ATTN JMS: Caption Comments
Ken Harrenstien
Q: Where do closed captions fit into the current B5 production
process, and how much control do you have over their content?
LONG VERSION:
It's apparent from your messages over the past year that you
care a great deal about the quality and accuracy of such things as the
soundtrack, dialogue, sets, et cetera, to the extent of being more
thoroughly involved in the production of B5 than I'd have thought
possible. So I'm assuming, or rather hoping, that you also care about
the quality of the captioning.
In particular, B5 is shaping up as a remarkable series where *any*
detail could be important, where we can and do happily spend months
analyzing the significance of a particular phrase or word. Given
that, it would make sense if the captions were added with the same
care that dialogue is scripted and followed, to ensure that those of
us who rely on them will have a fighting chance.
Yet only you, and perhaps one or two other people, really know for
sure which of these phrases are meaningful and which are just cigars,
yes? How then can you ensure that the encoder techs, presumably working
on their own, will convey the import properly?
Captions are often not rendered word-for-word because the encoders
judge certain speeds to be too fast for normal comprehension, so they
drop some words or even entire sentences while trying to retain the
overall meaning. (A rule I find annoying, because I read much faster
than this limit, but I suppose I should be grateful they aren't
"dumbing down" the vocabulary as they once did.) It's impossible for
me (yes, I'm deaf) to know how successful they really are; you may be
the only one who can make that call definitively.
If that's indeed the case, and if you or a trusted conspirator aren't
already doing so, could you try reviewing some episodes with the
captions added, before they air? Or at least judge for yourself by
re-watching some key episodes (for extra credit, with the sound off
:-)? Every 13"-and-up TV built in the last couple of years has been
required to include a decoder, so finding one shouldn't be hard.
For the most part I *think* they're okay. But little bloopers keep
blooping up now and then to suggest that although someone may be
carefully monitoring the master feed for those nasty-wasty teeny-weeny
audio pops, no one is even at the switch where captions are involved.
Some examples:
Parliament of Dreams: in the *same* episode, two different
guilds: "THENTEN MIKOR" and "THENTA MA'COUR".
One backups, the other doesn't?
Babylon Squared: "GREAT COUNCIL" instead of "GREY COUNCIL".
Oh, is there a Little Council too?
<can't recall>: "CY CORE" instead of "PSI CORPS".
Fun with Fonytiks!
[I was also going to mention the timing snafu with Chrysalis --
the catalyst that finally provoked this emergence from the shadows of
lurkerhood -- but I see while composing this message that someone
else has beaten me to it. (Comrade!)]
[p.s. Don't feel too badly about it; ST:TNG's finale's final scenes
were screwed up even more horribly. But don't stint with the bat.]
There's one more thing I'd like to mention as long as I'm here...
aside from the niceties of how dialogue is rendered, there's also the
issue of caption <meta-information>. That is, the protocol allows
encoders to use time and position as a way of indicating who's
speaking, without having to identify them every time. They are also
at liberty to explicitly caption sounds of various kinds, such as
"whistles" or "explosion" or "hissing", and so on.
Again, for the most part, I have to assume this is well done; but
there have been several instances where I've discovered to my chagrin
(by reading this newsgroup, natch!) that I completely missed something
and thus had a rather different notion of what was going on.
Example 1: The introductory voiceover. I always assumed that this
was either an anonymous narrator, or Sinclair himself -- certainly
the captions provide no clue. Finding out that it was Londo's voice
gave me a much different slant on things. Easily fixed in future
seasons, if someone remembers.
Example 2: Delenn's entrance to the Grey Council in B^2. She first
says "I am grey..." -- and then the Council responds, or so I think,
with "We are grey...". Nice ritual! Only much later do I come to
realize that the second phrase also comes from Delenn, yes? Sigh...
Example 3: No noise is captioned into the Chrysalis scene with
Delenn and a certain enigmatic entity. But thanks to r.a.s.t.b I
now have some intriguing tidbits to mull over.
Counter-example: In B^2, the voice of the red-robed arm is
not identified or even characterized in any way. Male? Female?
Alien? Known character? What's safe to imply? You've got me.
Well, I do realize that captions will never be able to convey the same
nuances as the soundtrack, and would certainly not want these issues
to detract in any way from your continued pursuit of excellence on
Babylon 5. But it's precisely because you *are* pursuing that I'll be
happy just to know you've read this. Good luck...
And thanks!
--Ken
Matt McIrvin
Ken Harrenstien <k...@us.oracle.com> wrote:
> Example 1: The introductory voiceover. I always assumed that this
> was either an anonymous narrator, or Sinclair himself -- certainly
> the captions provide no clue. Finding out that it was Londo's voice
> gave me a much different slant on things. Easily fixed in future
> seasons, if someone remembers.
It was Londo in the pilot, "The Gathering." Throughout the first
season the voice has been Michael O'Hare's, presumably as Sinclair
(though that will surely change soon).
--
Matt 01234567 <-- Indent-o-Meter
McIrvin ^ Harnessing tab damage for peaceful ends!
Chris Harding
On Tue, 1 Nov 1994, Ken Harrenstien wrote:
[ lots of good caption comments deleted ]
> Again, for the most part, I have to assume this is well done; but
> there have been several instances where I've discovered to my chagrin
> (by reading this newsgroup, natch!) that I completely missed something
> and thus had a rather different notion of what was going on.
> Example 1: The introductory voiceover. I always assumed that this
> was either an anonymous narrator, or Sinclair himself -- certainly
> the captions provide no clue. Finding out that it was Londo's voice
> gave me a much different slant on things. Easily fixed in future
> seasons, if someone remembers.
The voiceover _is_ Sinclair's voice (in season one, at least).
Londo's voice was only used in "The Gathering" - the pilot episode.
Just thought that I'd set you straight on this - wouldn't want you to
have this wrong. This also backs up your point since, even with the help
of this newsgroup (which most viewers won't be reading), you've still not
got it quite right. Definitely something that should be fixed, especially
as the person doing the voiceover changes for the start of season two).
-- Chris
Ken Harrenstien
Chris Harding <ch...@strand.co.uk> wrote:
>
>The voiceover _is_ Sinclair's voice (in season one, at least).
>Londo's voice was only used in "The Gathering" - the pilot episode.
>
>Just thought that I'd set you straight on this - wouldn't want you to
>have this wrong. This also backs up your point since, even with the help
>of this newsgroup (which most viewers won't be reading), you've still not
>got it quite right. Definitely something that should be fixed, especially
>as the person doing the voiceover changes for the start of season two).
>
Sheesh! A red face isn't quite how I had hoped to make my point, but
at least it's pretty funny, isn't it?
Thanks for the correction, and ditto to all who sent private mail!
Another day, another nugget...
--Ken
Jeffery Lay
> It was Londo in the pilot, "The Gathering." Throughout the first
> season the voice has been Michael O'Hare's, presumably as Sinclair
It's also worth remembering that in the pilot, Londo's voice mentions
'the final commander' of B5, and the camera shows Sinclair. Now, granted,
this isn't proof that Sinclair /is/ the final commander, but it's a
pretty damn strong implication.
And yet Sinclair has moved on, at least for now.
Either he's not the last commander, or he'll be back, big time!
:-)
--
/~~~\/~~\/~~~\ Jeffery A. Lay (cs2eu) at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.
\_ _/| -<| _\ email: J.A...@herts.ac.uk | tel: (0707) 256151 (incoming only)
_| | | -<| | Home mail: 37 Brickfield, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 8TN _____
\__| \__/\_/ Disclaimer: I do not speak for anyone but myself -much! ||___||
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