accents - it would help to say what you want

[skyscape]

I do wish that auditions would post what accent they want! Because the site was .co.uk as the address extension I assumed that in the main it would be UK based and yet I have tried out for stuff with no accent specified only to be told off for not doing an American accent. :( My natural accent is English, since I am English, and its really wasted several afternoons.... I dont mind not getting stuff, its the "you didnt get the part because you didnt do an american accent although I didnt say that was needed in the advert" that narks me. I know some do, but also, some dont..

[atheistium]

I do wish that auditions would post what accent they want! Because the site was .co.uk as the address extension I assumed that in the main it would be UK based and yet I have tried out for stuff with no accent specified only to be told off for not doing an American accent. :( My natural accent is English, since I am English, and its really wasted several afternoons.... I dont mind not getting stuff, its the "you didnt get the part because you didnt do an american accent although I didnt say that was needed in the advert" that narks me. I know some do, but also, some dont..

:( For some reason, when I voice act my voice turns into this weird american slurr. Butr will British pronounciations :O if that makes sence.

But I can understand, requests for voices need to be very detailed so the actors can get more of an idea on what they need to do.

For example the line:
"Oh no!" could be interpreted in many ways.
But if you add: "Oh No!" (Slightly upset but more suprised. British Accent.)
You can get more of a feel for the line.

[Miki-Chan]

Well, one of the administrators, Azure, lives in the UK, therefore the URL is based as such. ^^

Anyway, in my experience, if they want an English accent, they ask for it--likewise with any other. The reason they tend to choose most American accents is because that's what fit the character best, even if they weren't initially looking for one...it just worked.

If people are harassing you for not having the right accent, then tell them off! :D No wait, that's a bad thing, isn't it? =x What I mean is, the least they could do is thank you for auditioning and not tell you everything they disliked about your audition (unless called/asked for). Keep your head up; English accents are actually quite popular. ^.^

[Lenne]

Well, I'm from America... but I diffently odnt have an American accent! ^__^. Mine is French/New York (o_0....) but, ya! Trust me, English accents can work for aallootta things, so just keep on trying! (Wait, who am I to give advice? I'm a newbie woh's gotten, like, no roels! lol.)

ACCENNNTTS RULE! lol.

[Fiona C]

I do wish that auditions would post what accent they want! Because the site was .co.uk as the address extension I assumed that in the main it would be UK based and yet I have tried out for stuff with no accent specified only to be told off for not doing an American accent. :( My natural accent is English, since I am English, and its really wasted several afternoons.... I dont mind not getting stuff, its the "you didnt get the part because you didnt do an american accent although I didnt say that was needed in the advert" that narks me. I know some do, but also, some dont..

I know your pain. I have a scottish accent, which is a real pain for trying to get cast.

Try watching american tv, and see if you can emulate their voice patterns. ^.^ That might help.

[Crimson]

:? I find that it's really a shame, but this is the way pro voice acting works too. Almost all of it is located in the states and casting directors are looking for voices in the most familiar accent to the majority of it's audience... being a standard American accent.

Personally I have no problems with casting actors who have non-American accents providing that they suit the character well and can act. I have only (sadly) been forced to not cast someone because of their accent once. This was because the character in question was "the American" of the show, and although the auditioner captured the character's personality incredibly well, I didn't think it would be appropriate for him to have an English accent >_<.

Please do realize that certain accents bear certain stereotypes (ie. characters with British accents are often smart, characters with Russian accents may be sexy and evil). If you can recognize what sorts of roles that are within your range without changing your accent you will become a more effective AVA.

All I can say is good luck! Changing your accent is difficult to master, and many people never fully get rid of it, but can still be successful on this board ^^.

[Azure]

It's a sad thing but I've had to learn to cut down my accent, mixed in with US/Canadian voices it sounds too weird :D Main thing to note with the US accent as oppoused to Brit English is the vowels.
But yes it is unfar :P there's no anime dbbed over here, not even the series set here bah!

[Crimson]

I like how accents that aren't English are considered "American"... Especially considering an equal amount of popular anime is dubbed in Canada with Canadian voice overs (Sailor Moon, for example) What? You mean Canada isn't a state?
Seriously though, us Canadians are muddled in with Americans since our accents are generally the same. You could argue that it's a "North American" accent, but does that mean that Mexicans talk the same too? ^^;;


But yes it is unfar there's no anime dbbed over here, not even the series set here bah!There are a few set in Britain or at least ones that have British characters. You know... I saw the Magic Teacher Negima auditions up... but I don't think a single British person was cast for the British parts... did you guys even audition? I mean, there *are* parts, but you do have to look for them.
Most of them are set in Japan, but that's not America either :-P. Who's to say what accent Japanese people should have when speaking in English if it's not going to be a Japanese one?
It's true that as far as foreign countries go Japan seems to favour the US and France lol. Though come to think about it, we don't have too many France French accents around here (do we have any?).

And if you want to go pro, move to the states and work for a company like 4kids to help stop them from giving characters TERRIBLE fake accents ^__^;

[shadowsvoice]

Accents are usually never used because they just dont fit. Ive heard some good ones though such as Azure as Cutey Honey in Flareys dubs.

[Azure]

I meant anime set in the UK, like Hellsing.

[Yami no Kitsune]

You know, I've always just automatically auditioned things in an American accent (I don't call it Canadian, since regional variations make it slightly different). I'm Scottish, naturally, and have only ever used my own accent in a couple of productions really. Sad but true, most producers want a neutral voice which round these parts usually means American.

Though... there was this one time that I auditioned for a Scottish part, and the producer didn't know I was Scottish... He told me my accent wasn't convincing enough. I was not impressed with that, needless to say. I mean, the guy was from California and must have expected these really fake sounding Scottish accents from Highlander or the Highlander TV series to be what we really sound like. Though, it did give me a good chuckle afterwards.

[Fiona C]

From now on everyone from Europe who speaks english will be known as people with British Accents. After all, regional variations only make it slightly different and therefore easily jumbled into one pile of sounds. And that's what all the other countries of Europe are -- simply regions. And they all sound English anyway e_e e_e

*snerk* It's that kind of thinking that looses votes, over here. ^.~

[Byron]

Correct Pronunciation is ALWAYS better than changing your accent. Usually pronunciation is what people are looking for when they SAY accent.

[Matt Alan]

I think its hilarious when some people learn I'm from the southern part of the US, and say, "REALLY!?! I NEVER WOULDA GUESSED!!!!!!", and other people point out how BAD my southern accent is, or how much it sticks out. But at this theatre workshop I attended recently, when I played a part in a small skit, the director wanted me to sound MORE southern, saying that I didn't sound southern enough. Funny.

[Tali]

I am told I have an english accent and I've been to england like twice! People can not distinguish accents well. My sister apparently has a dutch accent?!?
Personally when I cast I like no harsh accent which to me means they can be american/british/whatever but it won't be really strong unless it's a stereotype of course!

[lirifox]

Oi, oi, it's not always a walk in the park for americans, ya?

^_^ The two accents I always have to fight are my Texan accent and my "ghetto" way of speaking which comes out when I get pissed, and I can't help talkin' like I'm fresh outta third ward when I'm tellin someone off.

And then when I do Japanese accents I often accidently bust out with my fobby indian accent, which I can't help since my parents have the accent. ^_^;; *laughs*

But I'm not here to whine. I guess, even though it's quite ethnocentric of me, that you should probably just always assume the default accent is a general american accent, unless otherwise stated, or unless you think the character would sound cuter or better with a different accent.

Actually, if you ask me, an accent can be a very very good thing. If I'm casting and some trick busts out with a pimp-ass tough guy italian/russian/french/british accent for my evil guy, he'll just have stepped ten rungs up on the ladder to that role.

I think all of us as voice actors should try to incorporate more accents into our work, you know, play with it, have fun, be unique.

Although that probably isn't the best idea when audding for people with very well-known voices (Pikachu the brit! :O).

[Haushinka]

I live in Alaska so I have no accent whatsoever....just like..normal american/california kind i guess? Sometimes accents fit well with a character even if the character didn't originally have one..it's hard to explain but I've noticed it in some of the fandubs I've done or seen.

[Crimson]

I live in Alaska so I have no accent whatsoever....just like..normal american/california kind i guess? A standard American accent would probably be the way to classify it if you feel the desire to go that far.


Sometimes accents fit well with a character even if the character didn't originally have one..it's hard to explain but I've noticed it in some of the fandubs I've done or seen. On the other hand I've found that it's generally a bad idea to attempt to "translate" accents going from one language to another since dialects/accents carry certain images and stereotypes that are lost completely if you put them into another language. Turning Oosaka-ben into a southern drawl seems to be a common one, though >_<;;;