Audio description

Auteur description
– from the director’s
creative vision
to audio description
Agnieszka Szarkowska
AVT Lab
Institute of Applied Linguistics
University of Warsaw
a.szarkowska@uw.edu.pl
Outline
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Defining major terms
Auteur AD to Volver
First reactions to auteur AD
Potential problems
Conclusions
Auteurism
 ‘Auteur’ (Fr.) – ‘author’
 Auteur description = AD to auteur films
 Auteur theory
– “Theory of filmmaking in which the director
is viewed as the major creative force
in a motion picture” (Enc. Britannica)
– The theory of “director-as-author”
Auteur-director
 Author = director + script writer
 “A filmmaker, usually a director, who exercises creative
control over and has a strong personal style”
(American Heritage Dictionary)
 “The author becomes a formal component, the
overriding intelligence organizing the film for our
comprehension” (Bordwell 1979: 59)
 An auteur-director leaves a recognisable imprint on all
his/her films:
“a small industry is devoted to informing viewers of such
authorial marks. International film festivals, reviews and
essays in the press, published scripts, film series, career
retrospectives, and film education all introduce viewers to
authorial codes” (Bordwell 1979: 59)
Auteur AD
 Auteur films call for a different type of AD
 Immersing blind and partially sighted viewers in
the story world created by the film author
 Departing from the conventional description in
favour of a more personal style: juicy language,
visual metaphors and explicitation of emotions
 Incorporating the author’s personal vision
into the AD script through:
– Published scripts
– Interviews
– Personal contact
Volver
 (2006) by Pedro Almodóvar
 Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen
Maura, Lola Dueñas
 Three generations of women
– Raimunda and Sole – Madrid
– Raimunda’s daughter, Paula
– Raimunda’s mother, Irene – La Mancha
 Irene supposedly lies in the grave with her husband,
but she comes back to reconcile with her daughters.
 Male character: Paco, Raimunda’s husband
 Paula commits patricide when Paco tries to molest her.
 Raimunda disposes of Paco’s corpse with the help of her
Cuban neighbour, Regina.
Almodóvar’s cinema
 Recurrent themes:
– Women, maternity
– Sexuality
– Sexual abuse, incest, violence
– Drugs
– Death, loss
 Vivid, gaudy colours
 Complicated narratives
 ‘Women melodrama’
Auteur AD to Volver
 Voiced-over version
– Male voice (‘lektor’) : reading out the translation of dialogues
– Female voice: audio description
 Audio introduction with descriptions of Raimunda
and Sole
 Characters presented as envisaged by Almodóvar
in the script, using his idiom and idiosyncrasies
 Language of the description: juicy, vivid and informal
 Emotions explicitly named
 Metaphors to describe visuals
 WYSIWYS → say more than what you see
 Who? Where? What? and How?
Who? → Raimunda
Cruz's Raimunda looks
“absolutely spectacular, at
moments oddly out of place in
the working-class backdrop
she inhabits.”
(Marcantonio 2006)
The film “celebrates the lush
sensuality of Penélope Cruz,
who is more gorgeous here
than in any of her Hollywood
roles or previous performances
for Almodóvar.”
(Kinder 2007: 9)
Audio introduction (Who?)
SPANISH SCRIPT
POLISH AD SCRIPT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Raimunda es racial, de
belleza rotunda,
arraigada
a la tierra por un
redondo y generoso
trasero y unos pechos
de cuyo escote no se
puede apartar la vista.
Luchadora, visceral
llena de coraje y a la
vez fragilísima.
Rajmunda jest rasowa, o
niezaprzeczalnej urodzie,
zakorzeniona w ziemi
okrągłym i szczodrym
tyłkiem; z biustem takim, że
wzroku nie można oderwać
od dekoltu. Nieustępliwa,
stanowcza, żywiołowa,
pełna odwagi, a zarazem
krucha.
Raimunda, of an
astounding and racial
beauty, is firmly
grounded by her luscious
rounded bottom and her
bosom, which one can
hardly take one’s eyes off.
Uncompromising,
resolute, exuberant,
courageous, and fragile
at the same time.
Who? → Paco
SPANISH SCRIPT
Paco, el padre,
contempla el partido
de fútbol en la
televisión mientras
bebe cerveza. Actitud
indolente, barba
crecida, debe de llevar
horas bebiendo,
pegado al sofá.
POLISH AD SCRIPT
Mąż Rajmundy, Paco,
rozwalony na sofie,
nieogolony, ogląda mecz i
żłopie piwo.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Raimunda’s husband,
Paco, sprawled on the
sofa, unshaved, is
watching a football game
while supping on a beer.
Who? → Paco
SPANISH SCRIPT
POLISH AD SCRIPT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Paco va a orinar, al
lavabo. Es ese tipo de
hombre que empieza a
abrirse la bragueta en
el camino, mucho antes
de entrar en el lavabo,
como para ganar
tiempo.
Paco idzie się wysikać. To
typ mężczyzny, który
rozpina rozporek już po
drodze, na długo przed
wejściem do łazienki, jakby
chciał zyskać na czasie.
Paco goes to the
bathroom to take a piss.
He is the kind of man that
pulls the zipper down on
his way to the bathroom,
way before he gets there,
as if to save some time.
Who? → Regina
SPANISH SCRIPT
Regina, una vecina
cubana gordita, ceñida
hasta la asfixia, se
acerca al grupo.
POLISH AD SCRIPT
Wychodzi Regina, gruba
Kubanka w sukience
obcisłej do utraty tchu.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Regina, a plump Cuban
neighbour, with clothes
so tight one wonders
how she can breathe,
comes closer.
Where?
SPANISH SCRIPT
Llegan a la calle donde
vive Raimunda, un
precario apéndice del
Barrio de Vallecas. […]
de la impresión de que
el barrio y la ciudad
tocaran allí a su fin.
Madrid district of Vallecas:
un precario apéndice del
Barrio de Vallecas
POLISH AD SCRIPT
Wieczór. Dojeżdżają do
ulicy, przy której mieszka
Rajmunda. Dzielnica i
miasto dobiegają tu kresu.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Evening. They get to the
street where Raimunda
lives. It seems as if the
neighborhood and the
city would end here.
What?
SPANISH SCRIPT
Las diferentes medallas
descansan sobre sus
pechos espléndidos.
POLISH AD SCRIPT
Na jej wydatnych piersiach
drzemie medalik.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
A little pendant is resting
on her ample bosom.
What? → Metaphor
SPANISH SCRIPT
POLISH AD SCRIPT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Raimunda abre uno de
los cajones superiores
de la cocina. Saca un
bloque de cuatro rollos
grandes de papel de
cocina. Abre uno. Lo
desenrolla y empieza a
limpiar la sangre. El
papel blanco se
empapa de rojo oscuro
formando uno especie
de encaje oscuro.
Raimunda wyjmuje z szafki
kilka rolek ręczników
papierowych.
Biały papier wchłania
ciemną czerwień i przez
moment wygląda jak
ciemna koronka.
Raimunda opens one of
the top kitchen
cupboards. She takes out
a pack of four big
kitchen-paper rolls. She
opens one up, unrolls it
and starts cleaning the
blood. The white paper
soaks in crimson forming
a sort of dark
embroidery.
How? → Emotions
SPANISH SCRIPT
POLISH AD SCRIPT
• Paula tiene en los
ojos un brillo de
pánico.
• Paco está cachondo.
• Raimunda aparece
en la puerta, con
cara de espanto.
• Raimunda la abraza,
horrorizada.
• Paula ma w oczach błysk
przerażenia.
• Napalony Pako całuje
Rajmundę.
• Rajmunda cofa się z
przerażeniem.
• Zapłakana Rajmunda,
zdjęta grozą, przytula
Paulę.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
• Paula’s eyes glimmer
with panic.
• Feeling horny, Paco
kisses Raimunda.
• Raimunda steps back
in horror.
• Crying Raiumuda,
seized with terror,
embraces Paula.
How? → Face expressions
SPANISH SCRIPT
POLISH AD SCRIPT
Raimunda se arrodilla,
le da vuelta al cadáver.
Le mira la entrepierna,
por su expresión se
deduce que el muerto
tiene el miembro fuera.
Rajmunda przyklęka i
powoli obraca ciało Pako.
Spogląda na jego krocze, a z
wyrazu jej twarzy można
wywnioskować, że Pako ma
członek na wierzchu.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Raimunda kneels down
and turns the corpse
around. She takes a look
at his crotch. Her facial
expression tells us his
penis must still be out.
First reactions to auteur AD
 A screening at the Polish Association
of the Blind (PZN) in Warsaw
 Enthusiastic reception
– “Juicy and vivid language gave the film
a more entertaining character”
– “Helped me to better understand
the motivations of the characters
and to follow the plot”
Potential problems
 Not applicable to all films and film genres
 Not all script contain such detailed
descriptions
 Some ideas from the original script
are changed later in production
 Copyrights
 Some viewers may find the juicy language
off-putting
Conclusions
 Auteur AD
– Unconventional & experimental
– Not for mainstream Hollywood productions
– More entertaining?
 Successful in creating the cinematic illusion
and suspending viewers’ disbelief
 Metaphorically ‘bringing the audience
towards the author’
 A new sub-genre of AD?
a.szarkowska@uw.edu.pl
www.avt.ils.uw.edu.pl
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