And every sentence is written with the purpose of creating a certain effect, giving new information, or unravelling something about the character. Before it's even shot, a script is read by dozens of people: readers, agents, script doctors, producers, the director, actors, etc. Creativity is key, that's true, but adding jokes when there are none just for the sake of it is just as bad as completely ignoring the existence of one.Įvery single sentence in a script has a purpose. However, there's a thin line between creative localisation and turning the subtitles into subtitler's commentary. Clinging to the word by word translation style is not going to help with that. You should be able to localise puns and cultural references in a creative way, making sure the viewer is going to enjoy the film/series just the same, reading your subtitles. If a bad line break or an ambiguous translation confuses the person who's watching the production for even one second, they are going to miss the next scene. I'm not talking about "I'm a native speaker in the target language." I'm talking about understanding semantics, paying attention to nuances in order to carry the tone properly, being able to express yourself much better than most people in that language, having an extensive vocabulary, and using the language idiomatically.Ī good subtitler knows their language enough to break the lines in a way that works with their own language, and makes it as easy as it can be for the viewer to follow the subs. Subtitling is a highly skilled profession, but is it enough to be a language enthusiast or even a professional translator or a linguist, or do you need an additional skill set to become a professional subtitler?Īfter assessing hundreds of subtitler applications for multiple companies and QC'ing thousands of titles for over a decade, I’ve put down a small list of things I've noticed that make the difference between translating words and producing high quality subtitles.
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