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The Low Down on: Dubbing
continued...
Coworkers
I am the second to the newest dubber in the outfit. By that
I mean I was hired and trained at the outfit, and wasn’t from another outfit like ABS-CBN
or GMA’s other dubbing outfits.
My coworkers work experiences range from 5-20 years. Some
have been in the outfit since the mecha shows in the 70’s. they are a blast to work with.
Opinionated, intelligent, witty and friendly. They are literally from all walks of life.
There’s a lot to be learned from every one of them because they have all been in another
line of work and I get to hear about so many things in the world today, everyday. Like I
mentioned before, dubbing doesn’t pay enough to be a full time job. Here are some of the
dubbers’ other jobs:
- FM radio disc jockeys
- FM radio newsboard announcers (girls who read the news hourly)
- Voice dubbing for radio and TV ads
- Webmasters
- Building reconstructors (restoring burnt buildings and equipment)
- Rock band singers
- AM radio drama dubbers
- ABS-CBN anime dubbers
- UP professors
- TV magazine show camera crew
- TV news show writers
- Businessmen
- Dentists
- Scriptwriters
- Theater thespians
Dubbers of American and local movies (we have dubbed some Jet Li and Philip Salvador movies)
Material
Here is where some of the blame goes for inconsistencies in
the story and indeliberate name changes. If we are lucky, translations come from the
Japanese anime outfit good, clear, consistent and on time. If we are unlucky [which is
most of the time] the master tapes don’t come with any translations, and we are given as
basis for our scripts:
- English subtitled bootlegs
- English translations from a Japanese translator
- English translations from a Chinese translator, who works with a complete set of the anime, in bootleg VCD format subtitled in Chinese.
Now don’t get me wrong. If the Japanese owner of the anime
sends us translations, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are accurate. In the case of
Combattler v, the translations we got were scripts from Toei Japan, but the flow of
events in the scripts were different from how the events took place in the episode itself.
We have the same problem right now with hell teacher Nube.
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Terms Used by Dubbers
PICK-UP: When a dubber can’t make it to a dubbing session, they will
have to dub without him and he will have to dub his part later. This is known as a
pickup. This is an absolute last resort and will only be done if it’s really late
already and dubbing has to commence. Why? Because the owner of the outfit can’t be
billed for an ep not fully dubbed, and so it isn’t really fair for the dubbers,
technicians and supervisors who were at the session on time not to be paid on time.
Another meaning for pickup is to go back on a line. Let’s say your line spans 4
sentences. You deliver okay for the first 3 sentences, but mess up on the fourth.
The tech would look for a space between the 3rd and 4th sentence, and you pick up
from there.
CURE: When a line is dubbed but has a flaw, whether it be quality or
content wise, it is redubbed, or otherwise known as cured.
OFF-MIKE: When a dubber’s voice doesn’t register on a microphone level
equal to the rest. Usually means the dubber has to redo the line.
EP CLOSED: If the dubbing session goes well and there is no pickup to
be done, all lines are dubbed, then the ep is closed and ready for mixing.
TRACK2: Surprisingly, we are still dubbing on 2track recorders. Usually
dubbing is done on track1. All voices that need special effects like monsters are
dubbed on track2 and is indicated on the tech’s copy of the script. Also, voices that
need to be heard at the same time as the dialog are done in track2 like crowds
[running townspeoplel, students in a classroom, market crowd, etc]. As much as
possible, dialogues are done on track1 but sometimes in pick-ups have to be done on
track2. The reason why is the original Japanese dialog is in track2, so if you dub
over track2 you erase the guide.
M/E: Music and Effects. When an ep is mixed, track1 & 2 are integrated
into 1 track and the other track is for music and effects. There are things that are
sometimes in the m/e that don’t need to be dubbed, like screams of monsters, but
sometimes it’s left open for the dubbers to make their own version.
Like in Fushigi Yuugi, there was a concert scene in the last few eps where
Tamahome was walking in modern Japan. He passes by an open air concert. The singer
sings a song where the lyrics imply that a true person in love must fight for love or
something like that. Since the lyrics of the song are supposed to mean something and
is meant to strike Tamahome, the audience then must understand the lyrics. So we
dubbed them in Tagalog, one of the dubbers sang it. She’s currently auditioning for
ms. saigon.
CHARACTER: On the monitor screen there is an indicator or a counter.
This is displayed because it shows when the tape is rolling or recording, and
therefore should tell the dubber when he’s supposed to jump in. Sometimes this
feature is turned off, especially when the mouth of the character talking is at the
bottom of the screen. I heard from the veterans that in the old days there was no
such thing. Back then the supervisor would tap you in the shoulder when it was time
for you to say your line!
SAME QUEUE: When a line has to be redone from the beginning.
CALL TIME: The time when the dubber should be at the studio.
SYNCH: When a scriptwritten line is perfect, meaning time of delivery
“synchronizes” with the duration, from the opening to the closing of the character’s
mouth. whether a script is synched or not also decides how long the dubbing session
lasts.
STRETCH/TIGHTEN: When a line is messed up but the line is synch, the
line must be stretched or tightened. This means the delivery of the line was either
too slow or too fast.
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