PRACTICALLY her school, after all. 

That was surprisingly quick! All I have to do now is character graphics and bios and the St Trinian's rp will be open for applications! (You can take a look here if you want)

✧ — ⋆   𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 

part one .

“this is so creepy.” “you’ll have to forgive me.” “i can’t understand a word you’re saying.” “listen to me very carefully.” “you can’t expect me to stay here!” “it’s like hogwarts for pikeys.” “it’s a little rough around the edges, darling.” “there seems to be some kind of mistake.” “i’ve done nothing to feel guilty about.” “don’t you think i make a remarkable queen?” “snooty cow.” “oh my god! you want us to steal scarlett johansson?!” “you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” “i’m so sorry, it’s a side effect of my raisin-and-ryvita diet!” “what’s this then?” “they’re tampons, flash.” “women don’t just want to feel beautiful on the outside!” “it’s for the smell!” “your girlish laughter hit me like the lash of a hunting crop.” “no biting, no scratching... kicking, no gouging, no kickboxing, no punching, no slapping, and no spitting.” “you are so blonde.” “that hurt more than a brazilian wax.” “we’re facing the biggest crisis of our lives and you’re behaving like a bloody child!” “i’m being touched!” “so, how do you feel?” “what about the problems we had with the last batch?” “houston, we have a problem.” “you’ve had this coming since the day you arrived.” “i don’t mix business with pleasure.” “go paint your nails.” “she who angers you conquers you.” “i’m sorry, i didn’t get your name.” “you saying i nicked your bed? is that what you’re saying?” “i’ll give you a slap.” “oi, are you calling me a chav?” “are they asleep?” “what are they betting on?” “now we’ll see what she’s made of.” “i want you to come and pick me up from this hell hole right now.” “i’m tucked up in bed watching desperate housewives.” “i can’t believe what you just did.” “i don’t know what came over me.” “if that’s permanent, i’ll see you in court.” “you wanted a word?”

4, 12, 13!

4. Name a muse you have written in the past. What was your favourite thing about this muse?

Answer: Jericho Wilson. He’s probably the most unique I’ve played, a hero with a true heart of gold, disabled, and bisexual. He was just a genuinely kind-hearted person and even though he hated fighting, he was SO ready to fight when he needed to and he didn’t hold a grudge against Pantha, BB, and Mas(?) for judging him on sight like they did. I, however, hold a grudge and am still pissed.

12. How many muses are you currently writing?

Answer : Oh geez… 13 on this blog, there’s Henry on my main that I haven’t done much with lately, 2 gods, and 1 demigod sideblog so I have ………… 17 muses currently. Not counting several OCs I have on dis.cord RPs, plus Maddox St Trinian on dis.cord so 19+ muses in total

13. In how many fandoms are you currently active?

Just The Gryphon Chronicles but….I’m the only TGC roleplayer on this whole website so idk if that even counts as a fandon—

If I made a St Trinian’s rp, set the year after the sequel movie, would anyone here be interested in it?

laetitiarph answered: ME ME ME ME ME, I MADE A POST ABOUT SOMOENE MAKING A ST-TRINIAN RP THAT I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP jasperhelps answered: meee *makes inhuman noise* brittsroleplayhelp answered: I’d so be interested in that babeofrphs answered: I know I would be

Guess I'm going to start making one then!