Interview : Allegra Clark by Dragon Age France !
[General - private]
1/ Since how long are you a Dragon Age fan ? How did you know it ? And what do you think about each opus ?
I've been a fan since Dragon Age: Origins first came out! I read an article that a gay friend showed me about LGBT romances in the game shortly before the release, and the description of the story--along
with the promise of representation--was enough to convince me to give the game a shot. I bought the game when I came home for winter break and immediately fell in love with it! I'm a fan of both games equally,
though I think DA2 gets a bit of a leg up because the combat in DA:O didn't work well for console. I'm very excited to see the more blended gameplay in DA:I for that reason!
2/ In general, are you a fan of videogames ? What are your favorites, and why ?
I basically play video games every night--it's my way of relaxing. My favorite franchises are Dragon Age and Mass Effect for their stories, Assassin's Creed for the historical elements, Borderlands for the
humor and gameplay, Kingdom Hearts for being adorably magical, Uncharted and Tomb Raider for their acrobatic, archaeological adventuring.... I could go on and on here, so I'll stop now. I'm also surprisingly
addicted to mobile and puzzle games, since they're great for quick bursts of fun without committing to hours on the couch.
3/ We were able to see some of your Isabella's cosplays (and I really love the Qunari version), is she your favorite DA character ? What do you like the most about our Rivaini pirate ?
Thank you! She's absolutely one of my favorite characters in the franchise. In addition to her bawdy humor, I'm particularly fond of her confidence, and how she doesn't like to let other people's criticism
unnerve her. It's a very mature, adult perspective to take--to basically go: "Not everyone is going to like me, so I'll just keep being me, haters gonna hate"--and I've been striving to embody it myself.
Isabela's friendship arc in the game has to do with self-improvement, but in a way that she never stops being herself even while addressing her flaws. She has her insecurities, but she works past them.
It's really empowering to see a woman embody that very human struggle in a video game, and as a result I really identify with her. Ultimately, you have to answer to yourself, so it's really important to
be comfortable with who you are.
[General - professional]
4/ Have you ever done other voice-acting jobs before, not necessarily for videogames ? (question also asked by Florence, one of our followers)
I have! I did one indie game prior to DA (Omegalodon), but this is my first major game gig. I did a lot of commercials growing up, both on camera and voiceover, as well as a few industrial/promotional
videos and announcer jobs. VO for gaming has always been a career goal for me, so I'm thrilled to have received this opportunity.
5/ Sometimes, we naively imagine that the profession just means speaking into a microphone with a beautiful voice, but we too often ignore that the voice-acting is a true acting job, with required skills.
What can you tell us about the voice-acting, in general, to enlighten us? What is the amount of work a dubbing session represents ?
Here's the best way I can explain it: voice acting demands that you convey everything that could be going on in your body--for instance, your eyes scanning the room as you nervously hand a document to someone
you are trying to deceive, trying desperately to look normal, but you keep wanting to run your lower lip between your teeth but you can't, not if you don't want to get caught, so instead you shove your hands
behind your back and try to relax your shoulders no matter how much your nerves are making them tingle--trying to convey all of those visual queues with only your voice. In the instance of video games, a
cinematic designer will put all of those visual queues into the cutscenes, but it's the actor's responsibility to ensure that all of them are already there vocally.
© Virak
Maybe your character is traversing a muggy jungle, starving and injured, but you're in an air conditioned room with a bottle of water and an apple and you're probably going to lunch after this. Is your
character with someone? Well, you're not--at best you're getting your scene partner's lines played back to you, but you may just hear the director reading them instead. You have to use your imagination to fill
in gaps like how your character is physically feeling, or even what they look like. The disconnect can be a little disorienting if you aren't used to or prepared for it, and that's when you hear uncomfortably
flat performances from actors who you know know better than that. (I won't name names, but I'm sure you can think of a few) It takes a lot more concentration (and stamina, since VO sessions move very quickly)
than anyone realizes until they start doing it, but is tremendously fun and rewarding.
6/ What are the prerequisites in order to work in the voice-acting ? Are there schools ? Specific curriculum ? Needed skills ?
I've heard of schools that incorporate VO training (my friend Sylar is attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where they do teach classes on voiceover), but typically you can jump into the
industry with a general acting education supplemented by some microphone training. You absolutely need to learn microphone techniques! I also recommend taking a dedicated voiceover for animation class since
it'll allow you to practice vocal placements and developing characters, and accent training, while not strictly necessary, will always give you a leg up, as I have experienced myself!
[ Note : there is two kind of questions, one for french people, and one for italian people :) My sincere apologies for our polish pals, but I didn't know at this moment that the polish fanpage was interested
by the interviex ^^' Otherwise, I would have ask an equivalent question for polish people]
7-FR/ it seems that you speak fluent French! A quick word to our fans ? :)
Hello to all the wonderful French fans of Dragon Age! Thank you so much for all of your questions--I'm honored that you want to get to know me better :D Have fun when the game comes out this November!
7-IT/ It seems that you speak Italian! A quick word for our italian friends who will read this via their italian fanpages which will translate this interview ? :)
Hello to all the marvelous Italian fans of Dragon Age! I'm thrilled that we finally get another look at sunny Antiva via Josephine, and I hope you all love it :) Have fun when the game comes out this November!
8/ What are the other languages and accents you know ? Have you ever lent your voice to non-english-speaking projects ?
Unfortunately I stopped at French and Italian ;) I did plays in French and Italian when I was in school, but never professionally. I wanted to learn Portuguese at one point, but I couldn't get my mouth around
the pronunciation! As for accents, I received a broad education in accents and dialects at my university, so I can also do RP, Cockney, Irish, German, and Russian, in addition to a few American accents. My
natural accent is pretty neutral, though if I'm not careful, I can slip into a heavy New York/Long Island Italian-American accent, particularly when I'm with my family. Eyyyyy!
[DA:I / Dubbing]
9/ When BioWare contacted you, what was your reaction ?
I cried. I jumped around and cried. I wish I could pretend I was more composed and dignified than that, but I really wasn't.
10/ Was it easy (or not) to get in the skin of Josephine ?
Yes, definitely. Without spoiling anything, we have a few attributes in common that really helped me to root into her character. As long as I spoke a little bit of Italian before I started recording--I usually
recite the inscription on the Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno in Italian (canto 3, verses 1-9)--it was pretty smooth sailing.
11/ If you had to describe Josephine with only 3 words, what would they be ? © Kelgrid (modifié) / © Monty Python
ONLY THREE??? Goodness. Let's go with: idealistic, persuasive, and capable. Also adorable. I'm sorry, I need to include adorable too.
12/ How long did took the dubbing ? And how was organized a typical day in studio ? Do you have any funnies story to tell ?
It ended up being around 8 sessions. I have to fly down from Seattle to record in Los Angeles, so six of those eight sessions were grouped together to minimize the amount of travel I'd have to do.
The sessions themselves are pretty straightforward. We have a given number of lines to get through per session, so we dive right in. We take a break when we're about halfway through the lines for the day,
usually for about 5-10 minutes, and then it's back to work. It's very fast-paced, and you have to adjust to the tonal shifts within the character and general story arcs. Once we get through Josephine's lines,
I usually had a few NPCs to record, so I had to quickly shake off Josephine and Italian and jump into whoever they needed me to do next! It was fast, furious, and INCREDIBLY fun!
As for funny stories, I'm struggling to think of any that wouldn't break my NDA! Suffice to say that there were moments where references to prior games in the franchise took me by surprise and caused me to
burst out laughing. Side-effect of hiring a fan of the franchise, I suppose ;)
13/ Have you met other Dragon Age voice-actors during this job ? If so, how was the contact between the different actors ?
I have! I met Brian Bloom very briefly before I did my pickup session in June. We really only had time to say hello and shake hands before I ran into the booth, but he's very nice! Otherwise, I haven't had the
opportunity to meet the other actors, barring chatting on twitter with a few of the actors.
> French fans' questions :
14/ Florence : I would like to know how you were approched by the Bioware team ?
I approached them first, actually--I met David Gaider at SDCC 2011, where we discussed my voice acting and proficiency with accents. From there, I sent him my demos, which he forwarded to Caroline Livingstone
for her to listen to. She later reached out to me with audition scripts, and the rest was pretty standard.
© Bioware
15/ Florence (again) : who is, besides Josephine, the character that you like the most in DA:I, according to what you have seen so far ?
I don't get to say "all of them," do I? They're all very interesting and wonderful in different ways. I'm really excited to spend time with Vivienne, Dorian, and Blackwall, though I feel a little like I'm
betraying all my other wonderful friends by narrowing it down! I'm also very fond of Leliana and Cullen--since Josephine obviously speaks to them the most, I have the best sense of who they are. The dynamic
between the three is truly wonderful.
16/ Mélany : I was wondering, since Allegra is half Italian and also speak french, Josephine has a french name but she is Antivian, that is more than a bit of Italy in the game, did the developers choose her so she may add a touch of italian or french accent into Josephine's voice?
Josephine's accent is purely Italian. My fluency in French has been more useful with regards to voicing a handful of French NPCs.
17/ Pierre-Marie : Which characters do you love/hate, and what event in the Dragon Age saga was the more striking for you ?
I'm fond of all the characters in the franchise, even when I want to strangle them--and sometimes because I want to strangle them. I think one of the most striking moments for me was sparing Loghain and
bringing him to Ostagar. If you thought that sequence was moving with Alistair and Wynne, try bringing Loghain and Wynne instead, because you get such wonderful insights into his character and motivations.
(Hey, remember that time Loghain was worried that Cailan was trying to reunite with Orlais? Yeah, you want to see his reaction when he finds out that he was right.) I praise the Dragon Age franchise for writing
such complex and fascinating villains, and Loghain is by far the most interesting to me, mostly because I ultimately struggle to see him as a villain after sparing him.
18/ Dcreas : do you know (and are you allowed to tell us) if we will see Isabella in DA:I ?
Spoilers!
19/ If you are allowed to answer to this question, do you know if Isabella and Josephine know each other ?
Spoilers!
20/ Cliiment : I would know if Josephine and Isabella are a bit similar, or if it was something really new to do, a new character to embody ?
Oh, they're quite different. You'll see once you meet Josephine! But undertaking different kinds of roles and characters is all part of the job, and honestly, is oftentimes the most fun part of the whole
thing.
Thank you very much Allegra for you sympathy and for the time spent on this interview! We wish you good luck for your future work and we are excited to be able to ear you in game ;)
If you wanna know more about Allegra here are:
• Her Website : http://www.allegraclark.com
• Her Tumblr account : http://captainallegra.tumblr.com
• Her Twitter account : http://twitter.com/SimplyAllegra