Chapter 748: A Disastrous Voice-Over Car Crash

For a good drama, voice-over is of top priority.

A character's lines are a means of showcasing their charm through sound.

Seeing Jin Li is not a professional voice actor, but when Director Chu proposed this requirement, she was the first to respond.

Because she feels that voice-over is also a part of an actor's performance.

Previously, many directors had no special requirements regarding voice-over; due to industrial workflows, the crew would hand it over to professional voice actors.

But if the director requires the actors to do their own voice-over, she has no objections.

This is, after all, a part of what an actor should be responsible for.

However, Seeing Jin Li also observed that some actors' expressions stiffened upon hearing the need for original voice-over, looking somewhat reluctant.

Seeing Jin Li blinked. Why was this?

After Director Chu proposed this requirement, he only received sparse responses.

He saw everything, said nothing, and went offline.

Seeing Jin Li hung up the video call, pondered for a while, and called Sui Lingfang.

She told Sister Fang about Director Chu's requirement and mentioned the varied reactions of the other actors, asking:

"Isn't it normal for a director to require actors to use their original voices? During filming, I often saw recording equipment on set."

Sui Lingfang thought for a moment and sighed softly.

"It is quite normal. Many old dramas used the actors' original voices because, in that era, there were no so-called voice actors.

To become an actor, voice-over is a basic skill, but—"

She changed her tone, "It's different now. You also know that many actors on the market aren't professionally trained; they are self-taught, so they haven't undergone voice-over training, and their voice-over work is terrible.

Some crews don't want to use professional voice actors but are forced to; some people's original voices make the audience lose immersion the moment they hear them."

Seeing Jin Li felt she had been silently stabbed.

She isn't a professionally trained actor either; she belongs to the self-taught category.

But her voice-over isn't that terrible; in some dramas, the director let her use her original voice, and the audience didn't say anything.

Sui Lingfang: "Voice-over isn't just about saying the lines; it requires combining the context, emotions, and the character's psychological state at the time... it is also a profound technique.

Those actors who feel troubled might have poor innate vocal conditions. Besides, even with good conditions, without professional training, the voice will inevitably sound thin.

But a good actor must have solid line delivery skills. Since Director Chu has proposed this, you should practice specifically. Having a good foundation in line delivery will help you go further on your acting path."

Sui Lingfang said decisively: "I'll sign you up for a line delivery training class. You don't need to attend in person; it's taught online."

Seeing Jin Li agreed and asked: "Is online teaching effective? I don't have any announcements recently; I can attend offline too."

Sui Lingfang glanced at Seeing Jin Li: "For other actors, it might not be, but for you, it should be fine. You often do live streams, and you frequently watched online lectures when preparing for the college entrance exam; you are quite used to the online teaching mode."

Seeing Jin Li smiled: "Sister Fang, I don't even dare to be that confident in myself."

Sui Lingfang said with a smile: "Let's try one or two classes first. If it doesn't work, I'll sign you up for an offline class."

Seeing Jin Li nodded: "Okay."

Seeing Jin Li agreed without any burden, but the other actors of *Dawn 2* were very panicked.

Some actors confident in their voices weren't nervous, but others who lacked confidence felt the sky was falling.

They asked their agents one after another.

"What should I do? I have a natural baby voice. Won't Director Chu reject me because of my voice?" a female actor asked in a panic.

"I have absolutely no voice-over experience, I'm not professionally trained, and I can't even enunciate some words clearly. Can I do it?" a male actor also asked his agent nervously.

You know, voice-over is not like singing. In singing, you can mumble through it; if you have rhythm, others will still enjoy it.

But film and television dramas don't work that way.

If a character can't even speak clearly, how can the audience be immersed?

If the character is supposed to be straightforward but has such a weak voice-over, the audience will only feel a sense of disconnect.

Some agents who cared for their actors immediately signed them up for a line delivery and voice-over training class upon hearing Director Chu's requirement.

While some agents felt their artists had a good foundation and could deliver lines with emotion and clear enunciation even without training, so they didn't sign them up.

They just told them to watch more, listen more, learn more, and ask seniors if they didn't understand. If they do enough voice-over, they will naturally learn without a teacher.

So when Seeing Jin Li participated in the second script reading, she felt it was very chaotic.

Some actors, you could feel they were trying their best, but the voice they produced was just not right.

And some actors clearly had a good vocal foundation, but the voice they produced was very raw, giving the feeling of being pushed onto the stage to perform without any preparation.

Of course, among the terrible voice-overs, there were also a few actors with excellent line delivery skills.

People are afraid of comparison; once compared, there will be hurt.

Against the backdrop of a group of "crouching tigers and hidden dragons" in the voice-over world, some actors with only average line delivery skills were made to look nine points good.

Seeing Jin Li was one of those who were set off.

She hadn't undergone professional training, her voice-over foundation was very average, and her experience was summarized from voice-overs in other dramas.

Although she signed up for a line delivery training class, she only took one lesson, so the effect wouldn't be obviously rapid.

She originally thought she was just average among this group, but it turned out she became one of the few actors whose lines were listenable.

And during the script reading, because the voice-over was so terrible, some actors couldn't help but laugh.

But Director Chu didn't say a word throughout, listening with a serious expression.

That tightly furrowed brow and increasingly solemn expression made those actors who couldn't help but laugh gradually quiet down, and the atmosphere became increasingly silent.

It was like the calm before a storm.

Finally, today's script reading ended.

Seeing Jin Li thought to herself that this script reading was even worse than the first.

She never thought that reading a line expressionlessly could actually be more emotional than reading it with hoarse shouting.

What was the reason?

The reason was that many actors were overacting.

They were clearly very ordinary lines, yet they made it seem like a life-and-death separation, insisting on showing their abundant emotional contagion.

Seeing Jin Li rubbed her brow.

Listening to those people say their lines, she even got a headache; it was very much like a car crash scene.

After everyone finished, Director Chu finally said the first sentence of today's script reading.

"I am not short of actors. If you don't want to participate in my drama, you can leave now."

This sentence successfully made the already silent atmosphere as cold and dead as death.

"If you bring this attitude again, then you don't need to come for script reading tomorrow. Don't think that just because you signed a contract, I won't fire you.

The drama hasn't started filming yet; changing people is just a matter of a sentence, and your agencies won't dare to trouble me."

"Lines aren't just about reading them with emotion; you need to put yourself in the context and the character's emotions to read them.

Not considering anything, just looking at the lines, thinking it's funny so reading it funny, thinking it's sad so reading it sad.

As an actor, having poor lines is a sign of unprofessionalism. I don't think there's anything funny about this; I only feel ashamed. What kind of trash did I sign!"

After Director Chu finished speaking, he hung up the video call.

Seeing Jin Li hung up immediately after.

She also thought that many actors today were not professional at all and lacked seriousness.

*Dawn 2* is a big production and also has the influence of the previous one.

Once broadcast, the box office is estimated not to be bad; it can not only recover costs but even impact the film history box office record.

Many people fight to the death just to get a bit part.

So the actors who can appear in the script reading have already passed five levels and killed six generals, finally getting this opportunity.

Once obtained, they should cherish it. Facing it with such an unprofessional attitude, Seeing Jin Li even wanted to be absent.

She would wait until Director Chu sorted out the crew before coming, so as not to waste her time.

As a popular star, her rest time is also very precious.

Seeing Jin Li told her agent about Director Chu's outburst today.

Sui Lingfang said in a deep voice: "Director Chu was still merciful. He was just threatening. If he really wanted to fire someone, he wouldn't give advance notice; he would just fire them directly."

She thought for a moment, "This drama hasn't even set the venue, many props haven't been made, and starting the script reading early, it's normal for many actors to be distracted."

Sui Lingfang paused and said suspiciously: "Actually, I think Director Chu is a bit too anxious; the script reading started too early.

*Dawn 2* might not be able to start filming within three months; it might take more than half a year to prepare. Letting you prepare more than half a year in advance is a bit too early. Do you see anything?"

Seeing Jin Li shook her head: "No."

She tilted her head, "If I have to say there's an abnormality, it's that he's a bit silent, not as talkative as when filming the first one, seemingly thinking about something."

Sui Lingfang: "I'll ask someone to inquire privately. If something is abnormal, there must be a demon. I remember Director Chu never gathered people for script reading so early when filming before."

Not long after the call ended, Seeing Jin Li received a notice from Director Chu postponing tomorrow's script reading time.

Perhaps he also realized that this wouldn't work and needed to give the actors some time.

So the script reading originally planned for once a day was postponed to next week.

The vacant week was to give the actors time to sign up for training classes to improve themselves.

If there are still actors who haven't made a response during this period, then after the next script reading ends, they will definitely be fired.

As the male lead of *Desperate Counterattack*, Gu Cheng has always had a heavy workload, and every day he returns to the crew, he can only chat with Seeing Jin Li for a few minutes before having to sleep.

Finally, Saturday rest.

After he woke up, he video-called Seeing Jin Li; they could chat for a long time today.

Seeing Jin Li talked about Director Chu's requirement for voice-over in *Dawn 2*.

She asked: "When I was filming the first *Dawn*, Director Chu didn't have any requirements for voice-over; that one was voiced by professional voice actors.

I don't know why, when it came to the second one, he insisted that actors use their original voices. Is there any change in policy? Or were there many bad reviews regarding voice-over in the first one?"

Gu Cheng has a very good memory.

When the first *Dawn* was just released, he specifically went to watch it and paid attention for a period of time.

After all, it was a drama Seeing Jin Li acted in, and he also wanted to help make a contribution.

When browsing news online, he saw a large number of bad reviews, roughly that the actors' expressions didn't match the voice-over.

Clearly, the voice-over's emotions were full, but the actors' performances couldn't keep up with these emotions, giving people a very disconnected feeling.

The audience said they didn't know whether the actors acted wrong or the voice-over was bad.

Gu Cheng thought of these comments and expressed his thoughts.

"I think letting you strengthen your line delivery doesn't necessarily mean he wants to use the actors' voice-over in the film's final cut.

The second one is to use the popularity of the first one to hype up the gimmick. If the voice-over doesn't match the first one, fans will also feel weird.

Especially when watching a series, after chasing two parts, the voices have changed, and the immersion will be very poor."

Seeing Jin Li was stunned, "Then why does Director Chu still want us to strengthen our lines?"

Gu Cheng: "Voice actors are very professional; they are also performing when looking at the lines, just that they are performing with their voices.

The voice-over team hired was too strong, which instead caused the characters' voice emotions to be too full.

Director Chu should want to make up for this gap, letting actors shout out emotions with their voices while performing, so that even if professional voice actors are used later, the actors' performances can still carry the emotions in the voices."

Seeing Jin Li suddenly realized, saying with burning eyes: "I have never considered this angle; it's too unique, but I have a premonition that you are right!

Director Chu won't let the voices of the first and second parts be too disconnected, so he will still hire voice actors, but he wants to strengthen the actors' line delivery skills to help actors better make corresponding emotions in actual performance."

The biggest doubt was cleared up, then the problem came.

Seeing Jin Li asked: "The production team of *Dawn 2* hasn't been prepared, the venue hasn't been rented, and starting script reading so quickly is too early."

Gu Cheng was immersed in the *Desperate Counterattack* crew and didn't know much about outside information.

He guessed: "Maybe Director Chu really values this drama?"

Not many days later, it was Sui Lingfang who found out some news, letting everyone know why Director Chu was so anxious.

It was both valuing and anxiety.

Sui Lingfang said shockingly: "Director Chu actually signed a gambling agreement with some film and television companies!"

Seeing Jin Li was also stunned: "Gambling? For a big director of his level, it should be very simple to pull investment, and he still needs to sign a gambling agreement?"

Sui Lingfang was also surprised to learn this news. She took a deep breath and said:

"Because this time the investment Director Chu wants is very huge; he wants a full 2 billion!

For this drama, he wants to spend 2 billion in huge funds to create a doomsday world, using larger and more magnificent scenes and more money-burning special effects!

Director Chu's funding gap is too large; even with the halo of a famous director, many film and television companies are unwilling to put in so much money, so they signed a gambling agreement." ===== CHAPTER 749 =====