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subtitle location(ii) - semi transparent and over the speaker's mouth
subtitles sould be semi transparent and placed over the speakers face
 
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I find it irritating watching foreign films in which I know the language a bit because I often find I want to try and hear the foreign language and read the subtitles at the same time. Unfortunately to improve my listening skills I need to watch the speakers mouth (see link, Its been shown that the visual element of speech is very helpful in improving understanding) I cant read the speakers lips if the subtitles are at the bottom of the screen. I think they should be made semi-transparent and placed over the speakers head, that way I can hear the foreign language better because the visual cues are present and I can then read the captions without constantly looking back and forth between the captions and the speakers lips.
humanzee, Sep 09 2003

The McGurk Effect http://www.media.ui...McGurk_english.html
Think your eyes aren't important in understanding speech? [humanzee, Oct 04 2004]

talking Heads Page http://www.haskins....s/HEADS/mcgurk.html
This could be programmed automatically into agents for language learning software [humanzee, Oct 04 2004]


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       bun
. .
O
thumbwax, Sep 09 2003
   

       would speech bubbles detract from a sex scene?
po, Sep 09 2003
   

       I don't think they really need to subtitle grunting [po]. +
squeak, Sep 09 2003
   

       [po] detract they'd be great! Not sure the language of love needs translation though.
humanzee, Sep 09 2003
   

       I wonder if it would be possible to write a program which could analyse the stero sound, filter it to detect speech frequencies, analyse the existing subtitles and triangulate the position of the speaker to place the semi-transparent subtitles automatically
humanzee, Sep 09 2003
   

       I'd prefer squeak to grunt any day
po, Sep 09 2003
   

       How do feel about this [squeak]?
humanzee, Sep 09 2003
   

       //triangulate the position of the speaker//
Well, even in a surround mix, usually the dialogue is mixed for the center speaker, or evenly in the left and right. This is so that the voices will appear to come from the screen, making it seem more natural. So I doubt there is a ton of left-right information to derive from the sound mix. And as for the vertical direction, there's none, since existing sound systems assume the speakers are in a horizontal plane.		   

       Back to the idea though, I think its great. There's a product called MovieMask that lets third parties build their own "extras" for DVDs that their Windows-based player supports. So it is possible you could self-bake this for movies on DVD.
krelnik, Sep 09 2003
   

       Thanks for the info [krelnik]. I'll see how much that is.
humanzee, Sep 09 2003
   

       I don't know [tobyp]. [Po], are you asking me to grunt rather than speak (or type) or are you just being friendly?
squeak, Sep 09 2003
   

       I don't care for this. I prefer the subtitles stay in the same place, along the bottom. Your eye gets used to them there and you get to a point where you can almost subconsciously read them with averted vision. If they were moving around the screen all the time it would be very annoying.   

       Best recent subtitled films watched: "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" and "Hable con ella" ("Talk To Her"). Both highly recommended.
waugsqueke, Sep 09 2003
   

       whoops!
po, Sep 09 2003
   

       The McGurk Effect link is superb!
bristolz, Sep 09 2003
   

       Yeah, that's some freaky stuff
DeathNinja, Sep 09 2003
   

       "Talk With Her", [waugs]. ;)   

       Ditto, though. I don't find subtitles too bad the way they are, personally.
Pseudonym #3, Sep 09 2003
   

       I take your point about the translation. The movie was released under the name "Talk To Her" in the US, and that was my reference. (And if you've seen the movie, it's certainly appropriate.)
waugsqueke, Sep 09 2003
   

       For DVD based content I think this should only be seen as an alternative for people who want to improve their language skills. Others could have the option to read normal subtitles   

       It was Amelie that really bugged me, probably because the girl at work had recently given a demo of the McGurk effect during a presentation on Talking heads and I'd had this idea soon after the presentation.
humanzee, Sep 10 2003
   


 
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