Don’t we all have watched a movie or a television show with the spoken translated text along with the visible words written at the bottom of the screen? We all love to watch movies and shows with easy and convenient subtitles for a better understanding of the piece. Language should not be a barrier in the beautiful convention of performing arts as languages were created to connect the gaps between people. This innovative method of subtitling is provided by various language and translation services providers. So, let’s explore this field in the world of translation.
What Exactly is Subtitling in the Language Industry?
The translation industry is expanding very fast and subtitle services are surely a hot topic. We all have seen DVDs with a specific mention of the available subtitled languages. So, subtitles are a very common name in the world of media and entertainment. Subtitles are titles mentioned at the bottom of the screen. These words are nothing but the transcriptions of the speaker’s sentences (actors, news reporters, anchors, commentators, etc.) in a different language or in the same language. Subtitles are basically a spontaneous blend of various features of translation, transcription (but, translation is not necessary at times when both the target language and the source language are the same).
Transcription
The first step of subtitle making is transcription where the audio (words uttered by the speaker) is converted into visual/textual mode. This part is the origin or spine of this whole process. The audible information becomes visible information.
Translation
After the process of transcription, language conversion gets done if it is necessary. For example, a German dialogue that is audible to the audience gets converted to text-graphic subtitles in English and is available to read as well.
Different Types of Subtitle Making in the Language Industry
It can be divided into two categories:
- Intralingual Subtitling is done in the same language which is being spoken by the speaker. It does not involve any kind of language translation.
- Interlingual Subtitling is a branch where the subtitling is done in another language besides the speaker’s own language.
How Subtitle Translator Do Subtitling?
There are two different paths to get this job done.
- Real-Time Subtitling is a basic way to get the job done. As the name suggests, this kind of subtitling happens in real-time, as soon as the speaker utters the words. It might seem like someone is typing the words that have been spoken by the speaker, but that’s not how it happens. A subtitler carefully listens to what has been spoken and then, the subtitler repeats it into the mic in a similar tone to that of the speaker. After that, some editing gets done to avoid errors. This path gives a mediocre result as this is a spontaneous process.
- Offline Subtitling is a much standard process that is used for television and movies as they require error-free high-quality subtitles. This path takes time as subtitles go through review and fixing for several times.
Other than these, many more things are taken into consideration. Such as :
- Time plays a vital role in the process. Syncing with pauses, line breaks and time management gets done.
- After that, accurate fonts are chosen along with the perfect styling and size.
- Foreign subtitle translation templates are created when it is necessary.
- Proofreading and final editing get done at the end by a professional Subtitling Industry.
Important Points that need to be kept in mind while processing subtitles for a foreign piece:
- Localization needs to be practiced in the process of subtitle making to attract the target audience.
- The customs, idioms, language structures need more attention while preparing subtitles.
- Dialogues should be readable and precise so that, it is easily understandable for the audience.
- Formatting changes of the subtitles should be appropriate so that the movie or the show does not lose its essence.
In the end, it can be said that subtitle services are really crucial in the modern-day and in the era of the rise of the performing arts. Subtitles are the reason that artists from all around the gets recognition and language difference is no longer a boundary to achieve success.