Avatar: The Last Airbender Episode 305 Clip Dub

[Fox-kun]

This is primarily what I've been working on for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Critique my mixing if you will, but go a little easy on the sound effects, they were all royal free after all.

The cast of this fandub are as follows:

MajinBoo0111 - Zuko
CakeBatter - Azula
Makopi - Ty Lee
DragonKnighttara - Mai

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj7rg4FBsgg"]YouTube - Avatar:The Last Airbender Clip Dub - Episode 305: The Beach[/ame]

Again, thank you all!

[tomatocars]

First of all, the everyone NAILED the acting. Amazing cast, kudos to all of you.

MajinBoo0111 - Zuko
Like I mentioned above, incredible acting. I sensed all the pain, hurt, and angst in your voice. You definitely had a different take on Zuko but I feel that it fit just fine. My ONLY complaint is your mic quality. It was the only distracting thing about your performance but what can you do right? XD


CakeBatter - Azula
<3 You gave Azula such a sassy performance. At times though, I had a hard time hearing your lines but they were spot on. I can't wait to hear more of your Azula >:3


Makopi - Ty Lee
I've only recently heard you in the ToraDora clips and you keep impressing me. Your acting range is AMAZING and I love that you don't hold back! You give it your all and it definitely shines through. Personally, I would have preferred you give Ty Lee a higher pitch but thats just my personal preference XD

DragonKnighttara - Mai
Um.. I'm still convinced you are the original VA for Mai. You sound EXACTLY like her!!! Holy cow, awesome voice. You seriously make the perfect Mai. Your voice, tone, emotion all fit the character so well. And the fact that you sound just like the original was just an added bonus ^^


Mixing:
This was a great fandub fox! The SFX were kinda cheesy but yeah, can't really expect much from free SFX. Like I mentioned earlier, some of the volume levels weren't balanced but overall this was very nicely done. I hope you dub more!

[Majinboo0111]

MajinBoo0111 - Zuko
Like I mentioned above, incredible acting. I sensed all the pain, hurt, and angst in your voice. You definitely had a different take on Zuko but I feel that it fit just fine. My ONLY complaint is your mic quality. It was the only distracting thing about your performance but what can you do right? XD

That's really awesome to hear, thank you! I had to do more of an original take on Zuko, that voice is very difficult to attempt like sounding like the original VA's voice. So knowing that, my main focus was for emotion and delivery. It was awesome to hear a critique like that! Didn't think my mic quality was too bad, but then again my ears are going bad XD. Thanks again tomatocars!

[Cake Batter]

(The embedded clip doesn't work! It doesn't really matter, but I thought you should know.)

Anyway, like I said on YouTube, this turned out really good everyone! I was seriously impressed with everyone's performances and I love how everyone gave their own spin on it--we're not the original actors and we're not trying to be~ :]

ZUKO/MajinBoo0111: I was super impressed with your acting, especially during the, "He even thinks I'm a hero! etc." line--it has this tinge of anguish that fit so perfectly for the scene. I do think the voice you used could have sounded a tiny bit younger though, but that didn't really matter to me since the acting was so great. I was totally feeling it through the whole thing. Personally I think you had the hardest performance out of all of us, but you totally shined.

AZULA/Cake Batter: Azula is probably my favorite character to voice ever and I loved playing her for this scene. In hindsight, I should have probably added a bit more obnoxiousness during "Well yes, I guess you're right...etc" but overall, not bad! (Can I also add that I adore Avatar's mouth flaps? It's so easy to keep track of what you have to say. XD)

TY LEE/Makopi: Makopi, I've been seeing you around the VAA and I've been loving what I've been hearing from you. This is no exception. I loved your delivery for "Circus freak is a compliment." It was absolutely perfect! It's so difficult to make it sound like a character is actually crying, but you pulled it out SO well. I also really liked your delivery on "You'll totally break out!" It made me laugh a little, and it's awesome that you're flexible enough to play convincingly sad and then give a nice humorous delivery also. Great job!

MAI/DragonKnighttara: Girl, you sounded so close to the original, but you still managed to make it your own. Your voice has this awesomely smooth quality about it that I love and it was great for Mai. I absolutely love your delivery on Mai's speech in the middle. The gradual sound of disappointment during "and didn't speak...etc" was subtle but it made SUCH a huge difference. The trap behind playing Mai is that most people end up playing her too monotonously, but you had a lot of those little subtleties which prevented you from falling in. Awesome work~

MIXING: Props to Fox-kun for putting this together! It's pretty good for your first mixing job, but I feel that there was something lacking in the intensity of the scene. I think part of it is that you kept the music track consistent throughout the whole thing, where as the mood of the scene goes up and down constantly. During Zuko's increasing confusion, I would have liked to hear the music transition into a faster paced song to match with the mood, for example. Don't be afraid to switch it up a bit~

As for SFX, I thought they were all pretty good~ Have you ever considered ripping them from the original clip?

Volume levels could have been louder too, particularly on Mai and Azula's lines, though I can hear both of them perfectly well on headphones. What do you use to mix, btw?

[Majinboo0111]

Majinboo0111 - Zuko: This had to be one of my favorite roles to play in a long time! I always wanted to voice anyone from Avatar, and being casted as Zuko was like a blessing for me. I think I could of worked on the voice a bit more, but I still think it fits very well. I tried many takes to make sure the delivery and emotion was perfect. Hopefully it was ^_^ Probably one of my better preformances in a while.

CakeBatter - Azula: You have an AWESOME voice for Azula! Very fitting, can't complain one bit. Although for acting, I like a lot of it, other lines didn't click for me at other points though. I'm not complaing though, it was awesome to hear you as Azula!

Makopi - Ty Lee: It's not right to play favorites, but you were my favorite voice and performance! I noticed that you always go all out on your acting, which is very awesome to find in a voice actor! Your very talented with your range as well, and overall you rocked Ty Lee! I really want to hear more!

DragonKnighttara - Mai: Tara, I was so happy to see you got Mai, and your performance was even better! Your voice fits so damn well! I can agree with mistaking you for the original VA. You were pretty quiet though, could be mixing or you, don't know. Emotion wise I think you did better than the original clip! Very nice job Tara, can't complain one bit!

Mixing: SFX were kinda fitting, but you make due with what you find =D. The music looping over and over kinda bothered me a bit though, even if it is an awesome track. You matched a lot of lip-flaps though which was AWESOME! I believe this was your first time mixing, so for a first time, it was pretty damn good! Improvements could be made, but practice makes perfect!

Overall: Very awesome to be apart of this clip, and I really want to dub more Avatar clips with this cast and hopefully more people =D Although I don't think your too up for that Fox-kun ^^; just throwing it out there! Great job everyone!

[Fox-kun]

As for SFX, I thought they were all pretty good~ Have you ever considered ripping them from the original clip?

Volume levels could have been louder too, particularly on Mai and Azula's lines, though I can hear both of them perfectly well on headphones. What do you use to mix, btw?

I did actually consider ripping them, but...I didn't really know how so I felt it would be impractical. I use Adobe Premiere to mix.

Mixing: SFX were kinda fitting, but you make due with what you find =D. The music looping over and over kinda bothered me a bit though, even if it is an awesome track. You matched a lot of lip-flaps though which was AWESOME! I believe this was your first time mixing, so for a first time, it was pretty damn good! Improvements could be made, but practice makes perfect!

Overall: Very awesome to be apart of this clip, and I really want to dub more Avatar clips with this cast and hopefully more people =D Although I don't think your too up for that Fox-kun ^^; just throwing it out there! Great job everyone!

I wish I could've found the original track for the scene, but I didn't know what it was. So I substituted a track and kept it going because I also didn't think about the change of pace I was supposed to indicate!

And LOL dude...it's gonna be a GOOD little while before I do this again. I'm planning some more stuff with Avatar, but I really need to catch up on my voice acting. I need to mix a new demo together because I haven't made one since last year. That won't do! lol

I'm thinking of doing some other projects like Disney songs/clips. That'd be fun, I think...

[Makopi]

Yay! Okay, I'm gonna stop being lazy and critique this XDD

Majinboo0111 - Zuko: Your performance was amazing! Only thing is, I think the line 'circus freak' sounded a little...un-...flowy...what's the word...XD Unnatural, I suppose? I don't know, that's only if I were to nitpick. Your Zuko is different, but still very fitting, and that's what I love about it!

Cake Batter - Azula: Your Azula is so awesome! <33 I loved your interpretation of the character so much. I can't really say too much, because you were so amazing =D

Makopi - Ty Lee: This role was so fun to play, Ty Lee is one of my favorite characters. =D I always go a little too over-the-top on crying though, because I don't know what it is, I just think fake-crying's really fun XDD And sometimes I speak much too fast.

DragonKnighttara - Mai: Your Mai is INCREDIBLE <3 I agree that it sounds so much like the original! Very good job. I especially liked your delivery on "Leave me alone!"

Mixing: Very good for your first mixing job. I agree that the music could have been changed, but it didn't bother me very much. I actually don't think the SFX were that bad, besides the fact that a couple were pretty loud. Like, for example, when Zuko said "I'm angry at myself!" the fire SFX could have been turned down just a little.

Great job everyone, I enjoyed this and love how it turned out!

[dragonknighttara]

Okay.... delayed comment time - GO!

MajinBoo0111 - Zuko
I have to admit, this was a surprising casting choice to see and I wasn't exactly sure what to hope for. To your credit, you actually pulled off a fairly convincing Zuko and outdid my initial expectations for your performance. A couple times you stumbled over some words and ennunciation could still use some work, but you had some good intense moments in there and you didn't seem to hold back - so kudos there.
I do have to say, however, and I hate to be the stick in the mud, but this did come across a lot of times as more of an impression than anything else. Some times, you were REALLY good at matching what the original actor did, so your deliveries and performance were definitely much improved because of that and you were able to make this work., But it still seemed like you were copying what had been done, rather than finding the emotion for the scene yourself. This especially showed when you did not copy the original as much or as well and a few parts fell flat.
Overall, for seeing you in a serious role for the first time, I did come away pleased. I think there's room for improvement, but it's nice to see you extending your range and you're already headed in the right direction!

CakeBatter - Azula
This may have been due to the quietness on all the girl's lines, but unfortunately I was not that impressed with your Azula either. I can hear that you have the voice for her, but a lot of the deliveries were a bit lackluster for just how pompous of a character she is. You seemed to have the emotion most of the time, but you didn't sound very convinced of what you were saying so a number of the deliveries came across a bit empty. Keep practicing this one - it definitely has the potential!

Makopi - Ty Lee
On a more positive note, I really enjoyed your Ty Lee a lot! You handled her mood swing after the monologue very well and the energy was there and felt real. I honestly don't have any complaints, so total kudos to you and excellent job!

DragonKnighttara - Mai
Monotone... ugh. This voice is definitely something I need to breath a little more life into. I think it's better than stuff I've done with this voice before, but I still need to continue to improve on this. Thanks for the chance to practice though - this was a great clip and a lot of fun!

Mixing: I mentioned this earlier, but Majin and Makopi (most of the time) seemed to be the only people I could hear. The sfx and music were really loud and tended to be really overpowering most of the time.
SFX, I know was royalty free, but I think you made some very odd choices. Like when Zuko falls after standing on his hands, it sounded more like the end of a very intense fight scene, rather then... hitting the ground. I think this was to build dramatic effect, but it was so unusual it pulled me out of the scene thinking "what was that?".
Also, Music was a very bizarre choice. The scene was pretty intense, but more in a longing, nostalgic way. The music seemed more appropriate for dialogue during a duel where a character might be killed any second. Something softer would have been able to keep the volume down and not only make the lines easier to hear, but set the tone a little better.

For a first dub though, this wasn't that bad. Despite my nitpicks/critiques, it was fun to watch and I very much enjoyed being a part of it. Keep up the good work and I hope to see more soon!

[Majinboo0111]

MajinBoo0111 - Zuko
I have to admit, this was a surprising casting choice to see and I wasn't exactly sure what to hope for. To your credit, you actually pulled off a fairly convincing Zuko and outdid my initial expectations for your performance. A couple times you stumbled over some words and ennunciation could still use some work, but you had some good intense moments in there and you didn't seem to hold back - so kudos there.
I do have to say, however, and I hate to be the stick in the mud, but this did come across a lot of times as more of an impression than anything else. Some times, you were REALLY good at matching what the original actor did, so your deliveries and performance were definitely much improved because of that and you were able to make this work., But it still seemed like you were copying what had been done, rather than finding the emotion for the scene yourself. This especially showed when you did not copy the original as much or as well and a few parts fell flat.
Overall, for seeing you in a serious role for the first time, I did come away pleased. I think there's room for improvement, but it's nice to see you extending your range and you're already headed in the right direction!

Heh, I was expecting one comment like this. Yea, I do have a tendency to do that... Mostly when the original clip is english because I listen to it over and over again. I myself don't really care much for people who stick close to the original voice, but I didn't know how to deliver it any other way after watching the clip so many times, so bleh... Although I always wanted to do more serious roles like this, instead of goofy or weird voiced characters like Donald Duck. So I'm glad to at least try, I can agree I need much improvement but thanks for the critique.

[Cake Batter]

CakeBatter - Azula
This may have been due to the quietness on all the girl's lines, but unfortunately I was not that impressed with your Azula either. I can hear that you have the voice for her, but a lot of the deliveries were a bit lackluster for just how pompous of a character she is. You seemed to have the emotion most of the time, but you didn't sound very convinced of what you were saying so a number of the deliveries came across a bit empty. Keep practicing this one - it definitely has the potential!

You know, I'm going to have to totally agree with this criticism. I purposely didn't rewatch the scene so I wouldn't get stuck copying the exact inflections of the original actress. When I've practiced voicing Azula before, it was always in a less subdued manner, and so I didn't really know how to take it in this scene, considering she's only hanging out with her friends. I took the voice down a lot, but now I can hear that I may have taken it down a bit too much so that there isn't as much "oomph" as there should be. Thanks so much for this criticism, and you can bet I'll be keeping it in mind for the future.