The verbalizations of the effects of the light and contrast in audio description

The aspects of film language rendition have long been at the core of international audio description research. While many scholars have looked into ways in which camera movements, editing techniques and elements of mise-en-shot are accounted for in AD scripts, light and contrast, some of the most fundamental codes of film language, have so far not garnered any significant academic interest. The aim of the present thesis is to address this gap by investigating the strategies the describers apply when dealing with relevant lighting set-ups. To that end, in the course of the PhD project a multiple case-study of 13 films audio described in English was carried out. The analysis of the corpus material was conducted against the backdrop of four general categories of lighting functions: plot punctuation, setting perception, character perception, and eye guidance. All of them had previously been identified on the basis of an extensive literature review in the field of Film Studies. In the preliminary phase of research, the audio description fragments corresponding to the relevant lighting set-ups were retrieved from a corpus of six crime films. In that stage of investigation, two macro-strategies for audio describing light surfaced: property- and effect-oriented AD. In the second phase of the project, the same four functions of light were investigated, but in a corpus of seven Tim Burton films. Also, a finer-granular analysis drawing on Kruger's descriptive-narrative continuum (2010) was carried out. As a result of the conducted studies, the final contribution of present dissertation emerged: an overview of the existing audio description strategies applicable to cinematographically relevant light and contrast patterns. The basic conclusion reached upon completing this thesis is that there is no one strategy for the audio description of light. Some patterns of lighting may call for a more explicit rendering, some lend themselves better to a narrative account, and others can be described by mixing description with elements of narration. The decision will depend on the describer's knowledgeability about the filmic craft and its modes of application, as well as on time constraints and scene context, to name only but a few considerations. It is believed that this approach allows to achieve a photograph of the current state of affairs regarding the AD of lighting. While due to the vastness of the subject matter this project makes no claim to completeness, it can be considered a first step towards better understanding the meaning of light for cinema and, subsequently, for audio description.