Evaluation criteria and film narrative. A frame to teaching relevance in audio description

Abstract

The filmic product undergoes a process of deconstruction and selection by the describer, who must decide which particular elements of the characters, costumes, set and action are to remain. Given its importance for professional practice, the acquisition of an appropriate yet flexible concept of relevance for audio descriptions is one of the main aims of any AD course, but how can translator trainees learn to decide what to describe? This article presents a teaching proposal aimed at tackling the problem of relevance in audio description through the combined use of evaluation criteria and film narrative.

Keywords:

• audio description
• film narrative
• teaching translation
• evaluation
• screen translation

Notes

1. Lucey's strategies are visuals from action, grand images, visual metaphors, symbols, continuity visuals, mood and set-up visuals, wallpapering, walk-and-talk-scenes, business, image systems and settings, as cited by Remael and Vercauteren (2007).

2. For further insight on this topic we refer to these authors as well as to Audetel (2000) and AENOR (2005)[0].