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OfflineRoseM
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: mushroom_sandwich]
    #18769429 - 08/28/13 05:23 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

I am an actor. Spent plenty of time learning dialects.

There is one American dialect, called American Standard, which most American actors learn in school. It serves a couple purposes, first it helps an actor remove their regionalisms from their speech (if you can only speak like you are from Kentucky, where you were born, your castability will be limited). Second, American standard is a heightened form of American English, so if you are playing a king in a Shakespeare play, American Standard is an option. Much like Standard British (Recieved Pronunciation or RP), American Standard is a phony dialect. It was invented to teach in schools. It did not organically evolve. It is known as a Mid-Atlantic dialect, as if some imaginary English speaking island nation existed in the middle of the ocean between Great Britan and the USA.

Like Standard British, Standard American drops the letter "R" from most words... so to an untrained ear, Standard American may sound British when it actually is not. You may hear, "This is Spahta!" Instead of "This is SpaRta" and think British. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

A good example of a Standard American dialect, although he pronounced his "R's", is Kelsey Grammer's character Frasier Crane. By using this dialect, he informed the audience that his character loved the sound of his own voice and that he had been trained to use it. He was a radio psychologist after all. And it made him sound full of himself, even at his most vulnerable. These are great and vital character traits that were conveyed simply by using a dialect people only learn in school.


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InvisibleMe_Roy
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: Rose]
    #18769740 - 08/28/13 06:20 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

Cervantes said:
It is known as a Mid-Atlantic dialect, as if some imaginary English speaking island nation existed in the middle of the ocean between Great Britan and the USA.





You sure that it's not known as "Mid-Atlantic" because it imagines a point half-way down the East Coast of the U.S. where both New England and Southern regional dialects would be absent?

I wonder if the dropped 'R's are related to the 'R's trilled with the tip of the tongue in German opera, etc. (See, for ex., the singer from Rammstein who I've heard was trained as an opera singer and adopts this affectation in his performance.) The more common uvular trill (in the back of the throat) simply won't carry if one's trying to project one's voice. Might Standard American simply give up on enunciating 'R's to avoid attempts at exaggeration?


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OfflineRoseM
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: Me_Roy]
    #18769883 - 08/28/13 06:51 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

As for your first question. Standard American is considered Mid-Atlantic as in the middle of the ocean. It is mostly American with a little British thrown in. It has no hint of American Southern. It was also created by a Brit, Edith Skinner, if I am not mistaken. Her intent may have been to create an East coast dialect without regionalisms, but she added quite a bit of Brittish along the way.

As for the "R" sound, you are almost entirely correct. Vowell sounds carry better than consonant sounds. So when speaking on stage, which is often unamplified, the "R" sound does not carry well unless it is exaggerated to the point of sounding quite harsh and/or ugly. So in standard American and British, "R's" get dropped, unless followed by a word starting with a vowell... and other odd rules. English speakers have the ability to hear an "R" even when it is not spoken. It is a sound that only happens in certain places within words. We are able to effortlessly fill the gap just by listening and thinking. Dropping the "R" is efficient, so an actor's voice can speak longer without wearing out, while projecting loud enough to fill a large space. But it doesn't sound American. Bostonians drop their "R's" as do some Southerners. The rest of the nation really embraces their "R" sound. It is one of those things that make Americans sound American. It just sounds ugly, especially on stage. But, "R" is often used in ugly words, like rage, crap, burp, turd... the last two examples I used, burp and turd, would have their "R's" dropped in Standard... I can't help but think the impact of those words lose something in the process.

Thanks for your questions. It makes my week to talk about this stuff.


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Invisiblejewunit
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: Rose]
    #18769893 - 08/28/13 06:53 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

I had always heard that it was more mid-west than mid-atlantic.


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OfflineRoseM
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: jewunit]
    #18769902 - 08/28/13 06:56 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

We have culturally agreed upon it being our Standard dialect. So... you are kind of correct.

Anchor people and radio DJ's often speak with it, so it becomes the dialect people hear and learn. Just like Standard British. But it is a made up dialect... and people just hear it enough to pick most of it up. The Midwesterners and Westerners were most effected by it. This is primarily due to the fact that radio and telivision came around before they had firmly established their own dialects.


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: psi]
    #18770024 - 08/28/13 07:22 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

psi said:
Quote:

    Hwæt! We Gardena        in geardagum,
    þeodcyninga,        þrym gefrunon,
    hu ða æþelingas        ellen fremedon.
    Oft Scyld Scefing        sceaþena þreatum,

    monegum mægþum,        meodosetla ofteah,
    egsode eorlas.        Syððan ærest wearð
    feasceaft funden,        he þæs frofre gebad,
    weox under wolcnum,        weorðmyndum þah,
    oðþæt him æghwylc        þara ymbsittendra

    ofer hronrade        hyran scolde,
    gomban gyldan.        þæt wæs god cyning!
    Ðæm eafera wæs        æfter cenned,
    geong in geardum,        þone god sende
    folce to frofre;        fyrenðearfe ongeat









Ah yes. So true, though. So true.

In fact, I think I was just saying "Syððan ærest wearð he þæs frofre gebad" to my gf earlier.

She was all like "Hwæt!"



:gome:


:firstladyofapproval:





Back on topic-- it's even better when they do it in "sci-fi" Space Opera type movies (Like Star Wars). I've seen that happen a few times.


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OfflineRoseM
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Re: Why do fantasy movies always use British accents? [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #18770089 - 08/28/13 07:31 PM (10 years, 5 months ago)

Star Wars was filmed in England to save money, at the time. So most of their side characters were cast in England. Carrie Fischer had just finished British acting school even though she was and is American, so she still sounded British, particularly in the first (4th) film.


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