1 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,410 This video lecture is aimed at letting you know 2 00:00:46,670 --> 00:00:49,880 how to produce coherent text while respeaking 3 00:00:50,370 --> 00:00:52,480 by extracting and combining 4 00:00:52,550 --> 00:00:55,750 the information conveyed with the speakers’ material. 5 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:57,550 First of all, 6 00:00:57,620 --> 00:01:02,660 I will try to recap the notion of text according to text linguistics 7 00:01:03,030 --> 00:01:08,800 in terms of its relationship between its different structural components 8 00:01:09,230 --> 00:01:13,950 and in terms of its relationship with the context. 9 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:20,650 Then, I will also try to recap the semiotics of the audiovisual text 10 00:01:21,050 --> 00:01:25,270 and identify verbal and non-verbal components, 11 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,870 as conveyed either visually or acoustically. 12 00:01:29,630 --> 00:01:33,320 This will allow me to provide examples of strategies 13 00:01:33,620 --> 00:01:37,550 to concretely combine the speech made by the speaker 14 00:01:37,910 --> 00:01:42,200 with all the materials that he or she may make use of, 15 00:01:42,730 --> 00:01:46,620 in order to come to a coherent target text. 16 00:01:47,940 --> 00:01:50,320 This is the agenda of this presentation. 17 00:01:57,380 --> 00:01:58,700 In Element 1, 18 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:02,230 we have seen how to repeat the words of a text. 19 00:02:02,790 --> 00:02:06,880 However, a text is not just what a speaker actually says 20 00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:09,590 in terms of words that are grammatically combined 21 00:02:09,690 --> 00:02:10,940 to create sentences. 22 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,340 According to De Beaugrande & Dressler, 23 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:16,980 a text is a communicative occurrence 24 00:02:17,180 --> 00:02:19,880 which has to meet 7 standards 25 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,880 that correspond to 7 textual characteristics. 26 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:26,520 The first one is cohesion. 27 00:02:27,110 --> 00:02:30,810 Cohesion refers to the way words are related to each other. 28 00:02:31,270 --> 00:02:34,210 It is the grammatical relations between words. 29 00:02:35,590 --> 00:02:36,810 When subtitling, 30 00:02:36,810 --> 00:02:41,500 the speaker may make use of other tools to make a text cohesive, 31 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,380 grammar mistakes included. 32 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,030 These mistakes are automatically filtered by the audience. 33 00:02:48,630 --> 00:02:50,340 If repeated word for word, 34 00:02:50,570 --> 00:02:53,940 non-grammatical sentences, for example, result 35 00:02:54,110 --> 00:02:58,490 in a more difficult text to understand compared to a speech. 36 00:02:59,020 --> 00:03:04,760 This means you always have to keep an eye to the text you have just produced 37 00:03:05,090 --> 00:03:08,990 to make sure that subtitles are cohesive. 38 00:03:10,210 --> 00:03:12,750 The second element is coherence. 39 00:03:13,100 --> 00:03:16,930 Coherence is the way concepts are related to each other. 40 00:03:17,420 --> 00:03:20,520 It is the semantic relations between concepts. 41 00:03:21,050 --> 00:03:22,010 When subtitling, 42 00:03:22,110 --> 00:03:25,080 it is important that coherence is kept in the subtitles 43 00:03:25,370 --> 00:03:30,520 as you as a subtitler may have problems understanding a text. 44 00:03:31,020 --> 00:03:32,240 In case of doubts, 45 00:03:32,470 --> 00:03:35,010 if you manage to follow what the speaker says, 46 00:03:35,410 --> 00:03:37,450 it is going to be much easier 47 00:03:37,780 --> 00:03:41,810 to correctly report the speech he or she makes. 48 00:03:43,060 --> 00:03:47,060 If an incoherent subtitle is produced, it is very possible 49 00:03:47,390 --> 00:03:51,180 that the subtitler has made a mistake in the understanding process. 50 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:55,040 The third element is intentionality. 51 00:03:55,140 --> 00:04:00,090 Intentionality is the meaning the speaker wants to convey. 52 00:04:00,780 --> 00:04:02,430 This may be different 53 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:05,040 from the word-for-word reproduction of a text. 54 00:04:05,470 --> 00:04:07,550 If you think of irony, for example, 55 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,160 you always need to keep in mind 56 00:04:10,390 --> 00:04:14,510 that it is clear to understand when listening to an ironic speech, 57 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,350 but it may be not that evident 58 00:04:17,420 --> 00:04:20,550 when reading at the same text written in the subtitles. 59 00:04:21,050 --> 00:04:24,810 In this case, you may think of translating the source text 60 00:04:25,070 --> 00:04:27,380 into its corresponding meaning 61 00:04:27,910 --> 00:04:33,910 or make use of exclamation marks or of all caps to signal it. 62 00:04:35,730 --> 00:04:39,590 The fourth characteristic is acceptability. 63 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,580 Acceptability is the way the text satisfies the receivers needs. 64 00:04:44,310 --> 00:04:47,870 This refers to technical and linguistic aspects. 65 00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:51,870 Technically, reading speed is something binding, 66 00:04:51,930 --> 00:04:55,500 especially if the text unfolds on two-liner subtitles. 67 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,290 This means that if the speaker speaks rapidly 68 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,710 you may think of reducing the number of words in the subtitles 69 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:07,050 by omitting words or summarising concepts. 70 00:05:07,770 --> 00:05:13,320 Or you may be required to use tags to identify a change of speakers. 71 00:05:14,540 --> 00:05:19,590 Or again you may want to simplify the text or explain some parts of a text 72 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,950 if you know your audience misses some knowledge 73 00:05:23,250 --> 00:05:25,100 that the speaker gives for granted 74 00:05:25,490 --> 00:05:28,170 and that is shared with the hearing audience, 75 00:05:28,430 --> 00:05:32,000 like sounds or other acoustically conveyed information. 76 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:39,290 The fifth characteristic of a text is informativity. 77 00:05:39,650 --> 00:05:42,160 Informativity is the way information is provided. 78 00:05:42,390 --> 00:05:45,660 It is strictly related to the notion of acceptability. 79 00:05:46,020 --> 00:05:50,710 It is the way information is provided to the audience. 80 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:54,630 If the speaker has planned in advance his or her speech, 81 00:05:55,100 --> 00:06:00,210 then information is normally provided according to the theme-rheme pattern. 82 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:04,370 This means that known information is used 83 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,370 to introduce unknown information. 84 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:08,820 In this case, 85 00:06:08,990 --> 00:06:11,960 repeating the speech word-for-word is not a problem. 86 00:06:12,590 --> 00:06:14,700 It will effectively convey information. 87 00:06:15,060 --> 00:06:18,530 However, if the speaker makes an impromptu speech, 88 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,720 it may happen that the pattern is broken. 89 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,730 The subtitler may think of providing more information in the subtitles 90 00:06:28,030 --> 00:06:31,070 to make the text more acceptable to readers. 91 00:06:32,350 --> 00:06:36,210 The sixth characteristic is situationality. 92 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,300 Situationality is the relevance of a text in a situation. 93 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:48,130 If a text is cohesive, coherent, intentional, acceptable and informative, 94 00:06:48,460 --> 00:06:50,070 situationality is met. 95 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,020 However, it may happen that more speakers speak at the same time 96 00:06:55,090 --> 00:06:57,660 in a talk show or political session, 97 00:06:58,090 --> 00:07:02,550 or the speaker may speak over a video during a conference or a class. 98 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:04,040 In this case, 99 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,170 the most relevant utterance is to be reported, 100 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,730 the other one or ones may be disregarded. 101 00:07:11,390 --> 00:07:17,200 Finally, intertextuality is the way the text relates to other texts. 102 00:07:17,860 --> 00:07:20,100 This refers to similar texts 103 00:07:20,370 --> 00:07:24,660 but also to other sources of information used in the live event. 104 00:07:25,220 --> 00:07:29,900 In the case of a speaker using slides to support his or her speech, 105 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:31,590 it is always important 106 00:07:31,820 --> 00:07:34,760 that the subtitles are coherent with the slides 107 00:07:35,020 --> 00:07:37,890 or other types of on-screen text. 108 00:07:38,450 --> 00:07:40,400 In case of a mistake by the speaker, 109 00:07:40,730 --> 00:07:44,660 if the subtitler is super sure the speaker has made a mistake, 110 00:07:46,900 --> 00:07:50,730 he or she can reproduce it word-for-word. 111 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,400 However, in case of doubts, 112 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,300 it is always wise to go for solution 113 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,200 that is more coherent with visual elements. 114 00:08:00,690 --> 00:08:03,430 Similarly, if a speaker reads a slide, 115 00:08:03,730 --> 00:08:08,580 it may not be wise to repeat something that is already there as written text. 116 00:08:08,910 --> 00:08:12,510 In this case, the subtitler can send a caption to audience 117 00:08:12,740 --> 00:08:15,970 telling them the speaker is reading a slide. 118 00:08:18,020 --> 00:08:23,830 However, a text alone does not work if it is not used in the right context. 119 00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:26,700 According to Halliday and Hasan, 120 00:08:27,230 --> 00:08:30,920 text is not the only element that creates meaning. 121 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,760 Meaning is also created by something that accompanies it, the context. 122 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,130 The context includes the way something is said, 123 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:43,130 also called paraverbal components, 124 00:08:43,460 --> 00:08:45,470 and all the non-verbal signs 125 00:08:45,740 --> 00:08:48,840 that help the text provide its overall meaning. 126 00:08:49,470 --> 00:08:50,720 Without a context, 127 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,370 the concepts expressed in a text cannot be really understood. 128 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,560 That is why it is very important to understand its peculiarities. 129 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:02,700 According to the authors, 130 00:09:02,900 --> 00:09:07,390 the context is composed of the field, the tenor and the mode. 131 00:09:07,910 --> 00:09:11,780 Field is the shared experience of participants. 132 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,450 When a doctor talks to other doctors, 133 00:09:14,650 --> 00:09:17,880 he or she gives for granted they know some things 134 00:09:18,050 --> 00:09:20,220 which he or she does not explain. 135 00:09:21,020 --> 00:09:22,730 The opposite would happen 136 00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:26,560 if the same doctor spoke to a wider audience. 137 00:09:27,850 --> 00:09:32,700 Tenor is the role and relationships among participants. 138 00:09:33,130 --> 00:09:37,650 If our doctor explains a strategic plan against a pandemic 139 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,760 during a live broadcast, 140 00:09:40,020 --> 00:09:43,880 his or her words will have a different impact on the audience 141 00:09:44,210 --> 00:09:49,660 compared to the populist leader opposing it, who makes the same speech. 142 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,970 The mode is the way the text is organised and its function. 143 00:09:55,530 --> 00:09:58,270 This is strictly related to the previous two. 144 00:09:58,730 --> 00:10:02,070 While explaining the strategic plan against the pandemic 145 00:10:02,130 --> 00:10:04,150 during a live broadcast, 146 00:10:04,410 --> 00:10:09,100 our doctor will organise his or her speech in a very logical way, 147 00:10:09,460 --> 00:10:12,660 making sure that nothing is given for granted, 148 00:10:12,990 --> 00:10:14,840 word choice included. 149 00:10:15,270 --> 00:10:17,910 He or she will speak clearly and slowly, 150 00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:24,280 as what he or she says is going to play an important role in the citizens lives. 151 00:10:31,140 --> 00:10:33,650 Any audiovisual product communicates 152 00:10:33,950 --> 00:10:36,720 through the combination of many semiotic components. 153 00:10:37,310 --> 00:10:39,720 Be they TV programs, conferences, 154 00:10:39,820 --> 00:10:43,120 parliamentary sessions, meetings or school classes, 155 00:10:43,380 --> 00:10:46,250 they are all made of acoustic and visual elements, 156 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,290 that are either verbal or non-verbal. 157 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,090 This picture shows the semiotic components of a film, 158 00:10:53,420 --> 00:10:56,780 but the same features can be found in any of the events 159 00:10:57,050 --> 00:10:58,370 I have just mentioned. 160 00:10:59,780 --> 00:11:05,260 In particular, acoustic elements can be of verbal or non-verbal nature. 161 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,120 The most relevant acoustic element of verbal nature 162 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,840 is the speech to subtitle and its paraverbal characteristics, 163 00:11:14,070 --> 00:11:18,430 such as the speaker’s tone, pitch, and volume of voice. 164 00:11:19,220 --> 00:11:22,060 In the case of elements of non-verbal nature, 165 00:11:22,390 --> 00:11:26,780 we can differentiate between sound effects like applauses from the audience, 166 00:11:26,940 --> 00:11:29,120 a bell announcing the voting time, 167 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,710 the stop signal of an assessment, a special effect, etc.; 168 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,370 and music, like the national anthem being played 169 00:11:37,470 --> 00:11:40,080 at the beginning of every parliamentary session, 170 00:11:40,370 --> 00:11:42,980 a music to be guessed by a quiz participant, 171 00:11:43,340 --> 00:11:45,130 the jingle of a presentation, 172 00:11:45,420 --> 00:11:49,250 the lyrics of a song to be transcribed in class, etc. 173 00:11:50,370 --> 00:11:51,500 In some cases, 174 00:11:51,690 --> 00:11:54,830 these non-verbal elements are super important, 175 00:11:55,090 --> 00:11:56,870 like the one just mentioned. 176 00:11:57,170 --> 00:11:58,190 In other cases, 177 00:11:58,330 --> 00:12:01,790 they are absolutely meaningless and can be disregarded, 178 00:12:02,090 --> 00:12:05,620 like for example the footsteps of an MP, 179 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,150 a sound accompanying a visual element on screen, 180 00:12:09,580 --> 00:12:11,920 the music of a mobile ringing, 181 00:12:12,150 --> 00:12:14,890 the noise of a pen falling from the speaker’s table 182 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:16,840 or the shuffling of documents. 183 00:12:17,370 --> 00:12:22,810 It is the duty of the subtitler to decide whether to subtitle them or not. 184 00:12:23,870 --> 00:12:25,320 With visual elements, 185 00:12:25,390 --> 00:12:28,590 we keep having the same verbal and non-verbal dichotomy 186 00:12:28,650 --> 00:12:31,460 that we have seen in the case of acoustic elements. 187 00:12:32,910 --> 00:12:36,380 The most relevant visual elements of verbal nature 188 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,420 are graphic elements 189 00:12:38,490 --> 00:12:42,940 like a question written on screen in a quiz or talk show, 190 00:12:43,340 --> 00:12:46,080 the results of the voting in a parliamentary session, 191 00:12:46,410 --> 00:12:50,270 the content of slides in a conference, an exercise instructions. 192 00:12:51,290 --> 00:12:54,920 Other visual elements are of non-verbal nature, 193 00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:57,830 like pictures in a talk show, in a school exercise, 194 00:12:57,890 --> 00:13:01,290 in a session commemorating an important political figure, 195 00:13:01,650 --> 00:13:04,820 or in the PowerPoint presentation of a conference speaker. 196 00:13:05,610 --> 00:13:09,240 In case a video is played during these contexts, 197 00:13:09,540 --> 00:13:11,750 the film code is also present. 198 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,110 Worth a last mention are also the way a person dresses, 199 00:13:16,470 --> 00:13:18,450 the role of a speaker in the context, 200 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:21,320 the movements participants make and so on. 201 00:13:21,950 --> 00:13:25,310 Compared to what happens in the case of acoustic elements, 202 00:13:25,550 --> 00:13:28,480 the subtitler here is not called to decide 203 00:13:28,610 --> 00:13:31,680 whether to render them or not in the subtitles, 204 00:13:31,950 --> 00:13:33,560 as they are already visible. 205 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,730 However, he or she has to decide 206 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,150 whether to care about the audience noticing them or not 207 00:13:41,420 --> 00:13:44,950 and having the time to watch at them or not. 208 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,530 In Element 1, you have seen how to respeak a speech, 209 00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:53,630 which is verbal acoustic component. 210 00:13:54,260 --> 00:13:58,150 In case the speaker also makes use of verbal visual resources, 211 00:13:58,510 --> 00:14:00,690 it is important to avoid redundancy. 212 00:14:01,090 --> 00:14:05,870 So, for example, if a speaker is reading a slide containing a lot of text, 213 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:08,540 avoid repeating the text in the slide. 214 00:14:09,340 --> 00:14:11,480 Prefer a caption instead, 215 00:14:11,750 --> 00:14:16,460 like one saying [reads the slide]. 216 00:14:17,370 --> 00:14:19,620 This guarantees a smooth transition 217 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:22,880 between the subtitles and the slide the speaker reads. 218 00:14:23,350 --> 00:14:25,560 However, some problems remain. 219 00:14:25,690 --> 00:14:28,160 For example, the reader will not know 220 00:14:28,230 --> 00:14:30,670 when the speaker has finished reading the slide. 221 00:14:31,230 --> 00:14:35,060 Or the slide may only contain a few words of the quoted text. 222 00:14:35,590 --> 00:14:37,440 What to do to solve these issues? 223 00:14:37,870 --> 00:14:39,050 To let the reader know 224 00:14:39,350 --> 00:14:42,420 when the speaker has finished reading the slide, 225 00:14:42,780 --> 00:14:46,150 much depends on whether the subtitles appear 226 00:14:46,220 --> 00:14:50,240 as two lines bottom of the screen with the slide, 227 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,650 or if they appear as full text on a different screen. 228 00:14:56,250 --> 00:14:58,790 In the first case, which is the most common one, 229 00:14:59,050 --> 00:15:01,790 the subtitler will start respeaking 230 00:15:01,860 --> 00:15:04,230 as soon as the speaker stops reading the slide 231 00:15:04,700 --> 00:15:06,940 and starts saying something else. 232 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:08,420 By doing this, 233 00:15:08,690 --> 00:15:13,010 the reader’s attention is attracted by the subtitles re-starting, 234 00:15:13,110 --> 00:15:16,510 popping up or scrolling in the periphery of their view. 235 00:15:17,140 --> 00:15:21,290 In the second case, which may not be rare in conference subtitling, 236 00:15:21,590 --> 00:15:26,240 it is always recommended to «educate» both the speaker and the audience 237 00:15:26,380 --> 00:15:27,700 before the event starts. 238 00:15:28,030 --> 00:15:29,030 In particular, 239 00:15:29,250 --> 00:15:31,890 the speaker should always change to a new slide 240 00:15:32,180 --> 00:15:34,200 once he has finished reading the slide. 241 00:15:35,060 --> 00:15:39,020 The audience should always keep an eye on the screen with the subtitles 242 00:15:39,110 --> 00:15:41,290 to check whether new text is appearing. 243 00:15:42,250 --> 00:15:48,320 In case the slide only contains a few word or sentences of the quoted text, 244 00:15:48,620 --> 00:15:52,810 better to keep subtitling, thus avoiding non-effective captions. 245 00:15:53,500 --> 00:15:57,730 A final tricky situation is that of a video played during an event 246 00:15:58,020 --> 00:16:00,530 and the video contains dialogue. 247 00:16:00,990 --> 00:16:04,190 Here, there is not consensus in the professional community 248 00:16:04,490 --> 00:16:07,460 about whether to subtitle the video or not, 249 00:16:07,860 --> 00:16:09,740 as the speech may not share 250 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,040 the same characteristics of the event you are subtitling, 251 00:16:13,530 --> 00:16:18,090 like a fictional video in a conference, or a song in a school exercise. 252 00:16:18,750 --> 00:16:23,100 Some colleagues prefer asking the client to think of pre-recorded subtitles 253 00:16:23,430 --> 00:16:24,850 before the event starts, 254 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,790 otherwise they would not subtitle the video 255 00:16:27,990 --> 00:16:30,730 so as not to provide low-quality subtitles. 256 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,410 If the client does not want to provide pre-recorded subtitles, 257 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,690 we suggest using a disclaimer like [the video is not subtitled]. 258 00:16:41,190 --> 00:16:44,160 Some other colleagues try to subtitle the video 259 00:16:44,490 --> 00:16:46,270 for the sake of accessibility, 260 00:16:46,570 --> 00:16:51,020 despite the audio input may not be good or difficult to subtitle. 261 00:16:55,110 --> 00:16:57,890 In this video lecture we have analysed the text 262 00:16:57,980 --> 00:16:59,960 and its relationship with the context 263 00:17:00,230 --> 00:17:03,300 and the different essential characteristics it is made of. 264 00:17:04,020 --> 00:17:07,690 This has allowed us to introduce the main semiotic characteristics 265 00:17:07,750 --> 00:17:09,170 of an audiovisual product, 266 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,640 be it a parliamentary session, a conference speech, 267 00:17:12,830 --> 00:17:17,420 a TV program or other events that require a personalised access. 268 00:17:18,020 --> 00:17:22,600 We have seen how much all of them make the event heavily dependent 269 00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:25,840 on the verbal visual component of the subtitles. 270 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,000 This makes the job of the respeaker 271 00:17:29,270 --> 00:17:32,800 much more complex than simply repeating what is said. 272 00:17:33,260 --> 00:17:34,250 It implies 273 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,520 the real-time intralingual subtitler has to provide subtitles 274 00:17:37,580 --> 00:17:40,360 that manage to smoothly provide information, 275 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:45,240 and avoid the audience get lost with all the inputs they receive. 276 00:17:45,930 --> 00:17:49,200 To better understand this, for each semiotic element, 277 00:17:49,370 --> 00:17:51,210 we have seen some strategies 278 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,050 that allow for the subtitler to provide information 279 00:17:54,350 --> 00:17:58,110 that is consistent with the intended message of the speaker 280 00:17:58,310 --> 00:18:00,680 and with the expectations of the audience. 281 00:18:01,210 --> 00:18:02,500 In the homework session, 282 00:18:02,630 --> 00:18:05,210 you will be asked to try and provide solutions 283 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,560 for each situation where a mismatch between the verbal acoustic 284 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,330 and the other semiotic elements may occur 285 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,300 because of a wrong strategy being used.