Acting with the Voice

by Blumenfeld, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780879103019
• ISBN10: 0879103019
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-30
• Publisher: Limelight Editions

Summary

Blumenfeld convincingly argues that the basic techniques of acting apply whether the actor is performing onstage or in a sound studio. Numerous practice exercises help the actor to speak the words of a text that can be enhanced by the varying sounds of the human voice.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrative Texts and Practice Exercises	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Foreword: The Art and the Business of Recording Books	xv
How to Use This Book: A Note About the Phonetic Symbols and the Illustrative Texts	xix
Introduction: Getting Started in the Book Recording Business	1	(1)
What You Need to Get Started	2	(1)
The Resume	2	(2)
The Demo Tape or CD	4	(1)
Getting an Agent	4	(2)
The Casting Process	6	(1)
Auditions: What a Director Expects	7	(1)
The Recording Session: What a Director Expects	8	(1)
Publishers of Recorded Books in the USA	8	(3)
Book Recording in the UK and Canada	11	(4)
The Voice	15	(14)
The Nature and Care of the Voice	15	(1)
Some Advice About Vocal Technique	16	(3)
Finding Your Voice	19	(1)
Placing the Voice	19	(2)
Supporting the Voice	21	(1)
Breathing and Breath Control	22	(1)
Developing Variety and Flexibility	23	(1)
Paralinguistics: How to Do Different Voices	24	(1)
How to Change Your Voice	25	(2)
Vocal Exercises	27	(2)
Diction and Pronunciation	29	(32)
Some Definitions and Some Notes on Language	30	(4)
A Guide to the Correct Pronunciations of General American and of British RP	34	(2)
Positions of Vocal Apparatus	36	(1)
Phonetics	37	(5)
Stress Patterns: Rhythm	42	(2)
Pitch (Intonation, Music)	44	(1)
Some Sounds to Avoid	44	(1)
Some Difficulties of English: Some Things to Look Out For	45	(1)
Some Words with Two Pronunciations	46	(3)
Comparative Pronunciations for British RP and General American	49	(2)
Pronouncing Foreign Names, Words and Phrases	51	(4)
Practice Exercises for Good Diction	55	(4)
Recommended Texts and Exercises for More Diction Practice	59	(2)
Microphone and General Recording Techniques	61	(13)
A Brief History of Recording	61	(4)
The Microphone	65	(1)
Microphone and Recording Technique	65	(1)
The Environment of the Soundproof Sound Studio	66	(1)
Preparing for the Recording Session	67	(1)
What to Expect: How the Recording Session Works	68	(6)
Acting Methods and Techniques	74	(14)
A Glossary of Some Common Terms	83	(3)
Subtext and Intentions: An Exercise	86	(2)
Reading Techniques	88	(49)
Some Important General Hints	89	(2)
Preparing the Text for Recording	91	(2)
Charles Dickens: His Public Readings	93	(23)
Helen Potter's Impersonations	116	(2)
Phrasing and Rhythm	118	(9)
Personalize the Text	127	(6)
Some Recommendations for Further Reading and Listening	133	(2)
A Final Exercise, from Charles Kent's Charles Dickens as a Reader (1872)	135	(2)
Recording Prose Fiction	137	(125)
General Advice: Telling the Story	137	(7)
Understanding Style and Period	144	(20)
Setting the Scene: The Opening	164	(1)
Some Openings: How to Read Them	164	(17)
Reading Different Kinds of Scenes	181	(1)
Action Scenes	181	(5)
Love Scenes	186	(11)
Descriptions	197	(5)
The Character's Voice: Creating a Character Vocally	202	(7)
Attitudes Are Adjectives	209	(12)
Actions Are Verbs	221	(18)
Using Accents	239	(10)
More Practice Texts	249	(13)
Recording Plays	262	(10)
Notes, Comments and Hints on Lady Macbeth's Monologue	263	(4)
From Chekhov's On the Harmfulness of Tobacco	267	(5)
Recording Poetry	272	(25)
About Poetry	272	(5)
Some Poems	277	(20)
Recording Nonfiction: Making the Text Come Alive	297	(56)
How to Read Biography, Autobiography and Memoirs, and History	300	(2)
Illustrative Texts: Biography	302	(6)
Autobiography and Memoirs	308	(13)
History	321	(8)
Essays and Philosophy	329	(12)
Other Genres	341	(5)
Humorous Nonfiction	346	(7)
Selected Bibliography	353