Date post: | 10-May-2015 |
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Entertainment & Humor |
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Theatre Captioning
Making theatre accessible to deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audience members
What can you make out from this piece of spoken text?
Credit: University of Manchester
This is what theatre performances would sound like to audience members with a hearing loss
• Body language & lipreading would give more information but...
• Amplification would not help• BSL interpretation only helps BSL users
What can you make out this time?
Credit: Makes Sensewww.makesensedesign.com
Who uses captions?• Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing
people who wish to access plays in English– 1 in 7 of the UK population, 9 million people
• People whose hearing is not as sharp as it used to be – 55% of people over 60 have age-related
hearing loss• Hearing audiences
– Anyone who has difficulty following strong accents
– Students who are studying the text of a play– People whose first language is not English
• 359 people in audience• 17 people booked for captioning
with box office (4% of total audience)
• 103 people returned the card to say that they had found the captions useful (29% of total audience)
• CONCLUSION: 25% of people using captioning do not request the service
The undeclared audienceNew Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
Preparation of captions
Electronic script
Initial formatting
Imported to STAGETEXT
software
Attend rehearsals
and/or show
Work with DVD of show
Checks with prompt/DSM
Refinement of formatting
Attend dress rehearsal /
show
Final formatting
Double check queries Performance!
Delivery of captions
• Speech appears as text on caption unit(s) at exactly the same time as words are spoken or sung.
• Full text, speaker names, sound effects, music and offstage noises are shown
• Similar to television subtitles & opera surtitling but crucial differences: – Opera surtitles are above the stage & often difficult to
read– Both television subtitles & opera surtitles can be edited
down from the full dialogue– Television subtitles can come up ahead of the dialogue
and spoil punchlines / important plot points.
Benefits of captions
• Makes theatre accessible to deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people
• To enable a person with a hearing loss to appreciate the spirit, meaning and intent of the performance and obtain the same experience as a hearing person obtains in a theatre
• Fosters social inclusion
• A theatre is truly accessible to customers with a hearing loss if it has captioned performances, sign language interpreted performances and a good working sound enhancement system
The Captioned performance
STAGETEXT captionerat Bristol Old Vic
Photo: Mike Lusmore
Technical possibilities
Caption Unit Plasma Screen Projection
Centre photo from Chelmsford Civic Theatres
Text position
• Decide as early as possible (the model caption unit above is used in set models)
• Include everyone - lighting, sound, stage management, box office and front of house
• Allocate seats accordingly• Check lights, speakers,
safety curtain & sight lines
Caption units should be - • Ideally in the set• As close to the action as
possible• At about actors’ head
height
Caption unit model from New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
Deafened actor Tim Barlow as Tybalt, prior to the captioned performance of Juliet and Her Romeo, Bristol Old Vic (April 2010). Photo: Mike Lusmore
15
Captioned performance of Little WomenSadler’s Wells
16
Captioned performance of Aladdin, The Wok ‘n’ Roll PantoNew Wolsey, Ipswich. Photo: Mike Kwasniak
17
Speech-to-text transcribed post-show discussion after
YellowmanHampstead Theatre
18
Warm-up prior to the captioned performance of Life is a DreamDonmar Warehouse
Photo: Matt Humphrey
Captioned performance of Miss Saigon at the Bristol HippodromeCaptioned performance of Miss Saigon at the Bristol Hippodrome
20
Captioned performance of Hansel and Gretel
Northern StagePhoto: Linda Borthwick
Making captioning work
• Making a commitment– Captioning works best when whole organisation is
committed– Giving proper support to captioners
• Promoting the show effectively – Include prominently on all marketing– Making links with local older people’s groups and so on– Making it easy for caption-users to book tickets
• Making sure it’s All Right On The Night!– Installing & running technical equipment early– Double checking position of text & caption-user seats– Customer care for audience members including deaf
awareness training for front of house staff
Feedback from our users
“This has opened up an entirely new world for me. The
sheer delight in being able to
fully understand a play is difficult to convey to a hearing person”
“ STAGETEXT has enabled me to go to the
theatre with my family once more. ”
“We didn’t talk about the captions. We talked about whether or not the death throes of the performers
were realistic.”
Questions?
Thank you!