Dear Hans,
Thanks for your thoughts on this - I did wonder how much this might have to do with multiple language versions and the general fact that when sound came in translation suddenly became an issue in a way it hadn't been before. I haven't found any examples of this dissolve device from the silent era, though presumably it would have been perfectly possible technically?
One thought: would you make a distinction between modes of translation (in-vision captions, voiceovers etc.) which are applied to a whole film (i.e. to translate an American film for the German market) and translating effects which are designed for a domestic audience? I tend to see a difference for instance between subtitles as a mode of translation applied after the fact and subtitles that are pre-planned and restricted to particular scenes - the relationship between
the diegetic and the extradiegetic can seem very disrupted when some of the dialogue is subtitled and some isn't, but maybe this is trying to read too much into it?
Carol
--- On Mon, 3/11/08, Hans Heydebreck <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Hans Heydebreck <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: translating dissolve
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, 3 November, 2008, 10:35 PM
--- On Mon, 11/3/08, CAROL OSULLIVAN <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Dear colleagues,
> Still working on my project on screen
> 'translations' and translation, I have come across
> some examples of the use of a translating dissolve, i.e. we
> are shown a sign, or letter, and via a dissolve we see the
> same message only in the audience's
language. It comes
> across as an interestingly specific kind of POV shot. The
> examples I have are all from the early 1930s so far, and I
> am wondering how much this device was actually used, and
> until how late.
Hello,
this was fairly common for (English) versions for a German audience. Out of the
blue, I automatically imagine black and white films (30s-50s).
Very often, not a dissolve, but an insert is used (with the translated version
superimposed but not covering the entire screen like the movie title in the
credits, mostly for letters or newspaper articles, sometimes with the addition
of a voice over which is not a character´s voice. As always a serious, male
voice, of course).
If you want to track down these version, possibly you have to look for the
respective video tapes or television airings, because the DVD versions worldwide
mostly use the English master for their
transfers.
In more recent years, the practice has changed, one factor being the marketing
/ corporate design: even if a title for a Harry Potter movie is translated, they
use the same font for the credits and don´t mess with the actual footage. Which
certainly has to do with the digital aspect of title generating. And the money
aspect: German versions of B-movies / television films in the 80s very often
have a splash of a white rectangle with the new title on it.
There are always exceptions: the Futurama series added a narrator´s voice to
translate the original signs (like a sign reading "Pizza Delivery
Service").
You mention the early 30s, at that time a lot of alternate versions were shot
in Europe with the actor´s being cast mainly on their ability to do the scenes
in up to (?) 6 or seven different languages.
(There´s a German study about it, the title unfortunately slipped my
mind.)
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