Why Are Voices In Wuxia Dubbed?

[walkwithheroes]

I love wuxia series. I think they are amazing and great. . .but. . .I've always noticed that people usually sound the same. No one's voice seems to match who they are. I figured some people were dubbed, but I had no idea how many actors and actresses are dubbed. Apparently 98% of actors and actresses are dubbed in wuxia dramas. I often wondered why, and now I know the answers! Thanks to Ancient Chinese Series Website





Why Dub?

01. It seems that when wuxia dramas are filmed, they have actors and actresses from all over the place: Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, even Korea. So, they all have different kinds of accents. For Mainland wuxia dramas. . .they like everyone to speak Mandarin and have the same type of accent - so they dub. An example: Ariel Lin, in her two wuxia dramas, was dubbed because of her Taiwanese accent.

02. Background noises. When scenes are filmed - especially fight scenes - directors are yelling in the background and wind machines blowing in the background. Lots of grand shots - from far away - make it hard to sometimes hear the actors and actresses speak clearly. If you look at the behind the scenes, it's noisy. So, they dub to catch the lines.

03. Schedules are tight. Many wuxia dramas are being filmed at once. And, there are only a few hot spots to film. Plus, many people are filming two or more dramas at once. Scenes are shot, and the production moves on. So, if someone messes up a line or if little time traveling kids are in the background. . .who cares? They'll dub. So - move on!

04. The actor or actress fits the role physically, but their voice isn't right. Sometimes an older actor is casted in a young role (He's 35 and playing 18) - his voice is too mature. So, they get someone younger to dub. Or younger actress is casted in a younger role (she's 19, playing 30), so they dub her to make her sound more mature.


Sometimes actors (like Hu Ge) will dub themselves, but mostly people are dubbed by professional voice actors and actresses. They don't always voice the same people, which is why actors and actresses always seem to have different voices. Or why sometimes you'll hear the same voice coming out of two different people. I have to say that the voice artists do wonderful jobs, because sometimes I can't even tell the actor or actress is being dubbed.


Now, I know more about dubbing and so do you.

Comments

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Interesting info! I never knew that.

I was watching a regular romantic drama filmed in Mainland (Fall in Love) and the voices were all dubbed too so I don't think its only limited to Wuxias.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Mainland dramas that are modern day don't seem to be dubbed as often. I know that they are sometime dubbed if the actor/actress doesn't speak Mandarin well or if they have a strong Taiwanese accent. Dennis Oh speaks English and a little Korean, so it makes sense they would dub him in Fall in Love. I have no idea why they would dub the others. *shrug* Maybe their voices didn't fit the characters?


Mainland dramas seem to love dubbing over people.

[isanah.livejournal.com]

I've heard the "have the same accent" reason a few times, but not the "voice doesn't fit the character" bit. It's unavoidable with the former (although whoever dubs Wallace Huo isn't too shabby), since Taiwanese and HK Mandarin tend to stand apart, especially if the actor's from Kaohsiung or Tainan, where the accent is really strong.

A shame about the voice not fitting the character reason, though--it explains the obvious dubs in Chinese Paladin I and III. I thought Liu Yifei's original voice could have worked for Ling'er, and I think I would have liked Long Kui better if they'd left Liu Shishi be (the dub actress for Yi Zhi Mei and LoCH was fine, though). I could understand needing to use one for Yang Mi, since if they'd left her undubbed Xuejian would have been unintelligible. ^^;

[lilacfield.livejournal.com]

Hello, random passerby here.

I figure wuxia dubs are a recent thing? At least in the old days (pre-2000) wuxia series weren't dubbed. Of course, on DVD you have for example the Mandarin or Cantonese dub tracks, but when a series is made in HK and everyone speaks Cantonese, then it's their real voices we hear. The diversity of the actors plays a significant role behind the dubs, I suppose. As for background noises, those old series might have just edited them out? Not that their schedules weren't also tight.

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Dennis Oh is a disaster in my opinion. I'm pretty much okay with dubbing but I couldn't stand it with him. It just looks so out of sync. And it doesn't help that he can't act at all. How do they ever cast him in anything? I will take good acting over tall Korean hunks any day.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Dennis Oh is very attractive, but he's not a great actor - even in his Korean dramas. I think they cast him because he's a popular actor.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever heard Wallace Huo's real voice. I've seen three or four of his dramas, and I think he was dubbed in all of them - even the modern day one. I remember reading that they dubbed an actresses voice once (Ruby Lin, I believe) because she didn't sound "royal and aloof" enough.

I think the only reason they dubbed Li Yifei's voice in Chinese Paladin was because they had dubbed everyone else. Does Yang Mi have a thick accent? I've only ever seen her dubbed.


BTW: Now that I know so many people I doubted, I find myself really looking at their lips, to see if it always matches up to the words. It's becoming an obsession.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Hello random passerby, lilacfield


I'm not sure if dubbing is recent. I've seen 2000 dramas dubbed. I've seen Mainland dramas and HK wuxias - it seems like Mainland dramas 2000-now are more fond of dubbing. To be fair, I usually watch dramas using the Mandarin tracks, so the HK dramas I watch are always dubbed.

I would think they would edit out the background noises, so that is something that confuses me. I think wuxia schedules have always been tight, so it confuses me that they would edit out background noises pre-2000, but would stop post 2000.

I think there are a lot of behind the scenes reasons that we'll never fully know.

[lastingdreams8.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info :)
It actually really bugs me when dramas dub, ironically, because the voice actor's pitch doesn't match with the person's body. Or maybe, because I can tell it's a dub XD Though now I get the logistics of it, I won't complain as much...

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Welcome. :) I just got it from the site I mentioned above.

I hate when dramas from other countries are dubbed into English - it looks freaky. But, I don't really mind when Chinese dramas dub their actors. Though, I agree - sometimes the voices don't match the actor's body language. Like, a lot of the girls will look to be in their 20s, but will sound like children. I guess its to give the "cutie"factor, but it is annoying.