Subtitling and Transcription Services Part 2
Subtitling and transcription services: How does a transcription service help with subtitling? You can’t make subtitles without a transcript. All great subtitles begin with a high quality transcript, and that’s where a transcription service comes in.
Audible Made Visible: The Art of Subtitling Part 2
Using a verbatim transcript provided by a transcription service (which often includes lyrics to salient background music), subtitlers edit and arrange a text version of film and video dialogue. There are many choices to be made, each impacting the quality of viewing and the meaning and feeling of the film.
Henri Behar has written subtitles for many major films, including Brokeback Mountain and Good Will Hunting. Interviewed by Time magazine, he said “The titles should subtly give people the impression that they are understanding the characters speaking, not reading words on the screen.”
This means careful choices about font and size, line length, color and tone of letters. Legibility is key. People need to be reading the words so fast and easily that they forget they are reading. If song lyrics are included in the transcript and subtitles, they must be differentiated; overlapping speakers need to be identified. The important dialogue must be conveyed, and extraneous utterances excised. Masters of transcribing in a broad sense, subtitlers are responsible for visually mimicking the experience of hearing.
Jason Avery
See More - Topics:
- Best Practices
- Famous Transcripts
- Local Color
- The Wide World of Transcription
- Tigerfish News
- Transcription Technology
- Transcription Tips
- Video Transcription
- What is Transcription?
