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Audio post-production company
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Axis International is the name coined by Ted Thomas for his Hong Kong-based dubbing group, which was active from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. The group primarily dubbed East Asian films, frequently in the martial arts genre. Although Thomas stated that Axis was the name of his “company”, no historical documents or other contemporary sources have been found that reference this name; also, by Thomas's own admission, it was not an actual company. The group was never credited; the reason cited by Thomas and his associates is that notable associates of the group were primarily Hong Kong government employees brought in from the broadcasting world who treated their dubbing work as a sideline.
While operating as Shaw Brothers' primary English dubbing group throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Axis also dubbed hundreds of films by the major Japanese studios, small Hong Kong and Taiwanese companies, many companies in general throughout East Asia, and occasionally companies outside of the region.
History
By the 1950s, Ted Thomas had secured his release from British Naval Intelligence and became a broadcaster for Radio Hong Kong.[1] He would later be invited by Shaw Brothers’ co-founder Run Run Shaw to test out film dubbing and see how well he liked it.[2] Thomas enjoyed the experience and began his career in the dubbing industry, going on to produce English dubs for Shaw Brothers’ movies. Ron Oliphant would serve as Thomas’ partner, helping him run the dubbing group.[3][4]
The dubbing group mainly consisted of expatriates from English-speaking countries, such as the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Canada. The majority of the dubbers involved, including Thomas himself, worked in broadcasting/communication with some also having backgrounds in amateur theatre. American accents were generally encouraged because it was believed to have raised the value of the film.[5] Some of the actors would dub multiple characters in a single film.
The films were dubbed via the looping method.[1] Thomas is known to have hired scriptwriters proficient in Chinese, including Oliphant,[6] Bob Toole[7] and Graham Earnshaw.[8] Oliphant would go over dialogue translations inch by inch and count the syllables, making sure that the English words would match those of the original language. Certain alterations to scripts would also have to be made to avoid labials when the on-screen actor had open lips.[1] Due to their day jobs, dubbing sessions were done during the night, these sessions took roughly 12-20 hours with the dubbers usually working from 6:00 p.m. - midnight.[2] There was typically only one rehearsal before recording. Loops that involved fight scenes with grunts and groans were usually not dubbed, unless dialogue was included. The main focus of the dubbing was the lip sync, more so than the actual acting, as it helped determine the value of the film dubbed.[5]
One of the studios used by the group was a flat that had its living room converted into a dubbing studio and a bedroom that had holes cut in its walls to create a projector room. The flat was not entirely soundproof, meaning that any sounds from other rooms would result in the dubbers stopping a session and starting over. Conditions inside were poor, thick cigarette smoke surrounded the flat because the dubbers felt like it helped them concentrate on their work.[2] Other dubbing studios used by the group include one in Kowloon.[4]
Bob Toole would later go on to split from Thomas’ dubbing group and create a short-lived rival. Thomas was upset by Toole’s actions, seeing them as an act of disloyalty.[3][4] He is not known to have had any rivalry with Matthew Oram’s dubbing group.
Selected films dubbed
Voice actors employed
Videos
- Note: Not all of the roles featured in the compilations were ones that were recorded by Axis.
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| Compilation of Ted Thomas roles
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| Compilation of Linda Masson roles
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| Compilation of Barbara Laney roles
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| Compilation of Michael Kaye roles
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| Compilation of Barry Haigh roles
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| Compilation of Warren Rooke roles
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| Compilation of Chris Hilton roles
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| Compilation of the unidentified Gengo Odaka dubber’s roles
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| Compilation of Rik Thomas roles
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| Compilation of Hal Archer roles
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| Compilation of Saul Lockhart roles
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| Compilation of Jack Moore roles
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| Interview with Michael Ross
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Notes
References
This is a list of references for Axis International. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
Bibliography
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