Excessive "screen domination" and bad voice. Should the dubbing actor take the blame for these? What about the real status of voice actors? "Variety News" interviewed Ji Guanlin, Xia Lei and many other "good voices" in the dubbing industry to reveal the secrets of dubbing, a "profession hidden behind actors".

With the popularity of film and television dramas such as "The Lonely Fragrance" and "Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossom", voice actors have once again been pushed to the forefront by netizens. "There is no one in the dubbing industry for film and television dramas. Why are they all taken over by those few people?" "If the lip syntax is not right, what do the dubbing actors do for a living?"... For a while, netizens complained about the dubbing actors.

Embarrassing identity

But what about the living conditions of film and television voice actors who have high hopes? Xia Lei, who has dubbed for many film and television dramas, said in an interview with Variety News that there are almost no names of voice actors in the credits at the end of film and television dramas. "Parents will ask, what kind of work do you do? Why can't I see your name in the credits? We can't explain it."

When selecting actors, dubbing directors tend to be closer People who provide original voices for film and television actors. For dubbing actors, "I didn't realize it was dubbing" is the highest praise for their professional skills. Therefore, dubbing actors in film and television dramas often hide behind the scenes and are unknown to the audience. However, being unknown to the audience does not protect you from the pressure of malicious attacks from fans. Industry insiders revealed that it is common for voice actors to be scolded by fans. "Especially if you are dubbing a popular idol, then expect to be scolded to death. Fans will send private messages directly to your Weibo, scolding you for your poor dubbing. Some even more extreme people will say, 'What qualifications do you have to dub XXX? , why don’t you die?”

In addition, the mismatch between the voice actors and film and television actors is one of the main reasons why he was criticized by netizens. If we look closely, the cause of this "broadcast accident" is actually not the dubbing actor's fault. Whether it is "Mr. Numbers" or "Miss Numbers" or an actor saying "liao" instead of "le" in the line "private or public", some film and television actors' own line skills are worth worrying about. Some actors even changed their lines without authorization on the set, and the director later asked the dubbing actors to refer to the lines in the script, which resulted in "mismatching lip syncs." It is worth mentioning that it is not uncommon for mouth position misalignment due to output signal conversion to occur.

Double test of time and salary

Under various pressures, there are very few voice actors who can really persist in this industry. Ji Guanlin listed such a timetable to Variety News, "It takes at least 2-3 years for a newcomer to be able to dub. It takes 5-6 years to go from being able to dub to basically competent for all roles. And it takes at least 5-6 years to advance from a professional level to a more professional level." It takes 8-10 years to reach a high level." Xia Lei also said, "One year is the starting point." At the same time, he admitted that it only took him three years from entering the industry to playing the role of miscellaneous characters. In an industry that relies on long-term accumulation, the time cost required for voice actors to become top talents can be imagined.

In recent years, these professional voice actors with a lot of experience have become increasingly famous. Many film and television drama production companies have come to the door without considering whether the voice actors fit the character design, which ultimately caused problems to the audience. The illusion that "no one is in the dubbing industry". Ji Guanlin said that compared to the previous two years, she has received much less dubbing work in the past few years. "In the past two years, I was probably in the recording studio every day. In the past month, I only received 1-2 movies, and I probably spent less than half of the time in the recording studio. Maybe these few works I was assigned to are relatively popular, so people think that women I play all the leading roles." Teacher Xia Lei also said, "There are 15,000 episodes of TV series alone every year, and there are only 500 people in the dubbing industry. The audience only focuses on the protagonists of the most popular TV series, but ignores that supporting roles and miscellaneous characters all need dubbing actors." The fact of completion. ”

However, another reality accompanying the time cost is that the dubbing industry has low wages and unstable income for newcomers. Xia Lei introduced that after 20 years of development, the average salary in the dubbing industry has only increased from 250-300 yuan per episode of TV series to 350-400 yuan, which is far lower than the salary growth rate of other industries and even lower than the local minimum wage standard. "Newcomers who have just entered the industry sometimes cannot earn a penny a month. The income in the dubbing industry is unstable and it is difficult to retain people.

"Xia Lei said with regret, "Some children want to dub, but they have to work in the early stage. They have no income and their life is unsustainable. In the end, they leave because they can't hold on. "At present, except for the dubbing actors in early dubbing studios and a very few people who joined dubbing companies, 80% of dubbing actors are still freelancers. "Without medical insurance and social security, if there is a job, you will take it, and if there is no job, you will be hungry." This is a true portrayal of this group of people.

Hold together for warmth

Thanks to the rapid development of the Internet, many people who are interested in dubbing have spontaneously established or joined dubbing organizations and become online dubbing organizations. Mo Yue, founder of the online dubbing club "Yue Linglong", told Variety News, "I know of 30-40 dubbing clubs, each with dozens to hundreds of members. "However, amateur voice actors still need long-term systematic training in professionalism.

Seeing the current situation of professional voice actors being in short supply, some influential voice actors in the industry have established companies to focus on Youth training and other projects (as shown below)

In January 2013, well-known voice actors in the industry such as Xie Tiantian, Feng Junhua, and Xia Lei established Shanghai Yinxiong Culture Media Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yinxiong Lianmeng") , which specializes in dubbing for animation games and voice actor acting, Xia Lei told Variety News, "Dubbing in film and television dramas does not make money, and voice actors in film and television dramas cannot have their own personalities, but in anime dubbing it is just the opposite. The actors themselves can give the characters soul. . "Learning from the Japanese voice actor system, Yinxiong Lianmeng has created new voice actors such as Jianju and Turtle Girl who are very popular in the two-dimensional circle. By merging animation production companies, it has incubated two movies such as "Yanling Fairy Tale" and "Pop! Feather". Dimensional IP, Yinxiong Lianmeng continues to move closer to the front end of the industry chain, exploring the commercialization of the voice acting industry.

In 2016, Yinxiong Lianmeng received nearly a thousand letters from newcomers interested in the dubbing industry. After sending in their resumes, only 10 potential voice actors have been recruited to enter the practical training stage. "So far, the company has recruited more than a dozen, and in the previous 2-3 years, it has recruited 6-8, and it started to accelerate last year. The pace of recruitment has increased, recruiting 10 in one year," Xia Lei said proudly, "Yinxiong Lianmeng provides free training to these students, which should be called 'the only one' in the industry, so The interview elimination rate is very high. "When talking about what kind of voice can stand out, Xia Lei said, "Personal characteristics are the most important point. In addition, strong learning ability, accurate role grasp, high degree of completion, fast speed, and ability to adapt to high-intensity dubbing work are also necessary. Indispensable, it would be better if there are additional specialties. "

On November 26, 2015, the public account "Guansheng Academy" created by Ji Guanlin was launched. When talking about the original intention of the creation, Ji Guanlin said, "Many friends who are interested in dubbing have inquired through Weibo Questions about dubbing skills, or let me comment on their dubbing works. I may have repeated the same technique a hundred or ten times, so I wondered if I could create a platform for more people to join in, exchange dubbing skills, and share excellent works. I will also post some of my creative feelings and tips on how to protect my throat. "

In 2016, Guansheng Academy launched a number of online and offline sharing and exchange activities. Ji Guanlin said, "For those children who cannot come to Beijing, we use existing resources to invite some big names in dubbing. ', share dubbing experience and make progress together. "It is reported that Guansheng Academy will launch more diversified systematic training in the future.

Talking about the living conditions of voice actors such as low salary and no security, Ji Guanlin hopes to gradually improve it by establishing unified standards. In her opinion Nowadays, the number of practitioners is increasing, and only by establishing unified rules can vicious competition be avoided. "As attention to the dubbing industry increases, the number of practitioners will increase, and industry chaos such as vicious competition will inevitably occur. Only by establishing unified industry standards can we effectively standardize and guide industry development. "Xia Lei said, "If we can set up an association or a group company to bring together friends from the entire industry - that would be great. But at this stage, this path is not easy to implement. So I do my best to make a little bit of a difference in this industry, and I'm content with that. ”