A Cross-Varietal Comparison of Audio Description: Atypical (United States) vs. Totally Completely Fine (Australia)
(2024) SPVR01 20241English Studies
Master's Programme: Language and Linguistics
- Abstract
- Audio Description (AD) is developing fast, becoming the norm for big streaming platforms. However, the research field remains largely underexplored. When comparing AD practices between countries, studies seem to focus on guidelines rather than how these are used, or not, by audio describers. Additionally, not enough emphasis is placed on cross-varietal differences of English AD, and in cases when such differences are considered, it is mostly the British and the US varieties that are juxtaposed. Very few have extended this comparison to other English-speaking countries, such as Australia.
Rather than looking into guidelines, this thesis asked what features and trends can be identified in AD when two AD tracks are analyzed. The features... (More) - Audio Description (AD) is developing fast, becoming the norm for big streaming platforms. However, the research field remains largely underexplored. When comparing AD practices between countries, studies seem to focus on guidelines rather than how these are used, or not, by audio describers. Additionally, not enough emphasis is placed on cross-varietal differences of English AD, and in cases when such differences are considered, it is mostly the British and the US varieties that are juxtaposed. Very few have extended this comparison to other English-speaking countries, such as Australia.
Rather than looking into guidelines, this thesis asked what features and trends can be identified in AD when two AD tracks are analyzed. The features were systematized to make up five categories: Local coherence, Global coherence, Subjectivity/Objectivity, Formality and Character introduction. The study went on to ask how the AD tracks in the two shows can be compared in terms of each of these categories with their respective features.
The analysis revealed that, when compared to the US show Atypical, the Australian show Totally Completely Fine exhibits more explicit links within one scene and fewer cases of disturbed local coherence, as well as more specific cues signaling the start and end of flashbacks. It also has more subjective features such as interpretative verbs and named emotions, with fewer facial expressions described by referring to parts of the characters’ face. Besides, the Australian show has fewer formal features such as Latinate verbs and complex grammar structures, but the average sentence length between the shows is similar. Finally, when characters are introduced on the Australian Totally Completely Fine, the audio describer exhibits a preference for their “permanent” features such as race and age, while their US counterpart also opts for the exclusively “temporary” traits like the clothing. Further research will show if these characteristics are typical for US and Australian traditions of AD more generally. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9162548
- author
- Grinenko, Kristina LU
- supervisor
-
- Vasiliki Simaki LU
- Jordan Zlatev LU
- organization
- course
- SPVR01 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Audio Description, cross-varietal study, intersemiotic translation, coherence, subjectivity, formality, character introduction
- language
- English
- id
- 9162548
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-29 10:50:14
- date last changed
- 2024-08-29 10:50:14
@misc{9162548,
abstract = {{Audio Description (AD) is developing fast, becoming the norm for big streaming platforms. However, the research field remains largely underexplored. When comparing AD practices between countries, studies seem to focus on guidelines rather than how these are used, or not, by audio describers. Additionally, not enough emphasis is placed on cross-varietal differences of English AD, and in cases when such differences are considered, it is mostly the British and the US varieties that are juxtaposed. Very few have extended this comparison to other English-speaking countries, such as Australia.
Rather than looking into guidelines, this thesis asked what features and trends can be identified in AD when two AD tracks are analyzed. The features were systematized to make up five categories: Local coherence, Global coherence, Subjectivity/Objectivity, Formality and Character introduction. The study went on to ask how the AD tracks in the two shows can be compared in terms of each of these categories with their respective features.
The analysis revealed that, when compared to the US show Atypical, the Australian show Totally Completely Fine exhibits more explicit links within one scene and fewer cases of disturbed local coherence, as well as more specific cues signaling the start and end of flashbacks. It also has more subjective features such as interpretative verbs and named emotions, with fewer facial expressions described by referring to parts of the characters’ face. Besides, the Australian show has fewer formal features such as Latinate verbs and complex grammar structures, but the average sentence length between the shows is similar. Finally, when characters are introduced on the Australian Totally Completely Fine, the audio describer exhibits a preference for their “permanent” features such as race and age, while their US counterpart also opts for the exclusively “temporary” traits like the clothing. Further research will show if these characteristics are typical for US and Australian traditions of AD more generally.}},
author = {{Grinenko, Kristina}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{A Cross-Varietal Comparison of Audio Description: Atypical (United States) vs. Totally Completely Fine (Australia)}},
year = {{2024}},
}