Movie subtitles have their well-established conventions. There are a few guides that appear to show in the right direction. But subtitling is a penniless grandchild of the silent movies that didn't get a makeover for hundred years of movie history. As translators we should ask ourselves if we want to keep our standards that archaic or kick ass instead.
Today, we have a wide range of tools to design subtitles smarter and thoughtfully. Our on-screen-texts would look totally different, if we put more effort into its design and cared more about those who actually need the letters on the canvas. Since we can get out more of subtitles, we should spend more time on its design and on satisfying our home SDH audiences.
If we look at conventional movie subtitles, we always get the same reduced code of information. There are a maximum of two lines, each line counting about 40 characters. Centered in the bottom or top of the screen, usually displaying white or yellow letters throughout the movie, we listeners are never annoyed by the subtitles. We put them on the margins of the screen so we avoid eyesore or something; I dunno.
I just wonder if anyone ever thought that deaf people could have a hard time watching movies, when their eyes have to gaze around hastily every time they try to come to grips with conventional "visualized speech". Cuz when I sometimes watch Spanish movies I try to watch the pictures move and simultaneously try to read the subtitles. Usually I come to conclude that I want to kill the subtitler for not trying harder.
If we take into account that we have to translate more than just linguistic source information, the standards in subtitling are even more narrowing down the message of the sound file and the picture. Paralinguistic and visual source information hardly ever harmonizes with its subtitles and usually is fully neglected or ignored in the subtitles. Why would a movie maker ever invest in subtitles of a professional translator when thought-absent toddlers can come up with comparable results? I wouldn't offer my services as a translator if I were to type down bland, rigid subtitles. We are given the opportunity to get out much more than we did in past decades, if we are willing to spend a few extra hours on the on-screen-text of our movie classics. As professionals we should give each of our products a noteworthy shape and our audiences a decent movie experience...
We could have changed the standards and the quality of movie subtitling at least for the SDH community but haven't done anything noteworthy since the talkies came into existence. Except a few exceptions in creative subtitling, no ambitious artist ever thought that tinkering on subtitles was worth a try, albeit fully advanced tools existing. We got several new pairs of shoes but still use our worn-off smelly old ones to climb our mountains. In my humble opinion, it is high time to unpack our new toys and happily explore the world ahead. If we stick to our simple srt.-files, our feet will hurt with every further step. We should develop a subtitle market that thinks subtitling anew. Subtitling shouldn't be a reduced byproduct of the original film material. Subtitling should be a sufficient multimodal translation product that is interwoven in the original material; a creation of its own that doesn't frustrate a viewer. And here is my point: conventional subtitling brings about frustration for the neglected audience, which is why I am convinced that we should break with the conventions in subtitling and instead create products that bring about the full movie experience for its deserving audience. We can do that with tools that have been on the markets for decades. Every professional subtitler who once only produced srt.-files (or material of similiar simplicity) should go and get a software that makes change possible. The Alpha SubStaion format appears to be a good start for everyone who lately fell for the established conventions of subtitling; and there is certainly much more to explore. Venture out and be creative. Our audience deserves a beneficial change.
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