Sound in animation- The Voice Actor

Acting is one thing, but voice acting is another and yes it's still acting. Half of what brings a character to life in an animated film is hearing them speak. I'm using Howl's Moving Castle cause it's one of my favorite movies and before I saw Christian Bale as Batman, he was Howl.

First, have you seen Howl's Moving Castle?
Second if you happen to be a fan of Christian Bale, you may know that he's british, but listening to him speak you wouldn't necessary know that.

This isn't really about movies, but if anyone is interested in knowing what it takes to become a successful voice actor then this may be helpful for you.

First the sound of your voice. I hate mine when I hear it played back on video, but the first thing James Alburger writes in his Art of Voice Acting book is that it's not about you. Voice acting is all about the character, perhaps more than training to become batman Christian Bale had to visualize and bring to life the character Howl. The actors job here is to convey all the emotions through his or her voice

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There's Howl!!

Albuger's ABCs of voice acting are

• A-Audience: the delivery style that will touch the audience the character is trying to reach. "You are always talking to one person" don't stretch yourself too thin and end up reaching no one.
• B-Back Story: "specific event that takes place immediately before the first word of the script". Sometimes the voice actor has to make up a backstory for themselves, in order to connect and give a convincing performance. 
• C-Character: make the character real, feel their emotions and desires. Perhaps they grow throughout the story, the voice has to convince the audience and match what they are seeing. 
• D-Desire:The want and need, actors know about this, but rather than acting it out they have to say it. 
• E-Energy: Something knew that voice actors are able to do is act while they speak for real authenticity. Albuger has three types of energy- psychological, physical and emotional. Psychological is about putting your mind in a situation that will give your voice the correct emotion.  Physical- move around, no one talks standing still a little movement might help with voice fluctuation and deliverance. Emotional- "the expression of the feelings and emotions that underscore the thoughts." How the character felt when the words came out.
• F-Forget who you are and focus: the character is who you are, your no longer you. Mr. Bale didn't respond to situations as Mr. Bale, but as the character Howl.
• G-Gamble: Stepping outside of your comfort zone to get into character, don't hold back anything.