TOPIC: Introduction to Audiovisual Translation (AVT)

Introduction to Audiovisual Translation (AVT)

TL;DR

Audiovisual Translation (AVT) involves translating spoken or written content in multimedia for a new audience. It's a specialized field that ensures viewers can understand films, TV shows, and games, regardless of their original language. AVT primarily uses subtitling and dubbing, each with its own pros and cons for different situations.

1. The Mental Model

Think of AVT as making a story universally understandable. You're bridging a language gap while keeping the original emotion and timing, often within tight technical limits. It's not just about words; it's about making a viewing experience accessible globally.

2. The Core Material

AVT is a fascinating field that combines linguistic skill with technical constraints and cultural awareness. It's more than just translating text; you're transforming a complete audiovisual experience. The main goal is to make content like movies, TV series, documentaries, and video games accessible to audiences who don't speak the original language.

There are two primary forms of AVT:

Subtitling

Subtitling involves displaying synchronized text on screen, usually at the bottom, that translates the dialogue and sometimes other on-screen text or important sound effects.

Types of Subtitling:

• Interlingual Subtitling: The most common type, translating from one language to another (e.g., English dialogue to Spanish subtitles).
• Intralingual Subtitling (Closed Captions): Subtitles in the same language as the audio, often used for the hard of hearing, deaf, or for language learning. These often include descriptions of sounds (e.g., [door creaks]).

Key Constraints in Subtitling:

• Reading Speed: Viewers need enough time to read the text without missing important visual information. This means limiting characters per line and lines per screen (often 2 lines).
• Synchronization (Spotting): Subtitles must appear and disappear at the precise moment the corresponding dialogue is spoken.
• Space: Limited screen real estate means captions must be concise.
• Cultural Adaptation: Sometimes phrases need to be adapted to make sense in the target culture, even if it's not a literal translation.

Dubbing

Dubbing replaces the original vocal track with recorded translated speech, spoken by voice actors. The goal is to make it sound as if the actors on screen are speaking