I was very pleased to present two short talks at the VASTA conference this October for their hybrid day. Here’s what I spoke about:

Accents and Dialects: Why does emotion get in the way?

At points of heightened emotion, it is common for actors working in an accent or dialect to default to their natural speech patterns. This presentation strives to bring practical suggestions to performers struggling to maintain the harmony of emotional honesty and the integrity of the performed accent. It aims to consider what we can learn from research into vocal expression of emotion to help actors to embody the emotion and keep control of their voice and accent.

At points of heightened emotion, actors working in an accent or dialect can find it challenging not to default to their natural speech patterns. This can be even more difficult for performers working in a language that is not their first. There is also anecdotal evidence of this leading to pressured decisions by directors about whether or not to include accent/dialect work in their productions. As coaches, we want performers to be acting the scene and not worrying about holding on to the accent. How do we help performers to avoid this issue and provide them and their directors with the confidence they need regardless of the emotional demands of the piece? What can we learn from research into vocal expression of emotion to help actors embody the emotion and keep control of their voice and accent? Involuntary emotional vocalisations like laughter or weeping “can directly interact with voluntary control of the articulators, making speech and song difficult or impossible” (Scott, 2021, p4). Emotions can affect the level of voluntary control we have over our vocal tract and can disrupt our intended vocal patterns (McGettigan and Scott, 2014). Taking this concept at a starting point as a potential cause of this challenge, this paper presentation strives to bring practical suggestions to performers struggling to maintain the harmony of emotional honesty and the integrity of the performed accent/dialect. It will explore existing research from neuroscience and psychology to analyse this challenge and propose some potential practical strategies for coaching actors.

Nonverbal vocalisations as a device for the emotional immersion of the audience in voice acting for video games

“We experience vocal sound in terms of our own embodied experience of similar sounds: we mentally mimic the voice in our own body” (Collins, 2011, p44). Building on existing research into the value of voice for world-building in video games, this paper presentation will focus on the use of nonverbal vocalisation as one of the voice actor’s primary devices for emotional immersion through case study examples.

Stingel-Voigt (2020, p25) notes that sound in video games offers valuable information “and reveals emotions”. She discusses the sensorial importance of voice as a representation of a character’s state and emphasises the value it offers to the immersive state of the player. Southwick (2022, p33) remarks that “voiceover is an intrinsic and vital part of world-building in video games”. He goes on to point out that one of the most important tactics that a voice actor can use is playing on the “gamer’s sense of self” (Southwick, 2022, p34). He briefly discusses use of pressed and creaky phonation modes and approaches to text like stressing of operative words and pitch variation. However, the dialogue and ‘first circle’ self-talk that is peppered throughout the games is secondary to the quantity of non-verbal vocalisations that are used to demonstrate physical exertion and emotional reactions to the circumstances and events. As Collins (2011, p44) writes regarding dialogue in games, “we experience vocal sound in terms of our own embodied experience of similar sounds: we mentally mimic the voice in our own body”. This goes beyond dialogue and extends to other kinds of nonverbal vocalisations. Stingel-Voigt (2020, p30) comments that “empathy through vocal sound especially arises when feelings are expressed vocally, such as crying or shouting, but can also be perceived in finer nuances of emotionality”. Building on this existing research, this paper presentation will focus on the use of nonverbal vocalisation as one of the voice actor’s primary devices for emotional immersion through case study examples from video games.