[Arc] Dubbing the Soap Stars

Updated July.20,2007 09:37 KST

Broadcasters are agonizing over the dubbing of popular U.S. drama series. Subtitling them is easy, but dubbing is essential to ensure a broader viewer base. But unlike the days of “Columbo” or “The X-Files”, many viewers today are familiar with the voices of the original cast down to the minor parts. Casting of the Korean voices has thus become a key to the success or failure of a foreign drama series. The hit series “Prison Break”, which already aired on cable, is now also being shown dubbed on terrestrial TV on weekend nights. The production crew say, "It's a fascinating series, but we hesitated for a considerable time over who should dub the lead character Michael Scofield." For instance, Scofield has a habit of inhaling while talking that ardent fans fondly remember. To reflect such traits in Korean can be a headache. Producer Bae Suk-hyeon says she therefore cast a lesser known voice talent for the role. "On the show's first day, I was so nervous to hear the Korean dialogue that I stopped my ears."

Meanwhile, cable channel XTM has dabbled in an experiment. It airs a dubbed version of the popular Japanese drama "Karei naru ichizoku" for its Thursday first run and a subtitled version for the Sunday rerun. An XTM staffer says, "Japanese dramas were popular even before the U.S. drama boom, with a huge fan base, but they have almost never been aired dubbed on Korean terrestrial TV. Our alternating method is designed for hardcore fans who may be reluctant to hear the dubbed Korean.” The drama's lead Takuya Kimura is dubbed by voice talent Gu Ja-hyeong, who says, "I thought it would be impossible to express Kimura's unique tone of voice in Korean when I first got the casting offer. I decided to give it a try with focus on conveying the character rather than the actor."

With the fourth installment aired so far, there is still lively debate on the XTM website. Some say the dubbing is killing Kimura's personality, while others say they can focus more on the storyline as they don’t need to read the subtitles.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707200013.html

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I definitely won't see dubbed version for Kimura's.