16 February 2024
Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Charlie Chaplin, Meryl Streep, Anita Radcliff, Renée Zellweger, Naomi Watts, how did these internationally renowned actors and actresses manage to be loved and recognized by the Italian public despite acting in another language?
It is the magical power of dubbing! A discipline in which at SRC we believe a lot because generates awareness around multiple aspects of being an actor and actress e enhances expressive abilities in a profound way.
Let's try to explain why starting from what is dubbing to get to the meaning it takes on for anyone who wants to act.
What is dubbing
Dubbing means being able to replace the original item of a character and return it in a different language with the same spontaneity, as if the voice were natural. It is not at all obvious or simple. Anyone who thinks that studying acting and having a beautiful voice is enough to dub is wrong!
Being able to do it and do it well requires putting one's being an actor/actress at the service of another. For this reason we add that of to the literal meaning of dubbing as "dubbing a film into a new language". double actor. Says the Dubbing Academy:
The voice actor is a double actor, an actor who puts his art at the service of another actor but who, at the same time, also gives the character a bit of himself.
And when there wasn't dubbing?
The voices were dubbed live with foreign voices behind the camera, therefore not visible and the actor had no choice but to move his lips and act voiceless. Or it was the actors themselves who played the parts in the new language by reading the phonetic transcriptions and not their exact transcription. One of the most famous cases is that of actors Stan Laurel And Olivier Hardy, the famous Laurel and Hardy whose Italian accent in their films became so popular that in subsequent years voice actors were forced to adopt the same inflection in their voice, think of Alberto Sordi in the role of Ollio.
The phases of dubbing today
Dubbing always starts with lo script study and his transposition And adaptation to dialogues to fully adhere to the cultural context and sensitivity of the destination country. This is a task that requires great attention and skill on the part of the dialogist-adaptor, since often the literal translation fails to coincide perfectly with the length and i lip movements of the actors. It is a very delicate phase that requires synchronization even at the cost of sacrificing part of the fidelity to the original.
Once the translation and adaptation phase is completed, we proceed with the registration phase. The film is analyzed together with the assistant, and the dubbing director selects the most suitable voice actors for the various characters. Subsequently, the film is divided into segments called "rings", and we move on to the actual recording in a specially equipped room, with a lectern for the script, a professional microphone and a screen to project the scene to be dubbed.
Why should aspiring actors and actresses study dubbing?
At the lectern you have to be very concentrated, quick reflexes are essential to obtain the result quickly and well. Dubbing allows the actor to be familiar with the scripts, with reading and understanding the scenes. I have noticed that the actors who do the dubbing are able to immediately make sense of the lines of a play, during the reading tests.
He is Francesco Pannofino actor, voice actor for Denzel Washington and George Clooney, in an interview with Supereva.it
The point is precisely this, actors and actresses who also study and experiment with dubbing enhance their acting skills and abilities. They acquire greater knowledge of the voice, its colors and musicality. They enter the mind and sensations of one or more actors and express their sensations and movements. Those who do it best lend their voices to multiple actors and actresses, think of Pannofino himself, or Giancarlo Giannini, voice of Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. Or Oreste Lionello, voice of Woody Allen and Charlie Chaplin.
Studying dubbing means learning particular breathing and diction techniques that add to those learned as actors. For example, also how to use the microphone to shape voice volume and effects.
At SRC we promote a complete acting training, which is why we include the dubbing as a fundamental subject of the third year of the Triennio Accademico. It is a discipline that completes the journey of knowing oneself among others through the nuances and colors of the voice.
Male and female students follow the dubbing course with high-level teachers, in the room dedicated to dubbing. A professional room with cutting-edge equipment where in addition to dubbing, lessons are held voiceover, public speaking, diction and voice, expressive reading.
Our students in the dubbing room bring characters to life on stage. They experience the responsibility of give life to the emotions aroused live or in another language. They train by following the lips, to develop synchronized times and rhythms. They learn to be double-actors and double-actresses!
You could be too! Professional courses and internships will start soon that you can follow to train with great teachers and voice actors.
Follow your star, study with us.