Brief Summary
Sara Natochenny, the voice actor for Ash Ketchum in the English dub of Pokémon, explains and demonstrates the process of dubbing Pokémon. The process involves receiving scripts often last minute, matching mouth movements, and adjusting line delivery to fit the animation's emotion. The adaptation process also includes adjusting the script to fit mouth flaps and ensure the dialogue makes sense in English. She also voices multiple characters, and adjustments are made to the timing and length of lines to perfectly match the animation.
- Dubbing involves reinterpreting the original Japanese dialogue for an American audience while matching mouth movements and emotional context.
- Adapters play a crucial role in translating and adjusting the script to fit mouth flaps and ensure the dialogue makes sense in English.
- Voice actors often need to adjust their delivery, sometimes speaking faster or slower than feels natural, to match the animation.
Introduction
Sara Natochenny, best known as the voice of Ash Ketchum in the English dub of Pokémon, introduces herself and her role. She explains that she will be demonstrating her process for dubbing Pokémon into English. As the show is originally voiced and animated in Japan, her job involves reinterpreting it for an American audience.
The Dubbing Process
Each session begins with the director briefing Sara about the episode. Due to the quick turnaround time, scripts are often finished the night before, requiring her to do a cold read. She records alone in a booth and relies on the director to guide her performance, as the director knows how everything should sound. The process starts with watching the scene in Japanese to understand the context and mouth movements.
Matching Mouth Flaps and Emotion
Sara explains that she pays close attention to the mouth flaps in the Japanese animation to match her English dialogue. She focuses on the animation to determine how to emote, looking at the character's eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. The goal is to match the emotion on-screen, sometimes even more so than the original Japanese performance.
Directorial Feedback and Adjustments
After an initial take, the director provides notes for adjustments. This can involve changing the delivery of a line or adjusting the timing to better match the animation. The audio engineer adjusts the timing of beeps to help Sara punch in the correct spots. Sometimes, delivering a line in a way that feels unnatural is necessary to match the animation.
The Role of the Adapter
Sara highlights the role of the adapter, who takes the Japanese translation and makes it sensible in English while ensuring it fits the mouth flaps. The adapter must justify any wide-open mouth movements by writing the script accordingly. The timing of the performance is crucial to avoid mismatches between speech and mouth movements.
Voicing Multiple Characters
Sara demonstrates voicing multiple characters, which she usually does one at a time. She also explains that sometimes her performance is digitally lengthened or shortened to fit the mouth flaps perfectly. Additionally, syllables might be added to lines that are too short to match the animation.
Final Scene and Impact of Dubbing
Sara presents a completed scene with all the adjustments made. She discusses the widespread impact of the English dub, noting that she receives emails from people around the world who have learned English through the show. She emphasizes that dubbing helps bridge cultures, disagreeing with the historical French actors' union stance that dubbing is beneath actors and offensive to the original performance.
