8 Tips on Effective Dubbing

Dubbing is one of the most important aspects of success of a film. Will you ever see a movie where the dialogues cannot be heard clearly or there is constant background noise? No, right? But when scenes are taken outside at noisy streets, parks or in the open, the chances of noise and unclear dialogues are high. To curb the possibility of disturbances, post production the film tapes are heard and the required parts are re-recorded at dubbing studios. Dubbing is done within closed doors and hence the delivered speech or soundtrack is noise-free.

So how to make the dubbing effective? Let us checkout:

1) Choose the right microphone :The device through which the speech is being delivered needs to be sensitive and of high quality; the cardioid microphones are preferred over the others.

2) Check for headphone leakages :Before the start of dubbing check if the headphone has set properly or suggest the artist to use over-ear headphones. These precautions should be taken to avoid pilot track leakage. Another tip can be to inform the sequence and character of the movie to the artist who is dubbing.

3) Avoid noises :Ambience noise is one the biggest enemies of effective film dubbing. You may have chosen best post production studios for recording the dialogues but the rustle of dresses, the sound of movements and the whispers can get easily tracked and hence must be avoided.

4) Use the same Studio & Microphone :same environment and same acoustic is suggested for all the dubbing requirements of a movie. The frequent change of dubbing studios can lead to different recording patterns and various kinds of output, which can easily mar the essence of the movie.

5) Don’t change the script :The aim of film dubbing is not to make amendments in the existing script but to improve the quality of sound or speech. If words or dialogues are replaced it may become prominent on the screen and may look out of synchronization with the lip movement of the character.

6) Make it short :Dubbing artists need to rest their voice. Quality dubbing can go upto a maximum of 4 hours and after that the voice sounds tiring. Hence to keep a fresh vibe in the speech, film dubbing should not be stretched to long hours.

7) Synchronize with lip movements :This is crucial to hide the fact that film dubbing has been done. It really looks odd when you see the movie and find that the lip movements are not matching with the dialogue delivery pace.

8) Consult a third party :If you are a sound recordist consult the director or vice versa to confirm that the dubbing has been done in the best way. The movie production house is always in a hurry to release the movie but the same should not let you avoid the process of review and retest.

Subtitling and film dubbing are two primary side-parts that a movie production house must look-into to provide a smooth movie experience to the spectators. Make proper arrangements so that dubbing just not makes the sound tracks clear but adds life to the movie.