174 réponses à ce sujet

[ok go]

I might of overeacted about the English thing, we are basically a channel apart

[Lukas Kristjanson]

Onyx Jaguar wrote...

Shouldn't they be using made up accents

Good point, actually. In a setting that is not based on Earth, the ideal situation would be to have everyone speaking accents that arose from the unique cultural influences and environments of their fictional world. This is more common in novels because you can assume it, and in some movies because realistically only 1-10 one-off characters are using it (and usually only a hero, mentor, and traitor ).

It's simply hard to get right. Lame excuse, I know, but it takes a linguist’s expertise to understand how language emerges. We actually had a linguist do initial work on Jade (Tho Fan) and Origins (elven, qunari), but that was more about grammar structure, not so much instructing how it sprang from the void. And frankly, I don’t know if that effort was truly useful beyond the incredibly obscure bullet point it gave us. I have a post on that somewhere.

But the bigger factor is that it’s just not feasible to maintain several completely unique accents for the number of actors we have in the number of countries we record, across multiple projects of this length. Compare, for example, the concerns in this thread about the consistency of even fairly common accents. And we hit enough of a roadblock with phrases in qunari, elven, asari, whatever. It’s full-stop in the recording booth as everyone phonetically paces through it, then attempts to mimic the tone intended. Can't they learn it? We do repeatedly use some actors, but we aren't their only gig. Most we get for a day or two, but even if they come back repeatedly for a major character the sessions are sometimes weeks apart, and maybe Zevran is doing King Lear down the street 5 nights a week (so to speak). Or maybe we suddenly need to fill a session and someone gets a new smaller role out of the blue as an alt. Hard to get consistent results or good acting if the actor has to focus on an unfamiliar accent they’ve never or rarely used (which is also why you don't ask for French or whatever from someone not already familiar with it). We have a library of recorded examples of all our languages and phrases to compare against, but it's time consuming to get into a voice and recording studios are all about billing time.

I believe our efforts are better spent defining the various peoples through their common cultural standpoints. Flavor that with a recognizable base such as a known accent and the package becomes a better background for making the characters who are the exceptions pop out. And as an added bonus, the head of audio doesn't swear at you as much.

Modifié par Lukas Kristjanson, 20 novembre 2010 - 04:08 .

[Ziggeh]

Mend your speech a little, lest you may mar your fortunes.



/small fist pump

[Wicked 702]

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

[Esbatty]

Who the hell says "Orlesian Accents" were weak or fake, when have they ever been to Orlais? Oh yeah thats right its fictional. Its made up. Just be glad they made the effort to convey that they are from another place via the way they spoke. Jeepers.



Some people friggin' go Comic Book Guy for any little thing.

[krasnoarmeets]

Wicked 702 wrote...

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

Not standard Aussie though - like I said it's RP. 

@Lukas - it would be extremely time consuming to construct unique accents from such data. Accents are very fluid as well.

Modifié par krasnoarmeets, 21 novembre 2010 - 03:07 .

[nijnij]

Esbatty wrote...

Some people friggin' go Comic Book Guy for any little thing.

*Bewildered by the beauty of that expression *

[Gill Kaiser]

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

It's not affected... it's Claudia Black's natural accent. She speaks with mostly RP, despite being Australian.

[Herr Uhl]

Wicked 702 wrote...

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

*imagines Morrigan saying "No worries mate." before leaving after being denied the DR*

That would be awesome.

[Eleinehmm]

nijnij wrote...

Esbatty wrote...

Some people friggin' go Comic Book Guy for any little thing.

*Bewildered by the beauty of that expression *

Have no idea who the hell it is.<_<

[Eleinehmm]

Herr Uhl wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

*imagines Morrigan saying "No worries mate." before leaving after being denied the DR*

That would be awesome.

Australians - They speak Australian. Seriously, I think I will never be able to speak it - Phonemic length distinction, just phonemic length distinction.

[Ellestor]

It grinds my gears when people talk about RP as if it is affected or pretentious by definition. Like the General American accent, Received Pronunciation was popularized for its clarity in broadcasting, and no one has this attitude toward GA—in fact, it has become the most common accent in the United States. What gives?

[PsyrenY]

Lukas Kristjanson wrote...
And as an added bonus, the head of audio doesn't swear at you as much.

I just pictured a very angry frenchman in a control booth tossing his headphones to the ground.

"Non! Non! It is, how you say, merde! Sheet!"

[Eleinehmm]

Ellestor wrote...

It grinds my gears when people talk about RP as if it is affected or pretentious by definition. Like the General American accent, Received Pronunciation was popularized for its clarity in broadcasting, and no one has this attitude toward GA—in fact, it has become the most common accent in the United States. What gives?

Because all of us know that all the Imperial officers speak RP while Rebels do not - I wonder if they ever used it to find rebel spies.

Ahem, I do not know, probably a historical British-US thing  - Personally, I  love RP.

Modifié par Eleinehmm, 22 novembre 2010 - 09:57 .

[ok go]

Wow, I couldn't tell Claudia Black was Australian, then again almost all former British colonies have different accents.

[nijnij]

Eleinehmm wrote...

nijnij wrote...

Esbatty wrote...

Some people friggin' go Comic Book Guy for any little thing.

*Bewildered by the beauty of that expression *

Have no idea who the hell it is.<_<

A character from the Simpsons, whose punchline is "worst [insert substantive] ever".

[Maria Caliban]

Ellestor wrote...

It grinds my gears when people talk about RP as if it is affected or pretentious by definition. Like the General American accent, Received Pronunciation was popularized for its clarity in broadcasting, and no one has this attitude toward GA—in fact, it has become the most common accent in the United States. What gives?

The General American accent is one of the least common in the US. It's 'native' to about three, low population states in the Midwest. I'm pretty sure more people speak with a New York accent than speak GA.

[Maria Caliban]

Temet Nosce wrote...

I have that accent and I've lived in Texas my entire life...

Can I ask how you've come to that conclusion?

I've lived in 25 places around the country and have met many people with regional accents who think they speak 'accentless' American English.

[ok go]

american french?

[request denied]

Eleinehmm wrote...

Herr Uhl wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

*imagines Morrigan saying "No worries mate." before leaving after being denied the DR*

That would be awesome.

Australians - They speak Australian. Seriously, I think I will never be able to speak it - Phonemic length distinction, just phonemic length distinction.

Australians  speak Australian, are you serious, we speak english with aussie slang thrown in.

[Eleinehmm]

request denied wrote...

Eleinehmm wrote...

Herr Uhl wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

krasnoarmeets wrote...

Wicked 702 wrote...

Please stick with genuine - Morrigan
was great... (fixed)

K, maybe I'm just a little bit biased
towards Claudia Black. Yeah, that's it.

Hate to disappoint, but Claudia Black is Australian. Morrigan's accent is RP (received pronunciation, i.e. affected).

How does that disappoint? I already knew that and Morrigan sounds Australian in the first place. At least to me anyway.

*imagines Morrigan saying "No worries mate." before leaving after being denied the DR*

That would be awesome.

Australians - They speak Australian. Seriously, I think I will never be able to speak it - Phonemic length distinction, just phonemic length distinction.

Australians  speak Australian, are you serious, we speak english with aussie slang thrown in.

Oh, please -  And I thought I was obvious there...  <_<

Modifié par Eleinehmm, 22 novembre 2010 - 12:34 .

[Ellestor]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Ellestor wrote...

It grinds my gears when people talk about RP as if it is affected or pretentious by definition. Like the General American accent, Received Pronunciation was popularized for its clarity in broadcasting, and no one has this attitude toward GA—in fact, it has become the most common accent in the United States. What gives?

The General American accent is one of the least common in the US. It's 'native' to about three, low population states in the Midwest. I'm pretty sure more people speak with a New York accent than speak GA.

So, what is the accent being generally used by American characters on television that we mistakenly call General American?

Maria Caliban wrote...

Temet Nosce wrote...

I have that accent and I've lived in Texas my entire life...

Can I ask how you've come to that conclusion?

I've lived in 25 places around the country and have met many people with regional accents who think they speak 'accentless' American English.

The idea of 'accentlessness' is a common ignorance and I'll share in any frustration you have there, but if you're saying that, say, people from Western Massachusetts, Northern California, Southern Minnesota—and, yeah, even quite a few born-and-raised Texans—don't speak with the General American accent, your criteria are a lot stricter than those I'm used to. So, kudos, I guess.

Modifié par Ellestor, 22 novembre 2010 - 06:49 .

[KristofCoulson]

Id love it if i could have a character with a Glasgow (Scottish) accent like Annah from PS:T. That was just so awesome. "Awright then, where to next?"

And maybe an Arnie accent for my barbarian 'Conan' accomplice... Now i'm just dreaming lol.

Modifié par KristofCoulson, 24 novembre 2010 - 03:40 .

[maxernst]

Ellestor wrote...

Maria Caliban wrote...

Ellestor wrote...

It grinds my gears when people talk about RP as if it is affected or pretentious by definition. Like the General American accent, Received Pronunciation was popularized for its clarity in broadcasting, and no one has this attitude toward GA—in fact, it has become the most common accent in the United States. What gives?

The General American accent is one of the least common in the US. It's 'native' to about three, low population states in the Midwest. I'm pretty sure more people speak with a New York accent than speak GA.

So, what is the accent being generally used by American characters on television that we mistakenly call General American?

Maria Caliban wrote...

Temet Nosce wrote...

I have that accent and I've lived in Texas my entire life...

Can I ask how you've come to that conclusion?

I've lived in 25 places around the country and have met many people with regional accents who think they speak 'accentless' American English.

The idea of 'accentlessness' is a common ignorance and I'll share in any frustration you have there, but if you're saying that, say, people from Western Massachusetts, Northern California, Southern Minnesota—and, yeah, even quite a few born-and-raised Texans—don't speak with the General American accent, your criteria are a lot stricter than those I'm used to. So, kudos, I guess.

Some people are more sensitive to subtle variations in accents.  As a Canadian, most Americans don't recognize my accent as being distinct from General American, but when I lived in the U.S. for about ten years, I found that I was able to hear my own accent--which is a decidedly weird feeling.  I think a careful ear would be able to distinguish almost  anyone from Texas or western Massachusetts from GA, excluding actors, radio announcers and other people who are trained to remove regional variations in pronunciation.  Southern Minnesota might be pretty close to GA to start with, and northern California is one of these places which has a lot of people from elsewhere, so the regional accent is probably quite weak.

I remember seeing a guy who claimed to be able to tell where in Virginia people were from by their accent.  A friend of mine who was from West Virginia decided to test him out on his accent and the guy said he was from "west of Harrisonburg"...which was just about right, though he grew up on the other side of the border.