If you’ve ever read or seen a single one of the Harry Potter movies, you’ll know just how spectacular the cast was. Not only did they bring the characters to life, but they also dubbed them with perfect accents that you’d expect to hear coming out of characters that should not have spoken in English anyway (e.g., Dobby, the Dementor). Even better, many of them took on the roles of more than one character, which is something that hasn’t been seen in other fantasy franchises.
With the exception of William Harry Pettigrew, who plays Harry Potter himself, the other members of the cast are still actively performing on screen. In 2019, Daniel Radcliffe (who played Harry Potter in the movies), published an adventure novel set in Harry Potter’s (or J.K. Rowling’s) world, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fury. In the story, Harry joins a fellowship of Wizards and Sorcerers who band together to fight Muggles (Muggles are non-wizards who practice black magic and hunt wizards and Sorcerers).
If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel and don’t know where to start, here are a few tips on how to get you up and writing by using the voices of some of Hollywood’s finest to inspire you!
Study The Craft
Hollywood is a place that is both fantastic and brutal at the same time. If you want to make it there, you’d better be prepared to work hard and play by their rules. One of the ways in which they determine how good you are is by how well you mimic the voices of famous people. If you want to get a Hollywood voice for your work, you need to take the time to learn how to do it correctly. Fortunately, there are plenty of blogs and wikis out there that can help you achieve the perfect alignment of words and voice that will inspire your readers to pull up their jackets and charge into combat alongside Harry Potter.
The Importance Of Dialects
There are plenty of places on the Internet where you can find sample dialects for English speakers to practice on. If your readers come from all over the world, you may want to choose a dialect that is more suitable for international readers. Knowing how to talk in a certain way can help you sound more natural and believable when reading aloud. So, if you want to get a radio play or movie voice, you should practice speaking in the dialect of the region or country where you’ll be recording. Otherwise, you’ll come across as sounding very fake or even a little bit like an American.
Pronunciation
One of the things that will get you boned on the spot by a Hollywood executive is if you have a habit of skipping or mangling the s’s in words. If you’re in a movie or on a talk show, they may not notice, but your readers will. So, pay attention to how you say words and make sure that they are pronounced properly and entirely. Learn how to say the letters right – you’ll suddenly be able to spell any word with them and look like you’ve been doing it all your life. Aside from the fact that English is a very structured language, learned words are easily recognized and easy to remember and spell (e.g., chair, street, festival). So, if you want to sound more like a famous person, start learning how to say their words right.
Watch And Learn
It’s a good idea to study the craft and make sure that your work is perfect, but there’s more than one way to successfully impersonate a famous person. One of the best tips I could give you is to seriously consider watching and learning from the samples of famous people who have done it before. If you want to get a Hollywood voice for your novels, you should look into learning the language either from accolades or famous people’s tutorials. The more you know about the craft of acting, the more natural and believable you will sound when reciting your work.
Choose The Right Person
Just like when you watch a movie and want to see it acted out lucidly on the screen, it’s important to find the right actor to play the part. Just because a person is famous or well-known for being particular about his accent or dialect does not mean that you will sound or look like that person every time you use that accent or dialect. There are plenty of actors out there who can do an incredible job at giving a voice to a character and don’t necessarily mean that you will sound like them (or anyone for that matter). Studying the craft of acting will help you find the right person to play the part and give your story the perfect end result.
If you want to get a Hollywood voice for your novels, there are a few tips and tricks that will put you on the right path to success. By taking the time to learn how to speak like a famous person and using the right pronunciation, you’ll be able to impersonate them sound alive. And when they say your story is wonderful, you’ll be able to say with confidence that you’ve takenthe bak o the road to craft and perfection.