While each of the interpreters dubbed a wide range of films, with many films being available in multiple versions done by different interpreters, the big names usually had specific film genres that they were known to excel at. Whenever possible, however, the interpreters preferred to watch the films a few times first, making notes on the more difficult parts of the dialogue, and only then record a dub, which also allowed them to refuse dubbing movies they didn't like.
Many of these dubs were made using simultaneous interpretation, due to time constraints caused by competition among the distributors to be the first to release a new production, as well as the sheer volume of new films. The three aforementioned interpreters, Gavrilov, Mikhalev, and Volodarskiy, were the leading names in film dubbing in the last decades of the 20th century, with dubs done by each of them numbering in the thousands. This was also due to the lack of specific law forbidding the work of these interpreters, and they could only be prosecuted under the relatively minor offence of illicit work. Interviews with many of the interpreters revealed that this was not true, and that authorities generally turned a blind eye to them, focusing their efforts on the distributors of the tapes instead. Many of their voices had a distinct nasal quality, most pronounced in Volodarskiy, which led to the rise of an urban legend that the interpreters wore a noseclip so that the authorities would not be able to identify them by their voice and arrest them. With the introduction of VCRs in the 1970s, and the subsequent boom in illegal unlicensed videocassette sales, which were the only means of seeing Western films available to the general public, the same interpreters began to lend their voices to these tapes. Their services were also used at film festivals, where Western films were accessible to a larger public, and allowed the interpreters to gain further recognition. Some of the most prolific "Gavrilov translators" began their careers at such screenings, including Andrey Gavrilov himself, as well as Aleksey Mikhalyov and Leonid Volodarskiy. Those screenings were interpreted simultaneously by interpreters who specialised in films, where an effective conveyance of humour, idioms, and other subtleties of speech were required. Such dubbing used to be ubiquitous in Russian-speaking countries on films shown on cable television and sold on video, especially illegal copies, and are sometimes included as additional audio tracks on DVDs sold in the region, along with dubbing performed by multiple actors.ĭuring the early years of the Brezhnev era, when availability of foreign films was severely restricted, Goskino, the USSR State Committee for Cinematography, held closed-door screenings of many Western films, open mainly to workers in the film industry, politicians, and other members of the elite. The term is used to refer to single-voice dubs in general, but not necessarily only those performed by Gavrilov himself. In Russia Ĭalled Gavrilov translation ( Russian: перевод Гаврилова perevod Gavrilova ) or single-voice translation ( Russian: одноголосый перевод), the technique takes its name from Andrey Gavrilov, one of the most prominent artists in the area. However, others have commented that the creativity of good interpreters can make the film more enjoyable, though deviating from the filmmaker's original intentions. Any text appearing on the screen is also usually read out by the interpreter, although in more recent times, it is sometimes carried with subtitles covering any on-screen text.ĭmitriy Puchkov has been very outspoken about simultaneous interpretation, stating that it should be abandoned in favour of a more precise translation, with thorough efforts to research and find Russian equivalents in cases of lexical gaps, and maintains numerous lists of gaffes made by interpreters, including highly experienced ones such as Mikhalev. The voice-over usually contains only a hint of emotion, as many of the interpreters try to sound "transparent" to the audience. The original audio can thus be heard to some extent, allowing the viewer to grasp the actors' voices, yet due to the lack of synchronisation between original dialogue and a voice-over, original music is usually a victim of lowering the original track's volume. It is slow paced, therefore shortened but fully intelligible, usually trailing the original dialogue by a few seconds. A typical voice-over translation is usually done by a single male or female voice artist.
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