Comments on: To Dub or to Sub? http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/ Powered by Aberdeen Captioning Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:10:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Joanna http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-315 Joanna Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:02:02 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-315 Hi Shanna, I live in Spain as well, and I 100% prefer subtitling over dubbing for all the reasons you state and then some! The Spanish population does have a VERY low level of English language skills and it is in large due to the fact that they dub everything into Spanish -- Agreed. But, Spain's dubbing is MUCH better than many other countries on a whole. Not perfect at all, though. Voice dubbing is very expensive and time consuming and takes a lot of skill, time and energy to put together a quality product. I lived in Italy last year, and they also dub almost everything in Italian, too. Same idea as Spain. Mamma mia! :) Thanks for reading!!! Hi Shanna, I live in Spain as well, and I 100% prefer subtitling over dubbing for all the reasons you state and then some! The Spanish population does have a VERY low level of English language skills and it is in large due to the fact that they dub everything into Spanish — Agreed. But, Spain’s dubbing is MUCH better than many other countries on a whole. Not perfect at all, though. Voice dubbing is very expensive and time consuming and takes a lot of skill, time and energy to put together a quality product. I lived in Italy last year, and they also dub almost everything in Italian, too. Same idea as Spain. Mamma mia! :)

Thanks for reading!!!

]]> By: shanna http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-289 shanna Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:08:08 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-289 Great post as I am originally from London but have been living in Spain for nearly two years. The dubbing of American shows and films, I personally think is terrible. This comment is perhaps a little left-field from your original intention however: perhaps the quality of dubbing in Spain is better than other countries (I do not have first hand knowledge of dubbing in other countries) however it is not great either. The Spanish actors voices for example do not fit the actor, there is a huge noticable difference in age. So you have a young actress who not only is speaking Spanish but she sounds like a 40 year old woman. The other major problem is there appears to be an overacting in the dubbing, everything is heightened, there are no nuances in their voices, there are no dramatic pauses, the actors always sound like they are shouting and there is the problem whereby they sound like they are all asthmatic, or short of breathe. Voices are an important part of acting, accents and vocabulary indicate which class, region, era etc. a character or film is from and all of this is lost through dubbing. I caught a bit of the film Hitch the other day and to hear Will Smith speaking Spanish was terrible. Another point to make is because of dubbed TV and films, Spain has one of the lowest rates of English speakers in Europe. Children are taught English in schools here, however as there is a heavy emphasis on grammar and writing exercises, they are not able to actually use the language effectively to communicate. Dubbed TV does not help in this respect as it is obviously a huge tool in helping learn languages. Subtitling a film is better, at least it respects the originality of the film rather than adapting the film to what suits the local audience because the audience wants to buy into the American market but they want to forget about the language which is part and parcel of the whole industry. Great post as I am originally from London but have been living in Spain for nearly two years. The dubbing of American shows and films, I personally think is terrible. This comment is perhaps a little left-field from your original intention however: perhaps the quality of dubbing in Spain is better than other countries (I do not have first hand knowledge of dubbing in other countries) however it is not great either. The Spanish actors voices for example do not fit the actor, there is a huge noticable difference in age. So you have a young actress who not only is speaking Spanish but she sounds like a 40 year old woman. The other major problem is there appears to be an overacting in the dubbing, everything is heightened, there are no nuances in their voices, there are no dramatic pauses, the actors always sound like they are shouting and there is the problem whereby they sound like they are all asthmatic, or short of breathe.

Voices are an important part of acting, accents and vocabulary indicate which class, region, era etc. a character or film is from and all of this is lost through dubbing. I caught a bit of the film Hitch the other day and to hear Will Smith speaking Spanish was terrible.

Another point to make is because of dubbed TV and films, Spain has one of the lowest rates of English speakers in Europe. Children are taught English in schools here, however as there is a heavy emphasis on grammar and writing exercises, they are not able to actually use the language effectively to communicate. Dubbed TV does not help in this respect as it is obviously a huge tool in helping learn languages.

Subtitling a film is better, at least it respects the originality of the film rather than adapting the film to what suits the local audience because the audience wants to buy into the American market but they want to forget about the language which is part and parcel of the whole industry.

]]> By: Joanna http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-266 Joanna Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:10:38 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-266 Yes, dubbing costs in both of the countries you mention, Germany and France, can be EXCESSIVELY high and a very large financial burden for the producer. If all were subtitled, it would be a fraction of the cost, but that is just not the way it is set up in those two particular countries. Yes, dubbing costs in both of the countries you mention, Germany and France, can be EXCESSIVELY high and a very large financial burden for the producer. If all were subtitled, it would be a fraction of the cost, but that is just not the way it is set up in those two particular countries.

]]> By: Sprecheragentur http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-248 Sprecheragentur Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:15:15 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-248 Dubbing in germany and france is very sophisticated. In other european countries they do not try to be so realistic in their mother languages. I hope it will degenerate here due to the huge cost pressure in the production process... Dubbing in germany and france is very sophisticated. In other european countries they do not try to be so realistic in their mother languages. I hope it will degenerate here due to the huge cost pressure in the production process…

]]> By: Joanna http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Joanna Tue, 12 May 2009 22:05:07 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-13 Thanks for your comment; very nice input. Thanks for your comment; very nice input.

]]> By: mediamovers http://abercap.com/blog/2009/02/13/to-dub-or-to-sub/comment-page-1/#comment-12 mediamovers Thu, 07 May 2009 18:59:56 +0000 http://www.abercap.com/blog/?p=117#comment-12 Dubbing/Subtitling are integral part of cultural transfer between all countries. Though the debate is always between preference of dubbing or subtitling each of it requires high level of artistic/technical input to ensure the final output is more local in every sense. Dubbing brings more life to characters of a film than subtitles though a bad dubbed film can be a nightmare to watch. Most Scandivian countries prefer subtitling over dubbing but now it is most preferred also for Deaf communityin form of Closed-Captioning. Same language subtitling (SLS) is one of essential way to educate people. Dubbing/Subtitling are integral part of cultural transfer between all countries.
Though the debate is always between preference of dubbing or subtitling each of it requires high level of artistic/technical input to ensure the final output is more local in every sense.

Dubbing brings more life to characters of a film than subtitles though a bad dubbed film can be a nightmare to watch.
Most Scandivian countries prefer subtitling over dubbing but now it is most preferred also for Deaf communityin form of Closed-Captioning.
Same language subtitling (SLS) is one of essential way to educate people.

]]>