Abstract

About 80% of all foreign language films and television programmes screened and broadcast in Germany are dubbed, i.e. the words we hear are not those spoken by the film or television actors in the film's original language, but those of German actors whose voices were recorded in dubbing studios and mixed with original sounds and music of the film or television program. This essay provides a survey, for readers not familiar with dubbing either as a process or as a daily experience of watching films or television, into the dubbing industry: what happens from the time a decision is made to screen or broadcast a foreign language film or television program in Germany, to the time the dubbing process is complete and the film or television program is ready for screening or broadcast. In the second part, aesthetic issues are addressed, including the polemics against dubbing articulated in Germany's media. The research is based predominantly on visits to two major dubbing studios in Berlin and Munich - Arena Synchron and Lingua Film GmbH - in June 2004, including observation of dubbing sessions and interviews with dubbing directors and actors.