Today, my great friend Emma yelled something funny and sneezed shortly thereafter. I don't know why, but the way she did these two verbal things reminded me of the Lost Boys from the 2003 live-action version of Peter Pan. I know that's the weirdest connection ever, but I couldn't help but tell her: "Emma, if you were to do a voice over for an animated movie, you'd play a 10 year old boy." I guess she didn't know whether to feel offended or not, but she laughed her butt off for a good 3 and a half minutes. It just made me think about how people sound compared to the way people look. If someone were to ask me to describe Emma's voice, I'd likely respond with "feminine," "smiley" and "small-ish," but then I realize that I probably took those adjectives from what I know about her from LOOKING at her so often. Then I reversed the process of sight-to-sound and thought about people whose voices I've only heard. Like, who does the voice of Swiper the fox on Dora? Or Chihiro on the English version of Spirited Away? I like to look people up when their voices are particularly interesting. Like, I always thought Finn from Adventure Time seemed like he'd be a cute guy (turns out he's not too harsh on the eyes); also the guy who played the voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo turned out pretty cute, God bless him and his post-pubescent days. (see below)
I loved reading this post, Hannah. It makes me think back to that conversation you, Ella, and I had a few weeks back about the disconnect between someone's appearance and their voice - for instance, radio talk show hosts NEVER look like how I would imagine to! I really think that we should take a sample of people who have never met us before and just give them one of the two points in questions (appearance or voice) and ask them to describe what the other half to this whole would be based on what they are given. It would be hilariously funny and educational at the same time - plus, you could finally rest assured of your lack of Himalayan-milkmaidness! ;)
ReplyDeleteHannah, this was probably one of my favorite blog posts that I've read all year. I have always HATED listening to myself in recordings. I don't sound like a "Himalayan Milkmaid", but I do sound a bit like a ditzy pre-teen with a very high-pitched squirrel voice... Ha! Well, anyway, I also find it really interesting to discover what voice actors actually look like. For instance, it took me two years two discover that the actor who plays Hiccup in "How to Train your Dragon" was also the main actor in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Now, that connection makes perfect sense, but it took me a long time to figure it out! It is really cool when you match a face to a voice only after hearing the voice itself. The same thing happens when you listen to the radio and imagine someone's face from their voice, and then discover they look completely different from what you imagined. It works the other way too. You can see someone's face and imagine what they sound like and have it be totally different in reality. The connection between face and voice is very interesting, and recordings always make everything sound weird. Nice post, Hannah! (:
ReplyDeleteThis is so painfully true! If I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the videos that you, Sarah, Julia, etc. have put together over the years, from Spanish assignments to Health assignments, no matter how agonizing it was to hear your voice during the editing process. That being said, it is certainly a feeling that we can all relate to!
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