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Message Board Homepage Acting Methods and Approaches Where do you learn to do accents for your role?
Message Board Homepage Acting Methods and Approaches Where do you learn to do accents for your role?|
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Kevin Bacon |
You know every actor has been faced with that one role that would be perfect for him/her! but they need an accent!
Well. How does one actor go about learning to do that accent? I've downloaded a course on an austrailian accent, and it goes over the sounds of each letter, but for some reason It sounds more british than Aussie. What do you guys recommend? Are their acting classes? Internet courses? or what? Thanks mate! =P |
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Al Pacino |
Does the audition have to be done in an Aussie accent? You could do the audition without an accent and when you get the part, hopefully the crew can hire a dialect coach for you.
Study the International Phonetic Alphabet. That's what your current course seems to be teaching. If you can master IPA, then you'll be able to easily learn accents. |
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Kevin Bacon |
i know you can take dialect classes. you can also go to the library or book store and get dialect tapes. i live in santa monica and santa monica public library has every dialect you could possibly ask for. i would also try searching on the internet, maybe you could download an Australian dialect mp3
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Sean Penn |
Learning the IPA can be a great foundation... but IMO that should be treated more like an on-going part of your vocal training. And I wouldn't recommend "crash-coursing" the IPA to learn a dialect for an upcoming project.
The IPA doesn't teach you the "rhythm" of a dialect... and that's important to have to sound convincing. None of us acquired our accents/dialects by learning the IPA. We did so by living among people that already spoke that way. So... I would suggest submersing yourself in the dialect. Watch Aussie films and Aussie comedians. Listen to Aussie audio books. Watch Aussie infomercials. Live it and breathe it 24/7. After you feel you've got a handle on it, talk in that dialect all the time. And I mean ALL THE TIME. Figure at least 3-4 weeks of doing that before you really start picking up on the rhythm of the accent. |
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Julia Roberts |
I am an Aussie- and this advice is GOLDEN. Except for Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, I have yet to hear an American convince me yet. So you need TIME. |
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Kevin Bacon |
1st.
Listen to Aussie radio via the web. AND REALLY LISTEN. mimic some of the sentences to teach your tounge a new set of enunciation modes. 2nd. Annoy the hell out of your fellow humans by speaking exclusively in that accent leading up to the audition. If you only rehearse in the accent, you tend to get stuck in a rut with inflections and tempo- if you can use the accent regardless of the situation, you'll be much better off. thems me thougths... |
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Hilary Swank |
I agree. You should also re-write your script out phonetically in the dialect you're researching. But yes, its important to learn the regional dialect of the country you are studying. Have fun with it too! |
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Sean Penn |
I have a question on top of this post...
I am reading some scripts and the characters are from the UK. How do you figure out which dialect is correct? I want to be as specific as possible. How do I know or figure out if the character speaks in a cockney, upper class British, or any other type dialect? Thanks! "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up everytime we do." Confucius |
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Sean Penn |
I agree whole heartedly with this. From the directors I have been around (Keeping in mind I have mostly stage experience thus far), each one has said, unless you can do the accent perfectly at the time of audition... DON'T DO IT. Audition with your own voice, and if you get the part I will teach you. At least that seems to be the general consensus. And it does help more I feel to listen to people speak. Like for example when human trafficking first aired on TV by the end of it, I'd picked up a pretty accurate Russian Accent. Mind you that was years ago, and I tried it the other day and sounded like an idiot, so it's a good idea to continue to listen  By the time I'd watched "Charlie bit me" a few hundred times my British is pretty spot on though as well (Totally kidding about that last part  )"I think I've still got a bit of a sado-masochistic streak in me, because if I'm not going to be restricted by corsets and covered in lace, then I still wind up wearing an ape-mask over my face. I do wonder how I get myself in these situations! "-Helena Bonham Carter |
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Julia Roberts |
In many plays, they should say where and when the play is set and give a description of the characters. This will help you. For instance, if it's a wealthy, upper-crust British family in the 1800's (or today) you know they will speak in a very polished manner. Then they may have a maid enter in which case she could have a Cockney accent. Make sense? It's all about reading the play/script carefully and in some cases, doing all your homework on the characters. Sometimes you just may have to make a choice and hope it's the right one. "A woman, standing nude, looks in the bedroom mirror and says to her husband, "I feel horrible, I look fat and ugly. Pay me a compliment.? Her husband replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect." He never heard the shot." |
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Sean Penn |
Some of the best advice I've ever received on accents:
If you're working on an accent, rehearse the play without the accent, but speak with the accent in your actual life 24/7. Then a few days before the dress rehearsal bring in the accent and it'll flow like magic. |
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Sean Penn |
I use Youtube. You can find ungodly amounts of footage on YT.
If it is a dialect I'm having particular trouble with, I'll get a book. But usually these books are filled with hieroglyphics and goobly-gob. Or, if I know a movie that has the accent I want...I'll Netflix it. Michael Reed www.bigtalent.com/michaelreed www.myspace.com/m1chaelreed "The question isn't whether the glass if half empty, or the glass is half full...the question is, does it have to be a glass?" |
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BackStage.com Message Board Homepage Acting Methods and Approaches Where do you learn to do accents for your role?
Message Board Homepage Acting Methods and Approaches Where do you learn to do accents for your role?© 2009 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved.