Accents are one of the most beautiful traits of language, but they can also be very difficult to identify and reproduce or imitate. In today’s Video Fix we invite you to discover one of Outlander’s secrets for success: relying on a dialect coach to enhance the power and authenticity of TV characters!
Accents play an unquestionable role in the creative process of an audiovisual masterpiece. Many films and TV shows have been praised and mocked for the way in which their characters tried to emulate a specific accent or dialect. Examples of good accent imitations, such as Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Seymour Hoffman in Capote, Renée Zellweger in the Bridget Jones’s Diary, Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense, Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda, Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave or Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice, contrast with the numerous impersonations of characters with a poor dialect or accent performance, like Christopher Lambert in Highlander, Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire, Keanu Reeves in Dracula, Mel Gibson in Braveheart, Julia Roberts in Mary Reilly, Russel Crowe in Robin Hood, Gerard Butler in PS I Love You or Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.
In today’s Video Fix, dialect coach Carol Ann Crawford explains what are the different accents used in Outlander, the successful TV show stemming from the original books written by US novelist Diana Gabaldon, that through interesting plots and complex characters portrays life in Scotland in the 18th Century.
Languages and accents play an important role in Outlander, and proof of this is that during first season there were no subtitles for Gaelic dialogues, since screenwritter and TV producer Ronald D. Moore wanted the audience to experience isolation experienced by the character of Claire when suddenly forced to live in the Highlands in the 18th Century. We invite you to listen to Carol Ann Crawford and learn more about her interesting role from the sources below.
You might also be interested in taking a look at the following previous post:
- Video fix: Let’s call the whole thing off…
- Which Language Variety Do You Teach / Learn?
- Scotland and its languages
- Putting an accent on regional pronunciation
We hope you enjoy the video and wait for your feedback on this TV show’s accent policy!
Written by Doris Fernandes del Pozo – Journalist, Translator-Interpreter and Communication Trainee at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament.
Sources:
- BBC News-Scotland (2013) ‘Film crimes against the Scottish accent’, BBC News. Available at: http://bbc.in/2tkbHsg
- Blevins, Joe (2016) ‘A dialect coach analyzes 32 of the best and worst movie accents’, A.V. Club. Available at: http://bit.ly/2tXXP48
- Houmøller, Dicte (2016) ‘The 20 Best Fake Accents in Movies’, The Taste of Cinema. Available at: http://bit.ly/2sm5ur8
- 23 Best and Worst Big Screen Fake Accents (Photos)
- The Bad, the Good and the Accents
- Scotland Now (2015) ‘Video: Outlander’s dialect coach teaches you the many accents of Scotland’, Scotland Now.
- Outlander dialect coach Carol Ann Crawford on perfecting Scottish accents for television’
- Telegraph Film (2016) ‘The 16 worst on-screen accents ever’, The Telegraph. Available at: http://bit.ly/2t0H9ZX
- Science News-The Telegraph (2010) ‘Worst foreign accents attempted in film’, The Telegraph. Available at: http://bit.ly/2uitDzY