VAMFR 032 | Interview with Taliesin Jaffe, Part 3
VAMFR 032 | Interview with Taliesin Jaffe, Part 3
Welcome to episode 32 of the Voice Acting Mastery: Field Report podcast!
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.vamfieldreport.com/podcast
This is the third and final part of DanWill McCann’s chat with Taliesin Jaffe.
If you missed the first two parts, you can find them on VoiceActingMastery.com. Just search for episodes 30 and 31 of the Field Report. Taliesin has been involved in the entertainment industry since he was a young boy, working with actors like Michael Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom and Suzanne Somers on the T.V. show She’s the Sheriff. As Taliesin grew older, he transitioned into a portion of the industry he felt more passionate about: providing voices in the English dubs of Japanese Animation titles like 3×3 Eyes and directing voice actors in dubs like Read or Die, The TV. He has also voiced characters in video games, such as Highlord Darion Mograine, Leader of the rebelling Death Knights in the World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack.
In the previous episode, Taliesin shared with us which projects he most enjoyed working on, both as a voice actor and as a director. He talked about what made those projects stand out for him, as well as what artistic lessons he learned from working on them. I appreciate how Taliesin is able to successfully balance being a fan of the mediums he works in, while still maintaining a professional demeanor at the same time. We also discussed how to make professional connections with voice actors we admire at fan conventions and on social media. Taliesin stressed how important it is to find genuine connections with them on more than just voice acting while also making sure to respect their time and privacy. He also told stories of his own early attempts to make professional connections at conventions and how some of those interactions were more successful than others. He learned a lot from those experiences and I hope you found his adventures both entertaining and educational! I know I did.
In this final segment of our interview, Taliesin begins by sharing his advice to folks that like to make fan dubs. For those who are not familiar with the term, fan dubbing is the practice of taking an established anime property and dubbing it into English for fun or for improving one’s voice acting skills. While fan dubbing is not officially sanctioned by the companies that hold the copyrights to anime shows, many aspiring voice actors try their hand at fan dubbing in order to get more experience with the process of dubbing animation. Taliesin also offers some suggestions about how to listen to professional performances so that we can learn from the pros and take what we admire about their artistry and incorporate it into our own acting. He then adds some of his own directorial advice, especially when it comes to recording challenging lines like fighting sounds or efforts. While the majority of actors rightly spend most of their time learning how to deliver dialogue in a believable way, the non-verbal efforts, exertions, death screams, and other fighting noises are crucial to master as well. This is especially true in the world of video games, where your characer will likely have many different battle encounters over the course of gameplay. I definitely find Taliesin’s methods for creating efforts very helpful, and I believe you will, too.
The VAM Field Report will be released on the 1st Wednesday of every month so stay on the look out for it!
Download VAM Field Report Episode #32 Here (MP3)
Talesin talked about having a knowledge of films, so that when a director asks for a certain vibe in your performance, you can match it. DW, in your career, what are the movies/plays that you get asked to pull from in your work the most often?
Also, thanks for the link to Critical Role. Fun stuff.