1 00:00:40,195 --> 00:00:43,362 This video lecture is aimed at letting you know 2 00:00:43,362 --> 00:00:46,662 how to produce coherent text while typing 3 00:00:46,662 --> 00:00:53,196 by extracting and combining the information conveyed with the speakers’ material. 4 00:00:53,196 --> 00:00:59,730 First of all, I will try to recap the notion of text according to text linguistics 5 00:00:59,730 --> 00:01:05,109 in terms of its relationship between its different structural components 6 00:01:05,109 --> 00:01:08,574 and its relationship with the context. 7 00:01:08,574 --> 00:01:14,316 Then, I will also try to recap the semiotics of the audiovisual text 8 00:01:14,316 --> 00:01:18,738 and identify verbal and non-verbal components 9 00:01:18,738 --> 00:01:23,424 as conveyed either visually or acoustically. 10 00:01:23,424 --> 00:01:27,483 This will allow me to provide examples of strategies 11 00:01:27,483 --> 00:01:31,311 to concretely combine the speech made by the speaker 12 00:01:31,311 --> 00:01:35,469 with all the materials that he or she may make use of 13 00:01:35,469 --> 00:01:39,429 in order to come to a coherent target text. 14 00:01:41,772 --> 00:01:45,402 This is the agenda of this presentation. 15 00:01:47,077 --> 00:01:49,228 Text linguistics 16 00:01:50,616 --> 00:01:55,368 In the first Element we have seen how to repeat the words of a text. 17 00:01:55,368 --> 00:01:59,526 However, a text is not just what a speaker actually says 18 00:01:59,526 --> 00:02:04,740 in terms of words that are grammatically combined to create sentences. 19 00:02:04,740 --> 00:02:10,713 According to De Beaugrande & Dressler a text is a communicative occurrence 20 00:02:10,713 --> 00:02:13,056 which has to meet 7 standards 21 00:02:13,056 --> 00:02:16,884 that correspond to 7 textual characteristics. 22 00:02:16,884 --> 00:02:21,900 Cohesion refers to the way words are related to each other. 23 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:25,530 It is the grammatical relations between words. 24 00:02:25,530 --> 00:02:30,249 When subtitling, the speaker may make use of other tools 25 00:02:30,249 --> 00:02:34,011 to make a text cohesive, grammar mistakes included 26 00:02:34,011 --> 00:02:37,773 which are automatically filtered by the audience. 27 00:02:37,773 --> 00:02:40,182 If repeated word for word 28 00:02:40,182 --> 00:02:43,218 non grammatical sentences, for example 29 00:02:43,218 --> 00:02:48,663 result in a more difficult text to understand compared to a speech. 30 00:02:48,663 --> 00:02:53,613 This means you always have to keep an eye to the text you produce 31 00:02:53,613 --> 00:02:57,210 to make sure cohesion is kept in the subtitles. 32 00:02:57,210 --> 00:03:01,665 Coherence is the way concepts are related to each other. 33 00:03:01,665 --> 00:03:05,493 It is the semantic relations between concepts. 34 00:03:05,493 --> 00:03:11,070 When subtitling, it is important that coherence is kept in the subtitles 35 00:03:11,070 --> 00:03:15,690 as you as a subtitler may have problems understanding a text. 36 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:20,178 In case of doubts, if you manage to follow what the speaker says 37 00:03:20,178 --> 00:03:24,567 it is going to be easier to correctly report the speech. 38 00:03:24,567 --> 00:03:27,900 If an incoherent subtitle is produced 39 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:34,500 it is very possible that the subtitler has made a mistake in the understanding process. 40 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:39,483 Intentionality is the meaning the speaker wants to convey. 41 00:03:39,483 --> 00:03:44,631 This may be different from the word-for-word reproduction of a text. 42 00:03:44,631 --> 00:03:47,469 If you think of irony, for example 43 00:03:47,469 --> 00:03:51,594 you always need to keep in mind that it is clear to understand 44 00:03:51,594 --> 00:03:54,069 when listening to an ironic speech 45 00:03:54,069 --> 00:03:59,679 but it may be not that evident when reading the same text written in the subtitles. 46 00:03:59,679 --> 00:04:03,771 In this case, you may think of translating the source text 47 00:04:03,771 --> 00:04:06,378 into its corresponding meaning 48 00:04:06,378 --> 00:04:12,582 or make use of exclamation marks or of all caps to signal it. 49 00:04:12,582 --> 00:04:18,258 Acceptability is the way the text satisfies the receivers needs. 50 00:04:18,258 --> 00:04:22,713 This refers to technical and linguistic aspects. 51 00:04:22,713 --> 00:04:26,442 Technically, reading speed is sometimes binding 52 00:04:26,442 --> 00:04:31,359 especially if the text unfolds on two-liner subtitles. 53 00:04:31,359 --> 00:04:34,758 This means that if the speaker speaks rapidly 54 00:04:34,758 --> 00:04:38,883 you may think of reducing the number of words in the subtitles 55 00:04:38,883 --> 00:04:42,579 by omitting words or summarising concepts. 56 00:04:42,579 --> 00:04:48,816 Or you may be required to use tags to identify a change of speakers. 57 00:04:48,816 --> 00:04:52,248 Or again you may want to simplify the text 58 00:04:52,248 --> 00:04:54,723 or explain some parts of a text 59 00:04:54,723 --> 00:05:00,077 if you know your audience misses some knowledge the speaker gives for granted 60 00:05:00,102 --> 00:05:03,303 and that is shared with the hearing audience 61 00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:07,989 like sounds or other acoustically conveyed information. 62 00:05:07,989 --> 00:05:12,642 Informativity is the way information is provided. 63 00:05:12,642 --> 00:05:17,262 It is strictly related to the notion of acceptability. 64 00:05:17,262 --> 00:05:21,420 It is the way information is provided to the audience. 65 00:05:21,420 --> 00:05:24,555 If the speaker has planned his or her speech 66 00:05:24,555 --> 00:05:30,132 information is normally provided according to the theme-rheme pattern. 67 00:05:30,132 --> 00:05:37,062 his means that known information is used to introduce unknown information. 68 00:05:37,062 --> 00:05:41,583 In this case repeating the speech word for word is not a problem. 69 00:05:41,583 --> 00:05:45,114 It will effectively convey information. 70 00:05:45,114 --> 00:05:49,041 However, if the speaker makes an impromptu speech 71 00:05:49,041 --> 00:05:52,143 it may happen that the pattern is broken. 72 00:05:52,143 --> 00:05:57,555 The subtitler may think of providing more information in the subtitles 73 00:05:57,555 --> 00:06:00,954 to make the text more acceptable to readers. 74 00:06:00,954 --> 00:06:06,597 Situationality is the relevance of a text in a situation. 75 00:06:06,597 --> 00:06:11,547 If a text is cohesive, coherent, intentional 76 00:06:11,547 --> 00:06:16,332 acceptable and informative, situationality is met. 77 00:06:16,332 --> 00:06:20,985 However, it may happen that more speakers speak at the same time 78 00:06:20,985 --> 00:06:23,823 in a talk show or political session 79 00:06:23,823 --> 00:06:28,938 or the speaker may speak over a video during a conference or a class. 80 00:06:28,938 --> 00:06:33,756 In this case, the most relevant utterance is to be reported 81 00:06:33,756 --> 00:06:37,089 the other one or ones may be disregarded. 82 00:06:37,089 --> 00:06:42,798 Finally, intertextuality is the way the text relates to other texts. 83 00:06:42,798 --> 00:06:45,702 This refers to similar texts 84 00:06:45,702 --> 00:06:50,652 but also to other sources of information used in the live event. 85 00:06:50,652 --> 00:06:55,503 In the case of a speaker using slides to support his or her speech 86 00:06:55,503 --> 00:06:59,430 it is always important that the subtitles are coherent 87 00:06:59,430 --> 00:07:03,720 with the slides or other types of on-screen text. 88 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,360 In case of a mistake by the speaker 89 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,485 if the subtitler is super sure the speaker has made a mistake 90 00:07:10,485 --> 00:07:12,993 can reproduce it word for word. 91 00:07:12,993 --> 00:07:15,336 However, in case of doubts 92 00:07:15,336 --> 00:07:21,342 it is always wise to go for solution that is more coherent with visual elements. 93 00:07:21,342 --> 00:07:24,576 Similarly, if a speaker reads a slide 94 00:07:24,576 --> 00:07:29,559 it may not be wise to repeat something that is already there as written text. 95 00:07:29,559 --> 00:07:33,783 In this case, the subtitler can send a caption to audience 96 00:07:33,783 --> 00:07:37,116 telling them the speaker is reading a slide. 97 00:07:38,799 --> 00:07:44,277 A text alone, however, does not work if it is not used in the right context. 98 00:07:44,277 --> 00:07:46,884 According to Halliday and Hasan 99 00:07:46,884 --> 00:07:50,712 text is not the only element that creates meaning. 100 00:07:50,712 --> 00:07:56,322 Meaning is also created by something that accompanies it, the context. 101 00:07:56,322 --> 00:07:59,094 This includes the way something is said 102 00:07:59,094 --> 00:08:02,493 also called paraverbal components 103 00:08:02,493 --> 00:08:08,400 and all the non-verbal signs that help the text provide its overall meaning. 104 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:14,274 Without a context, the concepts expressed in a text cannot be understood. 105 00:08:14,274 --> 00:08:20,115 That is why, it is very important to understand its peculiarities. 106 00:08:20,115 --> 00:08:22,095 According to the authors 107 00:08:22,095 --> 00:08:27,045 the context is composed of the field, the tenor and the mode. 108 00:08:27,045 --> 00:08:30,972 Field is the shared experience of participants. 109 00:08:30,972 --> 00:08:35,427 When a doctor talks to other doctors he or she gives for granted 110 00:08:35,427 --> 00:08:39,453 they know some things which he or she does not explain. 111 00:08:39,453 --> 00:08:44,634 The opposite would happen if the same doctor spoke to a wider audience. 112 00:08:44,634 --> 00:08:49,320 Tenor is the role and relationships among participants. 113 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:56,052 If our doctor explains a strategic plan against a pandemic during a live broadcast 114 00:08:56,052 --> 00:09:00,573 his or her words will have a different impact on the audience 115 00:09:00,573 --> 00:09:04,698 compared to the populist leader opposing it. 116 00:09:04,698 --> 00:09:09,186 The mode is the way the text is organised and its function. 117 00:09:09,186 --> 00:09:12,981 This is strictly related to the previous two. 118 00:09:12,981 --> 00:09:18,987 While explaining the strategic plan against the pandemic during a live broadcast 119 00:09:18,987 --> 00:09:24,069 our doctor will organise his or her speech in a very logical way 120 00:09:24,069 --> 00:09:29,349 making sure that nothing is given for granted, word choice included. 121 00:09:29,349 --> 00:09:33,672 He or she will speak clearly and slowly 122 00:09:33,672 --> 00:09:41,328 as what he or she says is going to play an important role in the citizens lives. 123 00:09:43,223 --> 00:09:46,443 The semiotics of the audiovisual text. 124 00:09:47,928 --> 00:09:54,561 Any audiovisual product communicates through the combination of many semiotic components. 125 00:09:54,561 --> 00:10:02,283 Be they TV programs, conferences, parliamentary sessions, meetings or school classes 126 00:10:02,283 --> 00:10:05,946 they are all made of acoustic and visual elements 127 00:10:05,946 --> 00:10:09,444 that are either verbal or non-verbal. 128 00:10:09,444 --> 00:10:13,437 This picture shows the semiotic components of a film 129 00:10:13,437 --> 00:10:19,344 but the same features can be found in any of the events I have just mentioned. 130 00:10:21,555 --> 00:10:27,627 In particular, acoustic elements can be of verbal or non verbal nature. 131 00:10:27,627 --> 00:10:31,554 The most relevant acoustic element of verbal nature 132 00:10:31,554 --> 00:10:36,867 is the speech to subtitle and its paraverbal characteristics 133 00:10:36,867 --> 00:10:41,883 such as the speaker’s tone, pitch, and volume of voice. 134 00:10:41,883 --> 00:10:45,150 In the case of elements of non-verbal nature 135 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:48,153 we can differentiate between sound effects 136 00:10:48,153 --> 00:10:51,123 like applauses from the audience 137 00:10:51,123 --> 00:10:53,862 a bell announcing the voting time 138 00:10:53,862 --> 00:10:56,238 the stop signal of an assessment 139 00:10:56,238 --> 00:10:58,614 a special effect, etc. 140 00:10:58,614 --> 00:11:05,742 And music, like the national anthem being played at the beginning of every parliamentary session 141 00:11:05,742 --> 00:11:09,141 a music to be guessed by a quiz participant 142 00:11:09,141 --> 00:11:11,590 the jingle of a presentation 143 00:11:11,615 --> 00:11:15,411 the lyrics of a song to be transcribed in class. 144 00:11:15,411 --> 00:11:20,361 In some cases these non verbal elements are super important 145 00:11:20,361 --> 00:11:22,770 like the one just mentioned. 146 00:11:22,770 --> 00:11:27,918 In other cases they are absolutely meaningless and can be disregarded 147 00:11:27,918 --> 00:11:31,119 like the footsteps of an MP 148 00:11:31,119 --> 00:11:34,914 a sound accompanying a visual element on screen 149 00:11:34,914 --> 00:11:37,389 the music of a mobile ringing 150 00:11:37,389 --> 00:11:43,263 the noise of a pen falling from the speaker’s table or the shuffling of documents. 151 00:11:43,263 --> 00:11:49,467 It is the duty of the subtitler to decide whether to subtitle them or not. 152 00:11:50,688 --> 00:11:56,463 With visual elements, we keep having the same verbal and non verbal dichotomy 153 00:11:56,463 --> 00:12:00,489 that we have seen in the case of acoustic elements. 154 00:12:00,489 --> 00:12:04,680 The most relevant visual elements of verbal nature 155 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:10,356 are graphic elements like a question written on screen in a quiz or talk show 156 00:12:10,356 --> 00:12:13,953 the results of the voting in a parliamentary session 157 00:12:13,953 --> 00:12:16,758 the content of slides in a conference 158 00:12:16,758 --> 00:12:19,497 an exercise of instructions. 159 00:12:19,497 --> 00:12:23,523 Other visual elements are of non verbal nature 160 00:12:23,523 --> 00:12:25,569 like pictures in a talk show 161 00:12:25,569 --> 00:12:27,285 in a school exercise 162 00:12:27,285 --> 00:12:31,245 in a session commemorating an important political figure 163 00:12:31,245 --> 00:12:35,667 or in the PowerPoint presentation of a conference speaker. 164 00:12:35,667 --> 00:12:39,858 In case a video is played during these contexts 165 00:12:39,858 --> 00:12:42,267 the film code is also present. 166 00:12:42,267 --> 00:12:47,118 Worth a last mention are also the way a person dresses 167 00:12:47,118 --> 00:12:49,857 the role of a speaker in the context 168 00:12:49,857 --> 00:12:53,784 the movements participants make and so on. 169 00:12:53,784 --> 00:12:58,074 Compared to what happens in the case of acoustic elements 170 00:12:58,074 --> 00:13:04,476 the subtitler here is not called to decide whether to render them or not in the subtitles 171 00:13:04,476 --> 00:13:07,710 as they are visible on screen. 172 00:13:07,710 --> 00:13:14,021 However, he or she has to decide whether to care about the audience noticing them 173 00:13:14,046 --> 00:13:17,661 and having the time to watch at them, or not. 174 00:13:19,272 --> 00:13:22,989 In Element 1, you have seen how to type a speech 175 00:13:22,989 --> 00:13:26,124 which is the verbal acoustic component. 176 00:13:26,124 --> 00:13:30,909 In case the speaker also makes use of verbal visual resources 177 00:13:30,909 --> 00:13:33,846 it is important to avoid redundancy. 178 00:13:33,846 --> 00:13:39,357 So, for example, if a speaker is reading a slide containing a lot of text 179 00:13:39,357 --> 00:13:42,327 avoid repeating the text in the slide. 180 00:13:42,327 --> 00:13:47,838 Prefer a caption, instead like one saying [reads the slide]. 181 00:13:47,838 --> 00:13:51,039 This guarantees a smooth transition 182 00:13:51,039 --> 00:13:54,636 between the subtitles and the slide the speaker reads. 183 00:13:54,636 --> 00:13:57,573 However, some problems remain. 184 00:13:57,573 --> 00:14:00,642 For example, the reader will not know 185 00:14:00,642 --> 00:14:03,480 when the speaker has finished reading the slide. 186 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,704 Or the slide may only contain a few words of the quoted text. 187 00:14:07,704 --> 00:14:10,674 What to do to solve these issues? 188 00:14:10,674 --> 00:14:14,931 To let the reader know when the speaker has finished reading the slide 189 00:14:14,931 --> 00:14:17,538 much depends on whether the subtitles 190 00:14:17,538 --> 00:14:21,300 appear as two lines bottom of the screen with the slide 191 00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:25,491 or if they appear as full text on a different screen. 192 00:14:25,491 --> 00:14:28,956 In the first case, which is the most common one 193 00:14:28,956 --> 00:14:35,028 the subtitler will start typing as soon as the speaker stops reading the slide 194 00:14:35,028 --> 00:14:37,602 and starts saying something else. 195 00:14:37,602 --> 00:14:41,298 By doing this, the reader’s attention is attracted 196 00:14:41,298 --> 00:14:47,832 by the subtitles re-starting popping up or scrolling in the periphery of their view. 197 00:14:47,832 --> 00:14:52,584 In the second case, which may not be rare in conference subtitling 198 00:14:52,584 --> 00:14:55,719 it is always recommended to 'educate' 199 00:14:55,719 --> 00:14:59,877 both the speaker and the audience before the event starts. 200 00:14:59,877 --> 00:15:04,167 In particular, the speaker should always change to a new slide 201 00:15:04,167 --> 00:15:06,939 once he has finished reading the slide. 202 00:15:06,939 --> 00:15:11,559 The audience should always keep an eye on the screen with the subtitles 203 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:14,925 to check whether new text is appearing. 204 00:15:14,925 --> 00:15:20,931 In case the slide only contains a few words or sentences of the quoted text 205 00:15:20,931 --> 00:15:22,812 better to keep subtitling 206 00:15:22,812 --> 00:15:26,145 thus avoiding non-effective captions. 207 00:15:26,145 --> 00:15:31,326 A final tricky situation is that of a video played during an event 208 00:15:31,326 --> 00:15:33,933 and the video contains dialogue. 209 00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:38,520 Here, there is not consensus in the professional community 210 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,787 about whether to subtite the video or not 211 00:15:41,787 --> 00:15:47,595 as the speech may not share the same characteristics of the event you are subtitling 212 00:15:47,595 --> 00:15:50,631 like a fictional video in a conference 213 00:15:50,631 --> 00:15:53,469 or a song in a school exercise. 214 00:15:53,469 --> 00:16:01,158 Some colleagues prefer asking the client to think of pre-recorded subtitles before the event starts 215 00:16:01,158 --> 00:16:04,260 otherwise they would not subtitle the video 216 00:16:04,260 --> 00:16:07,725 so as not to provide low-quality subtitles. 217 00:16:07,725 --> 00:16:12,213 If the client does not want to provide pre-recorded subtitles 218 00:16:12,213 --> 00:16:17,724 we suggest using a disclaimer like [this video is not subtitled]. 219 00:16:17,724 --> 00:16:23,433 Some other colleagues try to subtitle the video for the sake of accessibility 220 00:16:23,433 --> 00:16:29,043 despite the audio input may not be good or difficult to subtitle. 221 00:16:31,452 --> 00:16:33,069 The summary. 222 00:16:35,643 --> 00:16:41,484 In this video lecture we have analysed the text and its relationship with the context 223 00:16:41,484 --> 00:16:45,873 and the different essential characteristics it is made of. 224 00:16:45,873 --> 00:16:52,671 This has allowed us to introduce the main semiotic characteristics of an audiovisual product 225 00:16:52,671 --> 00:16:55,146 be it a parliamentary session 226 00:16:55,146 --> 00:16:56,862 a conference speech 227 00:16:56,862 --> 00:17:02,274 a TV program or other events that require a personalised access. 228 00:17:02,274 --> 00:17:07,554 We have seen how much all of them make the event heavily dependent 229 00:17:07,554 --> 00:17:11,118 on the verbal visual component of the subtitles. 230 00:17:11,118 --> 00:17:17,025 This makes the job of the real-time intralingual subtitler much more complex 231 00:17:17,025 --> 00:17:19,731 than simply repeating what is said. 232 00:17:19,731 --> 00:17:25,374 It implies the real-time intralingual subtitler has to provide subtitles 233 00:17:25,374 --> 00:17:28,674 that manage to smoothly provide information 234 00:17:28,674 --> 00:17:33,789 and avoid the audience get lost with all the inputs they receive. 235 00:17:33,789 --> 00:17:37,881 To better understand this, for each semiotic element 236 00:17:37,881 --> 00:17:43,821 we have seen some strategies that allow for the subtitler to provide information 237 00:17:43,821 --> 00:17:47,715 that is consistent with the intended message of the speaker 238 00:17:47,715 --> 00:17:51,312 and with the expectations of the audience. 239 00:17:51,312 --> 00:17:53,325 In the homework session 240 00:17:53,325 --> 00:17:58,110 you will be asked to try and provide solutions for each situation 241 00:17:58,110 --> 00:18:04,809 where a mismatch between the verbal acoustic and the other semiotic elements may occur 242 00:18:04,809 --> 00:18:07,977 because of a wrong strategy being used.