Scribd
Upload
179 views4 pages

Rev Captioning

The document provides guidance on creating caption groups when rev captioning video content. Caption groups should be under 60 characters and broken at punctuation, speaker changes, or conjunctions/prepositions. Atmospherics should be included in parentheses to describe important sounds and identify speakers with dashes and brackets.

Uploaded by

Michael Anbessa Wordofa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
179 views4 pages

Rev Captioning

The document provides guidance on creating caption groups when rev captioning video content. Caption groups should be under 60 characters and broken at punctuation, speaker changes, or conjunctions/prepositions. Atmospherics should be included in parentheses to describe important sounds and identify speakers with dashes and brackets.

Uploaded by

Michael Anbessa Wordofa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Rev captioning

Deciding when to end one caption group and create a new one requires paying attention to

three things:

1. The rhythm of speech. When a speaker pauses, that's a good spot to break.

2. The grammatical structure of the speech. Punctuation, conjunctions, and

prepositions are good spots to break.

3. The length (character count) of a caption group. You cannot exceed 60 characters in

a caption group.

Always create a new caption group whenever the speaker changes or a sentence ends with

punctuation . ? !

Caption groups must be under 60 characters.

A caption group can have a maximum of 60 characters. Dash has built-in color coding to help

guide you. Aim for the caption group box to be green or yellow. If the caption group box turns

red, it is too long.

If a sentence is longer than 60 characters, break mid-sentence. Breaking shouldn't interrupt

comprehension or readability, so you should try to break:

 After punctuation , : ;

 Or before conjunctions such as: and, nor, but, or, yet, so, by.

 Or before prepositional phrases such as: that, who, because, in order to, not only, as we,

in which, where, with, what, how, for, through, until, to, as, of.

 Or before complete proper nouns (e.g. do not break between "United States of

America").
 Use a dash and a space EVERY time a NEW speaker starts speaking or when the speaker

CHANGES. I.e. "- "

o Atmospherics do not count as a change of speaker. If an atmospheric is used

that breaks up dialogue from the same speaker, do not include a dash after the

atmospheric.

 If the speaker CANNOT be visually identified, identify the speaker with a speaker ID. E.g.,

"- [Mark]", "- [Narrator]"

o If a speaker is unknown, use an appropriate identifier. Some possible examples

could be "- [Interviewer]", "- [Guest]", "- [Ghostly Voice]"

o Exception: There is no need to identify a speaker if they are visible for any

portion of their dialogue AND they are not interrupted

 E.g. Mark starts speaking off-screen but then walks into the frame while

talking

When you NEED to identify a speaker, here's how:

 You should use the speaker's first name if it is known: "- [Mark]"

 If a character name is not known, use a visible descriptive identifier: "- [Blonde Woman]"

o Never use race or other discriminatory identifiers. Instead, use a descriptor such

as occupation, clothing, height, etc.

Include atmospherics for these main conditions:

1. A sound effect is heard which is integral to the story or message of a video. If a

character reacts to a sound, you should probably include it. E.g. "(gun fires)"

2. Background music is heard in a way that sets a specific mood as part of the story

telling. Only include a background music atmospheric if there's a significant gap in

speech and the music seems important. E.g. "(dramatic orchestral music)"
Sound effects often help tell the story

 Atmospherics are put in parentheses and are always in lowercase, E.g. "(loud snoring)".

o Atmospheric-only caption groups do not need a dash or speaker ID.

 Only include significant sound effects that help tell the story. Use your best judgment.

 If in doubt, include the atmospheric.

o E.g. If a character reacts to an off-screen gun shot, use "(gun fires)"

o E.g. If there is a group of children playing, you could use "(children laughing)"

o E.g. "(plane flying overhead)" or "(car honking)" should be included if characters

react to it.

 Include sounds made by the speaker, E.g. "(laughs loudly)".

 Atmospherics should always be present tense, E.g. "(laughs loudly)", never past tense

"(laughed loudly)"

 Always describe with an action verb, E.g. "(frogs croaking)", never with an onomatopoeia

of

 a sound "(ribbit, ribbit, ribbit)"

Mood Music

Music is often used in videos to help set a mood or underscore actions.

If there's at least a 2-second gap in speech AND it does not seem that the lyrics are intended to

be clearly heard AND the background music is setting a specific mood, then caption the

atmospheric as mood music.

 Most of the time you won't know the artist or title, so you should use a description:

o E.g. "(gentle music)", "(bright pop music)", "(heavy metal music)", "(electronic

dance music)".

o A list of music adjectives can be found here.


 If someone talks over the music, focus on the speaker and don't add the atmospheric.

Dialogue is always more important.

DO NOT describe the action that created the sound.

DO NOT indicate a speaker's inflections through atmospherics.

When you cannot confidently hear or understand a word, use an atmospheric.

 Use an appropriate atmospheric such as "(mumbles)" for a single speaker or

"(background noise drowns out other sounds)". - It's a long drive to (mumbles).

It is NEVER acceptable to use (inaudible), (unintelligible), or ??? in captioning.

You might also like