Language Coaching – Voice & Accent for British & American TV & Cinema

Language Coaching – Voice & Accent for British & American TV & Cinema

Modern-day practices of voice, specifically in British and American cinema and selective TV.

AIMS OF THE COURSE:

• Acting sample scripts in English

• Discussing various aspects of voice and accent in modern cinema and TV

• Gaining strong confidence in fluency of English and acting in EnglisH

CLASSES WILL BE SMALL GROUPS (from three to five) or individual lessons.

The teacher, with his training and interest in linguistics, psychology and neuroscience and passion for the cinema and television, will help actors build a solid foundation to be able work in the English language in national and international productions.

Introductory seminar

Students and teacher to get to know each other within the context of the course. Expectations and course outcomes discussion. Ralph Holland has designed a brief all-class questionnaire focused on English language level and ambitions to file within course library and for 360-degree discussion.

MODULES

The lessons will address topics covered by the following.

Are any words taboo?

• Some words remain taboo, but were not always, some become taboo over time, for example today concerning race.
• The Politically Correct movement – good or bad?
• Gender and attitudes to gender past and present, including, ‘Me too’.
• Context.

A briefing on early dramatic voice and drama, including:

• The English Dante: Students will have the opportunity to have short workshops to act in pairs or groups on samples of Chaucer’s ‘The Miller’s Tale’ dramatic verse.
  This class will be treated in a light-hearted fun manner as the language is Middle English and is not easy to read even for native English;

• Shakespeare: the beginnings of modern English drama. The students will get to study with more emphasis on actual acting as Shakespeare can be challenging; the language is not entirely modern English. However, the class aims to break down any fears about his drama;

• Modern and Post-Modern British and American Drama: based on the same format as the two former classes, the students will focus the work on selection of TV and Cinema and contextual background from the UK and USA.

Woven and intwined into the DNA of the above subjects there will be time focused on The Rise of Accent:

• The basis of accent: The Queen’s English, Vernacular Modern English, Regional Accents
• The British Broadcasting Company: Evolving Accents in Radio, TV series and TV film
• British Cinema and Voice
  • Case studies, TV, and Cinema in Britain from beginnings to the present.
• American Cinema and Voice: Broadway, TV, and Cinema, ‘What typical American?’
  • The American Greats including those that understand and use foreign language and accent in their work as actors and directors.
• Cross-format productions: non-native speaker’s acting and directing in the English language
  • The Italian Greats: Fellini and Made in Rome.
  • Modern Cross Format Production