NADIR, A. (2017 September). Introduction to Communication Sciences. [S1 Syllabus for Master 1 Translation]. Algeria: Univesity of Blida 2.

Audiovisual Translation (Studies & Industry)

                       
               The world of Audiovisual Translation is vast.


                           

          If you are keen to learn more, check our previous posts via the label: Audiovisual Translation or watch the playlists curated for you. The first is entitled Audiovisual Translation Worlds. You will find a set of videos which have been selected and organized to introduce you to the wide range of areas in this field. The second playlist is focused on Audiovisual Translation Challenges.

          If you have any questions or you need more explanation, do not hesitate to get in touch or leave your comments below

Subtitling Software: EZTitles

          

        EZTitles is a subtitling software developed by EZtitles Development Studio. Other subtitling solutions are provided alongside EZTitles such as EZConvert, 3DTitles and EZTitles Plug-ins. However, these solutions are not free, only a 30-day free trial is offered. The cost starts from 50 euros/month. 

          With a good mastery of this kind of software, one stands a better chance of having a rewarding and better fulfilling career as a freelance subtitler. It is apposite to stress that professional subtitlers must have excellent mastery of the software, because it is hard for them to increase their personal productivity to ensure they are available to accept the work when it comes in. Learning how professional subtitlers and subbers use technology to increase their productivity can be facilitated by watching Video Tutorials which explain the basics and advanced features of cueing subtitles in EZTitles. If interested in such career, this can be the first step for you to do. The Video Tutorials can be accessed here: Video Playlist.

What is Subtitling?

     Subtitling is the most common mode in Audiovisual Translation. Subtitling is used not only in cinema and TV programmes such as films, series and TV shows but also in debates,  documentaries and video games. Besides, it is also used even in cartoons, eventhough its use is controversial. This interest in subtitling and widespread use is due to two factors: (1) It is more economical than dubbing; (2) It can be achieved in shorter periods of time.

        Technically speaking, subtitles can have many forms: 

1/ According to number of languages: (a) Interlingual subtitles; (b) Intralingual subtitles
2/ According to quality: (a) Professional Subtitling; (b) Fansubbing
3/ According to format: (a) Subtitles; (b) Captions (Open or Closed)
4/ According to position on screen: (a) Subtitles; (b) Surtitles

     The creation of subtitles consists in producing a written translation that is adapted to fit the screen size. It is not a word-for-word translation. Thus, subtitles are the text (sentences, chunks, utterences, etc) derived from the spoken discourse (dialogue, commentary, etc) that accompany the picture/image displayed on screen. Subtites are ususally displayed at the bottom of the screen. However, in opera, the "titles" are displayed on a screen above the main stage; therefore, they are called "Surtitles". Closed Captioning is an alternative term for subtitling.

     Sometimes, when subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing people, subtitlers add other signs and symbols (e.g. music) to depict the non-verbal process of communication, as shown in the picture below.

      In some of our previous posts, we dealt with the software used to produce subtitles. We will step-by-step deal with the problems that subtitlers face and their solutions soon. All these posts can be accessed via the label "Subtitling" (Labels are on the left side of the blog). In addition, a lot of Video Tutorials have been curated and organized in the form of Playlists on Youtube to help you learn at your own pace.

     From a reserach perspective, many research problems have been investigated in subtitling; namely, reduction, linguistic variation and expletives (Cintas, 2004). If you are interested in such kind of content, please  let us know.

Free Video-Editing Software

With a bit of creativity, anyone can make stunning creations. Many free video-editing (desktop, online and mobile software) were developed for beginners. These software have pro-like features, because they enable you to edit, cut, crop and trim your video clips in no time. Thus, they are used for subtitling as well eventhough they are not designed primarily for this purpose. Besides, in addition to their user-friendly interface, they provide themes, fonts and transitions that are similar to the ones offered by professional editions of paid software the mastery of which requires time and long years of practice. Moreover, you could edit your videos by adding your voice recordings to produce your audio-description and voice-over creations. Furthermore, you could insert multiple video and audio tracks. The only disadvantage is that some of them have big watermarks or logos that are sometimes annoying.

Direct links to the websites of some these software are listed below. The first two can be used online. There is no rationale behind the classificlation of the other software, so maybe in the future in-depth reviews will be added.

Link: WEVIDEO
Link: PANZOID
Link: SHOTCUT
Link: LIGHTWORKS (Award Winner)
Link: DAVINCIRESOLVE
Link: KDENLIVE
Link: AVIDEMUX
Link: VSDC
Link: FILMORA
Link: OPENSHOT
Link: Cyberlink POWERDIRECTOR
Link: WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER
Link: CINELERRA
Link: VIDEOPAD
Link: iMOVIE
Link: AVS VIDEO EDITOR
Link: AVISYNTH


This list is not exhausted and it will be updated soon.


Sample projects edited by Master Students can be watched here: Audiodescription Projects ; Subtitling Projects

If you have acquired advanced knowledge about the above-mentioned software and would like to share your experience, your feedback is greatly appreciated. If you are a newbie, keep asking questions! Check this post out later for more info or subscribe to get the newsletter of this blog directly in your inbox.