Behind The Microphone
Voice Acting
First Thoughts
So my first thought on this unit haven't changed significantly from when i first heard after it. I want to be a voice actor because i love the hidden aspect of their career and as much as i like being appreciated, I have more confidence knowing people don't know who i am. So voice acting just seems like the best fit. I like the fact that there's no limit to what i can do in this unit as long as i can relate it back to voice acting which allows me to do as many different variety of things as i like. I am sceptical about leading a vocal workshop and the research into the throat and voice, the scientific aspect of it, however with some time and research I'm certain that won't be anything to worry about. I'm pretty confident with this unit and looking forward to doing it.
My Voice Script Choices
So the only real criteria that I was given was to do a wide range of voice acting clips in order to show my range and diversity in acting. So I looked for scripts I could use that would show my range in acting.
I started with radio because I listen to the radio almost every week on my way to college. I hear how the radio host speak and introduce their next songs and its much like a TV host, very energetic and lively in order to hook listeners. Using things I’ve heard from radio I decided to create my own script to use. To co-side with my radio station presenter I found some radio advert scripts to use, my choices are: Glevum Windows, MG car advert and a Mcdonald’s delivery advert. I wanted to do the Glevum windows advert because it was one I had done previously years before in my voice acting unit for level 3, however the recording has been lost. It was a fun radio advert to do and is something I am familiar in doing so would give me confidence in future adverts. The car advert was something different, they had this soothing voice like a animal documentary which I think I could imitate. And the Mcdonald’s one is an upbeat enjoyable advert trying to spread the news that you can now be lazier and eat from home. Those two radio adverts both feature terms and conditions at the end so it is a great chance for me to learn to speak the words quickly, what is something advertising agencies look for when hiring a voice actor to voice record their terms and conditions.
Audio books have become a lot more popular in recent times because it’s easier to listen to someone else read a book than read it yourself. Therefore due to the popularity of audio books the demand for voice actors for them have also increased, so having an audio book for my portfolio would be very beneficial. I’ve chose two extracts from two books that I have written myself being a horror book and a dystopian future. I can then use the audio that I recorded to help promote my own books on things like TicTok and Instagram. Social media has become a great platform in order to promote many things and there have been cases of people being hired for acting from their work on TicTok. However to show some diversity I will read also read a children's book, I was thinking a Mr Men’s book because I used to read them all the time as a child and they are not very long so would be easier to listen to fully.
I am a big fan of movies and monologues so I wanted to do some monologues, however I movies there are very few monologues that you can do, however there are a few duologues. So one that I have wanted to do is from ‘Piarates of the Caribbean: Dead mans chest’ between Captain Jack Sparrow and Davey Jones. I have been told I can do a pretty good Davey Jones impression so I would like to hear how it sounds. It’s a good adventure movie and the scene is about Sparrow bargaining with the villain for his life. I could do both parts however I think I'd like someone else to play the part of Jack Sparrow. I would also like the same from my duologue of Captain America: Civil War, between Tony Stark and Steve Roggers. The scene is about two friends trying to sort things out but couldn’t come to an agreement so start arguing instead. They don’t want to but can’t agree. To contrast the live action movies I decided to do some scenes from one of my favourite kid's films ‘The Incredibles’. There is this really powerful scene between Bob and Helen where they are arguing over what’s best for their family and their kids and it’s both entertaining but also rather serious, a perfect balance of both of the moods. And in the sequel ‘Incredibles 2’ there is this really threatening monologue from the villain ‘screenslaver’ which I want to do because the voice is done through a voice changer in the film, but I would like to challenge myself to see if I can replicate the sound without using one. I could do this by changing the pitches of my voice and the tone of it while reading. I also can add a croakiness to my voice in order to break up the audio.
In level three we had to do monologues and one of the ones I did was from a video game called ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ by a character called ‘Mr Hippo’. This character is a comedic character as if you are killed by him in the game he jump scares you and then tells you a five minuet random off topic story before you can retry the level. I found these stories hilarious as he’s constantly going off topic, stuttering and repeating things and forgetting what he original was talking about. However I have lost the video recording I did of that monologue but since I loved it so much I would like to do it again. It is a comedic role so would break up from the more serious scripts I have done. From the same game franchise, there’s another monologue about a person who has hidden themselves behind the scenes and has now revealed themselves to be the cause of the entire game and is saying goodbye. The original is said rather monotone as it is a recording however the script is rather emotional so I would like to try doing it both ways; emotional and monotone.
After choosing my scripts I noticed that a lot of them were quite serious and short scenes so I decided to contradict that by getting a long comedy script for me to read. It’s from a comedian called ‘Randy’ from his show ‘Randy Writes A Novel’ which is absolutely hilarious. In it he’s trying to read a book but keeps getting distracted in order to procrastinate. In the script he’s talking about a ridiculous online encounter he had on ‘Gumtree’. It is roughly twenty minutes so would be a great way to show my vocal stamina. Having to talk for long periods time very energetically is drastically different from any of the other scripts that I have got.
I think these choices will show enough diversity in my vocal acting range as I've selected scripts from all sorts of different genres and medias that require voice acting. I would also consider making a podcast and perhaps separate recordings of me learning accents because that something I want to learn for not just voice acting but acting in general.
A First Recording
thoughts after first recording
I have to say I'm not too sure how i feel after the first recording. I feel like i could've done better with my screenslaver monologue. I knew exactly how i wanted it to sound. I wanted this croaky whisper in order to sound like a voice changer like how it is in the animated feature it's from, however for some reason once going into the room I couldn't do it. Or at least it sounded different in the microphone than when I do it at home. The other two i did were fine however i feel like i could do better or something more with my voice.
second recordings
Doing the radio advert and the monologue I found fine doing. I messed up doing the terms and conditions part of the radio advert a few times but i did get there in the end. The monologue the guy was supposed to sound monotone however i didn't like the sound of it so i think i will do it again but adding in some emotion to make the scene more elevated, despite the fact that it will differ from the sound of the original. And the comedic monologue I did was so much fun, I was walking around the space, doing actions along with the script i was reading because i just left like it added to the story telling experience, even if they can't see me doing the actions in the story. Also, the repetition of words and the stuttering was intentional because it's supposed to sound like a story being told from memory not rehearsed. One thing I did rehearse for that script was the fast one breath sentence because, although i can do it in one breath, i found it hard to say all the words correctly and clearly. So i had to repeat that a few times before recording.
However what was not so fun was the script for Helluva Boss, a script that Connor had requested I collaborate with him on. Now I didn't know the source material or was I familiar with the characters I was playing other than the description he gave me. So i had to make up the character voices not knowing what they were supposed to sound like. Additionally, one of my characters had long complicated words or words i struggled to pronounce. Now if i was given a script of my own i would've annotated it to write the correct pronunciations of the words so I would know how to say them, however Connor only had one copy of the script so I couldn't do that. Also, we only did two run-throughs of the script due to rehearsals on other projects and my own scripts. I messed up a word completely and it is in the final recording; i am not happy about that. I think I could've done better had I had more practice or if I do it again but it seems like Connor has no intention on re-recording it due to the hassle of all three of us being huddled around a single script and microphone. At least it was fun.
Other Voice Actors
Here are links to voice actors I worked with during my voice acting scripts
Bethany Coates
The Voice of Miss Pauling in - Team Fortress 2: Expiration Date
The Voice of Arlecchino and Sandrone in - Genshin Impact: A Winter Night's Lazzo
Why I Chose To Make A Podcast
I wanted to do a podcast as apart of my unit because I feel like it is a good way as a voice actor to be noticed and put yourself out there in the voice acting community. Podcasts are very modern and are popular because of their calming nature. People like to have something to listen to in the background while they do other tasks, such as writing an essay or painting a room. Now you can have music on in the background but I, as well as many other people, find that music more distracts me from my task than helps me concentrate on it, because I'd rather listen to the song than do my work. However with a podcast it's easy to just listen without getting too involved in the discussion. Additionally podcasts make people feel included, as if they're apart of something. Listening to people talking makes you feel as if you are part of the discussion.
My inspiration for my personal podcast was a podcast i listen to called "distractable" which is three friends and one of them is the host who gives the other two a topic and they each tell a tale to impress the host. The host the picks a winner and the winner becomes the host of the next episode in the podcast. I liked the discussion and them having a topic where they just tell stories however I wanted to get rid of the competition in my own podcast.
I wanted it to feel as if it was just three friends having a casual conversation, which is exactly what the podcast is. I wanted the audience to feel as if they were included like they were part of the discussion and to make it feel more authentic we decided to not script a single episode. We have a topic and some basic bullet points that we go through to change the sub topics in each episode but in reality is mostly us improvising and coming up with real life stories to tell each other on the spot. Doing this makes the audience feel more included in the conversation as if they were sat with us.
We aim to have each episode an hour long but we don't limit ourselves to that time restraint otherwise it would feel scripted and therefore break the vision I want. The reason we aim for an hour is because I felt that was the best amount of time for listeners as if it's too short then they would be constantly having to switch episode but didn't want them too long and the audience to look at the length of each episode and be immediately put off. I wanted it to be a welcoming podcast of listeners of all kinds to just have on in the background and feel included while listening to our stories.
How The Voice Works
The Journey Of The Voice
The voice is made up of four main components: Actuators, Vibrators, Resonators and Articulators.
Actuators
The journey of the voice starts with the Actuators which are the lungs. To inhale, the diaphragm contracts drawing air into the lungs. Then the abdominal muscles and the obliques push the air flow and push the air through the Larynx.
Vibrators
Larynx, also known as the voice box, pushes against the superior thyroid notch which can be on the exterior of the throat as it’s also known as the Adam’s apple. They are different sizes for males and females, males being larger than females. To create sound, the vocal folds are drawn together momentarily closing the glottis. The glottis is the space between the vocal glands. Air pressure builds up beneath the vocal folds and the glottis opens allowing air to escape through the edges of the vocal folds. The vocal folds are made up of five different layors: the epithelium, the superficial layor of the lamina propria, the intermediate layor lamina propria which is made up of elastic fibres, the deep layor of the lamina propria which is made up of collagenous fibres and the main body the vocalis muscle which is the middle of the thyroarytenoid muscle. The size of your vocal folds are different for males and females; adult females are usually 13mm whereas adult makes are between 15 – 20mm. The vocal folds are responsible for pitch in your voice, higher pitch you talk the faster the vocal folds have to move, this is why if you speak in a high pitch for long periods of time your voice hurts because the vocal folds are rubbing against each other two often. This is also why when you have a sore throat you speak in a lower pitch because it requires less movement from the vocal folds.
Resonators
Between the glottis and the tongue is the vocal tract, made up of the Larynx, pharynx, oral cavity and nasal cavity. As the air travels through the flexible spaces it resonates creating tone in the voice. The larynx and the pharynx are flexible and constantly change every time you speak. Every exhale of air from the lungs, through the vocal folds, the resonators change to create a new sound. You can never repeat the same word in the exact same way twice because your resonators are constantly changing.
Articulators
Your articulators are your lips, nostrils, tongue and jaw. Sound from the resonators are transformed from a buzz into an acoustic from the movement of the articulators. Every single syllable is shaped by the vocal tract and then final constructed into comprehendible noise from the articulators. Lip and tongue movement are crucial for constructing acoustics with your voice.
Although there are four segments of the voice each segment is connected to the next and therefore the sound we create is dependent on all four of these components working as one.
How To Look After The Voice
If you want to properly take care of your voice as a singer or voice actor then you should consider avoiding coffee or any sort of caffeine. Caffeine has a dehydrating side effect that can cause dry throats which causes excess of saliva to build up in order to hydrate the vocal folds. If the vocal folds are dehydrated then they will become sore very quickly. This in turn causes projection to suffer with the dehydrated vocal folds and pronunciation to suffer due to the build-up of saliva when speaking. Similarly, alcohol and fizzy drinks also consists of dehydrating properties as well as sugars that can also make the vocal folds sore more easily after use.
Chocolate and milk on the other hand have their own problem, dairy products can cause mucus in your throat to thicken. It also increased your bodies histamines which is a compound released by the body in order to prevent infection or invasive cells from entering the body. Consuming dairy causes this to build up in the throat to prevent unwanted cells from getting in however it also closes up the vocal tract making it harder for air to push through meaning the resonators must work harder. This can cause sore throats and therefore it’s best to avoid high fat dairy products before a performance or recording.
In order to prevent your throat from becoming sore after a performance you should always do a vocal warm up. Your vocal cords are made up of various muscles all working together to create sound from your lips, they are no different to the muscles in your arms or legs other than their purpose. Warming up your vocal cords is important as it helps clear your throat, stretch out your articulators for better diction and can helps with breathing too. Stretching your vocal muscles is important is it helps relax the muscles before performing, recording or singing.
If the throat dose become sore, the best thing for it is to drink cold water or herbal tea in order to soothe and hydrate them. Additionally, gargling warm salt water helps heal the throat as it cleans the sore and the salt dehydrates the cells to promote the healing process of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from solutions of high concentration of water to a solution of low concentration of water molecules through the cell membrane. Causing osmosis to happen requires glucose to power the cells which is transported by the red blood cells. The blood is also made up of white blood cells which heal the body so if osmosis is being triggered in a area that needs healing more blood cells will go to that area which can then start the healing process quicker than if the body naturally discovered it.
Resting the voice is very crucial too. Just like arm or legs, the longer you use them the more strain they get so you need to rest them so that they can be fully functional, the voice is no different. Of course, most rest happens during sleep as well as most healing because the body no longer needs to priorities the functions of the body you do on a daily basis and therefore can concentrate on healing as a primary function. However if you have to sing or speak for long periods of time you may need to rest your voice for longer. The best way to do that is to not speak at all. Even a little hum or sound is like taking another step on your feet after a marathon, so best to not to make a sound.
My Vocal Warmup
1: the jaw
So I have a very achy jaw, my jaw tends to hurt a lot after talking for a long time and this is mostly due to years of wearing a brace. Anyone who’s ever wore a brace will tell you that not only does it hurt your teeth and gums but also your jaw. So due to my brace my jaw has become very weak and clicky so we are just going to start by massaging the jaw. Right where the jaw connects to the skull is were it often hurts for me. Also massage the face because as you talk the rest of your lips move which movies the rest of your face. The face is all connected, when you scrunch up your nose your lips move up and eyebrows down. The entire face and throat are all important when it comes to voice acting. You'll find that usually the better the voice actor is the more expressive their face becomes in order properly pronounce the words.
Massaging the face. Relaxing the jaw. Relaxation is important for the actor to release tension and stay in the moment and therefore not break character; one of Stanislavsky's techniques. I have aching jaw due to brace. How an aching jaw can affect pronunciation and diction which in turn as a voice actor means that you will struggle to read your lines. This may cause you to have to repeat your lines and constant repetition can cause irritations to the throat.
2: warming up the throat
Okay before we do anything it’s important to start by warming up the vocal glands. Your vocal folds, or the voice box, is made up of four layors; the epithelium, the superficial layor of the lamina propria, the intermediate layor lamina propria, the deep layor of the lamina propria. To create sound, the vocal folds are drawn together momentarily closing the glottis. The glottis is the space between the vocal glands. Air pressure builds up beneath the vocal folds and the glottis opens allowing air to escape through the edges of the vocal folds. The vocal folds are responsible for pitch in your voice, higher pitch you talk the faster the vocal folds have to move, this is why if you speak in a high pitch for long periods of time your voice hurts because the vocal folds are rubbing against each other two often. This is also why when you have a sore throat you speak in a lower pitch because it requires less movement from the vocal folds.
The vocal folds are a muscle in your body so like any muscle it’s important that you start off by warming them up before voice acting, singing or even a long monologue. So I like to do some humming. Humming not only warms up the vocal folds by humming at different pitches but also helps clear the throat from mucus built up in your throat. Now let’s do so humming. High pitched low pitched. Often I like to hum to songs as that allows me to hum to different levels with the added benefit of some entertainment. And it’s very simple to do, I do it almost every day coming into college.
3: video game character sound effects
Alright lets move onto something more fun; video games. We all love video games here right? Of course you do. Now there’s more to voice acting in video games than just reading lines. Video games are known for having the longest scripts in any media totalling at about 370,000 lines which is about the same length of 125 feature length films. This is due to multiple endings and choices that can be incorporated into games, talking during combat and not just cut scenes but also character sound effects too. About 1/6 of a voice acting script is just grunts.
So I'm going to give you some sounds that I found in a video game script and you’re going to act them out:
Jogging
Running
Running with heavy back pack
Running for your life
Running for your with a heavy back pack
You're climbing a wall
You're stabbing someone with a knife
Swing a sword
Heavy swing of the sword
Swinging a heavy hammer
You got punched
You got stabbed
Scream because you’re scared
Scream because you’re angry
Bloodcurdling scream
You're charging at someone wheedling a weapon
Now if you were to do this for 3 hours straight then you’d probably lose your voice which is why it’s important to speak from your diaphragm. But how? So stand with a straight back with your shoulders back. Breath in and try feel your stomach inflating and deflating. Jessy had a good one that was to imagine you have heavy shopping bags in your hands that are pulling your shoulders down. Now portend you have a ball in your mouth. You need to shoot that ball out of your mouth and to the back of the room, not using your chest but your stomach, throw that ball while saying “Ahh”. Ready and again. Now lets do some of those yells again but this time from your diaphragm.
4: Scottish accent
Just to finish up let’s have a little fun and attempt to do a Scottish accent. As an actor or voice actor, it’s a good skill to have to be able to speak in other accents as it allows your to widen your rage of the characters you can do. As a voice actor it may allow you to do two characters in the same scene. So we’re going to start by saying this sentence that I've given you.
“Welcome to Scotland, there’s been a murder. Shouldn’t be a problem to solve for you, officer. No, I didn’t do it. I haven’t got a clue in the world who did. Did you figure out who did it yet? She did it? Man, that girl is crazy. Well good thing we caught her officer.”
Alright so now let me teach you some trick I found to start you with creating a Scottish accent:
R. to do a scottish accent instead of rolling the arrr, only do one roll. It's called a tapped R. just say the ru instead of rrrrruuuu. So instead of murder it’s mur-du.
L. If there’s the letter L after the letter R sometimes there’s an extra sylible. Girl – giral. World – worald.
The vowls in laugh and bath are the same as the vowls in trap and man. Instead of the Ah – ar. Tryping saming them back-to-back: laugh, trap, bath, man.
OO and OU vowles are the same. so food is prnounced the same way as good. Good and food should sound the same. Pull and pool are pronounced the same way pool. (fut – foot) (should – shoold)
Not – Nor. Haven’t - have ‘ny. No I haven’t got a problem with it. Nor I have n’y a problem with it.
Eh. Yet – yeaht. The eh turns into an eah sound.
Oh. With the Oh sound add an R to the end of it. Cloth – clorth. Robot – row boat.
I. the eye is overexagerated.
Now using the tricks I've taught you trying saying the sentence again.
Welcome to scootland, there’s been a mu-der. Shud ney a problem to solve for u, officer. Nor, I did ney do it. I have ney clue in the wald who did. Did u figure out who did it yeat. She did it? M-r-n that giral is crazy. Well gud thing we caught her officer.
5: end
And that’s all I've got thank you so much your joining me and hope this did something helpful at least.