Jump to content
NEurope
Fierce_LiNk

Subtitles - "Do u read ur films?!"

Recommended Posts

Les Revenants/The Returned is starting on Channel 4 tonight. As it's a French television show with French actors, it will shown in French with English subtitles. On Channel 4's facebook page, there are a few people who seem to be bringing up the fact that certain British people do not like "reading their films".

 

What's your opinion on subtitles? Personally, I've got no problems with them. I pretty much watch everything with subtitles on these days, and it's quite useful as you can sometimes mishear or not even hear things that are being said. But, it also doesn't bother me on foreign films. I had completely forgotten that Pan's Labyrinth was subtitled.

 

Some seem to find it distracting. Some seem to not want to "have to read when watching a film". I find that odd, when there's usually lots of things happening on the screen anyway at times.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's harder to "read a film", you have to concentrate a lot more. I'll happily do it, but only for a pretty good film or TV show, and only when I'm in the mood for such. It's not really for light-hearted watching.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Generally, I don't like watching stuff in other languages while reading subtitles. One big exception is Pan's Labyrinth. which is a wonderful film.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do like having subtitles in English even when watching films in English, simply for the added benefit of being able to check what's being said. That being said, it's very annoying if the subtitles are heavily paraphrased.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I do like having subtitles in English even when watching films in English, simply for the added benefit of being able to check what's being said. That being said, it's very annoying if the subtitles are heavily paraphrased.

 

I actually do this in some video games. I sometimes find it easier to read the subtitles then to pay attention to the speech during combat.

 

Also, lots of RPGs have terrible voice acting. So I read the subtitles and skip to the next line before they finish.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I absolutely hate them in films. You end up spending more time reading than watching the film.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Indeed, in games it can be especially hard to hear what's being said amidst the action.

 

By far the worst game I've encountered for speech is Singularity. Everyone speaks in really bad Russian accents, the quality is rather poor and they tell you important plot details in the middle of combat (which is very noisy).

 

The game also lacked a subtitles option.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't like subtitles, as I want to focus all of my attention on the visual elements of the piece.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have them on pretty much whenever I can. I find it hard to listen to people sometimes so it's a great thing. However I can't watch it on live shows or events because the subtitles trail a little bit. Someone will talk and the thing they said appears about 20 seconds later.

 

Also, when I can in movies, I change the speech to a different language and have the subtitles on English. It's quite a cool thing to do if you're learning another language. They don't have an option for Urdu though, which sucks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not got a problem with subtitles. Some of the best shit is not in English (not that that should be any surprise).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would probably prefer to not have to read subtitles because I do think it divides your focus but its never stopped me from watching or enjoying a movie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, because in here a) a lot of the tv shows and movies are of Anglo-American or otherwise foreign origin and b) they're all subtitled except for the children's shows (which are dubbed). You get used to it, doesn't bother me at all. So yeah, be grateful that the whole world is speaking your mother tongue in the first place, you lucky bastards.

 

What comes to English-only stuff, like youtube shows, wrestling, late night programs etc there's no need for subtitles as the audio is usually pretty clear. With games I tend to turn the English subs on just in case, because a lot of the time the audio mixing can be so crap that it can be hard to hear what they're saying. Same goes with movies, I usually put on English or Finnish just in case.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You get used to it pretty quickly so you can read the subtitles and watch what's going on at the same time easily. I just find people complaining about having to read lazy to be honest. :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't really understand the "I miss what is going on on the screen", you are still just watching the same screen, it is all there. I have never had a problem with this at all, and in Belgium they will even show French and Dutch subtitles at the same time in the cinema, Dutch being the bottom line. Never had a problem with.

 

Even when we watch stuff at home now, whether it is tv or dvd, Jim and I will usually put subtitles on as it just makes things easier to understand and means we don't have to turn up the volume too high (which might annoy the neighbours).

 

People saying they won't watch something because it has subtitles is just moronic (and that Channel 4 page had plenty of them). But them half of them were writing like idiots, so that might explain it...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You get used to it pretty quickly so you can read the subtitles and watch what's going on at the same time easily. I just find people complaining about having to read lazy to be honest. :P

 

I probably agree with you/this post the most in this thread.

 

I have subtitles on for almost everything now. The things I don't have subtitles on for are things that don't supply them. It can be annoying, as I found out last night with Donnie Darko, particularly as there was a low "humming" background-music-thing going on during certain scenes.

 

In our house, we used to sometimes put subtitles on for our Dad, who was deaf. Other time, they were supplied because it might have been some sort of asian tv show. Now, I watch films or tv shows either with English or Dutch subtitles. I don't generally see it as "having" to pay more attention, it can be there to supplement what's going on. It was a fucking godsend during Trainspotting, that's for sure...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

How low are people's attention spans if they're distracted by reading subtitles? God forbid they have to exercise mental capacity while watching a film! :heh: I echo Ville's sentiment, you English people with your lingua franca are so darn lazy when it comes to languages! :p

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Seen quite a few subtitled films (mainly French) and it doesn't bother me. It usually does take me about 10 mins or so to get used to it but after that it's generally fine and I enjoy it.

 

I get why some people may not like it. If there is a bit of a long dialogue, sometimes I feel like I'm concentrating too much on the words rather than what is happening and feel like I lose out on some scenes which I wouldn't with an English speaking film.

 

I would never turn subtitles on for an English speaking thing though. No way. Don't need and takes up screen space. Maybe If I had kids or something....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
and in Belgium they will even show French and Dutch subtitles at the same time in the cinema

 

Oh yeah, we have that sometimes as well, with Finnish and Swedish.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I dont agree with people on here saying that im lazy because i dont like English speaking films with subtitles on. Subtitled do distract me and they do others too.

 

Like ive said before I put a film on to watch it rather than read it. Personal preference.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I dont agree with people on here saying that im lazy because i dont like English speaking films with subtitles on. Subtitled do distract me and they do others too.

 

Like ive said before I put a film on to watch it rather than read it. Personal preference.

 

No one is saying it about watching English films with English subtitles, but with foreign language films with English subtitles.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally I love it. :grin:

 

Firstly I'm really used to it as I watch a lot of anime and have done since I was a Teen so I've really immersed myself into the idea of subtitles. I've never been distracted by their presence on screen and for one Japanese film I watched in the cinema I had the French and English subtitles running underneath and I was still not deterred.

 

I also love to hear the language that the foreign film/whatever is playing in and if I were to see a dubbed version I fear a lot is lost in translation and you lose the subtlety of the language. You do somewhat with subtitles as well but I think you can retain more of the meaning that way

 

It's never bothered me and in fact I feel sometimes I'm even more immersed to what's happening on screen through subtitles as it does in all fairness require more focus so you can keep up with what's going on but for me that adds to the beauty and to the depth of what I'm watching. :)

 

I don't do it for English shows just to help out with some dialogue but I can see how that is helpful as sometimes you can miss bits in strangely quiet mumbly scenes.

 

If I'm tired I tend not to say watch anime or something with subtitles as then my eyes don't have to work as hard. :p In that situation I'll just stick on a whatever is not taxing for my brain as it just wants to relaaaaaaaaaax.

 

:D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree that subtitles in the same language can be annoying if the dialogue is not accurately transcribed, but then again you could always not look at them. It's not too difficult learning to ignore them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, the other alternative is dubbing, how do people feel about that? I mean in the central European countries they dub everything, so no need for subtitles.

 

Personally, I don't mind it with animations, but with movies and tv shows subbing is definitely the better choice. Much nicer to hear the actors speak with their own voices than listen to some Finnish guy pretend to be Daniel Craig.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well, the other alternative is dubbing, how do people feel about that? I mean in the central European countries they dub everything, so no need for subtitles.

 

Personally, I don't mind it with animations, but with movies and tv shows subbing is definitely the better choice. Much nicer to hear the actors speak with their own voices than listen to some Finnish guy pretend to be Daniel Craig.

 

If the dubbing can actually sync up with the animation, and if it "fits in" with the personalities of the characters, then it can get away with it. The majority of the time, I'd just go for subbing. It seems wrong in a way. It's almost like recording your own lyrics over a song...blasphemy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×