VAM 021 | Interview with J.B. Blanc, Accent Coach, Part 3
Welcome to episode 21 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
This is the third and final part of my interview with my fellow voice actor and accent expert, J.B. Blanc.
In this episode we conclude our discussion by talking about a number of different topics including:
- What someone can do to work on an accent by themselves.
- JB’s favorite resource online for researching accents. (Hint: it’s the International Dialects of English Archive or IDEA)
- Realizing that not everyone speaks a certain dialect in the exact same way.
- How to contact JB to get individual coaching from him. (Hint, visit his website: http://www.jbblanc.com/)
A big thanks to JB for spending time with me talking in so much detail about such an important topic. And thanks to you for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #21 Here (MP3)
Such a wonderful ending! I really enjoyed J.B. Blanc. I’ve always had a fascination with accents and often imitated them for my amusement.
Crispin, when I listened to your role as the butler in Resident Evil: Regeneration, I was back and forth on whether it was you or not. You disguised your voice quality so well in the English accent, I was in awe. Very well done.
I’m excited for the next podcast and its subject!
I’m so glad you enjoyed not only the podcast, but my performance in Resident Evil. It was a fun part to play.
Hi Crispin, Thank you so much for the final episode of J.B. Blanc 🙂 That interview (Epi 19-21) is really my favorite one, so is the episode 4-5 and 9.
I really agree with you and Mr. Blanc about don’t change any accents. I have a question, is it true that I don’t have to change any Southern accent since I’m still live in deep south ?
Thank you for your time
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the interview with JB.
I’m not sure I understand your question. When did JB and I say that you shouldn’t change accents? The whole interview is about the ability to adopt different accents if they suit the character you’re playing.
Ok, that sounds really good. Sorry I confuse you for the question. Thanks for answering
Hey Crispin Andy again I have another question for you if you wouldn’t mind answering. What were some of your fears, concerns, or trepidations and how did you handle or overcome them fresh out of college? Also what are some ways a person new to the industry can find work? Again thank you for all your advice.
Best regards,
Andy Hopkins
Hi there Andy. I talk at length about overcoming fears in Episode 9: Building Confidence. If you have a question about fear that isn’t answered in that episode, please let me know.
One way to find work as a voice actor is to register for one of the “Pay to Play” sites, Voices.com or Voice123.com. Both are websites where you pay to post up a demo and resume. People looking for voice actors will post auditions on those sites and you can audition for jobs as they become available.
But first things first. Do you sound competitive as a voice actor? There’s not much point in paying for access to a site if your voice acting skills aren’t solid and if you don’t have a professional sounding recording environment. You need both in order to book a job on one of those sites.
You can also try visiting sites where people are putting together video game projects like New Grounds and audition for projects there.
Hope that helps.
Thank you again for another great podcast. I particularly enjoyed this one because I happen to share a similar experience as JB. I came from another country. I was made to learn to adopt a very proper sounding American accent. And from that I learned to love accents and I’ve taught myself quite a few by ear.
Naturally, when you started the accent series I was very excited. I always hoped there was a resource like the IDEA site and it far exceeded my expectations. I look forward to many more amazing podcasts and being a male wizard on May 15th, Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed hearing JBs story! Thanks so much for listening.
I’ve kind of noticed that when you’re reading out the standardised “Welcome to episode 21….” kind of stuff, your voice gets a lot deeper and slightly reminsicent of your Itachi Uchiha voice. You sounded totally different when you were talking to J.B.Blanc. A lot more fluid, and a little less polished.
I guess listening to the podcast kinda helped me pick out the differences in the way you speak in different situations. Mr. Blanc was really very inciteful on accents and I’m starting to notice the way people speak a whole lot.
Yes, my voice sounds different when I’m talking to JB because I’m on a completely different microphone, in a completely different environment and I have a completely different intention when I’m talking to JB than when I’m talking to you as the audience. I’m glad you noticed the difference.
Hello Mr. Freeman sorry if i haven’t made an inquiry in awhile but i have a concern about age. I mean do you have to be a certain age to become a voice actor/actress? And if there is explain which age you have to be a voice actor/actress? Thank You.
Sincerely,
Angelican Marcos
No, there is no minimum age to be a voice actor. There are plenty of child voice actors working in animation all the time.
Thank You Mr. Freeman actually i do recall a child did the voice of Billy Parson in BioShock 2 i thaught his voice was so adorable when he was reading his lines he was a little nervous but at least he tried his best and i thaught it was cute and also thaught that you would know that considering that you did the voices for Eliot Nelson and Thomas in BioShock 2 😉
Hey Crispin,
What an informational trilogy. J.B. is incredibly talented.
In your opinion, what are the most important accents for a voice actor to have in their repertoire? If this is too open-ended, what would you say are the top three to five accents a beginning voice actor should be able to perform in order to be considered competitive at that level?
In the meantime, here’s an anecdote for you. Many years ago, when I was in high school, my English class did a dramatic reading of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Everyone had to take an assigned role, and my particular character didn’t show up until the third act. The days went on and on, as standardized testing and other mishaps lengthened the reading of the play. I grew frustrated, wanting my part to arrive sooner. Finally, when it came time for my first line, I belted out this emotionally-driven performance with a very pronounced English accent. Everyone was rather stunned and lost their place. I think that was the moment.
Yes. Mr. Blanc is incredibly talented! I’m so grateful he came on the podcast!
In terms of the most useful accents to have in one’s repertoire, it’s hard to go wrong with a selection of British accents (high class, low class, Scottish, Irish, etc.). They get used an awful lot in Fantasy games and anything that’s historical.
Beyond mastering British accents, it depends on your ethnic background. As a white male, I tend to find European accents the most useful to have readily available. If I were African-American, I would want to have British accents as well as Caribbean and possibly African accents. If I were Asian-American, I would want to have all the different flavors of Asian accents so that I could sound authentically Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc.
Many times producers want to cast people who are actually from the areas that have the accent they’re looking for. For example, often they would rather cast real Australians than hire someone who can do a good Australian accent.
Hopefully that clarifies.
Thanks also for the anecdote!
Being Minnesotan, I’ve especially enjoyed listening to this series with JB. I’ve been studying and doing accents since I was a kid. Once people hear I’m from Minnesota they often do THE WORST imitation of “Fargo” with a slight “I’m stupid” voice (you know the one I mean…where the character always starts off whatever they say with a long, drawn-out “duuuuuhhhhhhhh,”), as if the entire state talks like that. It’s much more neutral in Minneapolis, where I live, and you do still hear the Fargo accent because a lot of upstate people move to the cities to attend the University or get a job, but it’s definitely in the minority down here.
I’ve personally tried to distance myself from the “typical” accent, because I don’t like people being able to instantly guess where I’m from, and I find that it kind of forces people to not assume certain things about me (even though the accent definitely still permeates the way I say certain things). Although in the last few years my girlfriend, who thankfully enjoys my many accents, has decided that my Minnesota accent is her favourite. And I think it has to do with the fact that I’m from here, I’ve lived in the country where the “typical” Minnesota accent is strongest, and I understand the people and how they think and how they feel. So it’s helped me to appreciate the accent of my home more than I did in the past, even if I choose to not use it for myself.
It also made me realize that it’s important to, on some level, try to understand the people who speak the accent you’re trying to do as an actor. I can speak with a Northern English Leeds-type accent, but I’m not going to sound totally authentic because I am an outsider trying to sound a certain way. It’s not just doing the accent, it’s also understanding the speech patterns and the cadence and all that stuff.
Anyway, I’m REALLY enjoying these podcasts, and am looking forward to diving into this stuff and unpacking it more.
Also, +1 for the International Dialects of English Archive website. I’ve been listening to this for years, and it’s a GREAT way to study the various accents from around the world and how they speak. They have information about the speaker, such as their age, where they grew up, what their environment was like (urban, rural, upper-class, etc), because that stuff influences how you speak. And sometimes they have a section that tries to describe the phonetic sounds we are hearing. It’s very thorough.
The new link is http://www.dialectsarchive.com.
I am a new listener, so I am starting from the beginning! The entire series has been extremely helpful, and this interview especially. I learned a lot and look forward to hearing more!