Have you got a dialect question?
Ask me here in the comments section!
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Pamela Vanderway's Dialect 411 by Pamela Vanderway is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Voice and dialect information for professional actors and the people who hire them
Hi Pamela!
As I mentioned on Twitter, I am looking into research on how to do Sarah Palin’s accent for a possible project. I think the project will have a more relaxed tone than her debates–possibly a little more like her interviews. Where would I start my research? I always tend to have a harder time with ‘midwestern’ accents, even though I’m from the midwest (Chicago). :)
Thank you!
Hello!
As I mentioned on Twitter, there are plenty of clips of Ms. Palin to choose from online if you Google. Choosing a usable clip (around 2 minutes in length) would be the place to start. Look for a clip that is natural sounding, without a lot of background noise or interruption. You may wish to select a clip where she’s not talking directly about politics if you are hoping to find the most natural sample of her speech.
How have you gone about learning dialects in the past? What are the steps you have typically undertaken?
Hi!
Thank you so much for responding!
I have never learned a dialect before. Usually, when I am playing with a dialect, I’m doing just that–playing with it in an improv. I’ve never set about learning or researching any dialect. I’m a total novice and open to suggestion! It’s one area of my acting that I have never worked on, and I’d love to start!
Thanks!
Danielle
A clean slate is a great place to start.
(No bad habits to undo!)
Make sure you check out my May 25th post concerning the steps to learning a dialect, so you’ll know what the task involves at it’s core level. As my blogging continues, I will be discussing the technical aspects of learning a dialect–at least those that translate well to this written medium, so stay tuned for that.
Learning a dialect is akin to learning to walk a tightrope. You can read about it all you want, but without a tightrope under your feet and a coach by your side, you’re not really going to be able to learn what you need to know to succeed.
That said, there are many ways to go about actually learning a dialect. In the case of wishing to duplicate the speech patterns of a particular person (Sarah Palin), you will do well to start by spending a few days online listening, watching, and cataloging the various audio and video clips available in which she appears. Then, using whatever criterion you deem important, you select a short passage (1-3 mins) and find a way (legally) to download it, copy it and listen to it—– Over and over and over again. There’s a way to go about listening, though, and honestly a good coach will be your best choice to train you how to become successful at this. This is the ‘rope under the feet’ part of it.
While listening to the 2 min sample, you want to be constantly thinking ‘How is this person saying what they are saying?’ ‘How did they make that sound? and not paying attention very much to which word comes next. Avoid trying to memorize the ‘lines.’
Also, be prepared to listen to Sarah for several hours a day, every day for many…and to be patient while doing so. Subtle, convincing work takes time. Take your time in attempting to duplicate any of her words. With all of your heart, mind and soul resist the urge to approximate or lampoon what she’s doing speech-wise, or you’ll never get the results you are seeking.
I know that this isn’t a complete answer, HalofiveOO, but I want you to have a successful experience. Part of that will be to meet with a professional that can show you the ropes. If you need help finding one, I can assist you with that!
Joy to you,
Pamela
Thank you so much for such a thorough answer! I will check out the post you mentioned. :) I started looking at clips last night–will continue to do some research as soon as I can.
When a client requests a “British Accent” (with no geographic cues in the breakdown), which dialect gives an actor the best opportunity to book?
That’s a great question, Scott! Sometimes clients have not honed in on exactly what they are looking for and are using the ‘We’ll know it when we see it’ approach. They also may simply not be aware that they are omitting important actor information in the breakdown. My advice in cases such as this is to first look at the sides carefully for clues. Can you tell what the function of your character is from the text you have been provided? Does the character seem to be sympathetic? Unsympathetic? Truthful? Deceitful? Educated? Uneducated? Affluent? Destitute? Aggressive? Passive? (etc.) Any of these tiny clues can help steer you in the right direction dialect-wise. A second layer to this process is to take into account your own personal brand (some call it ‘essence’ or your ‘it factor’ etc.) If you take a good look at the body of work you have done, as well as the auditions you’ve been called in for you will begin to see patterns pertaining to specific character types and traits. For instance, if you happen to be an actor who is most often called in to play rural, deceitful, uneducated characters and the sides / breakdown for your current audition seem to be in line with those traits, you will most likely want to make sure that your accent blends well with these other components.
Joy to you,
Pamela Vanderway