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Researching Audio Description pp 143–167Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

‘What Should I Say?’ Tentative Criteria to Prioritize Information in the Audio Description of Film Characters

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting ((PTTI))

Abstract

In an attempt to study memory operation in audio description, Fresno, Castellà and Soler-Vilageliu present a reception study designed to explore which physical features of audio described characters are more frequently recalled and recognized by blind and visually impaired audiences. The results of this study indicate that age is the trait which shows a better recall and recognition by receivers, and that more physical features of characters are recalled and recognized when their descriptions are segmented. The findings of this research could provide tentative criteria for presenting and prioritizing information in professional audio description scripts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘All my life I have been keen on cinema and when my doctor told me I would become blind, I thought that would be one of the things I would miss the most: watching films. However, thanks to audio description, I can still enjoy cinema. Differently than before, but I still enjoy it’ (our translation).

  2. 2.

    ‘cause fatigue to the visually impaired listener’ (our translation).

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Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project FFI-2012-31024) and Catalan government (2014SGR0027) funds.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, USA

    Nazaret Fresno

  2. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Judit Castellà & Olga Soler-Vilageliu

Authors
  1. Nazaret Fresno
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  2. Judit Castellà
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  3. Olga Soler-Vilageliu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Edifici B, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Anna Matamala

  2. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UNIVERSITAT AUTÓNOMA DE BARCELONA, Barcelona, Spain

    Pilar Orero

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Fresno, N., Castellà, J., Soler-Vilageliu, O. (2016). ‘What Should I Say?’ Tentative Criteria to Prioritize Information in the Audio Description of Film Characters. In: Matamala, A., Orero, P. (eds) Researching Audio Description. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56917-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56917-2_8

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56917-2

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