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Alex Weitzman

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:17 am

Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA

When dealing with small, very undefined roles within the work (i.e., the nebulous "Additional Voices" credit), what's your preferred process for finding the performance? Given that there's so little information on the character to be found in the script, do you find it helpful to pull from a real person that you know or know of? Or do you find it simpler and smarter to just play the core idea behind the character, even if it's as vague as "a man on the street"?

Brian Sommer

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:40 pm

Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 65

Alex,

I asked Corey a similar question last year in the post titled "Characters on Demand". You may find some information there until Corey can responds to your specific question.

Brian

Alex Weitzman

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:40 am

Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA

Ah, I see it.

To be fair, this is less a question about vocal character creation and more about acting itself. Finding the voice is only part of the work, after all. What follows is the approach towards the script, the breakdown of beat structure, and all that good stuff. These incidental characters are the voice-over equivalent of being a "day player" on a live-action series, and they pose their own unique acting challenge.

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:14 am

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!

Alex Weitzman wrote:

When dealing with...(i.e., the nebulous "Additional Voices" credit), what's your preferred process for finding the performance? ...do you find it helpful to pull from a real person that you know or know of? Or...to just play the core idea behind the character, even if it's as vague as "a man on the street"?

It generally depends on how much of an impact the lines are intended to have within the scenes - whatever fits the intentions of the director or writer best; and whether or not you'll be "doubling" with another character voice in proximity - in which case, they've got to be distinctively different. In a 'wacky' cartoon, tried'n'true old celebrity impressions are a quick shortcut (Bartender? Why not Sheldon Leonard; or Lionel Barrymore for a miserly "money man", etc.); whereas in a straighter, "cinematic" setting, you'd want to "method act" the line with a nondescript "average guy" sound. A textured or accented characterization can be jarring or too funny, running the chance of overshadowing adjacent lines from established character voices. I try to envision the whole scene, playing out how it works into the intended 'fabric' of the moment or gag timing: The Musical equivalent of selecting a triangle, woodblock, clarinet or bassoon to chime in with a short musical phrase; whether it's there to support or disrupt surrounding character lines.

As always, it really is a matter of tuning in to the director, and trying on a couple of suggested characterizations to discover one that just "rings right" in the moment, for the specific character or generalized character type to appear - and if it should have a dramatically vivid impact, or melt into the soundscape as a subtle "grace note" to the main dialog. ...And not trying too hard to 'engineer' a distinctive voice that would likely steal the spotlight or disrupt the flow.

Mostly it's simply about getting a basic snapshot (age, size, and cultural shading/accent) in your head, and letting the first impulsive instinct seize the voice and delivery. If it's a particularly distinctive character or moment, a specific voice will already be defined in the script anyway, and the only adjustment to be concerned with would be how to 'spin' the delivery.

Alex Weitzman

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:28 pm

Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Southern CA

CB wrote:

A textured or accented characterization can be jarring or too funny, running the chance of overshadowing adjacent lines from established character voices. I try to envision the whole scene, playing out how it works into the intended 'fabric' of the moment or gag timing: The Musical equivalent of selecting a triangle, woodblock, clarinet or bassoon to chime in with a short musical phrase; whether it's there to support or disrupt surrounding character lines.

Are there ever situations where the context of the scene, and/or the nature of the surrounding performances, are not present for your immediate disposal? And in those situations, what do you find is the best method for obtaining that information (especially in a session where time may not be your friend)?

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:41 pm

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 905 Location: HERE!

Alex Weitzman wrote:

...what do you find is the best method for obtaining that information...?

The director is entirely responsible for those details. If they don't have any notions about those 1-2 liner character voices at all, you'd just give two or three arbitrary "throwaway" takes. You can waste all day "second-guessing"; which is why I always insist on some kind of professional presence to monitor and comment while recording any audition. Self-recording in a vacuum is no way to do good performance work, and it's a shame so many auditioners go along with this thoughtless modern practice. Just another way non-celebrity performers are marginalized as "inconsequential" in this star-obsessed era of low standards in our Industry.

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