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10/30/14 Voice Acting Suggestions?
11 years ago
General
Chirp, chirp!
Hey there, FA! I'd like to hit anyone up who might have an idea for a solution to my problem. I've been trying to work it through, but I'm just plumb out of ideas at this point!
So, I teach a class in a program called Telecommunity. It's a program dedicated to exposing people anywhere from 8-18 to professional-level digital art programs (Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, etc.) and just generally have a great time exploring their artistic spirits. It's a wonderful program, one that I've been with for at least seven years, as a student for four and a teacher for about three. Since we work by volunteer only under Duquesne University, nobody has to pay anything to get into the program: It's strictly a program to help those who want it. Because of the good it does for those kids, who otherwise would never get the opportunity to work with professional-level tools, I'm nothing but proud to be a part of it and to lend my support to the program in any way I can.
Now that you have the backstory, here's recent events: I usually teach Video Game Design in one of the labs, but with it being the fall sessions, the only people involved in that are the people that already know what they're doing, so they just work and I have nothing to teach or help with. Makes my job awfully boring. So, I brightened up when one of the younger students approached me while I was demonstrating a proper German accent, bewildered and wanting to learn how to do it. Over the course of the gap between that and the next class, I formulated an idea to teach kids how to improve voice acting skills, hit up the idea with one of the older teachers, and she thought it was a wonderful idea so we sought to make it a reality by writing it up on a sheet and passing it around next class to gauge interest. Turns out there was a LOT of interest! I had a small class, but it was certainly large enough for me to see it as a genuinely interested following! I talked at length introducing them to the anatomy of the voice box and the respiratory system so they could get familiar with the terms, and then went a bit into mic etiquette. It was a nice class, and when I asked if they'd be interested in doing this again the next class (Nov 8), they all said yes! So, I set out to formulate a lesson plan.
That's where things get tricky.
I already know where I want to start; giving them a few exercises to warm up their voice, then having them say a few lines into the microphone, first in a normal voice. This is to get them acclimated to the way their voice sounds to other people, so they know what to work on with their own tonality. The second part is more interesting: in front of everyone else, I'm going to ask them to say those same lines again, but in the silliest, goofiest voice they can possibly muster. The purpose behind this is to help subdue their desire to break character when something might feel uncomfortable for them, the second is to help them really get into a character, and the third one, actually a challenge for the audience, is to ensure they don't laugh. Not only will it be heard on the mic (a BIG no-no), but it's also a lesson in taking characters as genuine. If you can't take someone else's character seriously, you won't be able to take your own character seriously, and you'll just stand there giggling at your own line for about 20 minutes before you can say it to clue everyone in on what's so funny.
So that's all well and good, but... where to go from there? What would be a good stepping stone to get to talking about working with the voice to develop character, or even just working with the voice a bit more? Any ideas, suggestions?
So, I teach a class in a program called Telecommunity. It's a program dedicated to exposing people anywhere from 8-18 to professional-level digital art programs (Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, etc.) and just generally have a great time exploring their artistic spirits. It's a wonderful program, one that I've been with for at least seven years, as a student for four and a teacher for about three. Since we work by volunteer only under Duquesne University, nobody has to pay anything to get into the program: It's strictly a program to help those who want it. Because of the good it does for those kids, who otherwise would never get the opportunity to work with professional-level tools, I'm nothing but proud to be a part of it and to lend my support to the program in any way I can.
Now that you have the backstory, here's recent events: I usually teach Video Game Design in one of the labs, but with it being the fall sessions, the only people involved in that are the people that already know what they're doing, so they just work and I have nothing to teach or help with. Makes my job awfully boring. So, I brightened up when one of the younger students approached me while I was demonstrating a proper German accent, bewildered and wanting to learn how to do it. Over the course of the gap between that and the next class, I formulated an idea to teach kids how to improve voice acting skills, hit up the idea with one of the older teachers, and she thought it was a wonderful idea so we sought to make it a reality by writing it up on a sheet and passing it around next class to gauge interest. Turns out there was a LOT of interest! I had a small class, but it was certainly large enough for me to see it as a genuinely interested following! I talked at length introducing them to the anatomy of the voice box and the respiratory system so they could get familiar with the terms, and then went a bit into mic etiquette. It was a nice class, and when I asked if they'd be interested in doing this again the next class (Nov 8), they all said yes! So, I set out to formulate a lesson plan.
That's where things get tricky.
I already know where I want to start; giving them a few exercises to warm up their voice, then having them say a few lines into the microphone, first in a normal voice. This is to get them acclimated to the way their voice sounds to other people, so they know what to work on with their own tonality. The second part is more interesting: in front of everyone else, I'm going to ask them to say those same lines again, but in the silliest, goofiest voice they can possibly muster. The purpose behind this is to help subdue their desire to break character when something might feel uncomfortable for them, the second is to help them really get into a character, and the third one, actually a challenge for the audience, is to ensure they don't laugh. Not only will it be heard on the mic (a BIG no-no), but it's also a lesson in taking characters as genuine. If you can't take someone else's character seriously, you won't be able to take your own character seriously, and you'll just stand there giggling at your own line for about 20 minutes before you can say it to clue everyone in on what's so funny.
So that's all well and good, but... where to go from there? What would be a good stepping stone to get to talking about working with the voice to develop character, or even just working with the voice a bit more? Any ideas, suggestions?
I think your approach to prune out the social embarrassment factor is a good one. No actor is at the top of their game when they aren't confident about their own performance.
As a suggestion, have them develop their own voices, two minimum, and turn those voices into whole characters. Be sure to emphasize that they shouldn't be doing impressions.