Over the past couple of years we have worked on subtitling documentaries filmed in both Asia and Europe, covering all sorts of topics. At Knockhundred we’re always really happy to hear from filmmakers, as subtitling has become a particular specialism for our team.
Whatever the subject, whether it’s a travel programme, or whether it’s something completely different, like religion, or food, we’re always keen to help. For us, the process is the same, irrespective of the content.
First of all, we receive the videos from our client (and if we’re lucky, they’re compressed and in MP4 format.) The videos usually have both English and another language spoken in the audio (which can be literally any language, though most recently, we’ve been working on Japanese to English, German to English, Hindi to English and Bengali to English). Once we have the video, it’s then a case of liaising with the client to gain a clear understanding of exactly what’s needed. Usually, only the foreign language speech is subtitled, with any (English) input from the interviewer or foreign language interpreter omitted. 99% of the time our clients require an SRT subtitle file following standard subtitling conventions. Sometimes requests are more complex and the delivery format does vary, but typically, most clients request SRTs.
Once the final spec has been hammered down and we know exactly what’s needed, our linguist works hard (and often through the night) to produce subtitles, which are then reviewed in-house, before being returned to the client.
When final subs have been completed, we remain on-hand to answer any questions the client may have. And once everything has been finalised, the subs are burnt-in to the video, ready for broadcast. Seeing the final film is always really satisfying for our linguists and our Project Managers too.
Need help?
Should you require our help with subtitling do not hesitate to get in touch with us and our team will do their best to help you. You can email or call us on 01544 388 040.
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