Are you a person who doesn’t appreciate Subtitles as much as you would like because they are just not realistic and their time limit on the screen is super short or wonder if you enjoy a movie or just keep up with the subtitles and enjoy the movie later. If you are that person then you are in the right place, because I will give you a better substitute that will have you enjoy your foreign language movies without having to keep up with subtitles and also go further ahead and explain the production process for this substitute.
Many people nowadays don’t use subtitles and if they do, it’s about 10% to 15% that enjoy and this begs the question. Are subtitles necessary in a day and age where we have voice recording and dubbing?
So what is voice recording or dubbing, you may ask? If you plan to get your videos or audio recording dubbed, then read further on to understand the art of dubbing and voice recording and why people prefer them over subtitling.
Dubbing has a very long history, beginning with the emergence of dubbed Hollywood movies in the early 1930s. People realized that to help their films reach a bigger audience, they needed something far more effective than subtitles, and they soon found the answer in voice dubbing. Dubbing was a major boost to the film industry back then because production houses could localize their films into different foreign languages like French, German, Portuguese, Spanish which made the distribution of their films easily accessible to countries where English wasn’t the main language being spoken. What localizing does, is that it allows a lot of content creators to diversify their content to reach different audiences and be able to spread their message worldwide. This is something a lot of artists have tapped into and honestly, it’s made a lot of difference in how people interact with different content on the internet which has made the world a global village where anyone can access anything.
Voice dubbing helps you to reach international audiences with your content by translating your video into several languages. If perfectly and expertly done, it is very easy for an audience to completely forget the original version of the content because dubbing adds an element of authenticity by incorporating the nuances of the translated language. It is always advisable to use voice-over artists familiar with the foreign language you would like to dub your content to. They should be able to get the tonal range, diction and voice balance correctly so as not to remove the original meaning of the content.
Below we will learn the process used when adding a newly recorded voice to a video and dubbing it into another language and learning more about how dubbing is now becoming a mainstream media trend in 2020.
Dubbing Films.
Dubbing removes the video’s original spoken audio track and replaces it with a new one in another language while keeping the same overall feel of the original. We also know this process as ‘revoicing.’
A badly dubbed video can end up looking like a parodic version of the original, and if that’s not what you are looking for, it’s important to have a keen eye and be hands-on during the whole process and not leave anything to chance. It is very important to note that dubbing is a rather very expensive and time-consuming process, so any mistakes will definitely increase your overhead costs. Invest in a good translator who has a good grasp of both the original language and the language you need the material dubbed into, you also need a good sound engineer to do a perfect audio layering job and also a great Voice-over actor who will be the one to deliver the same rhythm and timing of the original audio, to ensure that it seamlessly syncs with the video footage.
Before you start the dubbing process there are few things that one has to note and accurately to avoid hurdles when the process begins.
- Original character sketch: This is to give you a general overview of how the characters are, to help you in getting a good voice actor who will perfectly fit the original characters’ personalities.
- Original cast information: With this, it’s easier to analyze the original voices to understand how they will resonate with the initial audience.
- The original script and dialogue list: To translate the script into the specified language.
- Audio and video files from the original work.
- Technical equipment: Recording booth and editing software for audio dialogue replacement (ADR). It also ensured that the technical equipment is in perfect condition.
The Art of Dubbing
Dubbing in its entirety has really improved within the last few decades, and its demand by content creators continues to increase around the world. Language barrier has always been a major restriction for content creatives and for the longest time they would only make content appreciated only by their country people. However, since the emergence of voice dubbing the circulation of media is no longer restricted by the barriers of language, as we see hundreds of films and television shows being translated into multiple languages and dialects around the world. You can easily watch and enjoy a Portuguese or Spanish film in your very own native language by just looking for the dubbed version of it.
Several years ago no one would never think this would be possible and here we are in 2020 and localization is getting bigger and better and a lot of companies are understanding what using this process would mean for their businesses. If you are keen enough, you notice that many companies are using localized strategies to make sure their services reach specific targeted markets across the globe. This means it’s easier to have their business features adapt to the local culture and demands of the market by mostly focusing on market tactics. This strategy requires a hefty amount of funds and dubbing helps reduce that cost, because it allows you to strike a connection with foreign audiences through digital content like videos. Also by localizing companies are taking advantage of the ‘buy local’ movement, as their business appears to be familiar to the local customers.
The popularity of Dubbed films.
In the late ‘90s, anime swept audiences in America with shows like Sailor Moon, enchanting viewers and introducing them to Japan’s amazing anime culture. This was new and fascinating for many people, seeing that it was a new thing that had taken people by surprise. It’s important to note though that as much as it was a fascinating aspect for the American people, the Japanese people were not happy with how the dubbing removed cultural references from the scripts which were the core part of the scripts. Looking keenly into it you notice that this might have resulted from using translators who did not understand the Japanese language well or the American English this omitting most of the important parts of the films. This was a norm when dubbing came into the picture but now dubbing processes have become more faithful to the source materials, showing how translators are taking the art of dubbing more seriously.
Dubbing is no longer a thing carried out by big film production houses, right now we have a new crop of fans who are taking matters into their own hands and dubbing animes. This has ensured that the history of anime localization continues to move forward. The love for anime dubs is reaching new heights, with the rise of ‘fandubs,’ which are anime shows dubbed by fans who strive to improve the already translated versions or alter the show’s plot. A good example of this fandub would be Team Four Star’s abridged version of Dragon Ball Z, which is a very popular version of the famous anime show.
- Studio Ghibli’s GKids YouTube channel features trailers of dubbed Japanese anime films, catering to thousands of devoted fans who wait eagerly for such releases. Studio Ghibli’s films are successful outside Japan because the dubbing projects involve directors and talented voice actors who understand the challenges of translating well-loved films.
- The English language trailer for Okko’s Inn shows how a properly dubbed film can create the same magic of the original and excite viewers around the world. Madigan Kacmar, a young voice actor, beautifully brings the translation to life by capturing the personality of the young Japanese protagonist, Okko.
Making sure to dubbed content is perfect, is something that content creators should make a priority because when an audience positively receives your dubbed version, you realize that all your hard work eventually pays off. The world is transforming into a global village if the village hasn’t already transformed, then dubbing and localizing of content will be in high demand, and thus, content creators will have more opportunities to localize the content and make it more global.
