by Fernanda Brandao-Galea
The Professional Development Program of the Audiovisual Division is a career-building opportunity for translators who want to know more about this branch of translation. If you want to build the skills required to enter the audiovisual field, this program might be for you. We plan to help audiovisual translators broaden their knowledge in the area, discover new career opportunities to pursue, and improve their network. All of this may uncover new job opportunities and set you on a new professional course.
In an industry that is ever-changing, we must grow and evolve to be successful and stay on top. For this reason, we intend to guide translators in understanding and incorporating best practices into their day-to day work.
After our first Annual Meeting during the ATA59 Conference in New Orleans, we identified that most of the Audiovisual Division members were new to the field, and that their most urgent need was to know more about this area of expertise. Consequently, we decided to offer a series of six educational videos to kick off the learning journey.
We will post on our website one video per month. We intend to give an overview of the most relevant topics such as:
1. What is audiovisual or multimedia translation?
This one-hour long webinar will provide a bird’s-eye view of Audiovisual Translation (AVT) as a distinctive, constantly changing field in translation. It will introduce, compare and show the most essential characteristics of AVT modalities, such as subtitling, dubbing (voice-over and lip sync), subtitles for the deaf and hard-ofhearing (SDH), and audio description for the blind and partially sighted. It’s an introductory webinar specially designed to those who are interested or just beginning to work in audiovisual translation as a new professional specialization.
2. How to start subtitling
The Train Yourself in Subtitling introductory video covers basic concepts like format rules, space and time constraints, free subtitling software you can use and tricks of the trade.
3. What is Closed Captioning and SDH?
Closed captioning and SDH are subtitles specially created to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people enjoy audiovisual material. They include the transcription of all spoken dialog, as well as the written indication of sound effects and voice inflections, amongst other audible information. But, technically, CCs and SDH are only similar and they involve different skill sets from the audiovisual translator. In this webinar, we will view examples of both techniques to understand their differences and similarities, and we will discuss the technical aspects and requirements for an AV Translator who wants to delve in these processes.
4. An overview of translation / adaptation for dubbing
This introductory video of Dubbing will cover key notions like lip-sync, adaptation of subtitle files, what happens in a dubbing booth, dubbing scripts, best practices and workflows, and terms used in the field.
5. Game Translation and Localization
During this webinar we will dive into the world of video game translation and we will discuss challenges and specifics that translators and localization specialists will come across. For example, what kinds of challenges do different languages and/or cultures have to be put into account when localizing game content? What to do with variables? Is there a tool for that? How is content kept consistent when game companies are working with different vendors? How to find the right people for the job? And why QA is so important in game localization.
6. What is Audio Description?
The Audio Description introductory video will cover key concepts like the definition of AD, and the What, Where, Who and When of this supplemental narration. It will also review technical concepts, like how to describe onscreen text and subtitles, and the tense, pronouns, reading speed and vocabulary that should be used when creating or translating an AD file. Finally, it will cover what not to do and some special circumstances that are taken into consideration in scripts for the recording of audio description.
Regardless of where you’re at—whether you’re a senior translator or an entry-level industry member—you can continue to grow and advance your career and professional goals. We are here to help you take this step. Stay tuned to learn more about this program, and if you want to be part of this, or if you have any suggestions, please get in contact with audiovisualprodev@gmail.com.
We’re even open to guest speakers and presenters if you are more seasoned and have something to share with other members.
Fernanda Brandao-Galea has worked as a Brazilian Portuguese linguist since 2011 after diverse careers: Chemical Engineer, Law Student, and Project Manager in LATAM IT Sales. She completed a Translation Certificate Program, and Audiovisual Translation post-graduate course, and is currently enrolled in the Localization Certificate Program at the University of Washington. Her specialties are website localization, voice-based technologies, and subtitles. She serves NCTA as Events Director and ATA Audiovisual Division as Professional Development Coordinator. Find her at www.f2-global.com.
Published in Deep Focus, Issue 3, June 2019
