Editing machine-generated subtitle templates: A situated subtitler training experience

Automation technologies have altered media localisation workflows as much as practitioners’ workstations and habits. Subtitling systems and streaming services now often integrate built-in automatic speech recognition (ASR) engines, sometimes even combined with machine translation engines, to produce subtitles from audio tracks. The rise of post-editors in the audiovisual translation (AVT) sector, specifically subtitling, has been a reality for some time, thus triggering the need for up-to-date training methods and academic curricula. This article examines the uses and applications of editing practices for machine-generated timed transcriptions in subtitler training environments. A situated learning experience was designed for an international team of eight AVT trainees and three educators to edit raw machine-generated subtitles (both inter- and intra-lingually) for educational videos. The publication of an accessible video book by a publishing house was the ultimate objective of this project, undertaken by an international team of English- and Spanish-speaking postgraduate students and graduates. The feedback collated after this experience through an online questionnaire proved paramount to understanding the use of subtitle post-editing for ASR-produced templates in AVT education. Interestingly, most respondents believed that subtitle post-editing training, be it intralingual or interlingual, should be further embedded in translation curricula while also identifying bottlenecks that AVT educators may find useful when developing activities of this nature

(Main)streaming English Dubs

With ‘original’ content from a growing diversity of languages, Netflix has become a playground for audiovisual translation. Given that Netflix outsources its localisation, it has been able to rely on practitioners in consolidated industries to create revoiced and subtitled versions that adhere to industry conventions. Although subtitling has long been the consolidated mode for localising mainstream audiovisual products (films and series) into English, Netflix has initiated new trends in an Anglophone dubbing industry traditionally reserved for niche products, by bringing the dubbing of foreign-language mainstream products into the distribution mainstream. The illusory novelty of English dubs, debuted at the turn of 2017 on Netflix, has facilitated experimentation in dubbing strategies. In the burgeoning English-dubbing industries, located mainly in Los Angeles and London, standardisation, domestication and foreignisation strategies are being used (Hayes 2021; 2022). In order to elucidate emerging norms in English-dubbing strategies, in this article we present a corpus of Netflix’s English dubs of 82 Castilian-Spanish films and TV series and analyse the main dubbing strategies adopted by the studios involved. Lay summary Netflix has original series and films in many languages and the need to translate these into other languages has led to Netflix experimenting with different ways of translating content, such as by creating subtitles or dubbed versions (replacing the original dialogues with voices speaking another language). For importing “foreign” content (e.g. Spanish productions) into the English language, subtitling has traditionally been the mode of translation used for films and series, but dubbing has also been used for products such as cartoons and videogames. As Netflix outsources translation, they have been able to rely on professionals in well-established translation industries; however, in the case of translating into English, dubbing live-action has generally presented a new challenge for English-language translation professionals. Furthermore, most viewers of English dubs were previously unfamiliar with dubbing. Therefore, experimentation in English-dubbing strategies has been possible. Netflix’s English dubs utilise different accents (e.g. standard, regional or foreign) depending on different variables, such as the country where the dubbed version was created or the dubbing director. In this article, we have analysed 82 Spanish films and series on Netflix and their English dubs, in order to determine the presence different accent strategies and developing trends. The films and series studied were released on Netflix between 2017 and 2021 and were available on the platform in Ireland and UK throughout 2021. We ultimately draw conclusions that reveal our observations on current practices in English-language dubbing

Subtitling audiovisual humour: The case of ‘early Almodóvar’ films during la movida in Spain (1980-1984)

Humour transfer on screen responds to the inner constraints of audiovisual translation. Audiovisual humour imposes further challenges to translators because of its polysemiotic nature. This can be undeniably observed in auteur films that are specifically contextualised in a historical and sociocultural context, such as the ‘early Almodóvar’ films. Pedro Almodóvar’s first four films (1980-1984) were created during the Spanish Movida movement after dictator Franco’s death, corresponding historically to the political Transition of Spain towards democracy. These films have been so important that they can now be considered samples of audiovisual expression of Spanish Movida changes. Verbally Expressed Humour elements in these films represent compelling examples of translation challenges that respond to both the complexity of wordplay transfer and the cultural components of Spain in the 1980s. Sets of examples from Almodóvar’s first films illustrate the difficulties of transferring Verbally Expressed Humour elements in subtitling. This paper finds that humour transfer is accomplished in many different ways by subtitlers, whose translation techniques can be analysed following descriptive studies specifically focused on Audiovisual Translation.La transferencia del humor para la pantalla responde a las restricciones propias de la traducción audiovisual. El humor audiovisual impone mayores retos a los traductores por su naturaleza polisemiótica. No cabe ninguna duda de que esto es palpable en aquellas películas de autor que se sitúan en un contexto histórico y sociocultural específico, tales como las películas del primer Almodóvar. Las cuatro primeras películas de Pedro Almodóvar (1980-1984) surgen durante la Movida española tras la muerte del dictador Franco, tiempo histórico correspondiente a la Transición democrática española. Estos filmes han sido tan importantes que hoy se consideran muestras de expresión audiovisual de los cambios que ocurrieron en la Movida. Los elementos de humor expresado verbalmente que aparecen en las películas representan retos de traducción de gran complejidad, tanto por la transferencia del juego de palabras como por el componente cultural de la España de los ochenta. Una serie de ejemplos extraídos de los primeros filmes de Almodóvar ilustra las dificultades que entraña la transferencia de elementos de humor expresado verbalmente en la subtitulación. Este estudio señala que los subtituladores consiguen transferir el humor de muchas formas distintas. Las técnicas de traducción de los anteriores pueden analizarse siguiendo estudios descriptivos centrados específicamente en la Traducción Audiovisual

Taller de subtitulación con herramientas profesionales: cómo y por qué enseñar a subtitular con WinCAPS Qu4ntum

Este taller práctico está dirigido a profesores de traducción que enseñen alguna modalidad de traducción audiovisual (en particular, subtitulación) o accesibilidad para los medios audiovisuales. El taller combina una introducción al uso del programa comercial de subtitulado WinCAPS Q4 con ejercicios prácticos para que los asistentes se familiaricen con el programa. Se cubrirán las funciones principales del programa, así como los pasos a seguir para crear una plantilla de subtítulos y posteriormente traducirla o revisarla. Se hará hincapié en cuáles son los principales obstáculos que presenta el uso de este programa, así como lo que debe saber el profesor para resolverlos durante las clases. Desde la interfaz hasta los atajos de teclado principales, este taller práctico pretende abordar tanto los aspectos más generales como los más específicos del programa.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

LA VARIACIÓN LINGÜÍSTICA EN SUBTITULACIÓN: EL CASO DE LAS RESTRICCIONES EN LOS AMORES IMAGINARIOS DE XAVIER DOLAN

Linguistic variation represents a translation challenge, which calls for special attention by translators. When dealing with an audiovisual translation, its inner restrictions bring more difficulties to the translation process. Les Amours imaginaires by Xavier Dolan is a film in which examples of linguistic variation are observed to play a role in the plot. Six fictitious interviews form the corpus, since they are the fragments with a higher quantity of linguistic variation. In this article we will analyse how these varieties have been transferred, or not, to the Spanish subtitled version.La variación lingüística representa un reto de traducción que requiere una atención particular por parte del traductor. Al acometer una traducción audiovisual, sus restricciones propias imponen una mayor dificultad al proceso de traducción. Los amores imaginarios de Xavier Dolan es un filme en el que se ha estimado que sus ejemplos de variación lingüística juegan un papel en la trama. El corpus se compone de seis entrevistas ficticias, ya que son los pasajes con mayor cantidad de variación lingüística. En el presente artículo se analizará cómo estas variedades se han transferido, o no, en la versión subtitulada al español

Didactic audiovisual translation

This paper discusses the uses and applications of interlingual subtitling for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) in the language classroom and builds on a pilot experiment involving over a hundred students who partook in a didactic initiative based on the use of SDH. The present study forms part of the TRADILEX (2020–2023) international project, which draws on action-oriented approaches to produce didactic sequences of didactic audiovisual translation (AVT) and media accessibility (MA) tasks in foreign language education (FLE). A pilot experiment involving didactic interlingual captioning (Spanish into English) was carried out with two cohorts of students (N = 104) from two undergraduate programmes at a Spanish higher-education institution. The results shed light on the students’ perception of didactic SDH, as well as the pedagogical benefits of learning English by captioning video clips. The students boosted their translation skills in different ways, and awareness was raised on the importance of analysing visual, acoustic and paralinguistic information when localising clips. Ultimately, this paper examines the potential benefits of action-oriented captioning tasks and advocates for integrating didactic AVT-MA into the FLE curriculum

Estereotipos y referencias culturales en comedias de televisión dobladas: una exploración en el aula de lengua española como lengua extranjera

Streaming video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms have recently set out to produce an ever-increasing number of non-English-language films and TV series distributed worldwide. These, in turn, have become the perfect vehicle for disseminating cultural realities other than those from English-speaking countries. In this article, we endeavour to analyse the presence of stereotypes and cultural references in the English-dubbed version of the Spanish TV series Valeria (Benítez, 2020–present) and the way they travel through dubbing. To this end, we conducted a comparative study in which seven video excerpts from the English-dubbed version and their original Spanish version were shown to 57 native English-speaking participants from a British higher education institution, who shared a similar knowledge of Spanish as a foreign language. Specifically, we explored the participants’ overall perception of humorous passages, their identification of cultural references, their informed opinion on the translation techniques applied (and alternatives given), and their self-assessment of the metacognitive effort required. The findings show two aspects of learners: (a) overall, these learners were eager to maintain stereotypes and cultural references used for humorous purposes in audiovisual comedies, and (b) their understanding of these items often relies on audiovisual support. The findings offer an initial examination of English speakers’ cognitive and evaluative perception of Spanish comedies that have been dubbed in English and can be useful for translator training purposes.Recientemente, las plataformas de video por demanda (SVoD) en streaming se propusieron producir un número cada vez mayor de películas y series de TV con distribución global. Estas, a su vez, se han convertido en el vehículo perfecto para divulgar realidades culturales diferentes a las de los países anglófonos. En este artículo, intentamos analizar la presencia de estereotipos y referencias culturales en la versión doblada al inglés de la serie de televisión española Valeria (Benítez, 2020–presente) y de la manera como estos aparecen en el doblaje. Con este fin, realizamos un estudio comparativo en el que se presentaron siete fragmentos de video de la versión doblada al inglés y su versión original en español a 57 participantes nativos de habla inglesa pertenecientes a una institución británica de educación superior, quienes compartían un conocimiento similar del español como lengua extranjera. Específicamente, se exploró la percepción general entre los participantes de los pasajes humorísticos, su identificación de referentes culturales, su opinión informada sobre las técnicas traductivas aplicadas (y las alternativas dadas) y su autoevaluación del esfuerzo metacognitivo que requirieron. Los hallazgos mostraron dos aspectos de los estudiantes: a) en términos generales, estaban bien dispuestos a conservar los estereotipos y referentes culturales usados con fines humorísticos en las comedias audiovisuales, y b) la comprensión de estos elementos muchas veces dependía del apoyo audiovisual. Los hallazgos ofrecen un análisis inicial de la percepción cognitiva y evaluativa de los hablantes de inglés sobre las comedias españolas dobladas al inglés y pueden ser útiles para la formación de traductores

Audiovisual translation: Subtitling and revoicing

This chapter explores audiovisual translation (AVT) from a didactic perspective, with special emphasis on subtitling and revoicing. After a historical overview of AVT training, a detailed discussion ensues on how the technological advances and changes that have taken place in the creation, localization, and distribution of audiovisual productions have triggered the emergence of new professional practices and research avenues. In recent years, the proliferation of audiovisual and multimedia content has led to the diversification of translatable assets, and training in subtitling and revoicing has become an integral part of the translation curriculum offered in most educational centres. Yet, the teaching methodologies currently used in AVT courses are sometimes out of date, mainly relying on theoretical translation premises and trends rather than on current professional practices and state of the art technology. We take stock of the most recurrent AVT pedagogical methods, extricate some of the reasons behind this state of affairs and, following a competences-based approach, put forward a series of experience- and research-based recommendations for the design and implementation of AVT training in higher education