If in the relatively recent past you had to study the schedule of television programs or go to the cinema to watch the feature film you are interested in, today, in order to get it for unlimited personal use, just press a few keys on your home computer or laptop. With a little dexterity, you can fetch from the deep-sea information ocean of the Internet literally everything that the soul desires.
Among the description of the necessary information about the downloaded foreign film, you are likely to come across notes about the quality of the translation recorded in this file. Perhaps you had to think about the meaning of the terminology used. For example, how to understand "duplicate translation"? And how is it different from offscreen? Let's consider everything in order.
Practices before the era of dubbing
Let’s climb a little further in the historical period than the moment when there was a need for some translation directly imposed on the original audio track.
By the time the era of silent cinema ended, the phenomenon of cinema had firmly entered the life of not only the elite of society, but also the average citizen. Cinemas were very popular and brought considerable income to their owners. The breakthrough in the field of sound cinema was greeted by the audience with great enthusiasm. However, for manufacturers unexpectedly appeared peculiar underwater reefs, seriously threatening the size of box office.
At that time when there were no voiced dialogues in the films, the film shot, say, in America, could be safely sold to France, Italy or Russia. However, if the actors had the text, this task became more complicated. Of course, no one had ever heard of the possibility of overlaying individual audio tracks on already captured video material. But the film companies were not going to lose the thousands of sales markets for their products.
To some extent, dubbing of films was carried out then. However, the actors themselves had to do this, moreover, in several languages simultaneously. And this happened as follows; each episode was filmed first in the original language, then immediately a few takes were made in French, then the same passage was recorded using German, and further on in the same script. It all depended on which countries planned to sell this movie.
It is easy to guess that not all actors were fluent in the necessary languages. In the vast majority of cases, they had to just memorize their words before each remark.
Today, everything is much simpler. The translation and dubbing of the footage is handled by a team of trained professionals. What is remarkable about this process?
One-voice voiceover
Almost endangered type of dubbing. Movies with one-voice translation were very popular in the 90s. But only because there was no alternative. With such duplication, the original sound is only slightly muffled, and the voice of the person performing the dubbing is superimposed on top. All replicas are read in one doubler.
Today, a one-voice translation can still be found on the Internet. Most often it is used for dubbing series, so that impatient fans of these creations can in the shortest possible time learn about the life vicissitudes of their favorite heroes. As a rule, no more than a day passes between the release of the original and the appearance of the voiced version.
Two-voiceover
It is carried out according to the same system as the one-voice translation, only in this case the dubbing is done by two people - a man and a woman. It is worth recognizing that there is not much difference in quality. A similar dubbing can appear at the same time as a one-voice one.
Those movie fans who can suffer not one but two or three days are rewarded with duplication of the next level.
Polyphonic voiceover
Translation professional polyphonic voice-over is significantly different from the two discussed above. And it's not just the number of people who read the text of the relevant remarks.
Firstly, the quality of the translation itself is much better. As a rule, this version already takes into account the idioms of both the original language and the language into which the translation is carried out.
Secondly, in a polyphonic translation of actors engaged in voice acting, they try to select the voices of the person they will voice accordingly.
Visualized translation
It is carried out by means of imposition of subtitles. For hearing-impaired and deaf people, there is sign language, where dialogue is conveyed in sign language.
What does duplicate translation mean?
This is a full-fledged work of a group of professional actors who must fully convey all the emotional shades of each individual episode and cue. With this translation, the original language is not heard at all.
If voice-over translations can be performed in so-called artisanal conditions, then duplicated translations are the work of a team of specialists. Here you will already need a professional studio and an official source code, which is purchased from copyright holders for a lot of money.
Work stages
- The translation itself. And this stage is much more complicated than it might seem at first glance. A duplicate translation is, first of all, a text identical in timing with the source. And to achieve this is very difficult.
- Selection of actors who will voice the material. The first thing that matters is the right voice tone. Large manufacturing companies themselves often monitor the quality of duplication of their products. These companies include Paramount Pictures, Disney World and Twentieth Century Fox.
- Record. Each actor works separately. As a rule, the whole process lasts no more than one to two weeks.
- Sound editing. At this final stage, the alternative sounds of the audiovisual work and the actors' already-mounted speech are combined.
Translation difficulties
Duplicate translation is a rich collection of problems for translators. As already noted, when duplicating it is important that the replicas in the source language coincide in time with the language into which the translation is carried out. A commonplace example for comparison: the American "Ok" and the Russian "good." Yes, in modern culture they are interchangeable, but they illustrate well the difference in the size of words.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that adaptation of the translation includes synchronization of articulation. That is, it is necessary to compose the text so that it fits the movements of the lips of the actors as much as possible.
In addition, duplicate translation is also the processing of language idioms. What would you think if you heard the hero declare that it is necessary to wait some time in the house, because cats and dogs are falling on the street? And in English, this expression merely describes heavy rainfall.
Country Culture Features
It is still necessary to take into account the peculiarities of local culture, and in the most unexpected moments. For example, in the film “What to devote your life to”, the protagonist discusses the prospects of a sports career with a friend. And one of the reasons why he wants to get to prestigious competitions, he calls the opportunity to see his portrait on a packet of corn flakes.
For us, this is just a little strange. And for the American teenager - a familiar part of everyday life. Just a sign of recognition from the public.
Another headache for dubbing translators is the pun. There are times when it is simply inexpressible. For example, in the series "Friends" one of the episodes ends with the following dialogue: "Do you know which ship (in English ship) will never sink?" - "Which one?" - “Friendship (in English friendship)!” At the exit, the English-speaking audience laughed, and the Russian remained in mild perplexity.
Those who remain behind the scenes
Professional actors know firsthand what a duplicate translation means. And although it may seem that scoring is not a very prestigious occupation, in the acting environment it is far from being so. In order to be invited to dubbing, a person must already have a good reputation both on the stage of the theater and in the cinema.
It often happens that one celebrity is assigned to foreign celebrities. For example, in Soviet times, all the roles of Jean-Paul Belmondo were voiced by Nikolai Karachentsov. And Louis de Funes was entrusted to Vladimir Koenigson.
Today, this practice is also being applied. Stars such as George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Robert Downey Jr., Jason Statham, Jackie Chan and Leonardo DiCaprio are consistently voiced by the same actors.
The attitude of the audience towards a duplicate translation is not always unambiguous. Someone believes that only such materials have the right to access the television screens. They are opposed by a no less zealous army of fans of cinema art, who argue that it is impossible to thoroughly convey the intonations of the voice of the actor of the original. To some, muffled foreign speech seems to be a hindrance, while others find it particular pleasure in being able to follow the emotional coloring of the actors' statements. As they say, to each his own, good in the vastness of our country, we can choose our own sound to taste.