All studios - PLEASE CLOSE CAPTION EXTRAS (1 Viewer)

[Matt A]

To all the studios out there:
I have been a fan of the DVD format since the very beginning and I'm an avid movie fan, buying DVDs left and right. One thing I've noticed is that VERY RARELY are extra features closed captioned or subtitled.
This has disappointed me greatly because I have so many DVDs and yet I can't appreciate all of them to the extent that I could because of the lack of subtitling or closed captioning for the extra features and the audio commentaries. I'm not alone in this. There are millions of hearing impaired people as well as hearing people who would love to have this feature.
I realize it costs money to do this, but I think it would be offset by the people who will buy the DVDs knowing they would get their full money's worth. Please keep up the good work.
Anyone who feels the same, join in this thread and so we can let them know that there is a demand for this.
Thank you for your time.
Matt

 

[Darren D]

Actually, I would prefer subtitles, as there are some DVD players that do not let the CC signal go through (like my JVC, for example)(and if you believe their customer support person who wrote to me, JVC doesn't believe that DVDs are closed captioned).
But if I have to get another player, so be it. I want SOMETHING...either CC or subs.
Deaf people are NOT the only people who use either of these features.
D

 

[Matt A]

Deaf people are NOT the only people who use either of these features.

That's right! I'm hoping the studios will start to understand that too. (Hint, hint!)
Matt

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Matt A said:

That has to be one of the saddest things I've read in awhile. Since extras almost always total less than 2 hrs, we're talking a $2k investment by the studios could make all the extras accessible to so many more people.
I already have it from several on the DVD production side that once they have the subtitle/caption file, it is no extra cost for them to include them in the DVD (they don't charge extra for it). It is simply a matter of the studios (those which don't do it) not even asking them to do it. In fact, when they use old transfers, they can get the captions from the Line 21 information of the old transfer if the studio requests it.
Anyway, most of the folks who care on this board have probably given up on discussing it here as whenever it comes up, there are a few people who chime in and then there's no studio response. One day a movie I really like (Castaway was close) is going to push me into being more active on this front. I just assumed the studios would get on the ball once they were made aware of the problem.

 

[Ben Motley]

Count me in. Before I got my hearing aids, I would sometimes just go nuts trying to figure stuff out. Even since I've had them, I still don't hear 100%, and still rely a lot on subs/CC. As bad as I have it, I know there are many out there who have it even worse, especially those who are totally deaf. It's a sad sad sad shame that this is an issue at all.

 

[Darren D]

I wish I could find out what it is that is not allowing the CC signal to make it to my TV from the DVD player. What would keep this from happening? No one has answered my post in the hardware section and I don't know who to ask.
Criterion is another company that I wish would subtitle the extras. Loads of extras, and not a clue what they're saying on most of them.

 

[Matt A]

Darren-

I'm not going to do a Report Card (yet) on which studios do a good job and which don't, but I will point out that Paramount has done a great job. I don't know if it is a trend for Dreamworks, but The Mexican has Closed Captions on all extras.

A report card sounds like a great idea! Maybe we could start a separate thread in the Software Forum asking people to list which DVDs have closed captioning/subtitled extras. We could get a lot of info in a short span of time and applaud the studios (probably Paramount) that do a good job and complain to the worst offenders (probably FOX).
I haven't bought a Paramount DVD, although I did watch Mission: Impossible 2 (that is a Paramount title, right?) and I was suitably impressed that the interviews were subtitled. This gives me hope for my next purchase: both of the Wayne's World movies. Dreamworks has a spotty record. They didn't subtitle ANY of the features for American Beauty and Chicken Run, but two out of the three major featurettes on Gladiator were closed captioned (but not the deleted scenes). I'll have to rent The Mexican (gotta love James Gandolfini!).
And thanks for the financial info. $2K is not that much with studios who have deep pockets. It only has to be done once on the reference DVD and then it can be replicated over and over again as the DVDs are being made. $2K is chump change and it could make so many things more accessible to people, like you said earlier, Mikah.
Let's hope it happens.
Matt

 

[Jim_K]

Count me in also. Captioning/Subtitles on the Extra features should ALWAYS be included. To not provide this basic feature is discrimination against the hearing impaired.
Jim

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Matt A said: quote: I want a reason why they're not doing it. Too expensive? Too short of a schedule. I have to wonder though. Doesn't the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cover this? It required that videos be closed captioned. As far as I know, DVDs are videos and therefore they should be covered. I should look into this soon.[/quote]
You might want to start here: Captioning FAQ
Of particular interest is the section on Captioning Laws . The ADA does NOT specifically address captioning for non-government funded programs. It is implied in several areas, but I'm not aware of any court cases that have tested this.
In fact, you might want to look at the section Where Captioning Isn't Required as it says that captioning on DVD (and VHS) has been purely optional since there is no broadcasting involved and thus the FCC has no jurisdiction over it. Again, it might fail ADA guidelines, but that hasn't been tested yet.
I'm sure that legally the studios are doing what is required of them. They do have lots of lawyers on the payroll after all. I'm going to see if I can find a contact in the government or an attorney that has experience in this area. You guys should feel free to do the same. Seems that given the cost, it'd be a simple thing for them to just go ahead and do it (like Paramount has done).
OK, here's an ADA Information Line within the Department of Justice covering the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The number is (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TDD). I still see the ADA as mostly dealing with Employement and public function accessibility, but we'll see how it goes.
[Edited last by Mikah Cerucco on August 11, 2001 at 11:32 PM]

 

[Bobby Bones]

I am a big fan of DVD's and I am also hard of hearing. I buy most of DVD's for the extras and to find out there is no caption on the extras really dissapoints me. I bought the Dogma DVD just for the 100 hours of extra footage and low and behold I can't even watch them. If there is anywhere to write to or a petiton please let me know I would gladly write or sign something to get all extras captioned. I did buy the Planet of Apes DVD and was pleasantly surprised that the extra were captioned. There is no possible way to get these captioned now, is there?

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Bobby Bones said: I am a big fan of DVD's and I am also hard of hearing.

Are you hard of seeing as well? That was some big font you used there. I do know some visually impaired people use big fonts. Your browser can probably let you see bigger fonts without causing everyone who reads your post to see big fonts.
Anyway, on to the content of your post. I agree completely. Buy Paramount DVD's. They caption everything. I don't really get Fox's position on this, but I can tell you I really enjoyed the Star Wars EP1:TPM DVD as it captioned everything as well. I thought there was a slim chance there was a policy change on Fox's part, but DVD's after that went back to not doing it. :frowning:

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

I wholeheartedly agree, and I think subtitling should be used, as opposed to closed captions, but if converting between the two is easy, I'm all for both (Even though I understand the two can be put to not necessarily the same use)

 

[Alex Giese]

I am pleasantly surprised that there are people out there with no hearing problems that are for subtitles or captions in movies and extras. My wife and I are deaf and we cannot get by watching a movie with no captions at all. We just bought a dvd player and rented our first dvd movie to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Imagine the disappointment when for some reason the captions didn't work. I don't know if it was the dvd player or the dvd itself but the subtitles worked though. I went and rented another movie to see if there was a problem with the dvd player. It works fine. Although, the Grinch movie was watchable, we really prefer captions as it would catch almost every words spoken. Subtitles seem to take some shortcuts on some sentences which we feel is unacceptable. The narrator in the movie was speaking and there were no subtitles to be seen which was annoying!

One other thing, even though I am deaf, I wear hearing aids and enjoy listening to music. I see that some dvd music videos are not captioned which is disappointing. I am hoping to get the new AC/DC dvd for Christmas and it is not captioned!