Rand Unwrapped (9 page)

Young Italian child, (from left) - My older brother, myself and my dad - Franklin Square, New York

Playing “Guns,” Franklin Square, New York

As Rick Hunter in 1986, New York City - Photo courtesy of Harmony Gold USA

Program cover – “
Ultra 7” live at the Waikiki Shell
– Honolulu, Hawaii

Playing Adam in
“Mysteries and the Passion”
– directed by Terence Knapp at the Kennedy Theatre, Honolulu, Hawaii

Recording session – Los Angeles, California

In the control room, directing a three camera scene – Los Angeles, California

Interview at Harmony Gold – Los Angeles, California

Da Bugga' Scapin!
based on Moliere's
“That Scoundrel Scapin”
– directed by Glenn Cannon at Kennedy Theatre, Honolulu Hawaii

Advanced Scene Study class – Los Angeles, California – Photo courtesy of Santiago Valencia

At Harmony Gold with Tommy Yune

Robotech Event dressed as Rick Hunter 1986

Robotech Interview

Playing guitar

“Do me a favor will ya – and keep the showboating to a minimum… All right?”

- The Fortress – Episode 12

As I discussed earlier in this book, my approach to any character whether live action or animated considers three basic elements –
emotional, intellectual and physical
. How do they feel, what do they think and how do they move about the universe that's been created around them? Can you imagine if Rand lived in late 19
^th
century England in the world of Sherlock Holmes? His physicality would be totally different than his own time. This change in physicality would be influenced by several factors. The actual environment or space that the character must move in and the social mores of the period. What kinds of clothes would he wear? They would certainly be wool or cotton and depending upon his social class it would be formal or informal. His environment in Victorian London would be a city lit by gas with cobble stone streets and horse carriages for mecha. Also, Rand in order to be believable within that specific 19
^th
century time frame would behave in a certain manner. Would he have a certain social status? Was he educated and was he wealthy or poor? All of these questions should be answered in order to determine the appropriate choices for the character. When this research is done and applied to performance, the character has a certain credibility within the universe the writer has created for them. When it all comes together it's seamless and the audience can just sit back and get into the story. That's why the
Harry Potter
series works so well. It's an incredible story spun in a very credible way. On the other hand, when it's wrong, it's devastating. The audience is taken away from what is important in the story and characters and lead to a state of disbelief. How many times how you seen something done live action in a period and the characters all look, feel and act contemporary? When this happens you are thrown out of the storyline because you are constantly reminded that what you are seeing is
not real
and being acted (probably poorly) by a modern day actor. When it comes to developing a character that is real, animation is not any different. As a voice actor, your first step is work with what the animators have drawn.