Print Article for : Voice Actors Of Spongebob

Your Online Guide » World Music » Guide Guitar

[V152]Voice Actors Of Spongebob

by Terry Daniel, Ter

If you are producing an animated project, then you are going to need at least one voice actor, and you will have to know what to ask them about their skill sets. That means you need to go shopping for your voice actor—or actors in the plural, as the case may be-armed with a character list complete with a brief, one-sentence description of each character's voice requirements. Don't just hire a voice actor and hope you'll find out she can do what you need. Each voice actor is as different from every other, as each screen actor is different from his colleagues. After all, if the studio had cast Jack Nicholson as Vito Corleone, The Godfather would have been a different movie, even if Nicholson were Italian.

Whether you're casting an original character, a complex character with apparent contradictions in his nature—the rogue with a soft, gooey center, for instance—or an archetype like Gandalf of the Ring Trilogy and Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series, you need to know what a voice actor needs to be able to do in order to bring that character to life. You need to know what aspects of the voice are negotiable and which aren't.

A character's age or accent, for example, are generally not negotiable unless you are willing to change the very heart of your production. If you need a French accent, but find a voice actor who does British accents, but who is a genius at pulling off other difficult aspects of the character, it is perfectly all right to change the character to fit the actor—if you've found a gem of an actor. You have to make the call in the end, but you have to at least know what you want in the beginning, even if you find you are unable to get it.

You may even need special skills from a voice actor, like being able to do a child's voice. Chances are, you are not going to be able to find a child who is a voice actor, after all. But there are things you can do to create the illusion. Bart Simpson, for instance, is voiced by Nancy Cartwright.

All you really need when casting is a basic idea of the character's voice: gender, age, accent or lack thereof, and things like “smooth,” “rough,” “low,” “high,” “squeaky,” “sultry”--that sort of thing. And you need to know what kind of person he is, whether he's confident, sneaky, whatever. Then go shopping and see what happens.

When you are faced with casting a voice actor for an animated production, there are certain things you have to know before you proceed. You can't just decide to make a production and then go hire a voice actor and hope everything turns out all right. Even if you have done a lot of work on the script, it is not going to come together unless you cast the right people for the spots. No matter how good the lines are, if the voice actor does not deliver them properly, then your vision is not going to be realized.

You may not even know what a voice actor delivering the lines properly entails. That's all right, if you are willing to turn over some of the creative process to the voice actor. But you have to know enough about it to cast a voice actor you know will do a good job. That means you understand what kind of character you are casting for, and that you consider all of the variables, like accent, before you look for someone to fill the role.

Is your character original and complex? Is he a rogue with a heart of gold and many shades to his personality? A character like that, even in an animated production, is going to need a voice actor that can pull off the complexities of the character. That means you are going to have to understand those complexities so that you can explain them to the voice actor?unless, of course, you are willing to give the actor creative license and see what happens. That is a valid approach, but it is best if you are doing that because you trust the performance chops of the voice actor, than because you're just hoping he knows more than you do.

If your character is a stereotype or an archetypal character, you will need a voice actor who can play a strong, even exaggerated, character. The inflections have got to be able to suggest that archetype. For instance, it takes a certain type of oily yet suave voice to play a Mephistophlean role and a voice with even more grease to play the weasel-type character. You know the type I mean. He's usually a fast-talking, small-time crook or a thin henchman. For your project, you have to find someone who can create that effect with his voice and the dialogue alone. The character isn't going to tell your audience he's a greasy henchman.

Does your character have an accent? If so, how realistic should it be? Not every voice actor can do an accent. It takes a lot of work and a real pro to pull off an accent like a native speaker. Think Hugh Laurie, who plays the lead character in House, M.D. He's an Englishman, yet you can't tell he wasn't born and raised on U.S. soil. The exaggerated accent can be done for comic effect or simply to suggest an accent. Audiences have a tolerance for bad accents as long as they are consistent and strong. You will have to know ahead of time that you need a voice actor that can do the accent you need, in the style you need it done.

You don't have to know every last thing about the character's voice before you cast, as small details are impossible to plan for and will be discovered in the process. However, you do need to plan ahead and know what to ask for when you approach an agency looking for a voice actor or seven.

Article Source : Pg. 51

Terry Daniel has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar, How to Podcast. Terry Daniel is a With a 15 Year History of Performing