1. Most Character and animation voices are an exaggeration of specific vocal characteristic or attitudes.2. Character Voices can be difficult to sustain for long periods of time.3. Be careful not to overexert or injure yourself when doing character voices4. A forced voice is rarely the most effective, is difficult to sustain, and can actually cause physical damage to your vocal cords.5. The most effective character voices are those that emphasize or exaggerate the attitudes and emotions of the character you are portraying.

Vocalizing CharactersVocalizing Characters

• Character and Story Analysis are most important with this type of copy.

• Consistency is extremely important in character voice work.

• Most animation voice actors have a repertoire of several voices. Versatility.

• In addition to voices and sounds for animation: dialects, foreign and regional accents, and even celebrity impersonation.

• Celebrity Voice Impersonations are often the most challenging because they are well known. (Usually done in the context of a humorous commercial/exaggerated.

Animation and Character Animation and Character VoicesVoices

6 Critical Elements of a Character 6 Critical Elements of a Character VoiceVoice

•1. Pitch (Higher or lower than your own?)

•2. Pitch Character (Gravelly? Breathy? Husky? Constricted?)

•3. Tempo (Faster or slower than your own?)

•4. Rhythm (Loping? Vocal thumb print)

•5. Placement (Nasal? Back of Throat? Normal?)

•6. Mouth Work (Accent? Lisp? Tight Lips?)

Top of head (tiny) Behind Eyes (nasal) Top of Cheeks (bright) Front of Mouth (crisp) Under tongue (sloppy) Diaphragm (strong) Loose cheeks (mushy) Back of throat (breathy) Nose (nasal) Throat (raspy) Stomach (low)

Voice Placement – Finding Voice Placement – Finding your your

Voice By BodyVoice By Body

Vocal Range is important for achieving emotional attitudes and dynamics in your performance.

Range from the lowest note to the highest note

Take a deep breath, hold, release slowly by saying HAAAAAA sound.

Gradually increase the pitch of your voice, sweeping from low to high.

HELP: Hold your hands near your stomach and gradually raise your hands to raise the pitch.

The Sweep MethodThe Sweep Method

Character voice work can be challenging, but lots of fun.

1. Understand your character and situation. Remember that acting is reacting. In animation, you often must make up what you are reacting to.

2. Discover who the audience is and understand how the audience will relate to the character.

3. Maintain a consistent voice throughout the copy and be careful not to injure your voice by stretching too far to create a character. It is better to pull back a little and create a voice that can be maintained rather than push too hard for a voice you can only sustain for one or two pages.

Tips for Character and Animation Tips for Character and Animation CopyCopy

4. Be willing to exaggerate attitudes or personality traits for the sake of finding the voice.

5. If a drawing, photo, or picture of the character is available, use it as a tool to discover the personality of the character.

6. Find the place in your body from which the voice will come.

7. Experiment with pitch, pitch characteristics, tempo, rhythm, placement, and mouth work to discover the most appropriate vocal delivery for your character.

8. Experiment and use your physical-ness to take on the physical characteristics of the character. Physicalize the moment and the voice will follow.