Subtitles and Audiovisual Translation

Subtitles, captions, and dubbing are all great ways
to expand access and reach new audiences with your content.

services

What does it look like?

What do clients say about my work?

Olivia created the closed captions for two short films I directed and produced. Her work was thoughtful and exact, and she did a beautiful job reflecting the tone and spirit of the stories through her captions. She is extremely responsive and absolutely fastidious. I recommend her highly to anyone who needs captions for a video or film.

Michelle Tattenbaum, director of theater, film, and audio

FAQ

Beyond the fact that subtitles allow audiences who speak another language to see and understand your content, many major film festivals make English subtitles or captions an entry requirement. It’s a great idea to have subtitles or captions ready to go when you’re heading into festival submissions.

At this point, there’s very little I haven’t done. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:

  • documentaries
  • feature films
  • short films
  • online art tutorials
  • television shows
  • promotional content
  • E-learning videos/seminars
  • news items/video journalism

Time for a translator’s favorite response: it depends. In this case, on dialogue density, terminological complexity, and my availability. If you have a project in mind, reach out and we can discuss turnaround times and deadlines.

I can and do create English subtitles from Spanish audio, but depending on the content, audio quality, and dialects involved, it could take a lot longer and be less accurate than working from a subtitle template produced by a native speaker. Even a transcript (revised by a human/native speaker) will get you better results. If you’re curious whether your project can be subtitled from scratch, reach out to discuss!

This is up to you, but different cultures and demographics have different expectations when it comes to dubbing versus subtitling. For example, subtitles are more popular than dubbing in the U.S., especially among younger audiences. Subtitles are also less involved to produce, as they don’t require additional voice acting and sound mixing. If you’re not sure which is right for you, reach out and we can chat about it.