5 Tips for Subtitling Translators Working on a Movie Script

Subtitling translation has emerged as an important aspect for today’s marketers. The captioning of dialogues or narration on-screen plays a great role in attracting a huge mass of audience for movies, video games, documentary films and television programs. Generally displayed at the bottom of the screen, subtitles are the written translation for dialogues either in the same language or in a foreign language. This in turn, helps the viewers to understand what’s being spoken in the movie.

Further, as it is a known fact that the world has transformed into a global village, thus, people have developed a secret love for watching foreign language movies. Keeping this in mind, the businesses opt for movie subtitling translation services, wherein the dialogues are translated into the native language of the audience and provided as subtitles.

This represents that the scope of getting a well reputed and higher paying job, is greater in this field. So, if you are thinking about establishing your career as a subtitler, you must follow some effective tips as follows:

1. Time Factor

The time factor is one of the most important concerns that should be taken seriously. To make sure that the subtitles are read properly, the time needs to be managed, so that the text appears immediately as the audience hears the oral counterpart. If the optimal display time is not calculated, the translation would go waste. For every translator it is important to understand the character-per-second ratio. Generally, 15 characters are advised to be used for each second of caption duration.

2. Language and Translation Skills

It is very critical for an aspiring subtitler to give maximum attention to his language and translation skills. The skills and knowledge you have for the native and other languages should be polished enough that you one could beat you in the art of captioning. Suppose, you are translating English dialogues into Spanish; for this, you must see to it that the English to Spanish sentence translation is performed in such a way that the native Spanish audience understands each and every word spoken in the movie.

3. Be Concise

The translators of subtitle must assure that they are concise with their translations. The audience can read the caption only once, while watching a subtitled movie. If that part of the movie is left behind, the audience will not be able to understand that part of the movie or dialogue. Hence, keep the texts uncomplicated and free from wordy structures or lexical items.

4. Modulation and Transposition

Modulation and Transposition are the two basic strategies for translation that aims at simplifying the text for subtitles. Modulation refers to presenting the situation from a different perspective. It should be noticed that the sentence is represented with a different perspective, but the meaning remains the same. On the other hand, transposition involves a change in part of speech or world class.

5. Avoid Background Speeches

Often in a movie, you may find a scene where there is a lot of background noise or background speeches going on. Example for this can be a scene at a crowded place or a scene where someone is talking while the TV is on. In such a case, it is advisable to neglect the background speeches and prioritize the one that is the most audible utterance.

Conclusion

No wonder, the scope for subtitling translation jobs is at its peak today. But with this, the competition level has also increased. Hence, you must follow these tips and concentrate on your translation and subtitling skills. Once you enter this field, you can surely shape a better and shining future for yourself. So, work on your skills, follow the tips and enjoy being a part of an entertaining job..!!

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