Title
The art of difficult describing. How language, society and the televisual landscape shape the way we audio describe race, gender, disability and nudity
Conference name
Advanced research seminar on audio description
City
Country
Spain
Modalities
Date
20/04/2023-21/04/2023
Abstract
The skills required to describe physical appearance in audio description have always been key in training describers. Giving blind audiences access to information that non-blind viewers have includes describing personal characteristics such as age, hair, build, clothing or ethnicity. Deciding when someone’s race, body shape, sex, gender, disability or physical appearance is relevant or important form part of the skillset an audio describer acquires as part of their training. However, describers often meet with new and interesting challenges as society and language evolves, and as content-makers innovate, and we have to reassess our strategies and editorial guidelines as required. Describing physical appearance comes with many potential pitfalls, never more so than when it comes to describing sensitive subjects.
This paper will present conference attendees with unique insights and invite discussion on the challenges of audio describing sensitive content using case studies from several recent projects. By getting attendees to put themselves in the shoes of an audio describer, and by using real-life AD examples, we will illustrate the questions describers have to ask themselves every day, look at how approaches have evolved over the years, and are still evolving, and how this ongoing dialogue informs our training and best practice.
Using her 20+ years of describing experience, as well as her training expertise across Red Bee Media’s English language operations, Marie Campbell will look back at the journey AD editorial guidelines have been on with regards to sensitive content, starting when AD in the UK was in its infancy and the nascent guidelines were predicated on a linear televisual landscape that looked, by default, much more “white” and “male” compared to what we see on our screens today. She will explore how a desire to avoid “othering” led to outdated guidelines that failed to describe the diversity of the world we live in as televisual content started to change and embrace that diversity in a more visual and meaningful way.
We will look at how approaches might vary between fictional and factual content: in fictional content, characters are often portrayed and painted using broad brushstrokes so the AD might follow suit; but with factual content, when we are describing real people, accuracy is essential. When a programme doesn’t give us all the information we need, how can we fill in the gaps without making inaccurate assumptions, while still giving an accurate and fair representation of someone’s physical appearance. Moreover, in an industry that is not particularly diverse or representative, how do we mitigate personal bias and avoid subjectivity?
We will look at how the ongoing evolution of language, and how terms that were once acceptable are now offensive, while other terms that are commonly used in society today might be loaded in certain ways, giving describers pause for thought. Finally, we will explore how innovation on the part of programme makers forces innovation on the part of the describer, and how providing access to this content can lead us down interesting and, at times, amusing, paths.
This paper will present conference attendees with unique insights and invite discussion on the challenges of audio describing sensitive content using case studies from several recent projects. By getting attendees to put themselves in the shoes of an audio describer, and by using real-life AD examples, we will illustrate the questions describers have to ask themselves every day, look at how approaches have evolved over the years, and are still evolving, and how this ongoing dialogue informs our training and best practice.
Using her 20+ years of describing experience, as well as her training expertise across Red Bee Media’s English language operations, Marie Campbell will look back at the journey AD editorial guidelines have been on with regards to sensitive content, starting when AD in the UK was in its infancy and the nascent guidelines were predicated on a linear televisual landscape that looked, by default, much more “white” and “male” compared to what we see on our screens today. She will explore how a desire to avoid “othering” led to outdated guidelines that failed to describe the diversity of the world we live in as televisual content started to change and embrace that diversity in a more visual and meaningful way.
We will look at how approaches might vary between fictional and factual content: in fictional content, characters are often portrayed and painted using broad brushstrokes so the AD might follow suit; but with factual content, when we are describing real people, accuracy is essential. When a programme doesn’t give us all the information we need, how can we fill in the gaps without making inaccurate assumptions, while still giving an accurate and fair representation of someone’s physical appearance. Moreover, in an industry that is not particularly diverse or representative, how do we mitigate personal bias and avoid subjectivity?
We will look at how the ongoing evolution of language, and how terms that were once acceptable are now offensive, while other terms that are commonly used in society today might be loaded in certain ways, giving describers pause for thought. Finally, we will explore how innovation on the part of programme makers forces innovation on the part of the describer, and how providing access to this content can lead us down interesting and, at times, amusing, paths.