"- Zaaang."
- Subtitles are everywhere.
They've become a critical part of film and television.
Their effectiveness can make or break an entire story.
In this video, we'll look at subtitle variations, formatting, and creative uses.
"- Do you mean date him or date him?
- Yes. Date him.
Date him hard.
I'll date his brains out."
- This is "The Ultimate Guide to Subtitles".
Before we get started, make sure to subscribe and click the
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Subtitling is the process of creating text blocks that translate
or transcribe a film's dialogue,
narration, or on-screen text.
The history of subtitles can be traced back to the late 19th century.
Magic lanterns, sliding image projectors which predated film, would sometimes
use subtitles to illustrate dialogue.
With the advent of silent cinema,
filmmakers would use inner titles to convey speech.
Sometimes, theaters would use types of magic lanterns to project
translations under these titles.
But the first modern use of subtitles can be found in the first synchronized
sound film, "The Jazz Singer".
In 1929, the movie was shown with subtitles when it was screened in Paris.
"- Wonderful tales are always hard to find.
Some folks have won.
Some folks have none."
- Today, subtitles don't require a separate projector and can take many forms.
"- I'm the master of fright and a demon of light,
and I'll scare you right out of your pants."
- How a subtitle is presented can add to the overall mood of a movie or TV show.
Or, punctuate an important line.
"- Thank you, sir!"
- Let's look at some different types of subtitling.
"- I am so happy to be in America.
- Well, you certainly have a sunny disposition."
- Subtitles have a variety of uses, and all of these uses
can be put into two categories.
"- Well, that could be very useful."
- Interlingual subtitles are transcriptions that are in the
same language as the dialogue.
They may be used to clarify muddled audio, often seen in
documentaries or reality TV shows.
Or they can help an audience understand a speaker with a thick accent.
They can also be used if the dialogue can't be heard at all.
Interlingual subtitles are subtitles that are translating into another language.
These are key for a film with global box office ambitions,
or global subject matter.
Interlingual subtitles can also translate fictional languages, immersing
audiences in fantastical worlds.
Another form of subtitles is closed captioning.
These subtitles transcribe movies for the deaf and hearing impaired
and include character names and descriptions of sounds.
Closed captions ensure a movie's accessibility.
Less common types of subtitles in film include those for karaoke, which encourage
a viewer to sing along to a song.
And freeform subtitles, which take a more experimental approach
to the text's presentation.
Subtitles are crucial in expanding the potential audience for a film.
It can help engage viewers.
While they come in many shapes and sizes, most subtitles abide by various
guidelines to ensure they are readable.
"- I can't read this.
It's Aramaic.
It says, Rufus, see you in two years, Jesus."
- Let's look at some of those subtitling rules.
"- The only rules that really matter are these."
- A subtitle's primary purpose is to provide clarity for dialogue in a film.
Over time, rules have been outlined by subtitlers and audiovisual
translation researchers to ensure a caption is doing its job.
First, subtitles need to be on screen long
enough for an audience to be able to read them.
For foreign language captioning, translators will sometimes make
dialogue more concise in order to make sure it can be read.
For English subtitles, there should be no
more than 17 characters per second of footage.
Otherwise, your audience may misalign.
Text needs to be up long enough for a viewer to read it, but it also
needs to be in sync with the sound.
"- Well, that was very brief."
- Each subtitle should appear just as a character begins to speak,
and it can linger slightly after they finish, but not too much.
Captions should also be compact.
Ideally, a subtitle is readable at a glance
with no more than two lines of text and 50 characters per line.
Breaking this rule may result in a chunk of text that distracts
from the film behind it.
Where text begins and ends is also important.
Also known as segmentation, subtitlers try to abide by the
rule of one sentence per caption.
If that's not possible, text can be broken where the pauses
are in a character's speech.
Line breaks also require thought.
Syntactic units like a noun and its adjective or first name and last name
should not be split by line break.
Take this example.
A lot should have been kept in one line because it's a syntactic unit.
These rules are not ironclad.
If a correct line break will ruin a shot's composition, it can be altered.
Subtitles should always keep editing in mind.
Captions can play off of the rhythm and movement of a scene.
Usually, subtitlers avoid having text linger after a shot is cut.
If text does linger, make sure it ends a bit after the cut
to avoid a visual flicker.
Subtitles themselves should be edited with gaps between them so that the
viewer can register the new text, and these gaps must remain consistent
throughout the film to not feel jarring, usually between 2 to 4 frames.
"- Maybe it's time we forgot about discretion."
- Subtitles should also take into account just how busy a scene is.
If there is a lot going on visually, it's best to keep the
subtitles brief and to the point so the audience isn't overwhelmed.
Filmmakers, meanwhile, should consider how text will affect their frame.
Subtitles are very good at attracting a viewer's eye.
So, if there is an important visual you want your audience to see,
show it without a subtitle.
It is important to remember
not everything needs to be subtitled.
If a line is repeated or obvious in context, there is no need to write it out.
Subtitle coloring is also crucial.
The text color needs to contrast with the scene
it appears over or else it will be difficult to read.
This can be avoided with shadowing or bordering.
Which can make brightly colored text stand out in a bright scene.
And finally, remember that translating is an art which requires expertise.
It is usually best to hire a translator who specializes in subtitling.
They will be able to make sure translation is accurate, logical,
and culturally sensitive while adhering to the rules outlined so far.
Director Bong Joon-ho works closely with translator Darcy Paquete when
giving his films English subtitles, ensuring the new dialogue will have
the same intent as the original.
In "Parasite", for example, the characters eat a dish called Jjapaguri.
But Paquette refers to it as 'ram-don' in the subtitles because
Ramen is more recognizable to an English-speaking audience.
Interlingual subtitling will affect how an entire population will view your
film, so it's crucial it's done right.
As much as subtitling is a science, it is also an art form.
And there are many creative uses of the technique.
"- I'm starting to figure it out."
- Used deliberately, subtitles can enhance a film's content, going far beyond
just transcription or translation.
Captioning can be used for differentiation between characters, languages,
or scenes, allowing a viewer to better orient themselves in a plot.
In "Pachinko", different languages are written in different colors.
Blue for Japanese, and yellow for Korean.
This helps an international audience better understand what
is already a complex narrative.
Subtitles can also be a source of comedy.
In "Austin Powers", the joke comes from the caption's formatting.
In "Annie Hall", the subtitles reveal the character's true thoughts.
"- So did you do those photographs in there, or what?
- Yeah. Yeah. I sort of dabble around, you know."
- Inter lingual texts, meanwhile allows for heightened authenticity.
In "1899", for example, immigrants hailing from different countries
speak different languages.
A realistic element only made possible by translation on screen.
How a subtitle is presented can add to a visual palette of a film.
In "John Wick", the subtitles are stylish with graphic emphasis
on important lines of dialogue
And creative transitions.
They fit in perfectly with the stylized look of the film.
Subtitles are far more important than most people think.
Without them, a film's reach would be a lot smaller.
And its scope would be a lot more narrow.
This video was made in collaboration with Subtle, an association
of subtitlers and translators.
For more info, their website is linked in the description.
But before you start captioning, you need a movie.
Start your next film with StudioBinder's screenwriting software.
"- До свидания, мой сын."
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