Subtitles are everywhere these days. On YouTube, Netflix and videos on social media. They are essential for allowing us to watch videos, films and content made by people who speak a different language. But they are a relatively new invention.

History of subtitles

The first subtitles in the history of cinema were made in 1903 for the 19-minute short film “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, a dramatization of a very famous book and play from the USA. At this time, cinema was silent, so what was known as “intertitles” were used so that the audience could know what the characters were saying. This involved first showing a shot of the actors, then cutting to a short piece of text with the characters’ lines.

Intertitles were famously used in the films starring Charlie Chaplin and allowed the audience to better understand the story, even though there was no actual dialogue.

When sound was added to films in the 1930s, the use of intertitles declined. Around this time a Norwegian inventor created a machine to stamp text on rolls of film, which led to the birth of subtitles.

With the globalization of cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, watching foreign films with subtitles became a very popular pastime. It wasn’t until the invention of the DVD that subtitles from different languages could be selected for the same movie. Personally, I realised how important subtitles were when I first started living in Bogotá, Colombia. I went to the nearest cinema to watch a local film and was so lost because obviously everyone in the audience except me spoke Spanish and I didn’t understand a thing.

Yellow subtitles?

I remember when I did my first subtitles more than 25 years ago. They were yellow, because that was the color of subtitles back then. Yellow was easier to read if you had bad reception from your TV antennae.

Nowadays we don’t really think about subtitles. They are such an important part of life, allowing us to watch Korean cooking shows, Turkish soap operas and German period dramas on streaming services.

How do you make good subtitles?

Subtitles are the translation of dialogue and titles in audiovisual content, but there are a number of factors that make good subtitles.

1. Subtitles should very clearly translate the meaning of what it being said.
2. We have a short time to read subtitles while they are on screen. This is why subtitles should use the least number of words possible.
3. Even if you don’t understand the original language, if the actors are silent but the subtitles are changing, you know that they aren’t correct. Subtitles should be extremely precise in terms of their timing, allowing people to comprehend the original language while seeing relevant facial expressions and other body gestures on screen at the same time.
4. Spoken speech is very different to written text in all languages. The words that people use change, as does the sentence structure. Subtitles should reflect spoken speech in the target language and be less formal than written text.

 You can find out more about the subtitling service offered by ONG Traducciones by clicking here.