When deciding on the subject for my goodbye letter as administrator of the Audiovisual Division, I couldn’t help but think about transformation. Transformation of the AVD as it welcomes a new leader and transformation of our profession as artificial intelligence takes over our space. The last few months have been a whirlwind of talks, webinars, […]
Deep Focus: Letter from the Administrator
Dear AVD Members, As we close the fifth calendar year since we founded the division, in the last December I will be writing in Deep Focus as your Administrator, I want to ask you to join me in celebrating the accomplishments of the teams that have made everything possible: past and present Leadership Council volunteers […]
Debbie’s YBR
by Deborah Wexler As an audiovisual translator, the second most frequently asked question I get after, “Wow, do you really translate movies and series?” is “How did you get into that?” I started at a state channel in Mexico called Imevisión that later became Televisión Azteca. A woman I knew worked there and one day […]
On the Audiovisual Radar
How a Text Translator Can Become a Subtitler Presenter: Deborah Wexler Subject: Subtitling Where: CTTIC Summary: Deborah explored the differences between text translation and subtitling, subtitle formatting, the ins and outs of managing time and space constraints and how a text translator can begin training themselves in subtitling. https://www.cttic.org/ Oralidad, divino tesoro Presenters: Alberto […]
Top-ten Principles of Subtitle Timing
by Deborah Wexler Somebody asked me why I hadn’t written anything about subtitle timing. I said that most information about timing subtitles can be found online in style guides by content creators, distributors and translation agencies. But I thought about it and decided to share my ideas, terms and definitions in Deep Focus to reach […]
Deep Focus 10: Letter from the Administrator
Are interpreters or subtitlers better at respeaking? I was asked this question at ATA’s 60th Annual Conference in Palm Springs by our Distinguished Speaker that year, Pablo Romero Fresco. My answer, “Interpreters for sure.” Less than a year later, I got certified by the Universidade de Vigo as an interlingual respeaker (live subtitler). If you […]
Linguistic Influencers? The Audiovisual Division’s Instagram Lives
by Daniela Costa A couple of months ago, the Audiovisual Division launched a series of Instagram Lives where we chat with talented audiovisual translators. September: The Founding of the ATA AVD with Deborah Wexler, Ana Lis Salotti, Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Meade, and Mara Campbell We kicked-off on September 26 with an interview with the founders […]
Deep Focus 7: Letter from our Administrator
Dear readers, It has been a very sad few weeks. We have seen the power of the freedom of expression and protest in action, and in the middle of a pandemic no less. But we have also seen abuse by the authorities. Instead of sharing some personal thoughts like I normally do, I want to […]
Deep Focus 6: Letter from our Administrator
by Deborah Wexler Dear readers, In these unthinkable times, we are being reminded of the fragility of life. As we try to absorb the news, the uncertainty affects our day cycles, sleep cycles, mental health, income and, in some cases, causes severe hardship. Some of us are lucky to be at home with our families. […]
On the Audiovisual Radar: ATA 60
AVD-Related Presentations and Workshops on ATA60 October 24, 2019 Are you a CAD (Certified Audio Describer)? Joel Snyder This session offered an overview of the fundamentals of audio description and how interested individuals can become professional audio describers. Subtitle Editing: Walking the Fine Line Between Red-Pen Pedantry and Facilitating Audience Immersion Vanessa Wells This […]
Deep Focus 5: Letter from our Administrator
Learning and Breaking the Rules By Deborah Wexler After the ATA Conference this year, I stayed in beautiful Palm Springs for a couple of days to see the sights. I wasn’t disappointed with the three fantastic places I visited: the Indian Canyons, the Palm Springs Art Museum, and its Architecture and Design Center. In the […]
On the Audiovisual Radar
AVD Members Contributions @ 2019 Conferences MATI (Midwest Association of Translators and Interpreters) 16th Annual Conference Deborah Wexler September 7, 2019 Chicago, Illinois Demystifying the job of the Audiovisual Linguist In this presentation, you will learn about the different jobs performed by audiovisual linguists, including subtitling, dubbing, lektor, closed-captioning, SDH, audio description, re-speaking, simultaneous subtitling, […]
Deep Focus 4: Letter from our Administrator
Quality’s Enemy in Subtitling: Peripheral Errors by Deborah Wexler When audiovisual translators receive suggestions from the reviewer, files with track-changes, template changes, etc., they need to review the subtitle in context before making or accepting changes. If they don’t, the odds of introducing mistakes into the files grow dramatically. An example from a Tagalog to […]
Deep Focus 1: Letter from the Administrator
by Deborah Wexler During the 59th ATA Conference in New Orleans, a colleague asked me, “What was the motivation that drove a group of translators to create an audiovisual division in the ATA?” I sat for a minute, pondering. “Many different factors motivated each of us,” I said. He then asked, “Well, what do you […]
Deep Focus 2: Letter from the Administrator
by Deborah Wexler In conversations about audiovisual translation, I often hear statements such as, “Clients don’t care about quality,” “Agencies don’t care about quality,” “Translators don’t care about quality,” and so on. This begs the question, who wants quality? And ultimately, who is responsible for it? First, let’s take a look at the audiovisual content […]