Growing up close to the German border, I was used to dubbing. During that time there was no cable TV, there were not many Dutch channels yet and many people from our area also watched German TV, which was picked up from the antennas on their roofs. Their foreign movies did not have subtitles like in the Netherlands, but a German voice jabbered through it all the time. I hated it, to be honest.
Movies in Poland
When arriving to Poland I noticed that movies were being dubbed. I could not understand a thing and the funny thing was that this voice covered all characters of the film. They call it a "lektor" here, people who talk through movies for a living ;-)
When arriving to Poland I noticed that movies were being dubbed. I could not understand a thing and the funny thing was that this voice covered all characters of the film. They call it a "lektor" here, people who talk through movies for a living ;-)
It was just awkward, a dialog between a man and a woman all spoken by the same voice. Or a child of around 5 years old having a voice like the Marlboro Man himself! You really need to have a long breath to do this work, as there hardly isn't any time to breathe if you have to cover every damn person in the movie.
Lektor elite
After a few months I started to notice that it's just a few guys doing this work. Like an elite club of lektors.
My favorite is Tomasz Knapik, the man has such a nice voice, a comfort to the ear really. If I would close my eyes while watching a movie, I would be sleeping like a baby in a few minutes.
After a few months I started to notice that it's just a few guys doing this work. Like an elite club of lektors.
My favorite is Tomasz Knapik, the man has such a nice voice, a comfort to the ear really. If I would close my eyes while watching a movie, I would be sleeping like a baby in a few minutes.
Public Transport
Like in every big city with a public transport system, they have these voices going like: "Next stop, Warszawa Zachodnia." I remember good that me and the Mrs were sitting in the bus together when another announcement was blasting through the speakers. "PAN LEKTOR!" I shouted full of excitement. The Mrs looked at me like I was having some kind of mental breakdown, priceless really. I told her to listen good during the announcement of the next stop. Then she also noticed, it indeed was Pan Lektor (Mister Lektor), Tomasz Knapik himself. We still make fun about it, because Warsaw's public transport system is known for its creepy silence.
Like in every big city with a public transport system, they have these voices going like: "Next stop, Warszawa Zachodnia." I remember good that me and the Mrs were sitting in the bus together when another announcement was blasting through the speakers. "PAN LEKTOR!" I shouted full of excitement. The Mrs looked at me like I was having some kind of mental breakdown, priceless really. I told her to listen good during the announcement of the next stop. Then she also noticed, it indeed was Pan Lektor (Mister Lektor), Tomasz Knapik himself. We still make fun about it, because Warsaw's public transport system is known for its creepy silence.
Tomasz Knapik
Later Mrs MyWarsawDream told me that Mr Knapik did more commercial jobs on the side. She works in tourism and at one of her previous employers they had this phone menu with his voice. People would call the general number and he would welcome you and direct you to the right department by asking a few questions, really nice. She even spoke to him on the phone once, can you imagine him calling this number? Having to listen to his own voice and answer a few questions? My wife told me he was a customer also and she had this strange conversation with him. She drew the same conclusion when this phone menu put him through to her phone, she told me it was like she was talking to an "automat".
Later Mrs MyWarsawDream told me that Mr Knapik did more commercial jobs on the side. She works in tourism and at one of her previous employers they had this phone menu with his voice. People would call the general number and he would welcome you and direct you to the right department by asking a few questions, really nice. She even spoke to him on the phone once, can you imagine him calling this number? Having to listen to his own voice and answer a few questions? My wife told me he was a customer also and she had this strange conversation with him. She drew the same conclusion when this phone menu put him through to her phone, she told me it was like she was talking to an "automat".
Last week she showed me some footage of Mr Knapik, somehow people are always curious to know how the person behind such a well known voice looks like. And I can tell you, he looked totally different than in my imagination, like always.
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