by Britta Noack
How I got my feet wet in the audiovisual field
I was working as a video game localization specialist at SOE. At the time, I oversaw a lot of in-game subtitle and dubbing projects. I was already pretty excited to work in a creative field such as gaming, and the combination of video games and media content translation were a dream come true for me. I had a very special team of creative minds surrounding me, and we always bounced ideas off of each other for cool content to incorporate into the games in our respective languages. I remember we went into the studio once to record voice-over snippets for a special event, and we were proud to see our translations come to life.
One day one of my former clients and collaborators contacted me to see if I was interested in editing subtitles that were translated by a group of talented subtitlers. It was a documentary called Who Needs Sleep? by Haskell Wexler. I was excited to work on my very first movie subtitling project, even if it was “just” the editing part. I learned a lot. It was my first experience with subtitling software, keeping consistency while working with multiple translators with different styles, template creation, reading speed, you name it. I was lucky to have worked with a client that was willing to welcome my learning curve and share their knowledge with me. Needless to say, after I got my toes wet, I wanted more. Shortly after that I was lucky again and another former client hooked me up with the translation of the Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light by Martin Scorsese. I was very proud to provide subtitles in my language for this project and could not wait to see my words, my art, shown on the screen.
I eventually left the gaming industry after my second child was born and started collaborating with all the creative people in my professional circle. I was very fortunate to have had so many talented co-workers and fellow translators around me who helped me reach out to new clients and agencies, so that I could do what I fell in love with: subtitling. Fast forward to today: I am still at it, more than ever, and I still love it as much as I did when I received my very first project. These days I am helping the new up-and-coming talents get a feel for the AV field. A lot has changed over the years, but one thing is for sure: audiovisual translators are one of the most passionate bunch you will ever come across.
