| If you like the sound of Japanese voice actors and are intrigued by
the audio effects in anime, you need to know about this man. Kazuya Tanaka
is a sound director for the Anime International Co., and is responsible
for all of the audio on shows such as Jubei-Chan and Pet Shop of Horrors.
His post is a rare and important job; Tanaka said there are only ten sound
directors in the entire anime industry, and he works on seven or eight
projects at the same time. |
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| While sound directors report to producers and directors, they handle
an enormous range of duties - and that just starts with mixing auto tracks
to produce a finished product. On many shows, the sound director auditions
and casts the voice actors, then supervises the "after-recording" lip synching
sessions. "If it's not good acting, I'll ask them to do it again and again
and again," Tanaka said. And the sound director often commissions the music
for the anime soundtrack. |
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| Tanaka brought with him a videotape of a voice actors' party which
included Kikuko Inoue, best known as the original voice of Belldandy from
Oh My Goddess. The tape also showed an "after-recording" session, which
is radically different than a dubbing session in the U.S. The American
technique is to place a lone actor in a both and have him dub his lines
separately from the rest of the cast. The Japanese system looks like a
radio play: several microphones are set up, the entire cast gathers and
records their lines as the video plays. Often there's no completed film
for the dubbing session, and the actors have to use key frames and pencil
tests for their cues. |
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| Tanaka noted that anime productions are a little behind the times when
it comes to mixing and encoding of soundtracks. Most modern films use 5:1
Dolby encoding or its equivalent, but most anime is mixed only to two-track
stereo, he said. Tanaka told the audience that he hoped his presentation
would help them appreciate the behind the scenes work that goes into an
anime production. Later at the closing ceremonies, he said he hoped to
return to Nan Desu Kan one day and bring some of the Japanese voice actors
with whom he works. |
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