MegaCon 2018: Dragon Ball Z panel with Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat
Just a rough transcript and overview of the great panel at MegaCon focused on Dragon Ball Z: Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat.
Chris Sabat is the voice actor behind Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Mr. Popo, Korin, Burter, Shenron, Zarbon and Guru. Sean Schemmel is the voice actor behind Goku.
Intro:Chris: On top of being voice acting, I also do a lot of award show announcing. One time, I was asked to do live announcments in a ballroom and it was awkward because I was out in the open instead of hiding behind a microphone in a studio.
I also do voices in One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist and several other animes aside from Dragon Ball.
Discussion on difficult parts of Dragon Ball:
Sean: Yea, I’ve done a lot of voices but never knew that Dragon Ball is the largest screaming anime. There’s a lot of thought behind each scream.
Chris: Yes we want it to be the best scream possible but we want to be able to speak after. So we have to analyze before recording. Honestly, Sean and I have had a competitive aspect to screaming. I always think “Maybe this will be good enough but catch myself saying Sean will do better.”
Sean: Yea, I always think about how hard it is for you (Chris) because I have a higher scream but your characters, like Vegeta, is hard.
Chris: Yeah, Vegeta is always yelling. Even if I’m not supposed to.
Sean: Yea, I have a lot of respiratory control. Sometimes I think I’m getting too old for some parts, I mean I’ll be 50 years old this year.Q: What’s your favorite line?
A: Chris: It’s when Vegeta goes “Huh?” (To Sean) I love Bubbles lines
Sean: My favorite thing with Bubbles is when he hints that they did something wrong like, “Bubbles, remember that party….”
Q: For Sean, how did you come up with the line that you forgot your tractor?
A: I was analyzing the scene and he is a bad actor so when he was ‘falling’ I improvised it and they kept it.
Chris: The moments where we can make subtle changes that are comical, makes it so fun.
Sean: Yea it doesn’t always translate so we have to make sense of certain scenes.
Q: For Sean, I was introduced to Anime through Dragon Ball so I want to know what were your Gateway Anime?
Ultron, Ghost in a Shell, Speed Racer and Voltron. They were things we found or saw that were not really labeled in the store and just thought, “This is an awesome show.”
Q: Were there any scenes/dialogue that you wanted to add?
Sean: There was one time that Goku was turning into his Super Saiyan and I chimed in with Goku saying, “I want to be a Super Duper Saiyan.” but it was cut (laughed).
Q: For Chris, as you have voiced several characters in Dragon Ball when you filmed scenes with multiple characters do you do Character by Character or all at once?
A: I always do one character at a time. The only time I’ve done all of them at once was in the Garlic Junior Saga because the episodes were so simple. I actually don’t think Sean was in that Saga.
Q: Are there any other screams you admire?
A: Sean: Now that I think about it, I don’t think anyone else has it as hard as we do. I was watching Penny Dreadful and I was watching the scene where she was portraying having tuberculosis and I was thinking how hard that is to play being sick.
Chris: I know Josh Bryan screams his butt off and Clifford Chapin, who wants to be me, always vocalizes a lot.
Q: Dragon Ball Super came out so fast, how long does translating take?
Chris: Funimation is pretty fast but they typically prefer a four week transition.
Q: What advise would you give voice actors today?
A: Chris: Sean broke every traditional mistake. Those who did some form of voice acting but no one knows all the rules. My suggestion is to just diversify yourself.
Sean: Yeah, when I first started out I was determined to diversify myself and asked go do my own recording. From doing that, I learned how to do everything myself (script, recording, mix and acting). I would be happy doing any of it all day!! My favorite part of this job though is this, meeting everybody.
Chris: Yea the difference between meeting people verse actually recording is super different now. We can record something and a week later we see it online and your (the fans) feedback.
Individual day tickets are now available at http://megaconorlando.com/tickets/, starting at $25. For news, guest announcements and event info, please visit. http://megaconorlando.com.
Some other notable guests:
Norman Reedus, Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead)
Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones, Conan)
Comic Book Legend Jim Lee (X-Men, Batman)
Stephen Moyer from The Gifted, True Blood
Pink Power Ranger Amy Jo Johnson
Once Upon a Time star Jennifer Morrison
Check out the DISPATCH stories on MegaCon over the years HERE
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