This is an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO is a project funded by the European Union.
This video is made available to you
on a Creative Commons licence.
Hello. I’m Agnieszka Chmiel from Adam Mickiewicz University
in Poznan, Poland.
In this ADLAB PRO video I will present basic information
related to audio description for the screen
and focus on films and genres.
This is Unit 1 "Screen AD: films and genres"
in Module 2 "Screen AD".
Screen audio description includes audio description of films and shows
that are watched on TV, DVD, in cinemas,
on VOD platforms and on various devices
such as TV screens, tablets, phones.
A survey conducted in the ADLAB project
shows that television is the most popular option for AD,
possibly because TV offers both entertainment,
news and sports and because many people with sight loss
prefer to stay in the comfort of their homes to be entertained.
Screen AD is always prepared in advance and usually recorded
although AD may also be delivered live in a cinema.
Sometimes, the author of the AD script
may also be responsible for voicing it.
However, it also happens that a professional voice talent is used.
As in any other type of AD,
screen AD must fit between dialogues
and make sure special effects are audible.
However, not all pauses between dialogues should be filled.
Otherwise, all the information will be difficult to process
and people with sight loss will not have a chance
to actually enjoy the film.
Some programmes are too fast
and their AD cannot be really helpful to people with sight loss.
These include quiz programmes, game shows
and news programmes. Their scripts are almost continuous
and offer little opportunity for audio description.
Films tell a story and AD assists people with sight loss
to reconstruct the story based on the auditory information only.
The story is reconstructed on the basis of actions
that are linked to other elements:
the characters that cause and undergo them,
the spatio-temporal settings in which they take place
and the temporal relations between them.
These are the main building blocks of a film narrative
that must be considered when creating audio description.
Genre is a way of classifying films,
of identifying them according to specific repetitive formal,
aesthetic or narrative features.
There are many different genres in cinema:
comedy, melodrama, action, thriller, western, etc.
The label of a particular genre can help the audience formulate
their general expectations of a film: in a musical,
part of the dialogues will be expressed and/or replaced by songs.
In a horror movie, there will be threatening music
and startling scary moments.
Many films mix elements belonging to different genres,
thereby creating hybrid categories,
such as romantic comedies or science fiction horrors.
AD script should match the film genre.
A lot of terminology may be used and explained in a documentary.
AD for action films will include short, dynamic sentences.
In a comedy, the description must be timed
with a non-verbal comic sequence so that people with sight loss
can laugh together with the sighted audience.
If you want to find out more, I recommend reading
the ADLAB guidelines “Pictures painted in words”
and ITC Guidance on Standards for Audio Description.
I hope you have learned some interesting things about screen AD,
films and genres from this video. Bye!
The preparation of this presentation
was supported by ADLAB PRO. Audio Description:
A Laboratory for the Development of a New Professional Profile
financed by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme,
Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships.
Project number:
2016-1-IT02-KA203-024311.
The information and views set out in this presentation
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of the European Union.
Neither the European Union institutions and bodies
nor any person acting on their behalf
may be held responsible for the use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
This was an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO partners are: University of Trieste,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
University of Antwerp, Adam Mickiewicz University,
RTV Slovenia, Utopian Voices,
Soundfocus and Royal National Institute of Blind People.
ADLAB PRO was funded by the European Union.
This video was made available to you
on a Creative Commons licence.