British voice actors needed....

[Gambit21]

...for possible next project.

I'm just exploring an idea here.

 

I need a few British voice actors capable of a period-correct/plausible accent (can be RP, or regional etc) and also able to ACT like a certain scenario is happening.

Most of the time this simply means believable conversational dialogue, (not as easy as you might think) but might also mean a bit of tension etc now and then.

Although I'm an American I can do it reasonably well, but I can't be every guy.

 

If I can get a few reliable people, I may be able to add some (not the same extent as Hell Hawks) custom British calls in the next project. No promises but that's my aim - it's very early days still.

If you're interested, and think you can help (no compensation, just out of the goodness of your heart as it were) and can be available over an extended period of time (next 18 months) for additional

call requests here and there, drop me a PM and I'll work on some audition lines.

 

Please don't contact me if you sound like an old guy or have gravel in your throat...I speak from past experience on that one.

I'm 50 and sound like I'm 20 so I can pull it off, others not so much.

 

 

Also, if anyone has an particular knowledge of British vernacular, colloquialisms of the period that might not be apparent today, I could use your input as well.

We'll see if I can pull this off - assuming I get the go-ahead from the CO.

[oc2209]

19 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

Also, if anyone has an particular knowledge of British vernacular, colloquialisms of the period that might not be apparent today, I could use your input as well.

We'll see if I can pull this off - assuming I get the go-ahead from the CO.

 

Oi, guv!

 

Ah can do a preh'ee bang on impression, Ah can, despie the rela'ive 'andicap o' bein' bohn ohtsoid the UK. 

 

Tha' is, if you don' mine 'avin' all yoh wingmen soun' loike nine'eenth censhury chimney sweeps.

 

Ah'll be chuffed as poonch if yeh pick me.

 

Legal disclaimer:

 

This post was in no way meant to ridicule or otherwise insult the British accent, and is intended for mildly comedic purposes only. 

 

*ahem*

 

Okay, I'm not seriously applying for the role. I'm only here to make a dumb joke. Good luck, though! I'll just see myself out of the thread...

[Frogface]

I'm happy to help out!
let us know when you got a script for us

[pencon]

If you're the guy doing voices , could you please make it optional to shut them off ? The Russian and german voices are very limited , annoying and highly repetitive  . PLEASE  make a mute button !

[Talon_]

36 minutes ago, pencon said:

If you're the guy doing voices , could you please make it optional to shut them off ? The Russian and german voices are very limited , annoying and highly repetitive  . PLEASE  make a mute button !

Use the reduce radio volume switch until it hits zero.

 

@Gambit21 I can help mate ?

[oc2209]

5 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Also, if anyone has an particular knowledge of British vernacular, colloquialisms of the period that might not be apparent today, I could use your input as well.

 

If it's of any help at all, I vaguely recall a flight sim where the British pilots said over the radio "I've gone Winchester."

 

That's about the only period-appropriate slang I can think of at the moment. Assuming the game wasn't erroneous/anachronistic in using it. 

[yossarian_lives]

@Gambit21 I might be able to help too.

[Warcrimes]

With thanks to Yossarian for mentioning this to me...

 

I would be happy to help. Qualifications - I'm English, born and raised in the sunny Surrey foothills and machine fed a pint of tea each day. I went to the state school version of Hogwarts and could suck the silver off a silver spoon and speak softly but with a desperate urgency.... like Mary Poppins pissing in silk pyjamas

Edited August 13, 2020 by Warcrimes

[Goffik]

8 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

I need a few British voice actors capable of a period-correct/plausible accent (can be RP, or regional etc) and also able to ACT like a certain scenario is happening.

 

What's your idea of "period-correct/plausible accent"? I ask because most people seem to think that all RAF pilots spoke like they do in the classic WWII films... the whole stereotypical British officer thing, "Tally-ho chaps, there goes Jerry. Let's give him a damn good thrashing, what?"  Which of course is absolute nonsense, since most pilots were regular guys from all walks of life and from all over the country (not to mention many other countries), meaning they had regular regional accents not much different to the ones we still have today.

 

British vernacular & colloquialisms are far more important than accent in terms of realism, in my opinion. That said, given the impression the films have made, real regional accents might be frowned upon by the masses as "unrealistic" despite the opposite being true.

[Barnacles]

42 minutes ago, Goffik said:

 

What's your idea of "period-correct/plausible accent"? I ask because most people seem to think that all RAF pilots spoke like they do in the classic WWII films... the whole stereotypical British officer thing, "Tally-ho chaps, there goes Jerry. Let's give him a damn good thrashing, what?"  Which of course is absolute nonsense, since most pilots were regular guys from all walks of life and from all over the country (not to mention many other countries), meaning they had regular regional accents not much different to the ones we still have today.

 

British vernacular & colloquialisms are far more important than accent in terms of realism, in my opinion. That said, given the impression the films have made, real regional accents might be frowned upon by the masses as "unrealistic" despite the opposite being true.

This video has a lot of the voices of the crew of a Lancaster. Compare with the accent of the radio presenter.

[Elem]

3 hours ago, oc2209 said:

I've gone Winchester."

That was EAW.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Going Winchester

[AndyJWest]

'Winchester' is almost certainly USAAF/USAF jargon. I've never seen it used in a WW2 RAF context.

[sallee]

1 hour ago, 71st_AH_Barnacles said:

This video has a lot of the voices of the crew of a Lancaster. Compare with the accent of the radio presenter.

Received English was a much more powerful force then, as well. People like the announcer would deliberately change their own accent to fit the mould. It made sense because people with local accents and dialects were more likely to understand received pronunciation than an accent different from their own. I speak fairly RP English but when I was at my village primary school I spoke broad Suffolk to avoid being called "a poof"!

I'd be happy to edit content for anachronisms. I'm fairly sure that no-one in the RAF referred to anyone as "guys" for instance. Happy to provide a voice as well...I don't think I sound that old, and I can always squeeze my balls a bit....

[AndyJWest]

26 minutes ago, sallee said:

Received English was a much more powerful force then, as well. People like the announcer would deliberately change their own accent to fit the mould. It made sense because people with local accents and dialects were more likely to understand received pronunciation than an accent different from their own. I speak fairly RP English but when I was at my village primary school I spoke broad Suffolk to avoid being called "a poof"!

I'd be happy to edit content for anachronisms. I'm fairly sure that no-one in the RAF referred to anyone as "guys" for instance. Happy to provide a voice as well...I don't think I sound that old, and I can always squeeze my balls a bit....

 

I recently watched a video on the emergence of an 'Antarctican accent' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHKGErnN9W8). People don't always need to 'deliberately' change pronunciation - it happens more of less automatically if you put enough people from diverse linguistic backgrounds together for long enough. I suspect then, that to an extent even by the end of the war, the RAF may still have reflected some of the public school* accent that was seen as stereotypical (and would have been more common amongst senior officers), even as the diversity of newer recruits toned it down somewhat. And aircrew tended to be selected from amongst the better educated (i.e. from a Grammar School background), who were probably under social pressure to adopt 'RP', or at least to lose their stronger regionalisms. The RAF accent may have been 'posher' than the makeup of aircrew might otherwise suggest. And as an aside, I'd expect aircrew to be trained to speak clearly when using radio communications - which in practice probably meant using RP, or something approximating to it.

 

*Note for non-UK readers: 'public school' in this case meaning an institution that is open to all pupils having parents willing to pay the exorbitant fees. 

[AWC]

11 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

...for possible next project.

I'm just exploring an idea here.

 

I need a few British voice actors capable of a period-correct/plausible accent (can be RP, or regional etc) and also able to ACT like a certain scenario is happening.

 

 

Well Im Australian and quite young so if you need anyone from the rest of the Empire, as was common in British Sqns in WWII, Im available.

[Gambit21]

Thanks Guys, 

 

Again PM me if interested in helping.

Anyone who said they're interested here in this thread (and didn't PM me)  I'll PM later.

 

Regarding accents and such, I think Andy is probably on to something. (Ask @busdriver about the mandatory southern drawl that Air Force pilots adopt)  While I don't need everyone sounding the same, I also think a deep modern Manchester accent might sound out of place for reasons that Andy thoughtfully suggests. Also I'd like someone who is a non-native English speaker to be able to understand the calls. 

 

Regarding the old school "Tally ho Boys, good show ol chap!"  I know some did talk like that, and I'm tempted to add that guy even if he's not on the radio much... but I feel that if I put that guy in there even a little bit for tradition's sake, it will come off as stereotypical and out of place. 

(opinion welcome)

 

I'll mainly be looking for taxi, take off, tower, a few attack oriented calls, and some ambient stuff.

 

As an aside, while researching this a bit...

I've always wondered why Americans in old movies sound so odd "why are they talking like freakshows?" turns out that's called a "mid-Atlantic" accent and was taught, and quite deliberate or "put on". Aristocratic and Hollywood basically. Died out after the war - now I know.

 

 

 

 

[PatrickAWlson]

One of my experiences in England. I go to Cambridge just because.  I go to a local pub because why not.   Two gentlemen are very politely speaking at me.  I understand nothing.  They leave.

 

The bartender comes over ...

Bartender: "You didn't understand a word they said, did you?". 

Me: "No, I didn't".  

Bartender: "Neither did I.  They're from Liverpool."

 

I suspect that Andy makes a solid point.  The accents in England seem to diverge much more quickly than they do here in the US.  Liverpool is only a few hours away from Cambridge, but the accent is so different as to be almost incomprehensible (to me).  I had a similar experience speaking with a man with a heavy Cockney accent in London.  And forget about me understanding the Scots.  Meanwhile, for the most part, communication was not a problem.  It's still the same language - you just have to understand the words.

 

These guys had to communicate over the radio.  Their lives depended on it.  I would expect there would be a pretty significant effort at normalization.

[Rjel]

4 hours ago, Elem said:

That was EAW.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Going Winchester

Funny, I always thought it was a M*A*S*H reference. ?

[Noisemaker]

The Canadians were pretty active both in RAF and RCAF units.  If you want a Canuck voice in a couple of regional accents (even a bit of Quebecois), I'll toss my hat in the ring.  Bonus, I have a professional recording studio that thanks to Corono is mostly being used to fly IL-2 at the moment.

[AndyJWest]

I linked recordings of RAF pilots in an earlier thread on the topic: Raymond Baxter. Douglas Bader, Eric 'Winkle' Brown (FAA not RAF of course), and 'Sailor' Malan.

 

 

A couple more.

Kieth Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXDf6Cw4l0o

'Ginger' Lacey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axDoDXQjo24

 

The recordings were mostly made well after the war, of course, and accordingly accents may have changed (the general trend in the UK has been for posh 'RP' to become less differentiated from 'middle class' English pronunciation), but I'd say from listening to that lot, you can hear evidence of local accents (Brown's Scottish, Lacey's Yorkshire), but none of them are particularly extreme. Perhaps the most interesting is Malan, since this was recorded in 1941. Maybe a slight trace of his Afrikaner roots, though I may be imagining it. Otherwise, 'RP' of sorts, with what seems to me like a deliberate effort to speak clearly - either because that was how he was trained, or because he was being recorded.

 

My advice to Gambit would be to avoid extreme regional accents if possible. And to keep RAF slang to a minimum too, unless we can be sure it is authentic radio-speak, rather than bar-room-banter.

 

 

 

 

[ciderworm]

Can't get more accurate than Blackadder....

 

"Sticky out for a duck and the Grubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose over stumps frog-side"

 

"Meaning?"

 

"I don't know Sir, but I read in The Times that they had both been killed"

 

 

[Diggun]

I am British and have a microphone! 

 

(East anglian state schooled but a shameless social climber ;)) 

[56RAF_Stickz]

3 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I suspect that Andy makes a solid point.  The accents in England seem to diverge much more quickly than they do here in the US.  Liverpool is only a few hours away from Cambridge, but the accent is so different as to be almost incomprehensible (to me).  I had a similar experience speaking with a man with a heavy Cockney accent in London.  And forget about me understanding the Scots.  Meanwhile, for the most part, communication was not a problem.  It's still the same language - you just have to understand the words.

When I joined the military in the early 70s, the Scots accent was one of the easiest. And that was as far from my upbringing as you could get. Wait till you here someone from Sunderland or Devon. Now I live in Scotland its still one of the easiest apart from the odd Glaswegian.

And took my young  son to Merseyside 12years ago to watch everton, 5hour trip, so he wanted a macdonalds (eeugh where do you get that habit). Counter guy asks - What do you want fella? Son looks at me, looks totally blank at him, back to me. Tell him what you wanna eat mate and dont mention klingons.

[LukeFF]

Not a whole lot to add to this topic, other than to say that it's interesting that, even though my mother-in-law came over to the US from the UK (from the Knutsford region) in the 1960s, she still retains her British accent to this day in everyday conversation. One time she was ordering a pizza on the phone and was telling the employee she wanted "toe-mah-toes" on the pizza. Pizza employee couldn't figure out what she was saying, so my wife finally had to get on the phone and tell the guy it was tomatoes she wanted. ? 

[RedKestrel]

12 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

Not a whole lot to add to this topic, other than to say that it's interesting that, even though my mother-in-law came over to the US from the UK (from the Knutsford region) in the 1960s, she still retains her British accent to this day in everyday conversation. One time she was ordering a pizza on the phone and was telling the employee she wanted "toe-mah-toes" on the pizza. Pizza employee couldn't figure out what she was saying, so my wife finally had to get on the phone and tell the guy it was tomatoes she wanted. ? 

My wife is from another region of our province and, despite being unable to speak French fluently, had a little bit of a french accent when we first met. Because the area she's from is heavily bilingual, though,she had a number of words in her vocabulary that were french but were used interspersed with english so much that she always figured they were english. There were quite a few conversations where she looked at me like I was pretty slow because I wasn't picking up by what she meant by a word.

She picks up accents at the drop of a hat too - if she watches too many Youtube videos with people with Irish accents she talks with a lilt for a few days before it fades.

(I know just enough french and they sprinkle in enough english that I can usually tell when the in-laws are talking about me in front of my face lmao!)

[Goffik]

6 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

People don't always need to 'deliberately' change pronunciation - it happens more of less automatically if you put enough people from diverse linguistic backgrounds together for long enough.

 

I think it can happen quicker than expected. When I first joined the army, nearly half my training company were Scots, most of the rest were from Northern England, and I was one of only two from the South West. Inevitably, my nickname immediately became "Farmer". ?  A few months on and people were still taking the mick out of my accent. However, when I went home on leave, both family and friends commented on the fact that I sounded different. Apparently I'd picked up a faint Scottish twang without even knowing it.

 

Also, my mother moved from the South West to Wales years ago. She totally denies it, but I can hear quite a strong Welsh twang in her voice now. She's probably in no-man's land... to the English she sounds Welsh and to the Welsh she sounds English!

Edited August 13, 2020 by Goffik

[sniperton]

5 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Also I'd like someone who is a non-native English speaker to be able to understand the calls.

Heartful thank for that

[Noisemaker]

39 minutes ago, sniperton said:

Heartful thank for that

Why?  We're expected to understand the Russian and German calls, but non native English speakers get a break?  To be fair, I understand the German after 15 years in Switzerland, struggling still with the Russian.  Just read the damn text notification in your native language until you know exactly what they're saying before they even finish. That's pretty much how I learned German from SH2

 

[Cynic_Al]

20 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

I'm 50 and sound like I'm 20 so I can pull it off, others not so much.

 

Just for reference purposes, could we have an audio sample of yourself sounding 20?

[Gambit21]

2 hours ago, Cynic_Al said:

 

Just for reference purposes, could we have an audio sample of yourself sounding 20?

 

Sure,  simply provide for my reference purposes a description of how my voice work would somehow comprise "reference" for you in any sort of helpful way in relation to this thread topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oc2209]

13 hours ago, Elem said:

That was EAW.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Going Winchester

 

Ah, thanks for reminding me. I just checked some YouTube footage of it. Surprisingly not-ugly, considering its age.

 

(For those who don't know, EAW=European Air War)

[Cynic_Al]

50 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

 

Sure,  simply provide for my reference purposes a description of how my voice work would somehow comprise "reference" for you in any sort of helpful way in relation to this thread topic.

 

 

It would form a reference with regard to your judgement of voice age, enabling volunteers to make more accurate assessments of their own recordings, and consequently their likelihood of acceptance.

[Gambit21]

20 minutes ago, Cynic_Al said:

 

It would form a reference with regard to your judgement of voice age, enabling volunteers to make more accurate assessments of their own recordings, and consequently their likelihood of acceptance.

 

Got it.

My own current voiceovers are for Hell Hawks not with an accent. When I put on an accent I THINK I sound a bit older, but hard for me to judge.

 

Further I don’t have the ability to make myself sound younger, it’s just how I sound and why I normally HATE hearing my own voice on recordings. 

 

What I’m saying is, you sound how you sound. If you’re interested I’ll send you short script with the others in a few days.

 

I don’t mind a few voices that sound a bit older for tower calls or similar.

 

Again, this is all exploratory at this juncture.

[danielprates]

Never before did a thread called this much for a link to that old Monty Python's sketch about RAF pilot banter (".... cabbage crates coming over the briny?").  But it would be too obvious.

 

And now, for something completelly different: another RAF pilot banter sketch:

 

 

 

 

[TP_Jacko]

@Gambit21 I can help out as needed.

[Jeronimo83]

On 8/13/2020 at 2:19 PM, 71st_AH_Barnacles said:

This video has a lot of the voices of the crew of a Lancaster. Compare with the accent of the radio presenter.

Bloody priceless clip. Thanks for the link.

 

Listening to this clip I am absolutely convinced that the typical , perhaps exagerated British airmen “way of conversation” that we’ve come to experience in many movies/flightsims, is not at all far from the way it was back then. It even struck me as having a function as a way of holding on to each other in a otherwise horribly anxious situation. 
 

@Gambit: I do hope you’ll stick to this incredibly typical and much appreciated way of communcation, and I sense you will, without making it a charicature. Good luck!

[Barnacles]

On 8/13/2020 at 4:06 AM, Gambit21 said:

...for possible next project.

I'm just exploring an idea here.

 

I need a few British voice actors capable of a period-correct/plausible accent (can be RP, or regional etc) and also able to ACT like a certain scenario is happening.

Most of the time this simply means believable conversational dialogue, (not as easy as you might think) but might also mean a bit of tension etc now and then.

Although I'm an American I can do it reasonably well, but I can't be every guy.

 

If I can get a few reliable people, I may be able to add some (not the same extent as Hell Hawks) custom British calls in the next project. No promises but that's my aim - it's very early days still.

If you're interested, and think you can help (no compensation, just out of the goodness of your heart as it were) and can be available over an extended period of time (next 18 months) for additional

call requests here and there, drop me a PM and I'll work on some audition lines.

 

Please don't contact me if you sound like an old guy or have gravel in your throat...I speak from past experience on that one.

I'm 50 and sound like I'm 20 so I can pull it off, others not so much.

 

 

Also, if anyone has an particular knowledge of British vernacular, colloquialisms of the period that might not be apparent today, I could use your input as well.

We'll see if I can pull this off - assuming I get the go-ahead from the CO.

Put me down. I've no idea if I can pull it off but I'll give it a go.

[Jaegermeister]

I can do a perfect accent of a middle aged Southern guy who fled the law to Canada, evaded the FBI on a train across the border, and joined the RCAF, before being shipped across the pond to fly Spitfires, Lancasters and/or Hurricanes.

 

Only kidding, but you never know.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Jaegermeister

[=SqSq=Zephyr]

Hi there - 18 year old Englishman here, I've got a pretty standard Modified RP voice but can do RP too. I've been trained on military radios if that helps. If pushed I'm sure I could speak like someone of the time, or just normally. I've been told I sound older than 18, though 18 year old pilots did certainly exist, see Geoffrey Wellum for example. 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by =SqSq=Zephyr

[Gunner_Ratchenko]

Happy to help - lots of RP experience and acting IRL. I'll need my own changing room complete with Bolinger and Persian rugs, a makeup department and a bowl of M&M's separated by colour though. Thanks.