TypoFilm #5

In the age of the production and widespread circulation of online videos, the Internet is filled with tutorials, manuals, studies and guides on how to write “good subtitles”. Subtitles appear on our screens to provide a translation or utilitarian transcription to allow films to circulate without linguistic barriers in a globalised world and to ensure the accessibility of audiovisual content for the deaf or hard of hearing. Good subtitles must of course be concise and understandable. It is important to choose a readable and neutral font, correctly position the subtitle at the bottom of the screen and respect the average reading time of three seconds and the prosody of speech to be reproduced in writing. Like a “good translation”, “good subtitles” are ones that are not noticed. 

However, although subtitles are inherently utilitarian, the generalisation of their interface has led to the emergence of new forms of writing and translation, in which the text questions the images and sounds and the way they are seen and heard. This session is dedicated to artistic experiments that have used the potential of subtitles as an aesthetic tool and turned them into a creative medium.