| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | How to make my dream come true of working in subtitling/dubbing? Thread poster: Vera Fleischer
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Hello translator community.
I'm a San Francisco-based German-English/English-German translator. For years it has been my dream to work on films. I don't know how to get started.
Maybe someone knows the answers to some of my questions:
1) Is this kind of work usually done remotely or on-site?
2) It is usually full-time jobs or contract jobs/project-based?
3) Which companies can I contact?
4) I'm a Mac person. Which soft... See more Hello translator community.
I'm a San Francisco-based German-English/English-German translator. For years it has been my dream to work on films. I don't know how to get started.
Maybe someone knows the answers to some of my questions:
1) Is this kind of work usually done remotely or on-site?
2) It is usually full-time jobs or contract jobs/project-based?
3) Which companies can I contact?
4) I'm a Mac person. Which software is usually used for this kind of work?
I have heard that the pay in this field is very low. I don't care! It's my dream to work on films and I won't stop until I have at least tried it.
Thank you in advance for any direction you can give me. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Viivi
Finland
Local time: 20:40
Vera Fleischer wrote:
I have heard that the pay in this field is very low. I don't care! It's my dream to work on films and I won't stop until I have at least tried it.
Thank you in advance for any direction you can give me.
I doubt you will get much help from colleagues with that attitude. Clients might question your skills too, if you sell yourself cheap.
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
| Dream or nightmare? | Nov 19, 2010 |
Hi Vera,
Be careful your dream doesn't turn into a nightmare. Even if you don't care about the money (which I find very wrong if you claim to be a professional translator), I must warn you that subtitling and dubbing may also be quite disappointing as far as programs you work on, working conditions, deadlines, feedback and quality standards are concerned... Oftentimes, the more interesting the program, the worse the work conditions. I know a lot of people fantasize about sub and dub... See more Hi Vera,
Be careful your dream doesn't turn into a nightmare. Even if you don't care about the money (which I find very wrong if you claim to be a professional translator), I must warn you that subtitling and dubbing may also be quite disappointing as far as programs you work on, working conditions, deadlines, feedback and quality standards are concerned... Oftentimes, the more interesting the program, the worse the work conditions. I know a lot of people fantasize about sub and dub being all glamour and fun, but believe me, it ain't no dream job most of the time.
Best of luck to you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vera Fleischer 
Germany
Local time: 19:40
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER
I appreciate both of your responses. It's interesting that both of you are talking me out of this and even criticizing me and questioning my professionalism. I didn't expect that. I expected some direction on how to make this happen.
I am wondering: Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Is it because excited people like me are bringing down the pay for the rest of translators?
I have no interest in selling myself cheap. I am just saying that pay is not the top priori... See more I appreciate both of your responses. It's interesting that both of you are talking me out of this and even criticizing me and questioning my professionalism. I didn't expect that. I expected some direction on how to make this happen.
I am wondering: Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Is it because excited people like me are bringing down the pay for the rest of translators?
I have no interest in selling myself cheap. I am just saying that pay is not the top priority for me. I would rather work on films for a little bit less than on marketing materials for a little bit more. I am sorry if that offends anyone. ▲ Collapse
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| The definition of an amateur | Nov 20, 2010 |
Before you get angry at the title, check the definition of an amateur. It's someone who does something for the pleasure of doing it rather than for the income it generates. Don't mix it up with amateurish - a qualification proper to millions of cheap translations done every day worldwide - which is something done so badly that it's not worth paying for.
You are a profess... See more Before you get angry at the title, check the definition of an amateur. It's someone who does something for the pleasure of doing it rather than for the income it generates. Don't mix it up with amateurish - a qualification proper to millions of cheap translations done every day worldwide - which is something done so badly that it's not worth paying for.
You are a professional text translator, and earn a living doing it. This ensures that you have some of the critical skills required for video translation. So you may be an amateur video translator, why not?
I became an amateur photographer at age 9, when my father let me use his Rolleiflex. This was in the ancient days of film and photographic paper. I studied it keenly, and developed my skills. Ten years later I learned black-and-white processing lab techniques, and did a lot of it. While in college, my internship was in a company than manufactured large industrial equipment. They needed photographs of installations of their products for various purposes. The first results I got with a 35mm Pentax were quite promising, so I asked for a well-equipped Hasselblad, and they bought one for me. My pictures turned into impressive wall-size enlargements, catalogs, and other publications.
Once, when a friend was about to get married, she said that there would be professional photographers, but she'd like me to take some "different" pictures as well. So I found a high spot beside the organist, took a telephoto lens and a powerful flashgun, and did it from there. There was some 'accident' in the pros' processing lab, and they lost all the films. All the pictures she had from her wedding were my "different" ones.
This is just to illustrate that an amateur doesn't have to be amateurish. You can do brilliant work for your pleasure, if you are so fond of it. Just be careful not to let it take over your earning time. Now and then you can do it for real money, when anyone wants 'finest gourmet cuisine' instead of plain nourishment.
You can get an idea on what is involved from my Video Localization Guide and navigate from there to find other hopefully interesting articles, some of them about video translation on my web site. The real problem is marketing. If you start doing it as a hobby, and get enough practice in doing it well, some day you might meet the right client for your skills.
Nevertheless, it's worth stressing that what Sylvano said the naked truth: this work is not as glamourous nor enjoyable as it looks from the outside. Work for money, and have pleasure in your hobby. If you prioritize having pleasure in your work and try to make a living from your hobby, most likely you'll starve unhappy. However nothing forbids a hobby from becoming your profession. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
Vera Fleischer wrote:I am wondering: Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Is it because excited people like me are bringing down the pay for the rest of translators?
Well, to be frank, obviously that kind of way to put things doesn't help in convincing clients to pay decently. Moreover, audiovisual translation is a very specific domain and technique you have to learn and practice quite a bit in order to be efficient and accurate (and earn a living out of it).
Vera Fleischer wrote:I am sorry if that offends anyone.
No offence taken. It's just a little bit boring to read (on and on) things such as "audiovisual translation looks so cool and I totally want to try that" (as if it were something you could do, like that, on a whim) or "I'll do that on the side, for fun, and I don't care how much I'm paid". I do care how much I'm paid, because AV translation is supposed to feed me.
| | | | Simone Linke
Germany
Local time: 19:40
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
At the risk of getting scolded: I do understand Vera's attitude. It's the same for me with literary translations and similar. The pay for this is horrible in Germany and it would be hard to make a living from it, but if you have a second source of income (in Vera's case, regular translation, I assume), it might be worth the trade-off. Literary translations are fun, they tickle my brain, and they allow me to leave the monotonous translation of yet another generic software interface behind for a w... See more At the risk of getting scolded: I do understand Vera's attitude. It's the same for me with literary translations and similar. The pay for this is horrible in Germany and it would be hard to make a living from it, but if you have a second source of income (in Vera's case, regular translation, I assume), it might be worth the trade-off. Literary translations are fun, they tickle my brain, and they allow me to leave the monotonous translation of yet another generic software interface behind for a while. And afterwards, I'm more productive with the "boring" stuff. So, why not use your passion to earn a little extra?
So, regarding subtitling/dubbing, I can't speak for the US, but in Germany, this seems to be a rather closed circle of people doing it and there are a number of studios where most of the work gets done (although raw translations etc. can certainly be done remotely, but for the final recording with the German speakers etc., you obviously need a proper studio). The best way, imho, is to get some contacts at these studios (I'm sure you can find some studios in your area, too.. what about LA?) and try to network. I think the right contacts / connections will get you closer to your goal in this case. Most of the German studios have their own Websites with phone numbers and often even some names of people you can contact. Also, try to find some folks via Xing or LinkedIn or similar. Get in touch with them, ask them for some insights into the business, etc.
I have no idea if this would work for the US dubbing industry, but, say you wanna get into the movie business, then a good way to start would be to work as an assistant (many folks have started like this). Maybe you can find a similar position at a sound production studio or whatever, and then network your way up.
Just some ideas... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ocean520
Taiwan
Local time: 01:40
English to Chinese
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| My 2 cents worth | Nov 21, 2010 |
Hi,
I have translation experience with subtitles. Maybe I can offer my 2 cents worth.
If you are interested in translating subtitles, the first step, of course, is to apply to an agency that needs subtitle translators. I am sure you can find those agencies on proz.com. The scope of these jobs can be subtitles for movies, TV episodes; or even marketing material, product introductions, educational training lectures, interviews…
The payment will depend on the budget of th... See more Hi,
I have translation experience with subtitles. Maybe I can offer my 2 cents worth.
If you are interested in translating subtitles, the first step, of course, is to apply to an agency that needs subtitle translators. I am sure you can find those agencies on proz.com. The scope of these jobs can be subtitles for movies, TV episodes; or even marketing material, product introductions, educational training lectures, interviews…
The payment will depend on the budget of the clients. This job can be done in your own place or any place that you feel you can finish the task.
The translation orientation for subtitles is different from translating plain text. Due to the time limitation of the video and space on the screen, you have to make the trans concise.
I don’t have experience with dubbing. But I’ve attended some dubbing workshops. It’s not easy to be a dubbing professional. You have to be articulate, know how to express different emotions in your tone or even mimic different accents or different ages, as well as match the mouth shape of the character…while you are looking at the demo film (timing is very important, too). Dubbing requires somewhat of “gift,” but this is not enough, practicing and working hard are the critical elements to performing this job well.
As I know, dubbing professionals usually work as freelancers. They either have their own studios with equipment, or they have collaborative studios. The working scope can include films/movies/cartoon, TV episodes, commercial, audio books… There are A line and B line dubbing professionals. A line/popular professionals can make a good living from dubbing, but not many people can achieve this level. Many people drop out of this field because they cannot get enough job offers (or opportunities) to keep going. Payment for dubbing also depends on the budget of clients, and how good you are.
Trying an agency or joining the union might be a way to get into this field. But be sure that you are trained, have qualifying skills, and demo samples.
Described above is the dubbing situation in my country. Maybe in your country, the situation is different. ▲ Collapse
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Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
| Another common mistake on sub and dub | Nov 21, 2010 |
freelance522 wrote:I don’t have experience with dubbing. But I’ve attended some dubbing workshops. It’s not easy to be a dubbing professional. You have to be articulate, know how to express different emotions in your tone or even mimic different accents or different ages, as well as match the mouth shape of the character…while you are looking at the demo film (timing is very important, too). Dubbing requires somewhat of “gift,” but this is not enough, practicing and working hard are the critical elements to performing this job well. ....
I think you're confusing two very different jobs here. Translation for dubbing (writing the dialogues from another language) and the actual dubbing by voice actors (recording the translated dialogue in a studio). The first one is about translating a language into your native language, the second strictly about acting in your own language. I don't think many people can improvize a lip-synch translation and act it right away.
I'm always amazed when people ask AV translators if they do the voices themselves... Especially when the people asking are translators themselves or work in the media business. Just another strange vision of what sub and dub might be about. No, AV translators aren't usually actors, and dubbing actors usually can't improvize their lines while recording them (as they often don't understand a word of the source language they dub).
| | | | Ocean520
Taiwan
Local time: 01:40
English to Chinese
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The job I mentioned about dubbing is about voice over.
Translators usually DON'T do dubbing/voice over (unless they are trained); this job has to be done by trained voice over professionals.
(Translating plain subtitles or voice-over has a different orientation too. The later one tends to be colloquial; usually, the voice-over professional will revise some parts during their dubbing to adjust to the film.)
I know some senior voice-over professionals who do... See more The job I mentioned about dubbing is about voice over.
Translators usually DON'T do dubbing/voice over (unless they are trained); this job has to be done by trained voice over professionals.
(Translating plain subtitles or voice-over has a different orientation too. The later one tends to be colloquial; usually, the voice-over professional will revise some parts during their dubbing to adjust to the film.)
I know some senior voice-over professionals who do the translation too.
They have the source language script and a detailed explanation from the film company; they take the translation job instead of outsourcing.
Before doing the dubbing recording, the outsource studio (or the dubbing team leader) has to recruit the right professionals to "act" the characters. Those recruited professionals will receive the translated script, so they can prepare for their parts.
Oviceover cannot to be done by imrpovising, it's common sense.
On the later part of my previous post is all about dubbing/voice over, not about the translating the dubbing text. ▲ Collapse
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 12:40
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| On separation of VO and translation | Nov 22, 2010 |
freelance522 wrote:
Translators usually DON'T do dubbing/voice over (unless they are trained); this job has to be done by trained voice over professionals.
...
Oviceover cannot to be done by imrpovising, it's common sense.
@Freelance - I was once asked to review voiceover recordings (in one of my source languages) and compare them to an English script. I was very surprised to see (=hear) that the voiceover artists were being asked to make up the translation on the fly! This seemed to me a very strange way to go about it - I had always assumed that the translation itself would be done by translators and carefully vetted before calling in the VO talent.
In this case, the idiom the VO artist decided upon was the exact opposite of the meaning of the English source, so it's a good thing they had me check it!
Can I take it that it is not typical procedure in VO for the talent to improvise the translation on the spot (though as you say there may be a few experienced artists who could probably pull it off)?
I've curious about that ever since...
| | | | Ocean520
Taiwan
Local time: 01:40
English to Chinese
+ ...
I am not sure in what circutance those dubbing professionals you mentioned were asked to do the translaiton on the fly. Did they do the whole translation or just for some parts?
As I said in my previous post, some senior VO artists did do the trans, but this has to be done before doing the recording (and they really put lots of time into doing the trans).
Whether the trans is done by VO artists or translators, VO artists might change some parts during the recording if they th... See more I am not sure in what circutance those dubbing professionals you mentioned were asked to do the translaiton on the fly. Did they do the whole translation or just for some parts?
As I said in my previous post, some senior VO artists did do the trans, but this has to be done before doing the recording (and they really put lots of time into doing the trans).
Whether the trans is done by VO artists or translators, VO artists might change some parts during the recording if they think it can make the "speaking" smoother or colloquial. But it shouldn't have a totally opposite meaning.
(For example, if the trans text is too long or not fluently enough, the VO artist will just change to another way of saying it. )
Or if there is a missing part in the trans text, the VO artists have to "fill in"
the missing part. (According to the lectures in the VO workshop, when the deadline was very tight, the translated script didn't even have a chance for proofing, but they had to do the recording very soon, it happened...Even so, they have to consider the context carefully to decide how to "make up" the missing part.)
(For the above situations, I wouldn't say they were "improvising" their lines...)
[Edited at 2010-11-22 07:47 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-11-22 08:16 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-11-22 08:42 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-11-22 08:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
| Voice over is quite like dubbing (but without synch) | Nov 22, 2010 |
freelance522 wrote:
The job I mentioned about dubbing is about voice over.
The same with documentary voice over (I do that myself) : the actor reads/acts a translation written by a translator.
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
| No, of course | Nov 22, 2010 |
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote:
Can I take it that it is not typical procedure in VO for the talent to improvise the translation on the spot (though as you say there may be a few experienced artists who could probably pull it off)?
No, of course it's not. The way you've been asked to work is a bit stupid. Why not giving you the translation to do from scratch (as YOU are the professional translator)? As you say, you had to correct mistakes that wouldn't have been there in the first place if you had done it yourself... The two differences between VO and dub, is no lip synch and no dialogue for VO.
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 19:40
English to French
| Again, two different things | Nov 22, 2010 |
freelance522 wrote:
Maybe the deadline was too tight and the VO artists were bi-lingual?
Well, anyway, being bilingual and an accurate translator into your native language (not to mention being a good translator for the screen) are two very different things...
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