Hi, welcome back. In this part of the unit, we will be looking at surtitling, also called captioning, which is a service that offers support for access to auditory information via the visual channel. Surtitles or captions translate the dialogue of a performance in the same way that subtitles translate the dialogue in films and television series. They are called surtitles because, unlike in films, they are usually projected above the stage. Surtitling is most often used for performances in a foreign language. It offers a brief translation of the dialogues into the language of the audience, and is then called interlingual surtitling. This translation is projected above, on both sides of the stage or on displays at the back of the seats in the venue itself. While surtitling is predominantly used to make foreign language performances accessible, surtitles can also be provided intralingually, i.e. in the same language as the language of the performance or event. Such surtitles cater for a wider and diverse audience, one that might need surtitles to help them understand the performance, think of foreign language learners or the hard of hearing, for instance. But how are surtitles produced? Surtitles for live events are usually prepared in advance by a trained surtitler, also called a captioner, usually someone trained as a subtitler, who specializes in live performances. He or she prepares the titles based on the script or a pre-existing translation of the script if it is available. Even though the surtitles are prepared, they are, unlike subtitles for film, projected live using specific surtitling software. This is preferably done by the surtitler, who knows the performance well. This also means that the surtitler is present during the performance, takes place in the director's booth or sound-proof booth and controls the projection of the surtitles on a computer, so that each title appears at exactly the right moment. In some countries, live surtitling or live captioning is provided for events such as conferences. These are titles that are not prepared in advance, but created on the spot. It's a technique that requires specific software solutions, involving speech-to-text technologies and the intervention of a respeaker. Through live surtitling or subtitling, the speech of the presenters is transformed directly into surtitles or subtitles. It is a complex process for which you need to contact a specialised company. For more information on this specific type of surtitling, please consult the additional materials provided below. Quality surtitles, whether live or pre-prepared, need to be well-timed, logically segmented into two lines and they need to offer a semantically correct rendering of the dialogue. Still, succinct formulations are to be preferred since the audience must have sufficient time to read the subtitles and simultaneously watch the action on stage. Consider the following two examples of subtitles. Which one would you prefer and why? Indeed, the second one is an example of a good subtitle. Why? Because it is divided logically across two lines and avoids repetitions and hesitations that the audience may also be able to deduce from the content of the original dialogue. The surtitle is in addition short enough for audiences to read it easily within a limited timeframe. Now that you know what surtitling or captioning is, can you find a theatre nearby that offers surtitling in your country? If so, book a ticket and decide for yourself whether they offer good quality or not.
