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Subtitling
Jakobson
Intralingual
Interlingual
Intersemiotic
Diagonal translation
Subtitles
Jan Ivarrson Subtitling for the Media
1992
Henrik Gottlieb Subtitling, a new
university discipline 1991, etc.
Irene Kovacic (Llubiana)
Yves Gambier (Turku)
Jorge Diaz (Roehampton)
Pilar Orero (Barcelona)
Intertitles
Two years later Frankenstein had
.bloodthirsty.
Intertitles 2
UNCLE TOMS CABIN 1927
Across two states George Harris, ever on
the trail of Lemul Proctor, the buyer of Little
Harry.
Technical aspects 1
Script (but often transcription)
translation
adaptation
composition
(translate all written elements)
Technical aspects 2
Ideally there should be notes on the film
itself,
the characters, the original story, the
cultural
references, etc. but there never is!!!
(Minchinton)
Technical aspects 3
SPOTTING where to insert the subtitles.
in cue
out cue
spotting list.
Technical aspects 4
BACKGROUND
white titles on dark background
bottom of screen where there is least
light and least action
except in snow scenes, etc. (black box)
Technical aspects 5
DIMENSIONS
width 2/3 of screen centred
height 15% of screen
characters 32-40 per line (28-38 on TV)
(max. 68 or two lines of 20 m.)
Technical aspects 6
LINES
1 or 2 lines
2 lines avoids flash effect; generally
better to have two one-liners together
than two separate titles.
Technical aspects 7
TIME
Film characters speak quicker than the
average reader but what is the average
reader???
As it is necessary to also take in the visuals,
etc., one line should remain on screen for at
least
FOUR seconds, and two lines for 6-8 seconds.
Otherwise there is a danger of re-reading.
Technical aspects 8
GAP BETWEEN TITLES
3-8 frames or second.
Viewers need a fraction of a second to
identify speaker (fixation pause).
Must not overlap scene change or shot
change. Otherwise viewer reads title again
(overlapping effect).
Technical aspects 9
SEGMENTATION
Units must be syntactically and semantically
complete.
Never separate articles & nouns; prepositions
& nouns, conjunctions & clauses, pronouns &
verbs, compund verbs, adjectives & nouns,
etc.
Technical aspects 9a
Technical aspects 10
DIALOGUE
Character One
- Character Two
-
Technical aspects 11
PUNCTUATION
Every language has a different prosody (rhythm of text,
emphasis, irony, etc.)
Fullstop to end title.
Dots for hesitation, interruption
Exclamation and Question marks.
Underlining.
Italics voice off, flashback, etc.
Capitals for signs, posters, etc.
Brackets (in arabic) or for deaf (train passing)
# songs eg. #tralala
Readability
The quality that makes possible the
Fixation
During reading our eyes do not move
Public view
Video Echo
Gottlieb on Subtitling
Prepared communication
using written language
acting as an additive
and synchronous semiotic channel
as part of a transient
And polysemiotic text
Subtitles/spontaneous
conversation
Prepared
not prepared
Written
spoken
Additive
original
Synchronous
extempore
Transient
ongoing
Polysemiotic
multimodal
Written
As such, subtitling differs from all other
types of screen translation.
Loss: reducing a language to writing.
Gain: introduction of extraneous
features that are not part of spoken
discourse. Cf. Pro rata.
Additive
Verbal material is added to the original
maintaining the source language
discourse.
Intralingual/Interlingual
Immediate
All discourse is presented in a flowing
manner, beyond the control of the
viewer.
This is changing with the introduction of
video, DVD, repetition in 24-hour TV
news programmes, interactive TV
(press your red SKY button), etc.
Synchronous
The original film and the translated
dialogue are presented simultaneously,
not even like simultaneous interpreting,
where there are dangers.
Polymedial
Multimodal
At least two parallel channels are used
to convey the total message of the
original.
Transfer
Complete translation
Not word-for-word.
Hi, honey.
Ciao, dolcezza.
Expansion
Give extra information, for example in
the case of culture bound terms.
eg. In the Name of the Father: I.R.A.
Condensation
Say the same thing in a shorter way,
If only I could
Magari
Decimation
Remove completely a part of the discourse.
Si ma guardi cosha combinato, guardi che
casino, porca puttana
But look at this bloody mess
(from La Bionda di S. Rubini)
Deletion
Remove entire text.
Would you like a cigarette?
---------------------------------
Paraphrase
Say the same thing in a different way.
For example Kramer versus Kramer
Ebbets Field.
monopattini
Imitation
Repeat verbatim.
For example, names, quotes, etc.
Janes Bond, Fifth Avenue, cest la vie.
Transcription
Copy any speech defects, etc.
A fish called Wanda
They dont sh..sh..sh..
Non c..c..c..
Dislocation
Shift from say song to prose.
Resignation
Defeated by culture bound reference.
For example Friends
a big foam finger.
una birra gigantesca.
Strategies
Condensation Caro
Diario
Ora tutto cambiato, ora tutto
veramente cambiato.
Everything has really changed.
Transcription Caro
Diario
Ca-pi-sci quel-lo che ti dico?
Un-der-stand what Im say-ing?
Moretti monologue:
Italian
Destate a Roma, i cinema sono tutti chiusi.
Oppure ci sono
film dellorrore come Henry.
Oppure qualche film italiano.
Ormai ho paura di rimettermi in gioco..
Sono un vigliacco.
Ma cosa successo in tutti questi anni? Ditemelo voi.
Ti si stanno imbiancando le tempie.
Incominciano a pesare le sconfitte..
Moretti monologue:
English
Summer in Rome, the cinemas are closed.
All you can see is
(P)
horror films like Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer
Or some Italian films.
(T)
Im afraid to re-think my life.
(P)
Im a coward.
(T)
What happened. Tell me?
(D)
Your temples are turning white.
(T)
The weight of defeat.
(C)
(T)
(E)
ENGLISH
transfer
No.
subtitles
661
condensation
165
16.5%
decimation
45
4.5%
paraphrase
35
3.5%
deletion
35
3.5%
imitation
33
3.3%
transcription
11
1.1%
expansion
0.9%
resignation
0.3%
dislocation
0.1%
TOTAL
997
100%
66.3%
SPANISH
No.
subtitles
transfer
condensatio
n
imitation
decimation
paraphrase
transcription
deletion
expansion
950
96
40
27
23
15
13
5
80.7
8.2
3.4
2.3
2
2.3
1.1
0.4
A Stranger among us
(1992)
Transfer
79%
Condensation 7%
Imitation 5%
lexico-grammar items
registers
genres
conversation analysis
translation
Other languages
Intralingual subtitling
English-English
Italian-Italian
Gaelic-Gaelic?
Interlingual subtitling
English-Italian and vice versa
English-Galician Portuguese and vice
versa
Database
Create database of subtitled genres:
car adverts (drinks adverts)
domestic soap scenes
nature documentaries
rows
etc.
Relational database
Relate subtitled text to other semiotic
modalities
gesture
music
camera angle/position
etc.