Soundcraft interactive

SOUND spring 2023 CRAFT vol 1 issue 27 WORDS THAT YOU CAN HEAR Onomatopoeia in animation A CHANGE OF TONE Can we replace old voice actors with younger ones? AN INSTRUMENTAL ROLE Music & story-telling in cartoon

CREATORS Nguyen Vu Thuy Duy Hien An Creative director/ Writer/ Editor Editor Dieu Le Xuan Hong Anh Thi Photographer/ Graphic designer Graphic designer 2

Table of CONTENTS 01 4 Preface 02 For our readers Words that you can hear 6 Onomatopoeia 03 An 8 instrumental 04 role A change Music & story-telling in cartoon of tone 10 Can we change old voice actors with younger ones? 3

For readers 0011 4

PREF ACEThink Preface of your favorite ani- mated movie or TV show, either one that you have watched recently or a nostalgic show from your childhood. Now, turn on that show on your TV or laptop, and then watch it with the volume off. Surely the experience will not be the same: the cartoon that you have always loved and felt excited to watch has be- come a tedious, lifeless one. When talking about a cartoon, we often talk about the unique and vibrant art style, the gripping story, or the stunning visual effects that take years to complete. However, the equivalently import- ant role of the sound designers, voice actors and soundtrack composers - ones that compose the audio of these movies - are often neglected. So, in this issue of “Soundcraft”, join us on a trip to the unheard world behind the sounds that we hear on-screen! _soundcraft team_ 5

W that you can hear ordsHave you ever wondered: how can people use 02words to describe sounds to others? Written by Hien Nguyen 6

ong before animation existed, Nowadays, cartoons are applied as a teach- there were comic strips and ing method in elementary language classes. books that used drawings and Naturally, a kid’s first impressions of the world come in the form of simple phrases L painting to convey ideas. Comic books can effectively tell a story and viv- representing sounds. A child gradually learns idly illustrate the emotions of the charac- that cars make a \"brum brum\" sound, or ters, however, the ducks say “quack limitations of ma- Onomatopoeia appears ev- quack”. Ono- terials meant that erywhere in our daily lives. matopoeia has a artists needed to But there are almost no oth- significant influ- find a way to “vi- er places where these simple, ence on language sualize” sounds. nuanced words shine as bright development in So, they turned to as in comics and animations. children, there- onomatopoeia, words that phonetically im- fore cartoons utilize these basic words itate sounds in real life, such as “buzz” with nuanced meanings to not only edu- for a sound like one that a bee makes, or cate children linguistically, but also let their “boom” for the sound of an explosion. imagination fly. Studies suggest that this As technology became more advanced, art- is also true for adult audiences: we can ists could finally work out a way to make vividly imagine a situation by simply listen- still figures “speak” and “move” and thus ing to an onomatopoeia. Stylized onomato- animation was conceived. Sharing a com- poeia can also emphasize sounds to exag- mon ground of using drawings to tell a gerate emotions or serve as a joke too. story, it is understandable that animations are closely related to, and heavily inspired by comic books. Onomatopoeia is one of the most salient influences. Movies like “Kung-Fu Panda” or “Rio” include plenty of onomatopoeia in their script. Su- perhero TV cartoon shows from the 60s go as far as to include onomatopoeia vi- sually. But perhaps no animation is more notable for its adaptation of onomatopoeia among various comics elements than the 2018 blockbuster “Spider Man: Into the Spider-verse”. This brings anoth- er question: Why do these animations use onomatopoeia? In this age of technological development, why don’t we just recreate the sounds instead of describing them? r 7 Photo by Thi Dieu

A CHANGE OF Can we change the voice actor for a cartoon character? Voice acting is one of the professions that are least affected by ageism. applies to animated characters, as we often Voice actors are judged solely on associate them with the voice of the actor. So, how will you react if your best friend has a completely different voice overnight? how they sound, not how they look or how A sense of unfamiliarity and shock is almost old they are. That being said, a wonderful certain. Therefore, it is important that the re- voice actor well over the age of 60 can placement must have a similar voice to their comfortably deliver the voice for a teenage predecessor, as a drastic change will certain- boy. However, this doesn’t mean that voice ly not sit well with the actors can withstand the test of time for- audience. ever. A human’s voice is not dissimilar from physical parts of the body: they deteriorate as the body gets older, no matter how well it can be preserved. In the best case, an aging voice actor loses a bit of dynamism and flexi- bility, which might prevent them from playing difficult roles. In the worst case, their voice becomes thin, weak, quavering and unsuit- able for the job. Retirement is inevitable, as with every other occupation. The retirement of an actor poses a potential problem for developers of TV shows or movies featuring the characters that they lend their voice to. Recasting a voice actor has never been easy. Humans rec- ognize and memorize others through voice in a similar fashion as how we recognize each other through facial features. The closer we are to somebody, the more vividly and de- tailedly we remember their voices. This also 8

TONE ut the problem does not end there. \" Voice acting is also acting. Thus, a Bgood voice actor must be able to fully represent and express the character’s per- sonality through their performance. A great performance can leave such a huge remark on the audience that the role becomes syn- So, here’s a question for you onymous with that certain actor in the au- diences’ mind. We basically think that the character and their voice actor are born for If you were a cartoon show direc- each other. For example, most will think of tor and a voice actor had just left Robin Williams as soon as they talk about for any reason, would you try to Genie from “Aladdin”. Another actor who replace them, or just write off the takes up the role will certainly have to han- dle the stress of the successor, as skepti- \"character they play? cism and comparison is almost inevitable. These difficulties do not necessarily mean that every voice actor replacing anoth- er for a role will fail miserably. In fact, some of them have lived up to, or even outdone the work of their predecessor. Written by An Vu 9 Photo by Thi Dieu

AN INSTRUMENTAL ROLEMusic is always a crucial part to a movie’s success. However, few genres Photo by Thi Dieuhave witnessed such a dominance of songs as animated movies. Most of the legendary movie soundtracks come from animation as well. So, why is music so popular and important in the world of animation? It should be remembered that since its genre, one that everyone can enjoy. This creation in the early 20th century, car- leads filmmakers to another question: How toons were, and most today are still, to make a movie that is coherent and aimed at young children. And there is easy-going enough for kids, while also not no other way to deliver the messages too foolish or obnoxious for grown-ups? of the movie or the show to these in- Music offers a perfect solution, as there nocent minds better than a good song. are few other tools that can have such a Music has long been proven as an effec- consistent and collective emotional effect tive educational device for toddlers. A on every group age. Whether you’re 5 or catchy and simple song does not only 50, you can’t stop enthusiastically singing assist the children’s development both along to “Let It Go” from Frozen, or sob- intellectually and emotionally, but they bing to the tear-jerking “When She Loved also help the kids digest the story that Me” in Toy Story the cartoon tells. Combined with the col- 2. The fact that orful and imaginative visuals, a cartoon they were made can easily encapsulate any toddler’s at- for everyone also tention and last long in their memories. preserves the However, the old days of “cartoons are songs’ timeless- only for children” are already long gone. ness, as these Over the years, there have been countless songs are often animated movies or TV series aimed at a exempt from “fol- wider demographic, some even being sole- lowing” popular ly for adults. Nowadays, animated mov- or trendy genres. ies are often viewed as a family-friendly 10

Most importantly, it is through songs that we identify with a character and their develop- ment throughout the movie. In movies, music is always meant to be a factor that drives the 04narrative and accompanies the visual actions. In animation the link between music and content are even stronger as everything needs to be planned ahead, because these movies are rarely cut or edited as dra- matically as live-action pictures. Therefore, musical pieces are often com- posed to fit into the story of a movie or a particular character like a glove. All in all, animation is a world full of imagination and emotions; and music, coincidentally, does a fantastic job tapping into those two as- pects of any human being’s mind. Therefore, a good animat- ed movie is almost inseparable from a memorable soundtrack Written by An Vu Look out for five words relating to the topic of GAME CORNER this issue of SOUNDCRAFT in the puzzle below! E J V T V WM T P R R D M D D GMA V P R E U J PO Y Y V E U J X TOL H L S AHNE L V NK T I LMXAR I AADF B J L X I X M P T ONC EWR U B CNMGH E N I E LWP T Z Y G U J G P Q M S O H U WW Z G L K Y J J AMRHPQGNX V L RGA T ZUCVAVOR Z E F VO I C E ACTOR S OV F Z X O E S OUNDT R A C K U L NH I K P S NZMROZW D UWG B G C N GMA U D I O Voice actor Animation Soundtrack Buzz Audio 11

SOUND CRAFT Behind the sounds