AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION
(Project 3 – Instructions)
1. INTRODUCTION
You are required to provide a subtitled clip translated from English into your own native
language. You should choose a hypothetical brief that follows as much as possible the
accepted subtitling norms.
As part of this assignment, you will be creating subtitles for a clip, producing a spotting list
and writing a critical analysis.
2. MATERIALS AND TOOLS REQUIRED TO CARRY OUT THIS TASK:
• A clip of an audiovisual text of your choice. Specifications:
o around 3.5 minutes long with average dialogue density (longer if dialogue
density is low);
o the fragment of chosen footage should be continuous;
o the fragment of chosen footage should be presented in one clip;
o the clip should be submitted in [.mp4] format.
• Software:
o Any subtitling software that suits you.
• Understanding subtitling guidelines.
• A template for the spotting list.
• AVT bibliography; you may use abstracting and indexing databases to locate
references for the critical analysis component of this assignment.
❖ Please read all of the instructions carefully. I recommend marking off the various
requirements as you complete them.
3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
• Show awareness of widely accepted subtitling standards and practices, (as well as
discrepancies and debates);
• Show awareness of relevant literature, both on the practicalities of subtitling and the
connections between subtitling and other areas of translation studies;
• Demonstrate proficiency in the use of software and capacity to comply with
mechanical instructions;
• Display capacity to describe and justify your subtitling strategies in an adequate
register, using appropriate meta-terms.
4. INSTRUCTIONS
The task consists of several successive steps:
1. Compose subtitles for each of your proposed subtitling units. As you know, these subtitles
should be ready to be viewed with the film to native speakers of your language.
N.B. The layout, syntax and composition of the subtitles should stick to the conventions
explained below (go to 7. GUIDLINES).
2. Describe your approach to the subtitling of this clip.
3. Account for your formulation of the subtitles, commenting on the techniques you have
applied in each case and the reasons to do so:
3.1. You may want to concentrate on specific subtitles which have been particularly
problematic (if this is so, make sure you identify the relevant subtitles in your Critical
analysis) or provide a general overview;
3.2. You can choose how to structure your Critical analysis in the way that best suits your
needs.
3.3. Illustrate your argument with examples (finding the most economical way to refer to
them). The argument that frames these examples must make appropriate reference
to the audiovisual translation studies literature.
N.B. Differentiate clearly between your own words and those of the author of any
publication you are quoting or summarising by properly referencing the publication
in question.
4. Present your rationale for the choice of the clip;
5. Account for your formulation of the subtitles, commenting on the techniques you have
applied in each case and the reasons to do so. This account should revolve around the
issue which informed your selection of a film/text.
THE TRANSLATION: The degree of difficulty of the task (presence of culture-specific items,
dialect, complex interpersonal dynamics, etc.) will be taken into account in the assessment of
this aspect. Your translational choices will be considered in accordance with the
circumstances and justifications explained in your critical analysis.
THE SPOTTING LIST: It should contain the COMBINED CONTINUITY AND DIALOGUE COLUMN
as well as the START TIME and END TIME for the subtitles. It should also a column titled
SUBTITLES, instead of MASTER TITLES.
THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
• Your Critical analysis should comply with standard essay writing conventions and
include a list of all references mentioned in the text.
• For the purposes of this assignment, the list of references, appendixes and footnotes
will not be part of the wordcount.
5. DELIVERABLES
You will need to submit your outputs in an electronic form via Trello and email. The details
of the submission process are as follows:
1. The clip [MP4 file]
The clip used in this assignment should be submitted in [.mp4] format. The clip should be
named as follows:
• P3-XXXXXX.mp4 (where XXXXXX is your student number)
You need to send a link to the clip included in your submission email. The submission of the
clip can be done using a cloud service (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). You need to share
the link to the uploaded clip in your submission email.
2. Subtitles file [SRT file]
The subtitles file should be named as follows:
• P3-XXXXXX.srt (where XXXXXX is your student number)
3. Full spotting list consisting of the following columns [PDF file]
The spotting list file should be named as follows:
• P3-XXXXXX.pdf (where XXXXXX is your student number)
Bear in mind the following:
• In the ‘subtitles’ column, the text of the subtitles should appear as they do in the
electronic version;
• in your spotting list, horizontal lines (across all columns) should be used to separate
the contents of each subtitling unit;
4. Critical analysis [DOCX file]
Maximum length 2000 words. Minimum length 1800 words.
The Critical analysis should be named as follows:
• P3-XXXXXX.docx (where XXXXXX is your student number)
6. SUBMITTING THE TASK
• Submit (spotting list), (critical analysis), (MP4 clip) and (SRT file) via Trello and email.
• Ensure that the pages are numbered. Your formatting should be clear and academic.
You can, for example, set the spacing at 1.5 lines, and use a clear font, size 12 point.
• In the footer put your registration number and page number. Make sure you submit
on time.
IMPORTANT. It is your responsibility to ensure that the files have been formatted and saved
properly. Faulty or empty files will result in an important loss of marks.
7. GUIDELINES
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL CONVENTIONS
1 Position on the screen Horizontal
At the bottom of the screen
2 Number of lines Maximum (two lines)
3 Number of characters per line 40 characters
4 Number of characters per second (CPS) 18 characters
5 Maximum duration 6 seconds
6 Minimum duration 1 second
7 Minimum gap between subtitles 300 milliseconds
8 Maximum lagging-out time 1 second
TEXT EDITING
Segmentations
Subtitles should appear segmented at the highest syntactic nodes
possible. This means that each subtitle flash should ideally contain one
complete sentence. Please consult the figure below:
PUNCTUATION
1
Dashes {-}
to indicate the exchange of speakers’ utterances (i.e. a
dialogue)
are used before the first character
of each of the lines (with a space
character inserted after them)
2
“Sequence dots” {…}
when the subtitled sentence is not finished on one
subtitle and has to continue over the consecutive
subtitle
should be used just like in printed
materials
3
Full stops {.}
to indicate the end of the subtitled sentence
4 Question marks {?}
5 Exclamation points {!}
6
Single quotation marks {‘ ’}
to embrace alleged information
7
Double quotation marks {“ ”}
to embrace quoted information
8
Commas {,}, colons {:} and semicolons {;}
to suggest a short pause in the reading pace
9 Italics, boldface and underline not permitted
10 Other symbols such as {( ), [ ], ♫, etc} can be allowed when necessary.
11 All the punctuation marks must NOT be preceded by a space character. The follow the
previous letter character directly.