Subtitles

[bookworm65t]

What the hell is happening to subtitles in movies nowadays? They are either too small or too faint!!! I tried to watch 'Che' today and had to turn it off after 10 minutes. I am surprised that there wasn't noise made about 'Slumdog Millionaire'; the subtitles (whenever given) were just awful.

Is anyone else out there just as frustrated?? :wtf: :mad: :thumbsdown:

[Forkboy]

1. Some of them really suck.

I don't have HD tv so I thought it was just me. :)

[jmm]

2. When I was in college I had to watch a black and white Vietnamese film with white subtitles.

To make matters worse most of it took place in a hospital. Nothing quite like white words on white uniforms and white walls. Our professor apologized since he didn't watch that edition of the film before showing it to us. I have a feeling even if we could read them better it wouldn't have helped. During one of the few scenes outside of the hospital they managed to translate a minute speech to father.

[jmm]

3. dupe. (n/t)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Subtitling is harder than it looks

You have strict limits on the length of the subtitle, and you can only use one set of subtitles per shot.

I sometimes "grade" the subtitles when I see foreign films. I don't expect a perfect translation, but three things make me cringe: 1) Inaccuracy, 2) Leaving out important information, and 3) Subtitles that can't be seen against the background. The third problem is less common than it used to be, due to improvements in technology.

The worst case I ever saw was a Japanese film in which the subtitle writer took the space limitations TOO seriously and wrote a series of subtitles no more than four words each. S/he also left out important plot details, such as the fact that a certain character was the main character's sister, all of which were in the original dialogue.

When this film was shown at the Portland Film Festival, people began to walk out after the first 10 minutes. I have to assume that the only ones who stayed to the end were the ones who could understand Japanese.

[bookworm65t]

5. How can I do some serious bitching??

I would love to complain but I don't know to whom. Any ideas? Thanks!