"I felt the need to write this "letter" after I spoke with a 65 year-old deaf man who just now was able to watch Robocop and explained to me that it was thanks to an equipment that somehow show the captions when he goes to the movies.
He told me that even though it is great that many movies and tv shows are being released with the aid of a Close Caption option, there is still lack of technology to help the Deaf people to follow the story that is being told on the screen. At first I was a little surprised that Deaf person was actually complaining about having CC on films/tv. Well, obviously I still have a lot to learn about the Deaf community and culture, so I just kept talking with this man who continue signing to me as slow as he could so I could fully understand what he was really "complaining" about. He basically said he could not follow the CCs when they appeared on screen. I literally, thought, well, maybe this man just don't read too fast so, there is no real reason of complaining. Yes, it may have been frustrating for him, but it is not the film/tv production's fault, they did their part to help the Deaf people enjoying the film/tv.
The whole conversation started when we were talking about why I came to United States since I was born and raised in Brazil. When I told him that I came to study film/tv and theatre he started his Robocop adventure story up to the CC point and asked me to help him spreading the word, so that is what I'm doing. I hope many people in the industry can read this and maybe do something about it. Maybe NAD could help with this too.
You may be confused by me saying that the film/tv productions did their part yet I'm here writing to spread a word that the way the CC is done now is not good enough, but what I didn't write up to now is why all this man said made sense to me. I honestly do not know his name, I really wish I did so i can give it all credit for him, but on 65 years of deafness this man seems to me a genius and great model of Deaf person. So here is what he told me: the CC used now are just sentences from the script, true, but how will Deaf people know who is talking unless they are the ones on the screen? Many times we see scenes where the actor is talking but the screen is showing someone else's reaction or even another image they may be referring on the CC. If the scene has more than 1 actor and the screen is showing an object or any different shot that is not either actors face, how would Deaf people know if it is a woman's voice or a man's voice or child or any of the actors on the scene. He also gets confused when a new actor comes into the scene, if this new actors appearance is far from the main scene actors, how would Deaf people know that the person talking is far and he/she is suppose to pay attention to a distant voice (in this man case, he would like to know if he has to switch his attention to a farther person on the screen instead of being focus on the main scene characters). That being said, he gave me his solution, a CC following dot/name. Every time someone talks on the scene and the CC is displayed, the dot will be positioned on the actor who is talking. If the actor is not on screen at all not even his/her back, than the name of the character should appear so he would know who is saying what to whom. Genius!!!
Every time I talk to a Deaf person I feel more and more mesmerized..how amazing this whole different culture and life values are so close to us and we never really see it? Some times I wish I was Deaf too so I could see or feel what now I'm just told about.
By Kate Fine"
If you want to get in contact with the writer, you can email us at bemmetttimes@gmail.com
Disclosure: "The BEmmett Times" and "SAB Planet" is a blog created by and intended to the fans of ABC Family's "Switched at Birth" a property of the Disney/ABC Television Group. All contents including medias and opinions posted here are not represented or on behalf of ABC Family Network, Disney Television Group or any of the Walt Disney Companies. For more information about "Switched at Birth" please visit the official website at: http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/switched-at-birth
No comments:
Post a Comment