A History Of Subtitles

THE HISTORY OF SUBTITLES Most television programmes and movies that we watch today are often available with subtitles shown towards the bottom of the screen. But have you ever wondered how it was possible for this to become mainstream? THE ORIGINS OF SUBTITLES It all started with intertitles: text written on cards, shown between scenes in silent films UNCE Tons QBIN. The first silent film to use intertitles was in 1903, in the film "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Filmmakers could translate the cards into different languages to enable a global audience FROM INTERTITLES TO SUBTITLES In the late 1920s, films were produced with sound, ending the need for intertitles The world's first film available with subti- tles was "The Jazz Singer" in 1929 In 1930, Leif Eriksen from Norway patented a method of stamping subtitles onto film In 1932, two separate inventors came up with a method using chemicals *You're of the old world! If you were born here, you'd feel the same as I In 1935, Hungarian inventor O. Turchányi patented a method using heated plates The world's first TV movie, "Der Student von Prag", was shown in 1938 by the BBC Think wed al be togefher Since 1988, a method involving lasers and computers has been used WHY ARE SUBTITLES USED? They increase accessibility for deaf people or those that are hard of hearing They can be used as part of advertising on large screens such as at airports They make it easier to understand spoken words in films They allow for television programmes to be watched in public places like shopping malls They enable films to be translated into local languages WHERE ARE SUBTITLES USED TODAY? AT HOME television programmes, DVD and Blu-ray films AT THE CINEMA many current films being shown are available with subtitles AT THE THEATRE some live theatre performances offer speech-to-text services ON COMPUTER GAMES most PC and console games offer subtitling ON THE INTERNET YouTube offers subtitling on many videos on its website You Tube Source: BROUGHT TO YOU BY take1 transcription http://www.transedit.se/history.htm WWW.TAKE 1.TV