Why we should never underestimate the subtle art of subtitling

Par Marion Miclet | @Marion_en_VO

At a time when we are consuming more foreign TV series than ever, subtitles have
become a fundamental part of our viewing experience. Let’s go behind the scenes.

We don’t pay attention to them anymore, but they are everywhere. Subtitles have taken over our
screens, from arthouse cinemas to streaming platforms and TikTok videos. Even when we don’t
really need them, they are there for us. According to a YouGov survey from 2023, 38% of
Americans prefer to have the subtitles or closed captions on when they watch TV… in a language
they know. This finding goes against decades of anti-subtitles feelings along the lines of “I want
to watch something, not read it.” Or the more highbrow version: “Subtitles ruin the
cinematography”. This is why many European countries have a long-established tradition of
dubbing Hollywood entertainment in their own language. Did you know, for instance, that actor
Bruno Choël is the French voice of Johnny Depp, Mark Wahlberg and Matthew McConaughey?
But let’s go back to the ubiquitous subtitles.

Subtitles are no longer an obstacle

Thanks to streaming, Americans and the rest of the world have gotten over “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles,” to quote South Korean Parasite director Bong Joon Ho when he accepted the Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Without subtitles, it would have been impossible to enjoy watching Money Heist, Borgen, Dark or Unorthodox outside of their respective borders. No need for a remake anymore! Beyond allowing us to enter TV landscapes otherwise difficult to explore, subtitles are a tool for inclusivity. French channel Canal+ has recently added a version for dyslexic viewers. A true revolution in terms of accessibility.

It’s no wonder Netflix’s Stranger Things has become a global phenomenon and consequently an
excellent return on investment: the streaming platform commissioned subtitles in 22 languages
to ensure the show reaches audiences worldwide. Five years later, demand has increased and
deadlines have shortened. But to comfortably translate an episode, it ideally takes up to 5
working days. With its 37 different subtitled versions, Squid Game is the most viewed Netflix
original in 90 countries. Unfortunately, the job was rushed: some bilingual viewers pointed out
the poor quality of the English closed captions. Not only the nuances of the Korean language
were obliterated, but the anti-capitalist message was… lost in translation.

This is what happens if you treat subtitles more like a business than an art. When, really, they
are an extension of the voices of the creators. In the 1990-2000s, amateur fansubbers
contributed to the circulation of foreign imports, while also tarnishing the reputation of
professional translators. Today, the boom of the streaming industry is once again changing the
reality of the job. This is why we wanted to chat with Sabine de Andria, a Paris-based translator
who has been producing subtitles from English to French for more than twenty five years, with
evident glee. Her resume reflects the recent evolution of American television: The West Wing,
The Walking Dead, Small Axe, Mrs America…

Subtitles as superheroes

The first and most important thing to understand about the work of subtitling is that the goal is
not to deliver an exact translation. Sabine explains: “There’s a sentence I hear a lot: ‘I
understand the original language, why aren’t you translating what they are saying?’ That’s
because our job isn’t to do a literal translation, it’s to convey the meaning. Subtitles are
primarily designed to serve the work of art.” In order to be read comfortably, subtitles can only
appear on the screen for a limited amount of time, determined by the speed of dialogue and
editing. And there can’t be too many characters per line: the spec is 17/sec. for Netflix and
usually 15/sec. on French television. That’s an estimate of how many characters the human
brain can read and decipher per second. Considering this, the key word is adaptation. Which is
particularly challenging when the target language is very verbose, like French.

If concision is the first super-power of subtitles, the second is invisibility. This is how Sabine put
it: “As subtitlers, we often say that a successful subtitling is a subtitling that you can’t see. This is
not to say that the text has been flattened. On the contrary, our goal is to perfectly convey the
depth of meaning and the richness of the dialogues, without pulling the viewer from the flow of
the story. Subtitles are meant to accompany you, not to make you feel like you are reading. It is a
juggling act, especially when I’m working on comedies filled with puns and inside jokes, but it is
so rewarding.” Think of how hard it was to translate to non-English speaking audiences sitcoms
like Friends and Seinfeld – with all the New York slang and 1990s references. Or more recently,
Succession: the staccato dialogue is enriched with so many swear words it would be impossible
to see it in writing on a prime-time mainstream channel.

Similarly to actors who research an accent for a role in a biopic or in a historical drama, the
subtitlers must immerse themselves into period-specific vocabulary. For Sabine, this is the fun
part: “I love a challenge, especially if it means having to learn a new jargon or to adapt to a
fictional world. For this reason, I had a blast working on TV series like Misfits, Manhattan, War
and Peace, The Walking Dead, Brooklyn Nine-Nine… I could name many more examples, but
the one show I’m the most proud of as a television translator, that combines my interest in
history, politics and American society with my personal taste as a viewer, is Mad Men. From
Season 3 on, I was lucky enough to work on the adaptation with my colleague Caroline Mégret.”

A profession under pressure

Considering how many streaming platforms now release all episodes of a season at once, and
how fast they need to be translated, subtitling a TV series as a team is the way to go.
Collaborators often create a “bible” for each project, to specify which characters use the tu
(informal you) vs. vous (formal you) in French, for instance, and how to translate recurring
phrases. A more consistent result contributes to that invisibility that subtitles require. But other
factors are complicating the job. Seasons might be divided between odd and even numbered
episodes and, for highly-anticipated releases, working copies are sometimes truncated or the
background is blurred, meaning the translators have to bridge the gap.

Of course, subtitlers are well aware of the risk of leaked content and spoilers, but making their
job more difficult isn’t a foolproof solution either. Sabine laments about the situation: “For the
past few years, hackers have been very good at stealing our subtitles and releasing them online
illegally. Not only are we suffering the consequences financially with a loss of income (hacking
doesn’t impact media conglomerates, but rather the freelancers at the end of the chain who are
partly paid in droits d’auteur), but also in terms of the deteriorating work conditions, because
we are under increasingly strict non-disclosure measures.”

Streaming changed everything. “Because of the large amount of content produced, as well as the
multiplication of platforms that distribute it, the demand for translators and subcontractors has
increased, but the working conditions have not improved. If you factor inflation, you can even
say that revenue for TV series translations has considerably dropped. As freelancers in that field,
most of the time we have no say in how much we are paid, our only prerogative is to accept or
refuse what’s offered. With everything now happening online, we are more likely to work
remotely. It used to be more common to go to the lab to check your subtitles directly with the
client and the other translator you might have been paired with. Today, this step, which is called
‘simulation’ is mostly done remotely or has disappeared altogether. As translators, we are more
and more isolated and lose the opportunity to learn or to challenge ourselves by sharing our
work with colleagues.”

Fortunately, the creation of the ATAA (Association of Translators/Adapters in the Audiovisual
field) in 2006 has fostered a sense of community among professionals and given more visibility
to the trade. The Award ceremony, in particular (Sabine was among the organizers for a long
time), showcases the best of the work every year. The 2022 nominees were the teams behind the
subtitles for What We Do in the Shadows S3, Foundation S1 and Dr. Brain S1.

So, don’t forget, the only reason why you are able to binge-watch all of your favorite K-dramas
and discover new shows from all over the world, is because these passionate workers behind the
scenes are holding your hand when you are jumping over “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles.”