My research about Ted Talks:
My research question is: Why voice acting is as important as any other form of acting.
I really wanted to learn more about voice acting, and how much really goes into it all. Ever since I was young I wanted to voice act, even before I realised that I wanted to be an actress for film and for stage. A lot of children I say grew up with voice acting more than actual screen acting. This is due to the fact that young children watch cartoons more than films. I always loved cartoons, including Japanese cartoons, also known as Anime. I grew up on it! and I always wanted to somehow be in it, which is when I learnt about voice acting. I feel that many people don't ever think about the voice acting when watching cartons, unless of course they were like me and felt like being the cartoon characters. Although I wanted to be a voice actor I still never really thought about it or understood it. Now that I study acting I already know so many things that actually goes on behind the mic. Doing my research on voice acting specifically has enlarged my understanding of it so much more! I want everyone else to see and also understand how much effort is put into it. A lot of people think that voice acting is easy, or easier than acting for stage and screen, but I'd definitely say otherwise. Ill put everything down below to prove why that is.
First of all nearly everything you have to do for stage and screen acting, you also have to do for voice acting. Starting off with the character development. In voice acting you are still playing a character. You still need to do your research and break them down. You have to know the reason to why they are feeling that way or to why they just did what they did so that they can express those emotions through their voice. A good outcome is the character portrayed well through the voice, It's not just 'Funny voices'. Sometimes it can be harder to portray all these emotions because you have to do it without moving and only say it into a mic. However this isn't always the case. I was doing some research when I came across the behind the scenes of the making of Rango. They used a lot of method acting, which allowed the actors to really understand the scene and quite literally 'live it out'. Method acting is one of the best techniques that lets the actors connect to that moment, so that they can then present it to the audience. If you don't know what method acting is, this is the definition: 'A technique of acting in which an actor aspires to complete emotional identification with a part'. It was a system evolved by Stanislavsky. Too put it in a way that makes more sense, the actor will normally live out the same experience as their characters. For example Heath ledger, when he played the Joker. He went to the extreme. He locked himself in a hotel room for a month and just read the comics and kept a dairy. This is to get himself in character. Another example is Robert De Niro, he worked as a real taxi driver whilst shooting 'Taxi Driver'. 
Back onto Tango now.... from my research, the making of this film had some of the best voice acting in, purely because of what they did behind the scenes. Johnny Depp voices Rango, and in this video I'm about to link below, he's running around and actually acting out the scene. Rango. Instead of just standing behind a mic and talking into it, they fully act it out on a stage/ room. They memorise their lines and act it out. They get a mic attached to them and then there's also a big mic handled by the camera crew, which will pick up all the dialogue. It honestly amazes me. People really don't know all the production that goes into it. My teacher told us about a series on Disney+, which is about the making of Frozen 2. It talks about voice acting. I watched quite a few clips, and what I notice is that they like to do the line multiple times, in a variety of different emotions until it sounds right. I like to do this when I'm trying to learn my lines, because I don't like how it sounds sometimes.
Being a apart of a production like Rango would be amazing, but there are other things that people do whilst voice acting, such as doing it in the same room, so that they can react from one another.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of actors/ actresses for film, voice act. I believe that they get these jobs because they know all the concepts of acting for film and screen, and that they also need to be used for voice acting!
Behind the scens of voice acting- collection- In this video you'll see a collection of celebrities voice acting, and you can see how differently they do it. Even though you'll never be able to see their faces in the film/ cartoon they still express every emotion on their faces.
If you think about it, there are several types of voice acting! sectioning them out, there is:
-Animation: This is what most people think of when they hear voice acting
-Commercial: This is the bread and butter of how most voice actors make their living. This category involves promoting a product or service in the form of an advertisement that will be presented on television, web, radio or social. They usually last for 15-60 seconds.
-Narrations: This is when a voice actor narrates over images or motion pictures. An example is Planet Earth narrated by David Attenborough. You'll mostly find this category in history channels, national, and geographical.
-Audio books: This is pretty exploratory. This has actually become one of the most popular form of entertainment in recent years.
-Video games/ Interactive: The video game industry is actually one of the biggest industries in the word. Even bigger than Hollywood. With how popular it's gotten, it's created a lot more jobs for voice actors, helping them to make a living.
-E- Learning
-Corporate
-Trailers: Voice acting for trailers helps the audience get a gimps of a full-length program.
-Promos: If you ever heard, "Coming up next" or "Next Friday at 8", that is exactly what a promo is.
-Announcing: There are many different voice acting for announcing such as, Radio announcing or even the Subway, when they shout "Stand clear of the closing doors".
Going more into depth with voice acting for video games and interactive. This genre of voice acting is one of the two that really fascinates me, the other being animation. In video games there are a lot more dramatic sounds such as falling over, getting hit and even shouting. A lot more random noises are also needed to be made due to the fact that the characters may not talk much, and instead let out a sound when doing an action. With video games now, they use a lot of motion capture and motion performances. So now actors may not only be voicing a character but also model for the body movement as well.
I had seen a video of Benedict Cumberbatch doing motion capture whilst playing the role of Smaug footage in the film, hobbit. It's not for a video game but it's the same type of work as it was for a character that used CGI. Benedict Cumbervatch- Smaug, that's a short clip showing what it consists off. Here's another, but it's just him explaining it all- Benedict Cumberbatch- Smaug 2. Something that's got quite popular lately is a series called, 'The last of us'. Before it was made into a series it was a game, which used motion capture. The last of us- This shows a lot about motion capture and how much acting is involved. Of course now looking into it you know that a lot more physical acting is used for motion capture for video games and films, but never the less, voice acting for animation can use just as much movement, as seen in the behind the scenes of Rango!
Sometimes when you act, you don't even need to say anything, you can express all your emotions from movement or facial expressions. Whereas in voice acting you can't, it all needs to be heard from one source, which is the voice. Which is why I'd say voice acting is just as tricky as any other form of acting.
Being in an acting course for Screen and stage, I would like to say that I should be able to voice act, since I now know a lot more, but that's definitely not the case! I would say that I now will be able to do it better as I know the basics, however it's a lot more tricky to be able to put everything into one source. One thing on which I struggle when acting is when we start rehearsals for a new show, and I have to act with a script in my hands. I find it so hard to read something and to express the right emotions, especially in my voice. When voice acting you are expected to instantly analyse, copy and read the script as if you are completely familiar with it.
Specialist Practitioner from the acting world:
Whilst my time at college, I've learnt about a few acting practitioners. The one that caught my eye the most would be Stella Adler.
Here's everything I've found out about her:
Who was Stella Adler?
Stella was an American actor and acting teacher, born in 1901 into one of the most famous acting families of New York's Yiddish theatre scene. She grew up being on stage and became a very well known actor herself. Adler was also an intellectual. She taught all of her knowledge, techniques to aspiring actors around the globe and her wondrous knowledge on plays primed her to become one of the most influential acting teachers of all time in American history.
How Stella Adler became famous:
In the 1920's, actors who trained at Konstantin Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre arrived stateside to perform and lead classes. Adler, who was a curious and inspired individual, believed Stanislavsky's System to be genius. She began studying alongside some of his previous students- Maria Ouspenskaya and Richard Boleslavsky at the American Laboratory Theatre in New York. Through this class, Stella was invited to join the Group Theatre co-founded by Lee Stasberg, who was soon to be her biggest rival.
In Paris, Stanislavsky confirmed that his teachings and his way of thinking had evolved and people in America were still going from an outdated version. He admitted to moving away from "affective memory" all together, leaving Stella's interpretation of his technique proven to be correct. Stella became one of the only acting gurus to study and work through a technique with the creator himself. So then, Stella returned to the US to begin teaching the updated and correct version of Stanislavsky's theory.
Stella wasn't a fan of Lee Strasberg's interpretation of the system after training with the group. Strasberg had never met Stanislavsky but he was adamant that his interpretation, "affective memory" - was correct. Stella believed this technique to be torturous and wrapped younger actors in the group, being ineffective and not useful. Stella then travelled to Paris to ask Stanislavsky himself and prove Lee wrong.
What is the Stella Adler technique?
Stella's technique is founded on an actor's ability to imagine a character's world. She believed that over-reliance on personal, emotional memories limited an actor's range. Not everybody has had the same experiences in life, meaning not everybody can relate the correct level of emotion to specific circumstances that they haven't even experienced before. Her technique encourages actors to expand their understanding of the world, in order to create compelling performances. She taught her actors to deliberately observe the world, take in, absorb the textures, aesthetics, and sounds of everyday life. This enables the actors to conjure realistic and detailed images onstage. When mental images are presented truthfully in the mind, the actor can authentically express this imagery more realistically to the audience, allowing them to feel and be connected on a deeper level.
Who did Stella Adler teach?
Marlon Brando is probably the most iconic Stella Adler student. She taught into the 1980s, so plenty of recognizable faces crossed her stage
Stella Adler was one of America's most memorable theatre teachers. Her dynamic presence and strong ideals drew students from coast to coast, also including Elaine Stritch, and Robert De Niro.
How Stella Adler began acting:
The youngest daughter of Sara and Jacob Adler, Stella began her career on her father's stage at the age of four in a production of Broken Hearts. She spent her young adult life performing throughout the United States, Europe and South America, appearing in more than 100 plays in vaudeville and the Yiddish theatre.
Her careers on Broadway:
All works are the original Broadway productions unless otherwise noted.
-The Straw Hat (1926)
-Big Lake (1927)
-The House of Connelly (1931)
-1931 (1931)
-Night Over Taos (1932)
-Success Story (1932)
-Big Night (1933)
-Hilda Cassidy (1933)
-Gentlewoman (1934)
-Gold Eagle Guy (1934)
-Awake and sing! (1935)
-Paradise Lost(1935)
-Sons and Soldiers (1943)
-Pretty Little Parlor (1944)
-He who gets slapped- Revival (1946)
-Manhattan Nocturne (1943)
-Sunday Breakfast (1952)
here are the videos:
-https://youtu.be/iOm-ECQdQCY
-https://youtu.be/ZtbpqgtubKA
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