I became famous in the entertainment industry by burning incense

For a good drama, dubbing is also of paramount importance.

A character's lines are a way to showcase their charm through their voice.

Jinli is not a professional voice actress, but she was the first to respond when Director Chu made the request.

Because she felt that voice acting was also part of an actor's performance.

Previously, many directors did not have specific requirements for dubbing. Due to the industrialized process, the production team handed over the dubbing to professional voice actors.

But if the director requires the actors to also do voice-over, she has no objection.

This is something that actors are supposed to be responsible for.

However, Jinli also observed that some actors looked stiff and somewhat unwilling when they heard that they needed to use their own voices for dubbing.

Jinli blinked. Why was that?
After Director Chu made this request, he only received a few scattered responses.

He saw everything, but logged off without saying anything.

Jinli hung up the video call, thought for a while, and then called Sui Lingfang.

She told Sister Fang about Director Chu's requirements, mentioned the varying reactions from the other actors, and asked:

"Isn't it normal for directors to ask actors to dub their own voices? I often saw sound recording equipment on set when I was filming."

Sui Lingfang thought for a moment and then sighed softly.

"That's quite normal. Many older TV series used the actors' own voices for dubbing because there were no voice actors back then."

To become an actor, voice acting is a fundamental skill, but—"

She changed the subject, "But things are different now. As you know, many actors on the market are not formally trained; they are self-taught and have not received any training in dubbing, so their dubbing is terrible."

Some production teams don't want to use professional voice actors, but they have no choice but to, because some people's original voices can be very distracting.

Jinli felt as if she had been silently stabbed.

She wasn't a professionally trained actress; she came from outside the profession.

However, her voice acting wasn't that bad, and some directors even had her use her own voice for dubbing, and the audience didn't say anything.

Sui Lingfang: "Dubbing is not just about saying the line out completely; it requires combining the context, emotions, and the character's thoughts at the time... It is a profound and complex skill."

Those actors who feel troubled may not have good natural voices. In addition, even if they have good voices, their voices will inevitably be somewhat thin if they do dubbing without professional training.

However, a good actor definitely needs strong diction. Since Director Chu has made this request, you should practice it specifically. Having a solid foundation in diction will help you go further in your acting career.

Sui Lingfang said decisively, "I'll enroll you in a dialogue training class. You won't need to attend in person; I'll teach you online."

Jinli agreed and asked, "Is online teaching effective? I don't have any commitments lately, so I can still participate in in-person classes."

Sui Lingfang glanced at Jinli: "It might not be a problem for other actors, but it should be fine for you. You often do live streams online, and you also watched online classes frequently when you were preparing for the college entrance examination. You are quite used to the online teaching mode."

Jinli smiled and said, "Sister Fang, I don't even dare to be this confident in myself."

Sui Lingfang said with a smile, "Let's try one or two lessons first. If it doesn't work, I'll enroll you in an offline class."

Jinli nodded: "Okay."

Jinli agreed without hesitation, while the other actors in Dawn 2 were quite alarmed.

Some actors who are confident in their voices are not nervous, but others who are not confident in their voices feel like the sky is falling.

They all asked their agents.

"What should I do? I have a naturally baby voice. Director Chu won't reject me because of my voice, will he?" an actress asked anxiously.

"I have absolutely no experience in voice acting, I'm not from a professional background, and I can't even pronounce some words clearly. Can I do it?" a male actor asked his agent nervously.

You have to understand that voice acting is not like singing. When you sing, if you speak vaguely and gloss over the words, but still have a sense of rhythm, people will listen with great interest.

But TV dramas and movies don't work that way.

If a character can't even speak clearly, how can the audience feel connected to them?
If the character you get is supposed to be straightforward and outgoing, but you pair it with such a bland voice, the audience will only feel a disconnect.

Some agents who care about their actors immediately enrolled their actors in a voice-over training course when they heard Director Chu's request.

Some agents believe that their artists have a good foundation and can deliver lines with emotion and clear pronunciation even without training, so they don't enroll them in classes.

Just let them watch, listen, and learn more. If they don't understand something, they can ask their seniors. With more dubbing experience, they will naturally become self-taught.

Therefore, Jinli felt very confused when she participated in the second reading session.

There are some actors who you can tell have tried their best, but the dubbing still doesn't turn out right.

Some actors have a good voice, but their dubbing sounds very unnatural, giving the impression that they were forced onto the stage to perform without any preparation.

Of course, amidst a sea of ​​terrible dubbing, there were also a few actors whose delivery of lines was excellent.

People are afraid of comparison; comparisons can be hurtful.

Compared to a group of talented voice actors, even actors with only average acting skills seem to have a much better grasp of dialogue delivery.

Jinli is one of those that is highlighted by the contrast.

She didn't receive professional training, her voice acting skills were mediocre, and her experience came from dubbing other dramas.

Although I enrolled in a dialogue training class, I only attended one lesson, so the effect won't be as obvious as a sudden leap forward.

She originally thought she was just average among this group of people, but she unexpectedly became one of the few actors who could understand the lines.

During the rehearsal, some actors couldn't help but laugh because the dubbing was so bad.

But Director Chu remained silent throughout, listening with a serious expression.

The tightly furrowed brows and increasingly serious expression gradually silenced the actors who had been laughing during the dubbing, and the atmosphere grew increasingly quiet.

It was like the calm before a storm.

Finally, today's reading session is over.

Jinli thought to herself that this reading session was even worse than the first one.

She never imagined that reciting a line with a blank expression could be more emotional than reciting it with a hoarse voice.

What is the reason?
The problem lies in the fact that many actors overacted.

The lines are just ordinary, but they're made to sound like a life-or-death situation, as if they're trying to show off their overflowing emotional appeal.

Jinli rubbed her temples.

She listened to those people reciting their lines, and after a while, she started to get a headache; it felt like a car crash.

After everyone had finished, Director Chu spoke the first sentence of the day's reading session.

“I don’t need actors. If you don’t want to act in my play, you can leave now.” This sentence successfully made the already silent atmosphere as cold and dead.

"If you continue with this attitude, you don't need to come to the reading session tomorrow. Don't think that just because you signed a contract I won't fire you."

The show hasn't even started filming yet. Replacing someone is just a matter of a word; your agency wouldn't dare cause me any trouble.

"It's not enough to just read the lines with emotion; you have to put yourself in the character's shoes and read the lines in the context of the situation and the character's emotions."

Instead of ignoring everything else and just looking at the lines, reading them as funny or sad if you think they're funny.

As an actor, delivering lines poorly is unprofessional. I don't find it funny; I only feel ashamed. What garbage have they signed!

Director Chu hung up the video call after he finished speaking.

Jinli hung up right after.

She also believes that many actors today are unprofessional and lack seriousness.

"Dawn II" is a big-budget production and also benefits from the influence of its predecessor.

Once it's released, the box office is expected to be good, not only recovering the costs but also potentially breaking box office records in film history.

Many people are scrambling to get a spot, but they can't even get a minor role.

Therefore, the actors who can appear in the reading party have already gone through many trials and tribulations to finally get this opportunity.

If you have something, you should cherish it. To treat it with such an unprofessional attitude is something even Jinli would rather miss.

She'll come when Director Chu has finished getting the crew organized, so as not to waste her time.

As a popular celebrity, her rest time is also very precious.

Jinli told her agent about Director Chu's outburst today.

Sui Lingfang said in a deep voice, "Director Chu is still too merciful. He was just threatening. If he really wanted to fire someone, he wouldn't have given prior notice and would have just fired them directly."

She thought for a moment, "The location for this drama hasn't even been decided yet, and many props haven't been made. It's normal for many actors to be unable to focus when the reading sessions start early."

Sui Lingfang paused for a moment, then said with a hint of doubt, "Actually, I think Director Chu is being a bit too hasty; the reading session started too early."

"Dawn 2 might not even start filming within three months; it could take half a year or more to prepare. Giving you half a year to prepare in advance is a bit too early. Have you noticed anything?"

Jinli shook her head: "No."

She tilted her head. "If I had to point out anything unusual, it would be that he was a bit quiet, not as talkative as he was during the filming of the first movie. He seemed to be thinking about something."

Sui Lingfang: "I asked around in private. Something was definitely fishy. I remember that Director Chu never gathered people for a reading session so early when he was filming before."

Not long after the call ended, Jinli received a notification from Director Chu that the reading session for tomorrow had been postponed.

He probably realized that things couldn't continue like this and that he needed to give the actors some time.

Therefore, the original plan to hold a group reading once a day has been postponed to next week.

I'll use this free week to enroll the actors in training courses to improve themselves.

If an actor doesn't react during this period, they will definitely be fired after the next reading session.
-
As the male lead in "Desperate Counterattack", Gu Cheng has a heavy workload. Every day when he returns to the set, he can only chat with Jin Li for a few minutes before he has to go to sleep.

Finally, Saturday is my day off.

He video-chatted with Jinli after he woke up, and they were able to chat for quite a while today.

Jinli then brought up the matter of Director Chu requesting voice acting for "Dawn II".

She asked, "When I was filming the first part of 'Dawn,' Director Chu didn't make any demands regarding the dubbing; that part was dubbed by a professional voice actor."

I don't know why, for the second installment, he insisted that the actors use their own voices. Is there some policy change? Also, regarding the dubbing, the first film received many negative reviews.

Gu Cheng has a very good memory.

When the first part of Dawn was released, he went to see it and followed it for a while.

After all, it was a drama starring Jinli, and he wanted to do his part to help.

While browsing news online, he saw a large number of negative reviews, mainly about the actors' expressions not matching the dubbing.

The voice-over was full of emotion, but the actor's performance couldn't keep up with that emotion, making the performance feel disjointed.

Viewers said they couldn't tell whether the actors' performances were bad or the dubbing was poor.

Gu Cheng thought of these comments and voiced his thoughts.

"I don't think asking you to strengthen the dubbing of the lines necessarily means that he will use the actors' dubbing in the final film."

The second movie is supposed to use the popularity of the first movie to create hype. If the dubbing doesn't match the first movie, fans will feel something is off.

Especially when watching a series, after watching two parts, the voices have changed, making it difficult to immerse yourself in the story.

Jinli paused, then asked, "Why did Director Chu still tell us to improve our lines?"

Gu Cheng: "The voice actors are very professional. They are also performing while looking at the lines, but they are performing with their voices."

The voice acting team they hired was so strong that it resulted in the characters' voices being overly emotional.

Director Chu probably wanted to bridge this gap, allowing actors to express emotions through their voices while performing, so that even if professional voice actors were used later, the actors' performances could still convey the emotions in their voices.

Jinli suddenly realized, and said with burning eyes, "I've never considered this angle before, it's so unique, but I have a feeling you're right!"

Director Chu will not allow the voices in the first and second films to be too disjointed, so he will still use voice actors. However, he wants to strengthen the actors' diction skills to help them better express the corresponding emotions in their actual performances.

Now that the biggest question has been answered, here comes the next one.

Jinli asked, "The production team for 'Dawn II' isn't ready yet, and the venue isn't rented. It's too early to start a reading session so soon."

Gu Cheng was immersed in the filming of "Desperate Counterattack" and was not very aware of the information from the outside world.

He speculated, "Perhaps Director Chu really values ​​this drama?"
-
A few days later, Sui Lingfang found out some information, letting everyone know why Director Chu was in such a hurry.

It's both something to value and something to be anxious about.

Sui Lingfang exclaimed in shock, "Director Chu actually signed a performance-based agreement with some film and television companies!"

Jinli was also stunned: "A performance-based agreement? For a director of his caliber, attracting investment should be very easy. Why would he need to sign a performance-based agreement?"

Sui Lingfang was also surprised to hear the news. She took a deep breath and said:

"Because this time Director Chu wants a very large investment, a full 20 ​​billion!"

For this series, he will spend a huge sum of 20 billion yuan to create a post-apocalyptic world, with a larger and more magnificent scene and more expensive special effects!

Director Chu's funding gap was too large. Even with his reputation as a famous director, many film companies were unwilling to invest so much money, so they signed a performance-based agreement. (End of Chapter)