Subtitles — The Ultimate Guide to Movie Subtitling Format, Style & Etiquette

[Music] dang subtitles are everywhere they've become a critical part of film and television their effectiveness can make or break an entire story [Music] in this video we'll look at subtitle variations formatting and creative uses do you mean date him or date him yes datum datum hard I'll data's brains out this is The Ultimate Guide to subtitles get started make sure to subscribe and click the bell for more filmmaking videos 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 which sometimes use subtitles to illustrate dialogue [Music] with the Advent of Silence Cinema filmmakers would use inner titles to convey speech sometimes theaters would use types of magic lanterns to project translations under these titles [Music] 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 [Music] 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 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 and that could be very useful interlingual subtitles are transcriptions that are in the

same language as the dialogue they may be used to clarify modeled audio often seen in documentaries or reality TV shows [Music] 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 [Music] 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 um 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 [Music] less common types of subtitles in film include those for karaoke which encourage a viewer to sing along to a song look at this family constellation and freeform subtitles which take a more experimental approach to the text presentation subtitles are crucial in expanding the potential audience for a film and 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 let's

look at some of these 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 audio-visual translation researchers to ensure a caption is doing its job [Music] first subtitles need to be on screen long enough for an audience to be able to read them speak quickly give me your name horse master and I shall give you mine her foreign language captioning translators will sometimes make dialogue more concise in order to make sure it can be

read 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 foreign 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 you can't

fight in here this is the War Room 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 who's got the throat slitter if that's not possible text can be broken where the pauses are in a character's speech with anticipate [Music] line breaks also require thought I think you gotta think about your options syntactic units like a noun and its adjective or first name and last name

should not be split by a line break my name is Forrest Forrest Gump far has come 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 okay usually subtitlers avoid having texts linger after a shot is cut thanks if text does linger make sure it ends a bit after the cut to avoid

a visual flicker how do you like it 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 two to four frames a maybe it's time we forgot about discretion [Music] some toddlers 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 oh wait George filmmakers meanwhile should consider how text

will affect their frame subtitles are very good at attracting a viewer's eye well I'm good so if there is an important visual you want your audience to see show it without a subtitle it's 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 coloring is also crucial the text color needs to contrast with the scene it appears over or else it will be difficult to read is massive this can be avoided with shadowing or bordering which can make brightly colored

texts 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 Paquette 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 japaguri but piquette refers to it as Ramadan in the

subtitles because Ramen is more recognizable to an English-speaking audience foreign 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 use 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 thank you in Austin Powers the joke comes from the captions formatting nice potty mouth dirt bag in any Hall the subtitles reveal the character's true thoughts so did you do those photograph scenario or what yeah yeah I sort of dabble around you know intra-lingual text meanwhile allows for heightened authenticity he prefers to does kind of inline Einsteins in 1899 for example the immigrants hailing from different countries

speak different languages a realistic element only made possible by translation on screen and if I'm not mistaken that's also the case for you my idea 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 Ed vehicle will kill me uh-huh all right subtitles are far more important than most people think that's really important yeah it is without them a film's reach would be a

lot smaller absolutely and its scope would be a lot more narrow God bless you this video was made in collaboration with subtle 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 Studio binders screenwriting software does Virginia moisten remember to subscribe and turn on notifications to make sure you don't miss any of Studio binders filmmaking videos [Music]