Transcript Padova Presentation

Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
Mestrado em Tradução e Serviços Linguísticos
MULTIMEDIA TRANSLATION
ENGLISH - PORTUGUESE
SPRING SEMESTER 2010
Wed. 17:30-19:30 – Room 205
Teacher:
Elena Zagar Galvão
[email protected]
[email protected]
Webpage: web.letras.up.pt/egalvao
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
SUBTITLES – SUBTITLING

Legendas – Legendagem (PT)
?????? (FR)
 ?????? (ES)
 ?????? (DE)
 ?????? (IT)
 ?????? (PL)
 other languages?

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Two weeks ago, I asked you to:
watch a programme (movie, talk show, serial,
documentary, etc.) with subtitles in
Portuguese and draw up a list of at least 5
different features that define/characterize
the subtitles you have seen on screen.
Remember to note down the name of the
programme as well as when and where (TV
channel) you watched it.
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Why subtitling?
????
 ????
 ????

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Roman Jakobson, “On Linguistic
Aspects of Translation”, 1959
TRANSLATION
INTERLINGUAL
INTERSEMIOTIC
INTRALINGUAL
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
(between communication
systems: written text into
film, painting, music and
vice versa)
3 main ways of translating
AV programmes:

Dubbing (lip-sync)
Subtitling

Voice-over
Discuss
Do you see subtitling as a case of
translation or adaptation?
 In your opinion, does it matter whether
subtitling is perceived one way or another?
 Make a list of situations where subtitles are
consumed in your country.

(from Audiovisual Translation:Subtitling, p.8)
Definition (from Audiovisual Translation:Subtitling, p.8)
Translation practice consisting of presenting a
written text (usu. on the lower part of the
screen) which recounts:
- the original dialogues of the speakers;
- the dicursive elements that appear in the
image (letters, graffiti, placards, etc.)
- the info contained in the soundtrack
(songs, voices off).
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
All subtitled programmes are made
of three main components:
the spoken word;
 the image;
 the subtitles
Their interaction + viewer’s ability to read
the images and the the written text at a
certain speed determine the basic
characteristics of the audiovisual medium.

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Subtitles:
- synchrony with image+dialogue;
- semantically adequate account of SL
dialogue;
- remain on screen long enough for viewers
to read them.
NB: synchrony, time and space (p. 9)
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Subtitling
A way of translating what is being said in an
audiovisual text.
Two characteristic features:
 Change of code (intersemiotic: oral to written)
 Oral message of the source AV text is present in
the translated product. The oral and written
message are received simultaneously, allowing
for comparison between source text and target
text.
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Television  Six-second rule
In six seconds an average viewer can
comfortably read the text written on two full
subtitle lines, when each line contains a
maximum of some 37 characters, i.e. a total
of 74 characters. This calculation implies a
rather low reading speed of some 145 words
per minute (about 2.5 words per second).
(seconds and frames are the measurement units used in TV)
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Cinema  feet and frames
A motion picture is measured using the Imperial units feet
and frames.
1 foot = 16 frames
1 second = 24 frames (cinema)
1 second = 25 frames (TV)
1 second = 1 foot and 8 frames (1.5 feet)
To guarantee a comfortable reading speed, it is commonly
accepted that a film foot (1 frames) should contain 10
characters (including letters, spaces and punctuation
marks). In other words, a frame can contain 0.625 spaces
or characters.
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Subtitling:
Translation or Adaptation?
Adaptation: a lesser activity?
Jakobson (1959)
K.Reiss (1977; 1981)
Delabatista (1989)
Asensio (2001)
Gambier (1994;2003)
Neves (2005)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Subtitling: Translation
Terminology
1980s early 1990s constrained translation
Then audiovisual translation (AVT)
Film translation, cinema translation
Screen translation
Multimedia translation
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
AVT
 SDH
 AD
 Concept of accessibility (Diaz Cintas 2005)
 Computer games and interactive software
programmes (convergence of AVT and
localization)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Classification of subtitles according
to 5 criteria:
Linguistic
 Time available for preparation
 Technical
 Methods of projection
 Distribution format

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Linguistic criteria
Intralingual
subtitles
SDH
For language
learning
purposes
For Karaoke
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For
notices
and
announcements
For
dialects
of the
same
language
Linguistic criteria
Interlingual
subtitles
For hearers
SDH
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
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)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Distribution format (p.23)
Cinema
 Television
 DVD
 Video, VHS
 Internet

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Surtitles (supertitles, supratitles)
Live performances:
opera, concerts, musicals
theatre
conferences
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Priorities in subtitling:*

Synthesis (condensation/concision;
elemination/suppression)

Readability (accuracy, fluency, credibility)

Orality (written subtitles should sound like
spoken language)
from: Bartrina, Francesca and Eva Espsasa, Audiovisual Translation
*
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Stages in subtitling process:
 Viewing
 Spotting
(timing/cueing)
 Translating
 Editing
*from: Bartrina, Francesca and Eva Espsasa, Audiovisual Translation
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
For next week:
Visit this website and read the
Code of Good Subtitling Practice
at http://www.esist.org/Code.pdf
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
You should also read :
A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in
Europe
by Fotios Karamitroglou
at: http://accurapid.com/journal/04stndrd.htm
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão