Anime
voice acting has one advantage for performers such as Vancouver-based
Michael Coleman: the script for a dub already is set and there's no
chance that his role is going to be cut from the film. That's happened
to Coleman, who mixes film and theatrical acting with his anime voice
work. Coleman tells the story of a movie where he was slated to appear
in the final twenty minutes of a movie, only to have those twenty
minutes cut from the film, along with his role. At least he got paid
for his never-seen work. "You start up getting the TV roles and the
film roles first," said Coleman. "Most of us have a whole whack of them
on our resume. Then you get into this thing called anime voice acting."
Coleman credits Kirby Morrow, a 2003 guest of honor at Anime Boston,
for helping him get started in voice acting by paying for the studio
time needed to assemble a voice demo as a birthday gift.
The
souvenir bags given to Anime Boston fans featured Dragon Drive, a
series in which Coleman has a role. That show had some of Coleman's
toughest performances, as a character who loses control when his mother
dies. The hard role meant a lot of outtakes. "I'm sure I recorded it 30
times because I was too wimpy - it was so many different concepts at
the same time." Laughing and crying aren't the easiest emotions to get
across, especially when your performance is determined by only your
voice and the facial exertions of an animated character. "You have to
get it all out," Coleman said. "You have to allow yourself the freedom
and the inhibitions, and it has to be genuine."
Another
difference between anime dubbing and live-action acting comes in the
people who control the final product. Film and stage are considered
directors' mediums because the directors have the final say in the
performances. In dubbing, the producers decide what is released. "I've
had to revoice lines because me and the voice director got it wrong,"
Coleman recalled. "I'm certain that I go in and play it one way, and
the director thinks its right, and the producer doesn't like it."
Actors have to match the styles needed for a dubbing job - some shows
require a natural sounding voice, while a series like the kids' show
Hamtaro needs an openly cartoony style. Then there's Dragon Ball, first
dubbed in Vancouver, where the actors scream as much as talk. "I went
from Dragon Ball Z, where you'd be screaming for four hours, and go
across town and need to speak normally, but you've lost your voice. In
Dragon Ball, if you're going to yell from your throat, I hope you've
made your money - because you're not recording anything else that day."
Anime
voice acting has one advantage for performers such as Vancouver-based
Michael Coleman: the script for a dub already is set and there's no
chance that his role is going to be cut from the film. That's happened
to Coleman, who mixes film and theatrical acting with his anime voice
work. Coleman tells the story of a movie where he was slated to appear
in the final twenty minutes of a movie, only to have those twenty
minutes cut from the film, along with his role. At least he got paid
for his never-seen work. "You start up getting the TV roles and the
film roles first," said Coleman. "Most of us have a whole whack of them
on our resume. Then you get into this thing called anime voice acting."
Coleman credits Kirby Morrow, a 2003 guest of honor at Anime Boston,
for helping him get started in voice acting by paying for the studio
time needed to assemble a voice demo as a birthday gift.
The
souvenir bags given to Anime Boston fans featured Dragon Drive, a
series in which Coleman has a role. That show had some of Coleman's
toughest performances, as a character who loses control when his mother
dies. The hard role meant a lot of outtakes. "I'm sure I recorded it 30
times because I was too wimpy - it was so many different concepts at
the same time." Laughing and crying aren't the easiest emotions to get
across, especially when your performance is determined by only your
voice and the facial exertions of an animated character. "You have to
get it all out," Coleman said. "You have to allow yourself the freedom
and the inhibitions, and it has to be genuine."
Another
difference between anime dubbing and live-action acting comes in the
people who control the final product. Film and stage are considered
directors' mediums because the directors have the final say in the
performances. In dubbing, the producers decide what is released. "I've
had to revoice lines because me and the voice director got it wrong,"
Coleman recalled. "I'm certain that I go in and play it one way, and
the director thinks its right, and the producer doesn't like it."
Actors have to match the styles needed for a dubbing job - some shows
require a natural sounding voice, while a series like the kids' show
Hamtaro needs an openly cartoony style. Then there's Dragon Ball, first
dubbed in Vancouver, where the actors scream as much as talk. "I went
from Dragon Ball Z, where you'd be screaming for four hours, and go
across town and need to speak normally, but you've lost your voice. In
Dragon Ball, if you're going to yell from your throat, I hope you've
made your money - because you're not recording anything else that day."
