Showing posts with label dubbing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dubbing. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

A "LEGENDARY" PROJECT!!!

It's been 3 weeks since EL CARTEL was passed off back to the inhouse writers and I haven't been given any work by the studio. But luckily, my old boss called me that very same night to hire me for another new project, one that I truly love.

Other than the time I was hired to write the Tagalog scripts of SLAM DUNK, I don't think I ever wrote another script that I was such a fanboy about.

THE LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE is a drama series produced in mainland China about the life of the legend, the martial arts man himself, BRUCE LEE. I first heard of this series when I was watching the Discovery Channel, they held a huge competition in China called "The Next Kung Fu Star" and the winner was going to star as the lead in this show.

When I found out the studio bought this series to be dubbed, I was quite excited, but when I found out that they hired another writer for the Tagalog version, I was pretty disappointed. But I was glad to find out that they wanted me for the English version. Although out of the 30 episodes, I was only tasked to write 6, I had the most fun writing a script in such a long time! After writing for a year about romantic couples facing all sorts of adversity and drug dealing traitors ratting each other out to the DEA, I'm finally writing about something I have been fascinated with all my life - Kung Fu on the big screen and Bruce Lee.

The show had a lot of interesting stories and factors that any fanboy would love. People from his real life were had onscreen presence, from his wife Linda, his son Brandon and daughter Shannon, friends and students Taky Kimura, Jesse Glover and Filipino friend Dan Inosanto [who was played by a Chinese guy, WTF! If you know nothing about Bruce Lee, you'd never guess this character was Filipino], including his nemesis opponents in the martial arts world like kenpo master Ed Parker and wing chun grandmaster Wong Jack Man! I had a blast researching my facts and names of real people in his life, I never had so many notes in my scripts explaining martial art disciplines, moves, techniques, and even philosophical inferences.

The show also had Hollywood actors playing roles, Michael Jai White was in it, Gary Daniels and Ray Park [who played Chuck Norris] are some of the big names in this show. And Linda Lee's actress looks a lot like Kelli Williams [Lindsay Dole] of THE PRACTICE.

I was also glad that my coworkers liked my script. Well, they said they did. They said it was so obvious I was a Bruce Lee fanatic. Some of them even asked for copies of his movies, which I was happy to oblige. Anytime you meet someone with similar interests as you can't be all bad... besides, some of them wanted it so they can study their roles. So I also made them copies of whatever Bruce Lee bios and docus I had. And over the years, there were quite a few of them.

And I was glad that the translation they provided was pretty decent. I wasn't given fansubs on a bootleg burned DVD this time, and I truly appreciate that. I never approved of using fansubs for dubbing of legally acquired shows. I always believed they should spring for decent translations and do it right.

My last episode is due monday... I sure wish there was more. But it was definitely fun while it lasted.

Friday, May 15, 2009

NEW PROJECT

Tapos na by next week ang project na sinusulatan ko sa 20+, ang Tormenta en El Paraiso. Sad to say, hindi sa akin napunta ang final episode so as usual wala na naman akong kaalam-alam kung papano magtatapos ito. Sigh. More importantly, kinabahan na naman ako na wala akong raket.

Kahapon, tinawagan ako ng contact ko at sa wakas eh may bagong project na. Sana dumami pa! Although I checked this one and it's only 50 episodes [Tormenta was 185], at least sa simula pa lang eh kasali na ako dito kaya marami-rami ang episode na mapupunta sa akin.

And it looks right up my alley, too. May pagka-Scarface meets Punisher War Zone yata itong El Cartel. Excited na akong simulan sya. But not before I finish my last episode of Tormenta. They're both due on tuesday. So walang habas na sulatan na naman ito. But I'm no stranger to that...

There's nothing like a new project that makes me see green [kahit na wala nang berde sa pera ng Pilipinas]... Hindi ko na nga maalala kung ano yung binalak kong bilhin sa kikitain ko dito. Pero siguradong hahabulin ko yung mga Street Fighter toys na nagsilabasan na hindi ko pa nabibili. As far as I know, may bagong line na ang SOTA [kasali si Dhalsim, at E. Honda among others] at yung Revoltech. Sana lang nga meron pa when the time comes...

Sunday, January 04, 2009

SEMPAI

The Japanese word for someone who is your senior. It could refer to someone at work who is of higher rank, your mentor, etc.

I've been a VA [voice actor] in the Philippine dubbing industry for over 8 years. My humble beginnings started when I was being trained and taught by my director. Since then, I've had numerous projects and even worked for other studios and other directos. I daresay, I learned most of what I know of the craft today from him.

Sa industriyang ito, laging may bagong sumasali, anxious to get a slice of the pie. madaming VA na magugulat ka na lang ay biglang mga director na. While I respect and admire my coworkers, it's quite obvious that some of them didn't earn it. Being a director doesnt just involve technical directing, but it involes giving the whole thing, even the other people behind it direction.

I've been working in another studio. The director doesn't talk to me as much and I have no real idea what kind of script they want me to write. Mababalitaan mo na lang, after makabigay ka na ng mga tatlo, na ilang linggo mong trinabaho, ay may mali daw at dapat ayusin. Ang kaso, hindi naman sinasabi kung ano ang mali at papano ang gusto nilang ayos.

Nagkaron ako ng long break itong holidays. Nahinto ang dubbing. Sa lunes [jan 5] pa ang deadline ng unang script ko for the year. Halos 3 weeks ko nang hawak ito, pero hirap na hirap akong simulan dahil hindi ko alam kung tama ang ginagawa ko.

Last night, dumalaw sa bahay ko ang long-time director ko. [Saan ka makakakita ng director pa ang pumupunta pa sa bahay mo?] Pagkatapos ng mahaba-habang kwentuhan at palitan ng input sa mga bagay-nagay tungkol sa industry at dubbing, nakwento ko sa kanya ang problema ko sa script.

Without even looking at my script, he started by saying "If you don't mind a little constructive criticism..." and I sure didn't mind. What have I got to lose? He may know how to help me. And in just one minute, he told me what the problem with my script could be and why it was a problem, and I immediately understood what I was doing wrong. It was the most fulfilling talk I have had in a while. Napakaikli ng sinabi, pero ang dami kong natutunan!

When other directors teach me something, the usual feeling I have is I am hesitant to try writing because I am afraid I still don't know what to do, because their explanation usually isn't clear. After my talk with my old director, I felt a rush and the first thing I did was revise my script in one sitting! I didn't even feel the need to rest. Ang sarap ng pakiramdam. Ganadong ganado.

It's what I believe he's got that makes him rare, despite the fact na ang dami nang dubbing director dyan ngayon. Bihira ang magaling magturo. Most just let you watch them at work and all you can do is hope you pick something up on your own. You can really learn from this guy and he isnt against the idea of learning from you, too. And he isn't like others who give themselves big titles and charge for lessons.

Before he left, I told him... "Tignan mo nga naman... 9 years and I'm still learning from you." And I hope with that message, I let him know how grateful I am, grateful that he is my SEMPAI.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

HERO TV'S G. I. JOE SIGMA 6: SNAKE EYES W/ A VOICE!?

This is something that normally a lot of people wouldn’t care about but I was quite ticked off when I saw it.

HERO TV is a cable channel here in the Philippines that shows anime and cartoons in Tagalog.

HERO TV acquired the rights to G I Joe Sigma 6.

When I caught an episode yesterday, I was surprised to hear Snake Eyes. That’s right, I HEARD Snake Eyes. He didn’t have any lines or dialogue, but you can hear him reacting when he is fighting. While this is such a minor thing, for any G I Joe fan, it is definitely not.

It is common knowledge to the fans who grew up as an 80’s kid. Snake Eyes is only the coolest G I Joe character in the team. And he is a MUTE. His voice box was destroyed when he burned his face in a helicopter accident to save his team mate Scarlett. This is also why he always wears a mask and never speaks at all.

I have no idea when these voice talents at Hero were born, that they didn’t know this common fact! One voice talent told me that at Hero, the people overseeing the dubbing process want EVERY scene where there is any character in it to have some sort of dialogue or reaction. This meant that if they catch any scene where there is a character and they don’t hear anything, they count that as an undubbed portion and would consider the episode undone. HOWEVER, in this case, it is a clear case of not doing your homework! The sad thing is, the dubbing department is not going to correct this mistake… whatever has already been dubbed will no longer be undone, and there is a good chance that the entire series has been dubbed already.

I am sure the big fan clubs of G I Joe in the country are either laughing their butts off or extremely ticked off at the sacrilege. I am sure that once someone notices, this will be all over the forums. And since HERO TV is very onion-skinned when it comes to criticism, it’s definitely going to hit the fan…

I wonder what kind of reaction Snake Eyes’ voice talent is going to get when he goes to anime events and starts bragging on TV or to the fans that he is the voice behind a character that doesn’t speak. LOL knowing HERO TV, they will do some sort of spotlight segment on voice talents and heaven forbid they don’t unknowingly shine a spotlight on this huge mistake.