Nobody in Toronto talks like that unless they are from some other part of Canada.
More interestingly, I'm from Vancouver, and I thought the Seattle accent seemed most familiar. But doesn't everybody talk like that? Or at least the clear speaking people you see on the news? Seriously, is there an identifiable North-West accent? I didn't think there was, but now... I just don't know.
Posted by: chuk | Sep 27, 2009 12:11:10 PM
I grew up in the Northwest, and went to high school in New York City. According to those in my school, there is most definitely a Northwest accent!
What I found most interesting in the video was the Transcontinental accent--learned for stage and screen. I believe there is a current version for use by newscasters and such, designed to wipe away the more noticeable regional dialects--making it sound more or less Northwest.
Posted by: lambness | Sep 27, 2009 12:32:16 PM
Carlos, we agree -- pretty good but not real good. The difference between this and what an actor who is a master of accents can do is very great. Where Amy Walker is attention-getting is in being able to segue without crashing -- if that's a realtime video, that is. But if you listened to any one of her accents, she probably wouldn't fool you she was a native or even an exceptionally adroit mimic.
I'm not just bitching -- not only am I the sister of a truly brilliant actor who does this stuff to uncanny effect, but I actually know a tiny bit about the subject. I have helped people to eliminate or greatly reduce foreign accents that were obstacles to their being easily understood in English. But, to dial it back or put it on, you need to know most of the same things. Voice production involves many parts of your body and many facial muscles you don't usually think about as you talk. A lot of it is getting into character -- a "whole persona" affair. Which is why a trained actor can be so helpful to anyone who needs to infiltrate a culture. A demo like this would be much stronger -- or weaker -- if it were shot from the waist up. Whatever else it is, language is also gestural, with regional accents possessing gestural components.
Finally, this demo tape is in part meant to attract students who want to reduce their accents. Amy Walker might well be a fantastically good teacher/coach for learning and using those techniques. A basketball coach is not there to shoot more hoops than you, after all.
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Comments
Flawless!
Posted by: Shabbir | Sep 27, 2009 11:08:20 AM
Not flawless, but fun.
Posted by: Carlos | Sep 27, 2009 11:58:58 AM
Nobody in Toronto talks like that unless they are from some other part of Canada.
More interestingly, I'm from Vancouver, and I thought the Seattle accent seemed most familiar. But doesn't everybody talk like that? Or at least the clear speaking people you see on the news? Seriously, is there an identifiable North-West accent? I didn't think there was, but now... I just don't know.
Posted by: chuk | Sep 27, 2009 12:11:10 PM
I grew up in the Northwest, and went to high school in New York City. According to those in my school, there is most definitely a Northwest accent!
What I found most interesting in the video was the Transcontinental accent--learned for stage and screen. I believe there is a current version for use by newscasters and such, designed to wipe away the more noticeable regional dialects--making it sound more or less Northwest.
Posted by: lambness | Sep 27, 2009 12:32:16 PM
Carlos, we agree -- pretty good but not real good. The difference between this and what an actor who is a master of accents can do is very great. Where Amy Walker is attention-getting is in being able to segue without crashing -- if that's a realtime video, that is. But if you listened to any one of her accents, she probably wouldn't fool you she was a native or even an exceptionally adroit mimic.
I'm not just bitching -- not only am I the sister of a truly brilliant actor who does this stuff to uncanny effect, but I actually know a tiny bit about the subject. I have helped people to eliminate or greatly reduce foreign accents that were obstacles to their being easily understood in English. But, to dial it back or put it on, you need to know most of the same things. Voice production involves many parts of your body and many facial muscles you don't usually think about as you talk. A lot of it is getting into character -- a "whole persona" affair. Which is why a trained actor can be so helpful to anyone who needs to infiltrate a culture. A demo like this would be much stronger -- or weaker -- if it were shot from the waist up. Whatever else it is, language is also gestural, with regional accents possessing gestural components.
Finally, this demo tape is in part meant to attract students who want to reduce their accents. Amy Walker might well be a fantastically good teacher/coach for learning and using those techniques. A basketball coach is not there to shoot more hoops than you, after all.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Sep 27, 2009 1:15:26 PM
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