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Spoken Accents

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by jedi-ona-tru-min, Nov 11, 2003.

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  1. jedi-ona-tru-min

    jedi-ona-tru-min Jedi Youngling

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    Nov 5, 2003
    Exactly what is the significance with some people having British or English accents and others having standard American? Why didn't he just use a southern drawl somewhere? One would think that with such diversity upon where one lives that there would be more languages other than English, Wookie, Astro-droid or Hut.

    P.S. Even Jabba and a few others had a little english in their dialect.
     
  2. Darth-Seldon

    Darth-Seldon Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    May 17, 2003
    I'm glad the Imperial officers had a British accent. It added to their characters. It made them more formal and I liked it. I don't know if I completely understand what you are saying. If you mean why did George not create more accents, Then my answer to that would be that he created so many millions of things, did he really need to do accents.

    Anyway I like the british accents for the Empire.
     
  3. DarthNigel

    DarthNigel Jedi Master star 3

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    Jul 14, 2003
    I know that they wanted British accents for the imperial officers because American audiences associate the accent with an authority figure or something like that.

    With all the outcry over the use of an East-Asian accent for the trade federation guys in the PT, I would understand if Lucas might shy away from any additional examples of accents with obvious stereotypical associations.
     
  4. Mateo

    Mateo Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Mar 22, 2001
    British accents are more serious and refined sounding than your typical American Accent,a Southern Drawl makes someone sound stupid an uneducated,like a ignorant Redneck Hick does, meanwhile british accents add dignity and an authoritan affect, you dont want a stupid sounding redneck playing a someone important in a movie.
     
  5. Blackthorpe

    Blackthorpe Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 6, 2003
    Red Leader had a bit of a southern accent, and it didn't make him sound stupid.
     
  6. Darth-Seldon

    Darth-Seldon Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    May 17, 2003
    Yes but Red leader is a common rebel. The Imperial officers are grand military men who have been trained by the best schools in the galaxy. Everything about them is good and proper and the must show authority.

    Red Leader is just some guy the alliance found on a dirty old planet. He could fly ships so they hired him or convinced him to join them. There is a big difference.
     
  7. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    "Y'all dunno how hard it was signin' th'order to terminate yer life, Leia darlin'."

    No . . . no, I don't think so.

    I always wondered how different accents came to exist in the GFFA. They don't seem to be associated with any one place. For a while I thought that people with English accents might be from the Core Worlds, since that's where most of the political power players seem to come from, but there doesn't seem to be any particular pattern.
     
  8. Blackthorpe

    Blackthorpe Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Feb 6, 2003
    Darth-Seldon, forgive my seeming ignorance, but I thought this was a discussion of the GFFA in general, not just the Empire. I was simply pointing out the fact that there is at least one character who has a slight southern accent. It doesn't matter that he's "just some rebel." I don't think he is. He is Red LEADER, he has authority. He's good at what he does, until he comes up against Vader. It's unfair to dismiss him just because he's a rebel as not being important. And how do you know he didn't go through the Imperial academy? I believe that many of the rebel leaders were taken from the empire, or defected or whatever. Who's to say that Red Leader wasn't one of those?
     
  9. Spike_Spiegel

    Spike_Spiegel Former FF Administrator Former Saga Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    I've always thought Red Leader's accent made him a more "father-like" leader. In other words, more likeable and human than the distant Imperial leaders.

    I think that in some ways, accents play with our connections with characters. We associate a stern, proper British accent with education, training, authority and lack of emotion. An accent like Red Leader's is much more approachable and likeable.
     
  10. Darth-Seldon

    Darth-Seldon Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    May 17, 2003
    Blackthrope: I understood what you said. I like the leader's accent and do think it makes him more likable and more human. But the imperial accent does show a formal and educated man. The red leader may have come from Imperial schooling but that info you refer to is all Expanded Universe.

    In the American Revolution all of the British officers were well trained at academys. The Americans were just rebels off the farms. But they were still worthy opponets. The Americans still won the war.
    I'm not saying that Red Leader does not have ablity. I'm saying Lucas wanted the British accents for the formal officers of the Empire. It was for the movie and not for the Universe. It was to make sense for the movies and not the actual Star Wars universe. It was for the audience
     
  11. orangefuzz

    orangefuzz Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Feb 21, 2003
    All Sith however, do not seem to have any apparent acent. They either have low imposing voices (Vader, Maul, Dooku) or old craggy evil voices (Sidious, Palpatine or Palpidious).
     
  12. darkmole

    darkmole Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jul 2, 2000
    I don't believe there is any significance to the accents - there were a lot of Brits in the OT because much of it was filmed in the UK. But it is an American film so most of the leads are played by Americans.
     
  13. amien

    amien Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Nov 23, 2002
    I think it's odd that Amidala has a deep voice and a regal accent in TPM, but then in AOTC she talks normal in the senate. I guess it's because she's of age now, and is more respected, but it's funny that in TPM she sounds so deep and royal but in AOTC there is no accent at all.
     
  14. Terr_Mys

    Terr_Mys Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    May 19, 2002
    I think the English accent pretty much portrays a sense of nobility and authority to your typical American viewer. Hence why Amidala speaks with a pseudo-English accent as Queen, and why Leia does the same while speaking as a Senator in ANH.

    What I want to know is why GL didn't use any Boston accents! :p Jira would be wicked pissah with one. //esoteric
     
  15. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Yes, location is part of it of course. Just like Jango, the Clone Troopers, and the Kaminoans have NZ/Aussie accents. But I think it was definitely a fortuitous thing that the Imperials could be played by Brits, because it works out nicely. Of course, Obi-Wan is also a Brit (or two) and Anakin is not (mostly). But I think Obi-Wan being British also gave him a sense of authority over Luke with his Standard American Accent. Han, however (being from Chicago), has a Midwest drawl (yay).

    -sj loves kevin spacey
     
  16. Ty-gon Jinn

    Ty-gon Jinn Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jan 12, 2000
    Well, of course there's a difference in accents from AOTC to TPM. I think that was partly the fact that there were both Sabe and Padme to take care of. Padme the Handmaiden used her real voice, but both Sabe and Padme, in the guise of Queen Amidala, would probably deepen their voices,
    A) to give a more authoritative sound, and
    B) to distinguish herself from her handmaiden persona.

    And, yes, I think it adds to the movie to hear the Imperial officers speaking with British accents. It's the articulation; the fact that they enunciate so precisely adds a factor of coldness to the speech.

    Dooku has a bit of that accent himself. It's not full-blown British, no, but he is just as articulate, and in that booming "Voice-of-Saruman" (I know, I know, different movie, but the comparison works) tone makes it work so well!
     
  17. Zethlin_Maximus

    Zethlin_Maximus Jedi Youngling star 4

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    May 31, 2003
    Why were there no Reb generals with English accents? Why the change from the Stormtrooper officers in ANH talking with American accents, to a purely upper-class English accented Imperial officer ranks in ESB?

    And what's all this about "British" accents, anyway? I'm sure I don't talk anything like the Imperial characters in the OT! ?[face_plain]

    We only lost the War of Independence, because we were fighting thousands of miles from home whilst the colonists were finding on their home ground.
     
  18. Ty-gon Jinn

    Ty-gon Jinn Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jan 12, 2000
    Well, there were officers in ANH with those same accents (see the meeting Tarkin held in which Vader starts to Force-choke the guy). Of course, if George had been able to make the PT first, then all the stormtroopers should have Maori (Native New Zealander) accents like Jango Fett. The accents have nothing to do with Americans vs. Brits.

    And of course you don't sound like them. A) There are differences between British accents depending on region, right? The London accent is different from the Essex accent or the Manchester accent, etc, etc, etc? (And I guess "British" could also encompass the Scottish brogue, which is incredibly different)... B) Several of the Imperial accents are more like Dooku's... not full-blown British, but simply proper (The British do tend to speak more properly than we Americans do).

    And, yes, the colonists did have the home-court advantage... don't hold it against us?
     
  19. Ty-gon Jinn

    Ty-gon Jinn Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jan 12, 2000
    Come to think of it, in the first post, jedi-ona-tru-min asked why the only accent in the movies was the British... and that's just one more thing the PT changed. Pernilla August is Swedish, so Shmi's accent is slightly Scandanavian. There's Thai in the Neimoidian accents. Like I said, Jango Fett was Maori. And don't you remember all the brouhaha after TPM first came out because Jar Jar, with his African-American voice-over artist doing the funny accent? Maybe GL realized he had used enough Brits. :)

    Oh, and, BTW, there was at least one rebel with the nice, enunciating, kind-of-British accent. Does no one remember Mon Mothma?
     
  20. Zethlin_Maximus

    Zethlin_Maximus Jedi Youngling star 4

    Registered:
    May 31, 2003
    Yes, I know that there are dozens and dozens of English accents. I being one myself I know so. But admittedly I was taking the piss out of those Americans that still cling to the belief that we all talk with plums up our noses, "Jolly good show," and "Chocks away!". :p

    And it also depends heavily on which side of the tracks an English person is brought up on, which determines their accents, just like every other country in the world. I, for example, speak with a West Country accent (listen to Sam Gamgee in the animated LOTR). But unfortunately, most Americans only seem to hear and see the English "upper-classes", hence their fixation on the English "Jolly hockey sticks" way of speaking.

    Yes, our losing the War of Independence was mostly due to our fighting so far from home with stretched resources, especially considering the lack of technology at the time. The colonists also knew the lay of the land much better than our troops. But why should I care, seeing that the "Empire" was a middle and upper-class thing after all. Honestly, you don't really think that any working-class English person got so much as a thimble from the "Empire", do you?
     
  21. Ty-gon Jinn

    Ty-gon Jinn Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2000
    The ANIMATED LOTR? Holy crap, you would have to bring THAT up. I swear, the singing Orcs in the animated ROTK gave me nightmares.

    Actually, our lit teacher bought those on DVD just for the novelty of it, and showed it to us just to gauge our reactions. After I bought Peter Jackson's Two Towers DVD, I had to tell DrMc (our affectionate nickname for him) that I was scarred for life... when the Orcs approached the Black Gate, I got all the way to "We don't wanna go to war today" before I realized I was singing.
     
  22. Zethlin_Maximus

    Zethlin_Maximus Jedi Youngling star 4

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    May 31, 2003
    I don't know about the animated ROTK, because I never saw it. I meant the first animated feature. I've just now been watching the DVD of TTT, and I have to say that Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee) does a pretty damned good English West Country accent, especially considering I think he's American an' all! Yeah, he's so bloody good in fact, that I can't even remember if he's American or not!!! I would even say his West Country is better than that of the animated Sam!
     
  23. cooker

    cooker Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2004
    My understanding was that when they were making ANH, they wanted the Imperials and Rebels to have markedly different accents, just to distinguish the two groups that much more.
     
  24. BaronFel88

    BaronFel88 Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2004
    I have to admit, the Brits are perfect as Imps (Veers, Piett, etc).
     
  25. DS615

    DS615 Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Oct 30, 2003
    Filming was in England, and english actors were used. There wasn't enough time to have their lines re-dubed in "American", so they left them. The Empire wound up with accents, and the rebels didn't. It was not intentional. It's all in the Annotated Screenplays book.

    But if you're looking for an in-univers answer, I would say the accent is a part of "proper" authority behavior. Notice in ANH that Leia loses her accent once Alderaan is destroyed.


     
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