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 the basic information
related to audio describing time and space in screen AD.
This is Unit 5 "Time and space"
in Module 2 "Screen AD".
Knowing when and where something is happening
is crucial for understanding the film plot.
Temporal and spatial settings may change within seconds
and these changes must be included in audio description.
You should organise the description starting from the general
and add more details if they are needed and if time allows.
Let’s have a look at these examples.
Titles of the films these examples come from are in the brackets.
A forest. In a bar.
A monolithic town.
In the publishing house. At night in the manor house.
The terracotta and sandy-coloured spires and domes of Oxford.
Notice how the descriptions become more detailed
depending on how much time
the audio describer has to fit the description.
Sometimes you can indicate certain temporal settings
by describing the spatial settings, as in the following example:
A morning in the forest.
Silvery frost covers the ground and tree branches.
Instead of explicitly stating that it is winter,
the AD describes those attributes of winter
that make the sighted viewers infer about the time of the year.
The blind viewers may thus make the same inference
and know more about what’s on the screen.
Settings may have various functions.
They may simply be a background to the action.
A police station, for instance, may simply be the backdrop
for part of the action in a crime film.
Settings may also serve a narrative or symbolic function.
A castle, by contrast, may symbolize the power of its inhabitant
whereas a dilapidated castle
may indicate the downfall of that person.
Make sure you reflect that function properly in the AD.
It is important to correctly reflect temporal relations in the AD.
Sometimes the plot is not linear and directors tell the story
in a non-chronological order.
This results in flashbacks and flashforwards.
You should use the principle of continuity, that is,
it is assumed that the scenes follow one another in time.
If the continuity is broken,
a different temporal and/or spatial setting
has to be indicated in the AD.
Let’s have a look at this example which shows
how you can indicate two different temporal settings:
Modern times. Sabina leans on her stick
as she walks around the arrivals hall.
It’s the fifties again.
Flashbacks may also be indicated less explicitly,
as in these examples:
She remembers seeing the tree frozen.
The same tree comes back in her winter time memories.
Sometimes different spatio-temporal settings
are associated with a particular character
as in the film “The hours”, where Virginia Woolf
is in London in the 1920s,
Laura is in Los Angeles in 1951,
and Clarissa in New York in 2001.
In this case, the character mentioned in the AD
will help identify the setting.
Sometimes settings can be well-known or unfamiliar.
How they are described in AD depends on the background knowledge
of the describer and the viewer.
If you want to find out more, I recommend reading
the ADLAB guidelines “Pictures painted in words”.
I have actually used some of the examples from this publication
in this presentation.
I hope you have learned some interesting things
about audio describing spatio-temporal settings
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.