1. MULTIMEDIA TRANSLATION ENGLISH - PORTUGUESE
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
Webpage: web.letras.up.pt/egalvao
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2. SUBTITLES – SUBTITLING
Legendas – Legendagem (PT)
?????? (FR)
?????? (ES)
?????? (DE)
?????? (IT)
?????? (PL)
other languages?
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3. 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.
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4. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Why subtitling?
????
Cheaper than dubbing
Cultural habit / tradition
SDH – subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing
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5. Roman Jakobson, “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation”, 1959
INTERLINGUAL
INTERSEMIOTIC
(between communication systems: written text into film, painting, music and vice versa)
INTRALINGUAL
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6. 3 main ways of translating AV programmes:
Dubbing (lip-sync)
Subtitling
Voice-over

7. 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)

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).
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9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.
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12. 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)
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13. 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 spaces or characters.
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

14. Subtitling: Translation or Adaptation?
Adaptation: a lesser activity?
Jakobson (1959)
K.Reiss (1977; 1981)
Delabatista (1989)
Asensio (2001)
Gambier (1994;2003)
Neves (2005)
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15. Subtitling: Translation
Terminology
1980s early 1990s constrained translation
Then audiovisual translation (AVT)
Film translation, cinema translation
Screen translation
Multimedia translation
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16. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
AVT
SDH AD
Concept of accessibility (Diaz Cintas 2005)
Computer games and interactive software programmes (convergence of AVT and localization)
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17. Classification of subtitles according to 5 criteria:
Linguistic
Time available for preparation
Technical
Methods of projection
Distribution format
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18. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Linguistic criteria
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19. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
Linguistic criteria
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20. 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)
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21. Distribution format (p.23)
Cinema
Television
DVD
Video, VHS
Internet
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22. Surtitles (supertitles, supratitles)
Live performances:
opera, concerts, musicals
theatre
conferences
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23. 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
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24. Stages in subtitling process:
Viewing
Spotting (timing/cueing)
Translating
Editing
*from: Bartrina, Francesca and Eva Espsasa, Audiovisual Translation
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25. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
For next week:
Visit this website and read the
Code of Good Subtitling Practice at
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26. FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
You should also read :
A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europe
by Fotios Karamitroglou
at:
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão