Exclusive Rights to an Online Voice Actor

Chapter 55.2

Editor: Mashiro

The commentary segment went on and when Pu Yuzhi was about to be done with her evaluation of contestant twenty-seven, Shen Yan who had been quiet all this while suddenly asked in a barely audible voice, “How… How many points did they give me? Can I advance to the next stage?”

He actually sounded rather uncertain.

Qi Jing’s eyes couldn’t help but widen as he stared straight at Shen Yan. “You mean you took off your headphones without even hearing your total score?”

Shen Yan responded with a strained sigh. “I’m sorry. I was a little scared… Scared that the results will let you down.”

If anyone else were to hear these words said by the person in first place, who knows how many of the contestants would faint from their blood pressure shooting through the roof. Qi Jing was both exasperated and amused by Shen Yan, but when all these different emotions intertwined into an entangled mess, what came up on top was this slight stinging sensation. He felt it both in his heart and in his fingertips that caressed Shen Yan’s cheek. “Oh you… You should have more confidence in yourself.”

He bowed his head and placed a kiss with great care on Shen Yan’s forehead, then gently resting his own against the other party’s face. He decided to say the words that had been buried in his heart for a long time.

“Truthfully, I also wanted to tell you tha—”

Right at that moment, Pu Yuzhi’s words interrupted Qi Jing. “Now, I’ll be commenting on number twenty-eight, who’s also the only person that I’ve awarded four points in all categories since the start of the competition.”

When Shen Yan heard the words “four points in all categories”, his entire body trembled slightly. And when he lifted his head, what greeted him was a faint smile that graced Qi Jing’s lips.

“Did you hear that?” Qi Jing asked, “Now you know your score, don’t you?”

“Number twenty-eight’s voice actually isn’t that distinct and belongs to the type that is rather unrecognisable, but it gives off a very calm and upright feeling. The fact that this feeling is retained even when he is imitating an elderly voice is extremely rare among the contestants who have to alter their voice.”

At this point, it felt like a rare smile appeared on Pu Yuzhi’s face as she gave her review.

“In voice acting, the key thing is to provide a voice. This is where the stark difference between stage performances and dubbing lies, and considering the fact that《Order to End the Heavens》is a game, what the players see are the characters in the game. Thus, on top of ensuring that the voice fits the image of the character, voice actors also have to hide themselves as much as possible—the voice should bring people into the scene and not out of it. In this case, not having a distinctive voice is actually a good thing.”

For any piece of work that comes with an image, the voice has to match the image, otherwise, it would appear completely out of place, and people wouldn’t want to listen on.

This is the biggest difference between film, television, and game dubbing and traditional audio dramas.

“Contestant twenty-eight, your voice is more on the gentle, honest-sounding side, and it makes me feel like I can imagine an old man living in seclusion in the mountains, indifferent to fame and fortune. Like the wild storks flying by the drifting clouds, this elder lives his life at ease—that is one of the characteristics of Old Man Xiao Shan. I don’t experience any dissonance when I try to think of the character. Unlike many of the youngsters who sound quite contrived and nasally when they try to imitate the voice of a 60-70-year-old, you’re able to make your voice sound very natural, which is good.

“Even better is that while you have steady control over the vocal quality, you’re still able to adjust your tone according to the changes in the character’s stance; something that many often forget. Like in the first scene, for example, that change from a Sect Leader, to a Master, and finally to a father eagerly waiting for his children to come home is something that I personally think that you considered and handled really well. The cues and punctuation in the text provided is just for reference—some contestants read them as they are, without taking into account the environment and atmosphere the character is in at the time, but I feel you have taken it into account.”

Then, she gave an example of what it meant to blend the lines into the scene.

“Now, everyone, close your eyes and imagine, it is late in the middle of the night and Old Man Xiao Shan suddenly notices someone at the door. If you go one step further to link it to the context set up in the novel, it was a time of turmoil and unrest in the Jianghu, and the palace was sending people to scour high and low to arrest members of the Jianghu. Hence, as the Sect Leader, it’s perfectly normal for his first reaction to be on the alert. But at this time, he suddenly realised that it’s his young disciple who has returned safely, so with a change in his identity, naturally the emotions must change as well. Especially in the last part… although they’re words of complaint, you can hear the deep concern and affection in the voice. This contradictory feeling of parents constantly nagging for our children to come home, yet can’t help but grumble at them when they actually do was captured really well and accurately.

“For this scene, whether it’s the pauses or the pacing and emphasis, or that slight gasp number twenty-eight added, all allowed the listener to experience the flow of emotions the character is going through.”

When Qi Jing heard this, the corners of his lips couldn’t help but pull upwards.

Yes, that’s exactly the feeling he had when he rehearsed with Shen Yan—it felt like he was actually in the scene and he could clearly see the expressions and movements of the other party, allowing him to make a reasonable reaction to the imagery.

“Now, let’s talk about this feeling of having a dialogue. I seldom bring up this point because few contestants actually manage to express it. What this sense of having a dialogue means is that the voice actor takes note of who they’re talking to during the dubbing process, adjusting their tone of voice according to the subject they would be talking to in the scene, giving the feeling that they are voice acting with someone when there actually isn’t anyone.”

Since Shen Yan showed something that was not mentioned in any of the commentary from before, Pu Yuzhi was also more than happy to point it out to everyone.

“Number twenty-eight, as you were acting out the lines, I could feel that your Old Man Xiao Shan takes note of the emotional state of the other party as he speaks, and from your tone of voice I can kind of guess the personality of the other person.

“This is most obvious in the second act, in the conversation with Bai Ke. Many people don’t seem to know that Bai Ke is mistrustful and has an inferiority complex, especially when he is compared to his peers. So when I heard the way you handled this act, I perked up and thought to myself, ‘wow, so there is someone who will take care to be sensitive to Bai Ke’s feelings’.”

“The more outstanding part is the pause after the line, ‘Your junior, he’. There were also a few contestants before you who paused at that spot, but most simply slowed down their speech and didn’t pay attention to lowering their voice as well. When I heard you lower your voice, I felt like I could virtually see Bai Ke stand in front of me, and the change in his expression when he heard his master bring up his junior. It sounded like the change in your voice was because you saw the unpleasant expression on his face and you felt apologetic so you went about it in a more subtle and sensitive manner. And the way contestant twenty-eight handled criticising Qin Tuo before praising him was also done right. Generally speaking, Old Man Xiao Shan has to scold the younger disciple first so that his older disciple would feel a little better, then when he brings up the aspects that Bai Ke can learn from Qin Tuo, it’s easier for the former to accept. As for the last part of the scene where number twenty-eight acted out the feeling of a loving father being worried about his child who is about to leave the mountain… I’m sure everyone must’ve heard it without me having to go into the details.”

After saying a big chunk of words, the flipping of paper could be heard once again, and the sound that travelled into Qi Jing’s ears sounded so very crisp and vivid.

While she was flipping through her papers of notes, Pu Yuzhi could still be heard muttering, “With regards to contestant twenty-eight, it’s actually quite difficult for me evaluate him by each of the categories as I did before because they’ve all molded into one entity, each segment is complementary to the other, and not one can be left out. So I’m more inclined to comment about it as a whole, that’s why I’ll talk about it scene by scene.”

She did as she was saying and went on to talk about the third act.

“The third act by number twenty-eight is the most impressive and left the deepest impression on me among those I’ve heard in this round, today. As for why I say that, I believe we all have an inkling in our hearts, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a live voting rate of over 90 percent.”

Pu Yuzhi said her thoughts truthfully. She had been quietly observing the audience’s reactions all this while, it’s just that she chose to say it out now.

“In order to make a character come alive, you have to have emotions. However, it is not enough to just show this emotion. Whether or not one is able to reach the point where it resonates with the listener determines the success or failure of the character. Earlier I had explained the difference between ‘Foundation points’ and ‘Charisma’, and some students might not have quite understood, but ‘Foundation points’ is to evaluate whether the player can show emotion. Of course, this emotion expressed can be right or wrong. While ‘Charisma’ is built on the correct expression of feelings on the basis of whether or not the listener is pulled in, whether or not the person is moved or shaken to the core.

“The reason why the right emotion is crucial is because only then does it align with the logical human mind; something that is not logical does not stand up to scrutiny and will never move people. However, just being ‘right’ alone is not enough to impress others, it also needs to be ‘real’.”

She explained slowly and indepthly, “Many people think that the voice is the most important part of voice acting—this is true—but adequate pauses and spaces are just as important. Number twenty-eight, there was a big gap before you started on the third act. At first, I also thought it was a pause between the scene and the scene transition, but the pause was too long. Only then did I realise it was to show that the character was in so much pain he couldn’t muster a word. And when you opened your mouth and said your first words with much difficulty, it further confirmed my thoughts.

“As for your handling of the tone, we’ve already discussed that in detail before so I’m sure there’s no need for me to talk about it all over again. The lines and cues provided are the same for everyone. And how we differentiate our performance from others lies in how one adds their own little quirks to make the lines become rich and not bland. All these come from things beyond the script, like acting out onomatopoeia such as laughing or crying to support your performance.

“That last part where the mirthless laugh slowly turned into choking back with tears—this was something not mentioned anywhere in the script. This was a line that doesn’t really stand out, but with this addition, it suddenly became extremely real. I’ve been a teacher for so many years, so I can basically tell between fake and real crying at a glance… I think that you were truly choking back tears in the last part. Students, you have to know just how impressive it is for a voice actor to get into character in such a short span of time. To be able to visualise the character, put yourself completely in their shoes at that moment in time, and understand them—this is not something that can be done unless you’re able to fully become one with the character, and twenty-eight, you did it. ”

“Shen Yan…”

Qi Jing whispered into his ear and called out once more,” Shen Yan, you heard that didn’t you? You did it… Really… And you did very well at that.”

There was some movement behind Shen Yan’s lids before he buried his face into Qi Jing, his hands remained tightly clutched onto the corner of the latter’s clothes.

Qi Jing placed his hand on his broad back and gently tugged him upwards. “Come on, let’s get up.”

In the dark room where there’s no light, the glow that came from the screen was especially precious. Yet, from Shen Yan’s angle, he could only see the dark shadow he casted, that’s why, Qi Jing wanted him to turn around, to stop turning his back on the light, and to take a good look at what the audience was saying about him with his own eyes.

But before he could do that, Pu Yuzhi, whom Qi Jing thought had finished her review, made yet another shocking statement: “Now, I will specifically talk about why I had to deduct a point for contestant twenty-eight.”

A/N: For this chapter, the content for commentary is really too long (moreover,Teacher Pu actually has more to say, but I really can’t fit it in). So… I still hope this is content that you guys like to see. I knew it, I’m the type of person whose word count explodes when I write reviews seriously…TAT

Mashiro: I really want to hand in some water to Teacher Pu. She may need it to continue on her review in the next chapter. Phew, I felt thirsty on her behalf. Anyway I still wanna know why she deducted his 1 point. In my opinion SY had rocked his performance.