Diachronic and synchronic view of screen translation from intertitles to surtitles going through the phase of most popular and extensively used subtitles...

1. SCREEN TRANSLATION
Tatheer
Zahra
Amna
Sufia
Sultana
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

2. Objectives
 How long has screen translation been practised?
 How is it achieved?
 What equipment and training is required?
 What changes and challenges arise from new
technology?
 What makes a good screen translator?
 Who evaluates screen translation?
 What commercial and political agendas underpin
the selection and translation of material for the
screen?
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

3. Cont’d
 What are the financial, cultural and linguistic
implications of the expanding use of translated
audiovisual material in individual countries and
in general?
 To what extent can we expect the mediated
material we view to reflect the source texts
upon which it is based?
 In what ways can screen translation methods
be used to deliberately alter or censor
audiovisual material?
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

4. Talk Map
 What screen translation is?
 Diachronic View of Screen Translation
 Basic Terminology e.g. Media Translation, Language
Versioning, Audio Visual Translation, and Revoicing:
Lip Synch Dubbing Voice Over
Narration Free Commentary
 Subtitling
 Dubbing Vs Subtitling: evaluation of ST
 Factors Influencing the Choice of STM & Constraints
 Surtitling
 20th Century Challenges to ST & Conclusion
 Summary
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

5. Screen Translation
“…the interlingual transfer of verbal language when it is
transmitted and accessed both visually and
acoustically, usually, but not necessarily, through some kind
of electronic device.”
 translations for any
electronic appliance
with a screen (i.e.TV;
cinema; videogame
console; GPS
navigator; mobile
phone etc.)
 Film translation
 Dialogue translation
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

6. Terms used for screen
translation
 Audio visual translation
 Language versioning
 Media translation
Ranges:
• Television programmes
• Films, videos, video games, mobile phones
• CD-Roms, DVDs
• Operas and plays

7. Audiovisual translation
 “[a] semiotic construct comprising several
signifying codes that operate
simultaneously in the production of
meaning.” (Chaume 2004:16)
 Films, plays, opera, video-games and
hypertexts are examples of audiovisual
products that are intended to be both seen
and heard at the same time by end users.
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

8. Multimedia translation
 Multimedia products are both produced and
consumed by means of several media. In
other words, typical multimedia products
such as a films and hypertexts, will be
created through the implementation of
diverse technological equipment (i.e.
cameras, computers, software programs
etc.) and subsequently consumed by end-
users via some sort of electronic device
such as a television; a computer screen or a
console.

9. History of Screen Translation
 Silent Movies continued to be made until early 1930s
 The Jazz Singer in 1927, sound debut on screen by Al
Johnson, marked a new era in film history.
 Intertitles were used earlier to clarify plot and
dialogues.
 1906 to 1913, French ruled the film industry.
(Flynn, 1995: 15)
 In 1912, Italy was the most advanced national cinema in
the world, with 717 films in production (Russo, 1997)
 US took over as a result of the effects of WW1, when
talkies emerged in 1930s.
(O'CONNELL, 2007)
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

10. History cont’d
 Early days of dubbing and subtitling
Talkies and the expansion of travel and tourism
led to the need of dubbing and subtitling
 Hollywood responded initially by reshooting
films.
 American film companies built large studios at
Joinville in France but sooner the approach
was abandoned as early as 1932/33 as it was
uneconomical, inefficient and artistically poor.
Thereafter, the studios were used instead for
dubbing purposes (Danan 1991: 606-7).
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

11. Components
Intertitles
Revoicing
i. Lip Synch Dubbing
ii. Voice Over
iii. Narration
iv. Free Commentary
Subtitles
Surtitles
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

12. Intertitles
 Intertitles, which may
be viewed as the
direct forerunners of
subtitles, posed
relatively little
problem when a film
was exported, as they
could be
'removed, translated,
drawn or printed on
paper, filmed and
inserted again in the
film' (Ivarsson, of Linguistics and Literature, UMT
Department
1992:
15).

13. Lip-Synch Dubbing
 Whitman-Linsen (1992: 57)
distinguishes between:
 • pre-synchronisation, e.g. using
the prerecorded music/lyrics on the
soundtrack of filmed versions;
 • direct synchronisation, e.g.
when voice and picture are
recorded simultaneously;
 • post-synchronisation, which is
the most common dubbing
procedure and involves the
recording/addition of sound after
the visual images have been shot.
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

14. Subtitling
Definition
 Subtitling may be defined as a translation practice
that consists of presenting a written text, generally
on the lower part of the screen, that endeavours
to recount the original dialogue of the
speakers, as well as the discursive elements that
appear in the image
(letters, inserts, graffiti, inscriptions, placards, and
the like), and the information that is contained on
the soundtrack (songs, voices off). (Diaz
Cintas, 2007) Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

15. Paradigms of Subtilting
Subtilting
Intralingual Interlingual
same language other languages
for deaf and hard of hearing
immigrants, TFL, minorities
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

16. Technical parameters
 Open subtitles
(viewer has no choice as to the presence of
subtitles on screen)
 Closed subtitles
(translation can be added to the programme at
the viewer’s will)
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

17. Open Subtitle-Multilingual
A clip of an animated English Movie with open and multilingual
subtitles
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

18. Closed Subtitle/Captions
A clip showing the process of selection of closed/optional
subtitles
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

19. Interlingual Subtitles
A scene from a Hindi movie with English subtitles
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

20. Dubbing VS Subtitling
Dubbing Subtitling
Ten times expensive Ten times cheaper
Time consuming long Quick
process
Spoils the original It doesn’t mess with
voices; original, You can hear
original film;
original voices;
It can reach audience Promotes the use of a
with lower literacy rate foreign language
13 who tend not to along with creating an
understand the foreign interest in the foreign
language culture

21. Contd…
Dubbing Subtitling
Doesn’t interfere with Interferes with the
the visual integrity of visual integrity of the
the images on the visual images
screen
Allows for less Requires more
concentrated, more concentration and
relaxed viewing involves less
relaxation while
viewing
13

22. Translation or Adaptation?
(Diaz, 2007)
 It has to be understood that the subtitled
text is not a proper translation, but rather a
simple adaptation that preserves the
general meaning of the original. Pommier
(1988:22)
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

23. Factors Influencing the Choice
of STM
 Dubbing countries (e.g. France, Germany, Spain)
 Subtitling countries (e.g Belgium, Denmark, Sweden)
 Available Budget
 Time
 Programme genre
 Status and power relations of the source and target
languages (e.g. world, major, minority languages)
Karamitroglou's (2000)
 Target audience profile: factors as age, sex, educational
background and social class of the audience
(O'Connell, 1998)
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT
 Function of the translation in the target culture {Skopos

24. Constraints of Subtitling
 Overt form of translation (Gottlieb, 1992), i.e. it
can be evaluated by those who know the
source language of the voicetrack.
 Time
 Space
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

25. Spatial Considerations
 Maximum of 2 lines
 Safe area
 Position on screen
 Background
 28 to 40 spaces per line
 Type of font
 Font size
 Characters
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

26. Constraints of Dubbing
 Covert rather than overt translation there is no
scope for the primary target audience to evaluate
the actual standard of content
 Fodor (1976: 10) model of triad synchronies:
 (1) phonetic synchrony, matching sounds and lip
movements;
 (2) character synchrony, matching the dubbing
voice (timbre, tempo, etc.) and the original actor's
physique and manner and gestures; and
 (3) content synchrony, matching the semantic
content of the original and dubbed script versions
closely.
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

27. Whitman-Linsen (1992: 19)
 Linsen’s alternative model of dubbing synchrony. She
suggests that the general concept of dubbing synchrony
be subdivided into:
 (1) visual/optical synchrony; into lip synchrony
proper, syllable synchrony and kinetic synchrony.
 (2) audio/acoustic synchrony; covers idiosyncratic vocal
type, paralinguistic/ prosodic elements (such as
tone, timbre, intonation and tempo) and cultural specifics
such as regional accents and dialects.
 (3) content synchrony. Content synchrony is understood
to encompass all the linguistic challenges involved in the
dubbing process.
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

28. Nucleus-Sync (Herbst, 1994:
244-5)
 Herbst advocates scene by scene rather than take
by take translation, for appropriate and natural
translations and allowing translators to address
nucleus synchrony which he promotes in his
research. Herbst explains the significance of
nucleus-sync as follows:
 movements of the body, slight nods, raising of the
eyebrows, or making gestures always coincide
with the uttering of stressed syllables, which [...]
are referred to as nuclei .... However, while lip-
sync is given priority in dubbing, this is not always
the case with nucleus-sync so that the situation
could occur when a character raised his eyebrows
between two nuclei with such movements
appearing completely and Literature, UMT
Department of Linguistics
unmotivated.

29. As constrained translation
Dubbing Subtitling
It’s covert rather than It’s an overt form of
overt translation translation
The search for synchrony Can be evaluated by
creates the key those who know the
constraints source language of the
voicetrack
i. Phonetic synchrony Time and space are
ii. Character synchrony further constraints,
iii. Content synchrony people read more quickly
than they read
There is no scope for the Space constraints arise
primary target audience to because there is room
13
evaluate the actual for only about 30 or 40
standard of content characters
synchrony

30. Real Time Subtitling
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

31. Surtitles (supertitles, supratitles)
 Surtitles are relative newcomers on the
international stage, first appeared in 1983 in
Canada
 They are rather like the interlingual subtitles
provided on some foreign films
Live performances:
opera, concerts, musicals
theatre
conferences
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

32. 20th Century Challenges to ST &
Conclusion
 Advent in digital technology and IT added speed
and quality to subtitling and dubbing
 Improved access and choice of ST mode e.g.
multilingual DVD, and digital TV closed subtitles
 Present and future researches focusing on
machine translation and softwares development
 Linguistics, pedagogical, cultural, commercial and
political issues in screen translation are being
ignored
 Interdisciplinary approach in research projects can
solve the problem
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

33. Summary
 Historical background of ST from Intertitles to
Surtitles i.e.1927-1983
 Types of ST i.e.
Revoicing, Subtitling, Interlingual/Intralingual
and Open/Closed
 Choice of STM and Factors influencing it
 Constraints of Dubbing and Subtitling
 Surtitling
 Challenges of 20th Century
 Conclusion
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

34. References
 Connell. E., (2007). Screen Translation.
Multilingual Matters. Toronto
 Yang. W., (2010). Brief Study on
Domestication and Foreignization in
Translation. Journal of Language Teaching
and Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 77-80,
January 2010
 Hagan. M., (2006). Teletranslation Revisited:
Futurama for Screen Translators?. EU-High-
Level Scientific Conference Series
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

35. Links for Further Reading
 http://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/
2006_Proceedings/2006_proceedings.html
 www.lisa.org/archive_domain/newsletters/200
4/3.3/carroll
 www.erudit.org/revue/meta/1998/v43/n2/00220
3ar.html
 http://www.jostrans.org/issue06/issue06_toc.p
hp
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT

36. Thank you for your attention
Any questions? Feel free to ask
Department of Linguistics and Literature, UMT