Die Another Day: subtitle issues (1 Viewer)

[James Reader]

No problem Matt. I just see it as being part of the new global community technology has increased. (And when I say Global, I don't necessarily mean "global" - after all there's lot's of American's who don't speak English as their first language).

The simple fact is DVD has the technology to play multiple soundtracks and multiple subtitle tracks. DVD producers are only using this simple fact to reach the maximum number of people how the maximum number of people would prefer it (and sadly, it is how the maximum number of people would prefer it - no double captions for non-English speakers and let's face it, the bulk of viewers wouldn't blink at player generated subtitles). It also means the exact same disc can be distributed to different demographics - thus it does save money (no matter how little, money is saved).

I think we both agree that the solution is far from ideal. It's not - it's a compromise of lots of things, money, time and requirements being three. Ideally something similar to Disney's title (angle) branching would be used. Not so ideally player generated subtitles would be used, but with more thought put into their placement and font.

 

[Matt Naglieri]

I think the ideas of movie studios trying to save money is quite funny. They will waste 100's of millions on films being made but can't invest in preserving the original intention i.e. oar, subtitles, etc.. on dvd or whatever format.

I guess I feel as though were fighting a losing battle. We can all sit here and talk about how we feel but if no one listens does it make any difference?

I would certainly like to know how studios go about hearing complaints about widescreen. The average person who does not understand widescreen certainly isnt intelligent enough to find whomever is in charge of such a release and then manipulate them to release both versions or pan & scan only.

They surely can't base it on sales either because a widescreen only The Matrix was the biggest seller on dvd at the time and thankfully a pan & scan version to this day has never been issued.

 

[Declan]

Why cant the poeple who actually do the subs in the first place try and copy they way they were done in the theatrical prints. They cant tell me that big bright yellow subs are the only colour, size and text type they can use.
If the film is 2.35:1 keep the subs in the frame. It's simple.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Don't need to: Leave the burn-in subtitle as is and "subtitle" the subtitle...

Because studies that the studios have done show that Joe Sixpack, or Bjoern Sixpack, or Ivan Sixpack or whoever get confused by those foreign words on screen. That's why anime companies were (and to a degree still are) painting out those foreign words and putting in English for TV broadcasts. Then they realized how pissed off it made their best customers, even the dub lovers and quit it.

And yes, it's a hell of a lot more expensive for really one simple reason. Because you have to recompress an entire segment of the movie for every subtitle. And angleing it will take even more time

I believe it's 50/50 the US will get a proper burned-in version, but there' sjust too many languages in Europe, and MGM is all about doing it cheap.

 

[Matt Naglieri]

But Jeff how and where are these studies being done and how are people selected. It seems the only input coming in to the studios is one sided in favor of Mr. Sixpack

I would love it if the studios gave us the chance to voice our opinions in a fair debate.

 

[Vincent Matis]

The way I am interpreting what Vincent said would be something like this.
North Korean Military Base
"North Korean Military Base"

Yes indeed for example in French:
on screen: North Korean Military Base
AND as PG subtitle: Base Militaire, Corée du Nord

Cheers,

Vincent

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

As an upside, by going to a print without "burned in" sub-titles, aren't they in effect using a print that is closer to the original negative? If so, we should be getting a slightly better transfer.

Neil