725 Curtain Call (1/2)
Chapter 725: Curtain Call
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian and Famous walked very slowly. Although there was an absence of the usually consistent camera flashes, they both enjoyed having a moment on the red carpet solely to themselves.
The red carpet wasn't very long and they soon reached the end.
A member of the staff led Zhang Zian through the theater's staff passageway, while another staff member called out to the children. ”Everyone can come over this way to have your tickets checked for admission. Hurry up; the film is about to begin!”
There was no need for deliberate instructions; the young boys and girls routinely formed into two lines with their tickets ready. The children that had left the venue earlier in the day heard the news from some others still in line and now rushed back to the theater.
After Zhang Zian and Famous entered the theater, they were led around numerous turns before the staff member opened the door to a room.
”Sir, this is the preparation room. You can spend some time getting ready here and we will call for you right before the start of the film. There is a television set right there with a DVD player and the DVD for Dog Warrior. You can use it as you like but… I'm afraid that there is not much time left for you. There might only be enough time for you to quickly go through it once.”
The staff member pointed to the room that was not too spacious and introduced the space and equipment to Zhang Zian.
”All right, thanks,” Richard said in German on behalf of Zhang Zian.
Right before the staff member left, he turned around and said sincerely, ”I'm really thankful that you were able to make your way down today––the children would have been really disappointed.”
”You're welcome. It's my pleasure,” Richard said.
The staff member nodded and made his leave.
After Zian entered the room, he shut the door and surveyed the room.
It was not very spacious, just about the size of a normal bedroom. There was a wardrobe in the corner that could be used if someone needed to change clothes. Aside from that, there was a television set, DVD player, coffee table, and a two-seater sofa. Other than those items, there was nothing else in the room.
Placed atop the coffee table was the Dog Warrior Blu-ray DVD. It was not one from the official release, as there were various warnings printed on the cover.
Since the film was still in its world premiere phase, the DVD could not be brought out of the room in order to prevent someone leaking the film.
The previous interpreter must have replayed and analyzed the film countless times in the room.
Zhang Zian switched the television and DVD player on and started the film in quick replay. There was no need for him to watch the film––only Richard needed to.
Zian released the other elfins into the empty space in the room and made them invisible.
”Where is this?” Fina looked to its left and right.
”Theater,” Zhang Zian explained. ”Dog Warrior will have its world premiere here. This is almost the first showing I guess, so we can all watch it together.”
”Have we not seen it already?” Fina said, quickly losing all interest.
”Nope. The one we saw was the rough cut version, not the official release. Compared to the official release, the rough cut version is less refined and it lacks the additional post-production effects. The small screen in the VIP room cannot be compared to the giant screen of a real movie theater, however––the difference in impact is so huge it could almost be considered two different films.”
Zhang Zian corrected Fina's misconceptions. The difference between the rough cut version and the official release was no different from the difference between an AVI quality film from a full HD quality film.
Famous walked up next to Richard and worriedly asked, ”How is it, Richard? If translating is difficult, don't worry about trying to make it perfect. It's fine as long as the general meaning is brought across.”
A simultaneous interpretation by itself was already hard, but adding in emotion to the dialogue was almost the equivalent of translating an entire dubbed work of a foreign film.
Richard stood on the coffee table with one of its bird claws stepping on the remote control. It switched between occasionally playing the film in four times the regular speed, sometimes in eight times the regular speed, and sometimes in regular speed for the key scenes that contained more dialogue.
”Ga ga! Are you looking down on me? Only a challenge of this difficulty can reflect my overwhelming intelligence,” Richard arrogantly cried out.
”But… at the speed you're going, most of the scenes are just flashing by, right?” Famous reminded Richard.
”It doesn't matter! Look at that idiot over there. He basically fast-forwards through his Japanese film every time, yet it doesn't affect his business as long as the key scenes are seen. One stroke, two strokes, stroke, and strokes…” Richard said as he gave Zhang Zian a side glance.
Zhang Zian told himself to hold it in and let Richard off for today. Everything it said was going to be settled when they return to Binhai City.
Seeing that Richard was brimming with confidence, Famous stopped disturbing it and left it to its own devices.
Not much time went by before there was a knock on the door.
”Mr Zhang, it is time. Are you ready?” the staff member asked from outside, his voice a little unsettled.
With 16x speed on, Richard quickly watched the ending before he switched off the television, flapped its wings, and descended upon Zhang Zian's shoulder.
”All ready! You can begin now,” Richard said as Zhang Zian pulled open the door.
The staff member was still pretty worried. With such a short preparation time, it was hard for him to believe that Zhang Zian was going to be able to complete the difficult simultaneous interpretation successfully. But there was no other option––they could only perform treatment on a dead horse as if it were still alive. To the staff, Zhang Zian's biggest advantage was his participation in the entire filming process and his ability to speak fluent German. If it wasn't for all that, the theater's executives would not have been convinced.
When Zhang Zian and Famous both appeared next to the screen, the theater resounded with a warm round of applause. Zian looked around and noticed that, aside from a few theater staff members and people from the upper management, most of the audience was the young boys and girls of Germany.
Audiences for other competition segments were from all over the world. Only Kplus and 14plus––which were specially created for Berlin with the 4,000 schools in the vicinity, youth clubs, and student unions––consisted of people from Germany.
The staff member led Zhang Zian and Famous to the small podium next to the screen and assisted with adjusting and testing the microphone before he left.
As the applause came to an end, Richard cleared its throat and said in German, ”Hello, everyone. I am honored to stand here as the interpreter for today. As all of you know, the star of this film is Famous, and I have also participated in the whole filming process. But what all of you do not know is that I have previously learned the German language and have also undergone professional dubbing training. Today, I invite everyone here to witness the fruit of my training. Thank you!”
Zhang Zian understood nothing of what Richard said; he could only coordinate with Richard by opening his mouth slightly to fake the movement of his lips, while also maintaining a smile on his face. But from the reactions of the audience below the stage, everyone seemed pretty surprised by what Richard said.
Some fabrication and exaggerations were necessary, or else there would be no way to explain why a pet shop owner like Zian was able to take on dubbing works.
Famous sat quietly next to him.
The other elfins curiously walked in front of the widescreen; no one could see them while they were in the state of invisibility.
The theater's lights quickly dimmed as the film began. The audience turned their full attention to the screen, glancing from time to time at Zhang Zian who stood behind the podium.
It was necessary for Zhang Zian to pretend that he was staring at the screen while he did the dubbing, which meant his back was facing the audience. There was no need for him to continue to move his lips, so he was able to relax. Having to move his lips for the next two hours would have been very tiring.
The film started.
At some fictional police dog training base, a female German Shepherd laid on its side in a kennel. Two vets, a man and a woman both dressed in white coats, helped it with its delivery.
”Come on! It's almost out! Come on!”