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TRA2107 Lecture 2 - On Subtitling

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37 views16 pages

TRA2107 Lecture 2 - On Subtitling

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m7phy2sjfs
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Introduction to Subtitling

Subtitling: Issues in Audio-visual and Digital Translation


Definition of subtitling:
The process of providing synchronized captions for films and television
dialogue (and more recently for live opera (on surtitle)).
Different types of audio-visual translation:
• Subtitling
• Dubbing (the difference between translating for television and film)
Different types of subtitling:
• Inter-lingual
• Intra-lingual
• Open
• Closed
Comparing subtitling and dubbing:
• Speed
• Cost
• The tradition of the country towards its own language
Elements to consider when doing subtitling:
• Its connection with (and to interfere with) the visual images on screen
• Subtitles are usually placed at the bottom of the screen, and are
generally limited to two lines of a maximum of about 35 characters
each (for Chinese: usually one line with a maximum of 13 Chinese
characters)
• The time available for display and the reading speed of audiences
• Clear visibility and easy legibility: line breaks
• Punctuation
• Number
Technical constraints:
Space:
In the limited space allowed for a subtitle there is no room for long
explanations. Two lines of text are usually the norm, and the number of
characters per line depends on a number of factors, including the
subtitling workstation used. Since readability of the text is of paramount
importance, it has been suggested that an ideal subtitle is a sentence
long, with the clauses of which it consists placed on separate lines (Diaz
Cintas and Remael, 2007:172-80).
Technical constraints:
Time:
The length of a subtitle is directly related to its on-air time. Accurate in
and out timing is very important and the text in the subtitles should
always be in balance with the appropriate reading time setting. No
matter how perfect a subtitle is in terms of format and content, it will
always fail to be successful if viewers do not have enough time to read
it. A lower word per minute (wpm) or character per minute (cpm)
setting is applied, for example, when subtitling children’s programmes,
as children cannot reach adult reading speeds.
Technical constraints:
Presentation:
Subtitles can take up to 20% of screen space. Important factors for their
legibility are the size of the characters, their position on screen, as well
as the technology used for the projection of subtitles in the cinema (DTS
or Dolby), TV broadcast, DVD emulation, etc., as it affects their
definition. In our digital age, most of these problems have been solved.
In DVD subtitling, for instance, the choice of any font and font size
supported by Windows is possible, unlike teletext subtitling for
television, where this is not the case. These technical constraints
determine subtitlers’work practice and their linguistic choices.
Minimize negative effects:
• When the visual dimension is crucial for the comprehension of a
particular scene, subtitles should offer only the most basic linguistic
information, leaving the eyes of the viewers free to follow the images
and the action.
• Conversely, when important information is not in the images but in the
soundtrack, subtitles should produce the fullest subtitles possible, to
ensure that the viewers are not left behind.
• The presentation of the subtitles, the way in which the words of each
subtitle are arranged on the screen, and on each subtitle line, can help
enhance readability.
Things to omit (usually):
• Repetitions.
• Names in appellative constructions.
• False starts and ungrammatical constructions.
• Internationally known words, such as ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘OK’.
• Expressions followed by gestures to denote salutation, politeness, affirmation,
negation, surprise, telephone responses, etc.
• Exclamations, such as ‘oh’, ‘ah’, ‘wow’ and the like.
• Instances of phatic communion and ‘padding’, often empty of sematic load, their
presence being mostly functional speech embellishment aimed at maintaining the
desired speech-flow. Among these, we can find expressions such as ‘you know’,
‘well’, ‘naturally’, ‘of course’, ‘understandably’; prepositional phases (‘in view of
the fact that’); rhetorical flourishes; and phrases used for sound effect (‘ways and
means’).
Elements to consider when doing subtitling:
• These factors lead to “serious limitations on the amount of information
which can be conveyed by most subtitles.”
• Additional information?
Usual characteristics of subtitles:
• Overall compression in translation
• “Only a fraction of the information contained in the original intonation
or tone of voice can be conveyed” (comparing with dubbing)
• Compare with literary translation (e.g. no footnotes)
• On the vulnerability of translator
Translation strategies:
• Function (relevance to the plot).
• Connotation (implied information, if applicable).
• Target audience’s assumed knowledge of the language and culture of
the source language programme.
• Feedback effect.*
• Media related constraints.
*Feedback effect:
The visual information often helps viewers process the subtitles, and to
a certain extent this compensates for the limited verbal information they
contain. For example, aspects of interpersonal communication may be
found in intonation, rhythm and the facial and kinesic movements that
accompany the dialogue which are, to an extent, universal.
References:
• Panayota Georgakopoulou, “Subtitling for the DVD Industry”,
Audiovisual Translation: Language Transfer on Screen, ed. Jorge
Díaz-Cintas; Gunilla M Anderman (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2009), 21-35.
• Mark Shuttleworth, Moira Cowie (eds.), Dictionary of Translation
Studies (Manchester: St. Jerome Pub., 1997).

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