Interview with Serena Clerici, voice of Sinfony in Magica Doremì

Interview with Serena Clerici

Our interviews with professionals from the world of dubbing continue on Voices, the show that airs on the Twitch channel of Pop Culture every first and third Thursday of the month. This time it was the turn of Serena Clerici, exceptional director of dubbing as well as voice of Sinfony by Magica Doremì, but also of Dorami in Doraemon and Amy Rose in Sonic's video games. This you are going to read is only part of the interview with Serena Clerici and if you want to hear (and see) the complete one, you can watch the YouTube video that you can find at the bottom of the article.

Let's start with the classic ritual question: why did you choose to be a voice actress?

Actually, I started with another goal: I went to art school and, later, set design at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in order to be a set designer. However, when my father passed away, I decided to go to a theater course to defeat a little shyness and be able to overcome that bad moment. There I was lucky enough to have Claudio Moneta, the voice of Spongebob, as an diction teacher for five years, who at the end of my career pushed me to try to audition for the dubbing course of the CTA (the Active Theater Center) and so I started working almost immediately in what was Merak Film, in 1997.

As a child they often made fun of me for the voice, because of my very "cartoonish" tone, but over the years I I took my revenge, because now it is my strength.

Do you remember your first auditions?

At the time, to access the courses of the CTA, you had to do an audition, which was attended by many. I was the last one and I was waiting for my turn, when Donatella Fanfani (Licia's voice in Kiss Me Licia) asked if there was still someone and heard my particular voice said: "There are still people who bring me little sisters? That's enough!". After trying me out, she didn't even let me listen to my performance again and sent me away immediately, so much so that I was really upset. In fact, I had done so well that they caught me immediately, with no need for further evidence.

Do you feel, in a certain sense, "slave" of your vocal timbre?

Unfortunately they lead you to be, because it is customary to fix yourself in a range of voices, and it is a shame because you are identified in that way and you are not even given the opportunity to be tested for anything else . Fortunately, at least in my case, there are people who have always trusted me for other roles than the usual girls or boys.

What do you think of the recent controversy, according to which a character of a certain ethnicity should only be voiced by a person of the same origin?

I consider it a useless controversy, also because I often manage and distribute some parts in certain products and there are people, such as my colleague Cinzia Massironi, who also covers roles of different ethnic groups very well, since in the dubbing it is a speech of vocal timbre, not of origin.

Especially as regards Italy, it is not a question of racism, but rather of the lack of actors of a specific ethnicity. I can understand the "physique du rôle", therefore, in my case, I will never be able to dub a woman tall one meter and ninety with an imposing voice for example, but assigning the parts based on the origin is something that does not have the slightest sense. The important thing is to be able to do it, regardless of how you are done.

Besides being an actress and voice actress, you are also a director of dubbing. Tell us what this role is about.

First of all, it is a very important role, because you give the signature to a product you are directing, you assume the responsibility for the choice of the voices and you will be the first person to give the green light for the broadcast . Very often, then, we have to adapt to the requests of the customer who wants more auditions to be able to view for each single role. At this point, the director chooses several actors who he knows could be good on that particular character, who could “stick” to the part, but the final decision is almost always up to the client.

Once you have chosen the cast, you have to study well the production you are going to direct, in order to better direct the actors in what they will dub: you tell the stories of the characters, how the events unfold, any background, you must always keep an eye on the "pronunciation sheet" and make sure that everything fits perfectly. And, very importantly, you must not exceed the processing times, because a shift is made of three hours and in this time frame you have to make sure that every single piece is in its place and that the actors are at ease.

When you then see the finished product it is certainly a great satisfaction.

Is there a production you directed that you are particularly proud of?

One of those I am most proud of is certainly the French animated series Kaeloo, which I directed in LogoSound in Milan. It is a cartoon that "rocks", because it was actually designed for teenagers, but it was bought by DeAKids and therefore adapted for a much younger audience.

However, we have tried to maintain the sympathy, irony and brilliance of the series, while retaining all the jokes and various cinematic references, for example an episode focused on The Shining, which can be seen inside.

It is also a series with a very fast rhythm and a lip that is not easy to reproduce, as well as having almost real mini-musicals in some episodes, in short, it is an incredible series and that I recommend to everyone, regardless of the 'age.

How is a typical day in a dubbing studio?

A day is usually structured with a minimum of one shift to a maximum of four, all of 3 hours each: the first from 9.30 to 12.30, the second from 13.30 to 16.30, the third from 17 to 20 and the "terrible" fourth shift from 8 pm to 11 pm.

Very often, participating as a director is much more tiring than when you are in the room because you have to pay attention to many things: the script, the video, what is recited in the hall and to make sure that it is without errors, maybe you have to call in the management to get them to send you other scripts or episodes and so on.

As difficult as it is and requires your utmost attention, once you see your name in the credits of a product that you have fully curated, it is truly a great satisfaction.

Serena Clerici also lent her voice to the Sinfony character in Magica Doremì and if you are a fan of the character, you can buy this beautiful Banpresto action figure on Amazon at this link.