Hello I'm Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, welcome to the last in my series of videos
focusing on captions on YouTube and their importance, in celebration of
international week of the deaf.
In the first video I went through what captions are and why they're useful.
the second video is a quick breakdown of how to
actually add those captions to youtube videos. And the third was a run-through
of captioning do's and don'ts.
But, in this video I'm going to explain the secret world of captions,
what these things actually mean,
and a few YouTube tricks to give you a better experience as a viewer.
Welcome to the secret world of captions
Unlike subtitles, captions aren't just dialogue written on the screen.
If you're British and really confused we call both
captions and subtitles..'subtitles' because it's a thing.
They also need to give some clue about what those words actually mean.
I've played to this glossary from the many realms of the Internet
including the BBC guidelines for best practice in online captioning.
These are not the be-all and end-all rules of captioning however.
If there are any captioning rules or quirks you think I've missed
then please do leave them in the comments down below.
There are of exceptions to every rule and these will be different in different countries
I'm actually really intrigued to learn about captioning and other languages
so if you are from a different country and
English is not the language that you use please do let me know the kind of
captioning practices that you have in your country.
As I told you in the previous video
80% of people who use captions are hearing
and 20% are deaf or hard-of-hearing
but if I say
or
we all know what I'm trying to say
the way you use captions is just as important as having them in the first place
because alternatives like plugging in earphones or waiting until you're not in
a crowded noisy space just don't exist for that 20%
and that's a really huge demographic to exclude
so let me help you decode the language of captions
and help you make the best ones you possibly can
I shall start with the exciting questions
like how to swear in captions
You already know the answer to this one
just mash a load of symbols together
like these, preferably with the same
number of characters as the swear word you're trying to replace
That's a grawlix
They're comical and nonsensical but alternatively, if you're not just trying
to amuse your viewer but instead escape the census
(cough) Algorithm
Simply write the first and last letters of the word
and use stars in between
Asterix!..
Astra..
Asterixis..
like so
'Narration'
When used on TV or streaming services, narration is usually italicised
However we are talking about YouTube
where you can't control such a thing unless of course you've already created
a file off-site and then uploading it using the upload a file feature which I
talked to you about in video 2 which you've definitely watched
If you have a video that involves a narrator or a voiceover best practice would
probably be to name this with 'narrator'
at the start of whatever they're saying and
then their words
Which leads to
'Change of Speaker'
Again this can be done just
by naming the voices at the start of their speech and then shortening them to
just an initial if they continue to be a back and forth
You could also use three greater than symbols
but I think the tidiest is just to use a hyphen
'Words You Can't Hear'
So you're transcribing your vlog or someone else's and there's
the sentence that no matter how many times you bump up the volume and replay
you just cannot get.
Simply use brackets (indistinct) or brackets (unclear)
'Style'
Captions display dialogue sound effects and music but also give it a good
information about them
For example
Some lyrics are delimited by either a musical note or
the pound sign that's not the Sterling sign it's this thing also known as the
number sign or the hash sign and now the hash tag
Forever
Put it at the start and end of the line
For a hashtag use the word
'hashtag'
not the symbol
Because the person watching it may also believe
that symbol donates music so they're going to get very confused
Although they are on the internet
they managed to find their way here
so
maybe not.
But to save confusion, just you know write it out in full
Oh! However with the @ symbol you should use the @ symbol
because apparently that's less confusing.
'Puns'
This will be obvious once you get it
But
Words don't always make sense if you've never heard words
Just because two words rhyme doesn't mean they look like they do
A double meaning of a sound isn't funny when you have to choose one of those
options to then write down on in the captions there's just no joke there
So, the best thing to do in that case is to write down the two things
or three things it could be and then put a slash in between
'Rhetorical Questions'
In the same mode as sarcasm, either right out 'rhetorical'
or use the brackets (?) brackets
with no space between the last word and that bracket.
'Incredulity'
If you're not sure whether to put a question mark or an exclamation mark
put both!
Use CAPS to indicate when the word is STRESSED
probably not that much
but you know don't ever use it either
You can also use it to indicate
when a word is SHOUTED or screamed
Sorry, didn't actually want to scream that.
There's a puppy asleep on my lap so..
Just put whisper at the front of the sentence in
caps because its direction and then a colon and then the words
or you can just use brackets to indicate an aside.
'Accents'
If you suddenly say a sentence in
a different accent
she says not even trying
or you want to make a point of
where someone else in your video is from perhaps with a really strong southern accent
Use a label before the sentence
I suppose mine is going to say RP isn't it
'Dramatic Effect'
If the joke is that what you're saying makes no sense
then type out so it makes no sense
but if the joke
is the way that it's said then just write that as well
like slurred or high pitched
for a pause within a sentence leave three dots immediately following the pause
...
then continue immediately afterwards
...
without leaving a space
'Punchlines'
Do actually put the punchline in a different subtitle so I won't
accidentally read it before I've read the set up
Thank You!
'Music'
Label any music you've added in post-production
with MUSIC in capital letters
then add the name of the song
along with the artist if you know it
If it's more mood music
like creepy Halloween time then use sound effect label
and a final grammar point sound labels described sounds alone
they are not stage directions
If I can see you shut the door just write
'door shuts'
not
'I shut the door'
And that's all I have for you
although this is in no way exhaustive
I hope you've enjoyed this video and you've learnt a lot
If you're new to my channel then please subscribe
Come and have a look at the other types of content I make
It would be great if we could get all YouTubers to caption their videos
So please share this series of videos with your favourites and give
love to these creators who are already captioning their stuff and just
generally being amazing