950 réponses à ce sujet

[Estelindis]

I liked the accents in DA:O... I found the use of American accents for dwarves particularly refreshing - I think it just fit in better with their cultural vibe than a Scottish one would've.



I'm also delighted to hear of the awesomeness of LadyHawke's voice. :-) Thanks for the posts!

[JRCHOharry]

yukidama wrote...
(aka Phil and Lil from Rugrats, lol).

I knew I heard that accent from somewhere!
Uh, I mean... carry on.

[David Gaider]

Tleining wrote...
There were a lot of people who knew someone from france, spent a lot of time in france,..., and because of that knew without a doubt that lelianas accent was horribly wrong.

Indeed. I've had people claiming to be authoritative experts on French accents who said Leliana's accent was clearly faked and not French at all... as well as people who said they heard British accents every day and swore up and down that characters like Alistair, Anora and others were obviously American actors faking it.

Is every actor using their authentic accent? No, I never said that was the case. The vast majority do, and Kath Soucie is an exception (obviously), but it's also clear that people hear what they want to hear.

[darksnow]

David Gaider wrote...

Addai67 wrote...
Isn't Steve Valentine scottish?

He is, and isn't Claudia Black Australian?

Claudia Black is Australian, and Steve Valentine's accent is authentic. The voices you hear from them are their natural speaking voices. That doesn't really seem to deter some folks from deciding that they (or anyone else) aren't authentic, somehow.

The first quoted bit is mine and I realize I should have added something to it: "Isn't Steve Valentine scottish, and if so, entitled to have a British accent if he so chooses?":D
Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera . Steve Valentine is not the only Scot I know who doesn't talk with a rolling "R" or "doesna go tae" places.

Now, Claudia Black sounds British but talks in an idiosyncratic manner. I thought she was trying to convey the strangeness of Morrigan's upbringing. 

[Chaia]

darksnow wrote...

Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera.

Mostly true, but I think thats mainly because, unlike in other parts in the world, we Brits still tend to put a lot of emphasis on what class someone currently is in and what class they've come from, just the other day I read in the papers the that we will never have anther PM from the middle classes just the upper.

Besides that, I thought Leliana's VA was Corinne Kempa, and isn't she French?

Modifié par Chaia, 24 janvier 2011 - 10:45 .

[Bann Duncan]

Chaia wrote...

darksnow wrote...

Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera.

Mostly true, but I think thats mainly because, unlike in other parts in the world, we Brits still tend to put a lot of emphasis on what class someone currently is in and what class they've come from, just the other I read in the papers the that we will never have anther PM from the middle classes just the upper.

Sounds like some rather silly extremist paper, seeing as we've not had an upper class Prime Minister since Churchill. I should add that that's a bad thing in my book; I believe in aristocracy.

"I want not less class but more class. In Who's Who, which is published yearly, there are listed 28,000 names. These are living people of distinction— of class. May their number increase. May their children be taught Latin; modern languages; history, particularly of their country. May they be shown taste in flowers; in gardening; in houses; in food. May they respect kindness and order. May they continue to wear a suit when 'class' is required." - Sir (Edwin) Hardy Amies

[Ninotchka]

TomHark wrote...

Ninotchka wrote...

We've been exposed (willingly or not) to British media, shows, reality shows (lol) since the dawn of television here in Australia.  I have also lived and worked in England - talk about exposure. The Welsh were the worst - couldn't understand a single word especially when I would have to take a message over the phone - listening to them spell out their surname, good times.

Although I respect what you're staying, I still argue, that there are Brits in existence who (by some force of nature) possess a naturally clear, easy to understand, non-regional British accent and whom I have heard talk (no obvious neturalisation) and who are are oh so proper and lovely to listen to, to boot! And they're not even actors!

Welsh people can be hard to understand, but they can't hold a candle to Glaswegians in my experience!

People who move around a lot while growing up tend to develop softer and more neutral accents, so it is certainly possible, but that would be more on an individual basis.  My point was more based on the fact that there is no region in this country that would contain people who naturally sound like most actors do in American media representations of our accents. 

Another reason for the disconnect I have is that the word useage often doesn't match the accent.  We are supposed to believe that the character is British, but they are using American words (like "ass" instead of "arse".)  If Hawke calls his mother "Mom" I'm going to go spare!

Exposure to other accents and languages through travel or through relationships also has a strong effect on your own accent as well. Although I was born in Australia, my first language was Russian and it has made my Australian accent, well, less Australian sounding.

Many outside of Australia may not realise it but the British English influence on our accents used to be incredibly strong. If you watch any Aussie movies/tv series from the late 60's, 70's there were many confusing accents to behold. There were people who sounded decidedly British but only because that was deemed to be the proper way to speak for cultured/educated Australians

Of course, celebrities such as Paul Hogan, Peter Garrett and Steve Irwin helped put an end to that trend.

Claudia Black's accent reminds me a bit of that British influence on Australian accents but hers is beautifully refined, natural-sounding and sophisticated.  I also absolutely adored the Lady of the
Forest's (Emma Fielding) voice and accent - I still find myself
mimicking the way she said certain words - her voice is heavenly.

I must say, the DA:O VA casting agent has impeccable taste and I can't wait to hear the DA2 cast.

btw TomHark, I think the disconnect regarding word usage is
only getting worse. Either through the unavoidable meshing of American
and British spellings as well as the forced entry of SMS style language
into both American and British vocabularies lol. 

[wildannie]

darksnow wrote...

David Gaider wrote...

Addai67 wrote...
Isn't Steve Valentine scottish?

He is, and isn't Claudia Black Australian?

Claudia Black is Australian, and Steve Valentine's accent is authentic. The voices you hear from them are their natural speaking voices. That doesn't really seem to deter some folks from deciding that they (or anyone else) aren't authentic, somehow.

The first quoted bit is mine and I realize I should have added something to it: "Isn't Steve Valentine scottish, and if so, entitled to have a British accent if he so chooses?":D
Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera . Steve Valentine is not the only Scot I know who doesn't talk with a rolling "R" or "doesna go tae" places.

Now, Claudia Black sounds British but talks in an idiosyncratic manner. I thought she was trying to convey the strangeness of Morrigan's upbringing. 

Oh please... SV as Alistair does not have the accent from where he comes from, regardless of who his parents were, his accent as Alistair is not NW Glasgow, period,

I 'dinnae go tae' or roll my 'r's either, there are many many variations in the accents around Glasgow - SV as alistair is not one of them<_<.

Anyway, really looking forward to hear LH VA, accent's not important to me as long as the tone and emotions are good.

[Sharn01]

TomHark wrote...

Ninotchka wrote...

I think you're confusing faking with acting. Most of the Origins VO actors did an outstanding job, it's just when they take it too far, as Jon Curry had to, it really shows.

No, I'm not.  I don't know if I can make it any clearer than I already did, but I'll give it a shot.  Most British accents you hear in non-British media are not real.  No area in Britain would have them as natural accents.  In affect, they are neutral accents created to make it easier for foreign people to understand.  The actors (even when British themselves) have different accents when they speak normally.

The same can be said for most nations that produce television and radio, actors are taught to speak a certain way when speaking.  The same is true for american dialect, if you are watching a TV show, movie, or playing a voiced game, there is no one anywhere in the US that speaks english that way, there are a few places in the midwest that are close, but there is always a difference, sometimes small, and sometimes very large.

[Chaia]

Bann Duncan wrote...

Chaia wrote...

darksnow wrote...

Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera.

Mostly true, but I think thats mainly because, unlike in other parts in the world, we Brits still tend to put a lot of emphasis on what class someone currently is in and what class they've come from, just the other I read in the papers the that we will never have anther PM from the middle classes just the upper.

Sounds like some rather silly extremist paper, seeing as we've not had an upper class Prime Minister since Churchill. I should add that that's a bad thing in my book; I believe in aristocracy.

LOL yes thats probably true , I can't even remember which one it was now, just read it because there was nothing else to do whilst on the train and someone left it behind, but then again pretty much all papers lean towards one party/class or anther.

But anyway back to Dragon Age....

Modifié par Chaia, 24 janvier 2011 - 11:01 .

[darksnow]

wildannie wrote...

darksnow wrote...

David Gaider wrote...

Addai67 wrote...
Isn't Steve Valentine scottish?

He is, and isn't Claudia Black Australian?

Claudia Black is Australian, and Steve Valentine's accent is authentic. The voices you hear from them are their natural speaking voices. That doesn't really seem to deter some folks from deciding that they (or anyone else) aren't authentic, somehow.

The first quoted bit is mine and I realize I should have added something to it: "Isn't Steve Valentine scottish, and if so, entitled to have a British accent if he so chooses?":D
Most people out of the British Isles seem to disregard the fact that the speaking accent for one born and bred there also depends on other things, like what kind of school he/she attended, where his/her family is from originally, etcetera etcetera . Steve Valentine is not the only Scot I know who doesn't talk with a rolling "R" or "doesna go tae" places.

Now, Claudia Black sounds British but talks in an idiosyncratic manner. I thought she was trying to convey the strangeness of Morrigan's upbringing. 

Oh please... SV as Alistair does not have the accent from where he comes from, regardless of who his parents were, his accent as Alistair is not NW Glasgow, period,

I 'dinnae go tae' or roll my 'r's either, there are many many variations in the accents around Glasgow - SV as alistair is not one of them<_<.

Anyway, really looking forward to hear LH VA, accent's not important to me as long as the tone and emotions are good.

 Isn't that exactly what I was saying?

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned Mark Sheppard can high-pitch his voice and do Lady Hawke for me, I'll be happy as long as I can play the game.

[037686]

I find the whole discussion of faked accents amusing due to my personal experience.

I am an English ex-pat living in America. Since arriving in the US, I have had my accent placed as Australian, German, Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish...well, you get the idea.

As a rough estimate, people only accurately guess me as English about 35% of the time. And no, this isn't due to me having "lost my accent", since this has happened from the very moment I moved into the country.

The moral of the story: people hear what they want to hear, and most don't know anywhere near as much about accents as they think they do. Most of the "fake accent" accusations probably come from the VA struggling to cope with a different manner of speaking (i.e. sentence construction) than they are used to, nothing more.

Modifié par 037686, 24 janvier 2011 - 11:09 .

[wildannie]

@darksnow - It's not what I thought you were saying, might have been what you were meaning.



I just don't see any point in bringing the SV's lack of rolling r's etc as anything to do with how Alistair sounded. Alistair has IMO a generic English accent, there's nothing Scottish about it. I've never heard SV's Scottish accent, but unless he's from the landed gentry (v unlikely in Bishopbriggs) it's not going to sound english...



Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling, I'm a bit grumpy so should just go to bed...

[Le_Saboteur]

ciaweth wrote...
Also excellent as Matriarch Aethyta in Mass Effect 2.

I can't believe that was Claudia Black! She is amazing. I loved Aethyta, one of my favourite minor characters from ME2. Also, there's a Dresden Files TV SHOW? AND SHE WAS IN IT?! BEST DAY EVER. 

/offtopic


As for her performance in DA:O, I thought it was wonderful. It didn't sound English in particular to me (probably being that I'm a New Zealander), but it fit Morrigan perfectly. 

As for Lady Hawke, I'm going to assume her accent will be similar to Beardy Hawke's, otherwise the family accents on a whole will be off-kilter (I'm guessing here that Hawke and her/his siblings will sound very similar).

Modifié par Le_Saboteur, 24 janvier 2011 - 11:30 .

[Wynne]

David Gaider wrote...

Tleining wrote...
There were a lot of people who knew someone from france, spent a lot of time in france,..., and because of that knew without a doubt that lelianas accent was horribly wrong.

Indeed. I've had people claiming to be authoritative experts on French accents who said Leliana's accent was clearly faked and not French at all... as well as people who said they heard British accents every day and swore up and down that characters like Alistair, Anora and others were obviously American actors faking it.

Is every actor using their authentic accent? No, I never said that was the case. The vast majority do, and Kath Soucie is an exception (obviously), but it's also clear that people hear what they want to hear.

From the source: "It's so exaggerated, way too pronounced, and it's by the fact that she overdoes it that you can pick up the traces of fakeness, whereas if it was gentler she would've been able to hide it more. I've heard strong French accents, but this was something else."

With Leliana, this can be explained that she is, as has been mentioned, a French-speaking woman who was influenced by English, which is pretty much the point as it fits her character. Thus, the claims that it is "fake" likely occur because the accent is not pure French, not necessarily because they don't know their subject, but simply because they are picking up on something that they mistakenly identify as being fake. It's the English influence, naturally.

And as it's late where I am, that's about as far as I can discuss this subject, which is obviously very nuanced.

Modifié par Wynne, 24 janvier 2011 - 11:59 .

[Eudaemonium]

AwesomeName wrote...

Wow, people thought alistair's accent was faked?? What???  It's such a normal accent to hear in people from the south of England... *lol*

I know! I use it myself! Though my voice is deeper than Alistair's.

[Sylvius the Mad]

I worked with a woman from Singapore whose first language was Chinese and who'd attended school in Hong Kong (when Hong Kong was British). And her English was the strangest amalgam of Chinese accents, American accents, and RP British I have ever heard. Simply talking to her was often quite off-putting, and this was her natural accent when speaking English.

You really can't tell for sure that someone's doing a fake accent if that's the only accent you've ever heard them do.

[Maria Caliban]

Estelindis wrote...

I liked the accents in DA:O... I found the use of American accents for dwarves particularly refreshing - I think it just fit in better with their cultural vibe than a Scottish one would've.

Yep, when dwarves went from being honorable warriors and smiths to manipulative, fratricidal bastards, the American accent just fit them better.

[Harid]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Estelindis wrote...

I liked the accents in DA:O... I found the use of American accents for dwarves particularly refreshing - I think it just fit in better with their cultural vibe than a Scottish one would've.

Yep, when dwarves went from being honorable warriors and smiths to manipulative, fratricidal bastards, the American accent just fit them better.

My sarcasm may be off, but this feels like a rimshot.

[marshalleck]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

I worked with a woman from Singapore whose first language was Chinese and who'd attended school in Hong Kong (when Hong Kong was British). And her English was the strangest amalgam of Chinese accents, American accents, and RP British I have ever heard. Simply talking to her was often quite off-putting, and this was her natural accent when speaking English.
You really can't tell for sure that someone's doing a fake accent if that's the only accent you've ever heard them do.

It's strange to read this, because I've worked with a woman whose story was just about the same. She spent about 10 years in London after school in Hong Kong and before coming to the US. You're right about the mixed accent, it really is disconcerting, although you get used to it after a while.

[Estelindis]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Estelindis wrote...

I liked the accents in DA:O... I found the use of American accents for dwarves particularly refreshing - I think it just fit in better with their cultural vibe than a Scottish one would've.

Yep, when dwarves went from being honorable warriors and smiths to manipulative, fratricidal bastards, the American accent just fit them better.

Or, you know, when they got the kind of depth that put them beyond the clichéd ideas so many folks have of gaelic peoples?  (Being Irish, I know a lot about the latter.)

[Apollo Starflare]

When we did some comparing of voice actresses in both ME and DAO a few months back it did seem likely that Belinda Cornish would be voicing Lady Hawke, she being one of the only ones listed on IMDB as being British. However there has been a lot of speculation since then, I can't remember if we confirmed she would also be voiced by a Brit (although it seems likely given Bioware's desire to get UK voice talent for the game where appropriate) for instance. I think we were told she voiced a somewhat unliked character similar to Male Hawke's VA, but my memory might be getting confused *goes to check*. It would fit with her playing Goldanna if so anyway.

Pretty sure I'm wrong about the last bit looking back, can't see it mentioned anywhere, probably thinking of Vaughan/Hawke.

Modifié par Apollo Starflare, 25 janvier 2011 - 01:00 .

[nijnij]

Being French myself and having played Origins with the original voices everytime, I must say I found Leliana's "French" accent very decent and took it for granted, because it was subtle and downplayed ; I didn't brand it as French immediately (during her first few lines, I thought she had a slight lisp, which I found cute), but once you understand she's from Orlais (and not "France", so I couldn't care less btw if she sounds French or not), she easily passes for someone who's fluent in English with just a feeble French accent. Though I wasn't sure where her VA was from until now, not because her French intonations were wrong (they weren't)... but because the English ones were too perfect ! But that's why I liked her VA, she just had that small exotic touch but it didn't sound goofy or anything.



I had a lot more trouble with Isolde, because she tries so hard to sound French that everytime she misses the point, well you can't help but hear it, although emotionally, her VA nailed the part (I never sacrifice her but I'm always close !). Same with Marjolaine. Thinking of it, especially Marjolaine. Maybe that's why I always kill her ! But since she's a "minor" character (at least in terms of actual presence), it's okay for her to sound like that I guess , we're pretty used to the long-standing Hollywood tradition of villains with a strong fake French accent ^^.

[Malevolence65]

Harid wrote...
My sarcasm may be off, but this feels like a rimshot.

That's because it was.