The intention of this book is to help “traditional” translators become translators of the spoken word as a first stage and then ultimately become “voice-overs” themselves. The most common production type is the “voice-over”, and as our society evolves from a system of communication on paper to one based on oral communication there are more and more opportunities for translators to work on this type of translation. There is also an enormous amount of material produced on CD, CD-ROM or DVD and of course the Internet to train people. In many cases they are multilingual productions and therefore require the work of translators at one stage or another. Other more specialised translations are covered as well, e.g. when actors appearing on the screen need to be synched.
Another area of interest is the subtitling of films. Subtitling is more common in certain languages than others. This is a type of translation that although it is written, is also subject to length constraints that are not too dissimilar to those imposed when translating “voice-overs”.
The book describes what “voice-overs” do and how translators can become voice artists as well. It suggests criteria by which translators and actors can assess their potential and describes the training that they will need to go through to be able to read professionally.
Pageon also examines what IT can do to help those in the daily business of being translators and “voices”. There is a chapter on marketing these services, including making a demo and the all-important subject of fees. Teambuilding is also touched on. There is information on how to build a home recording studio.
There is a final chapter on the work of Frederick Matthias Alexander, the Australian actor who lost his voice and created a technique widely used today to help not only performers but the public at large to lead a better life through respect for their bodies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel Pageon’s career in voice-overs began with a contract with the BBC World Service, where he learnt to become a translator and broadcaster, practising every day for five years. He has recorded thousands of hours of narration for documentaries, corporate videos, training material and language courses, mainly in French but also sometimes in English, Italian, German and even Spanish, which he started to learn at evening classes. He has directed a number of language courses including the Greek and Russian for Take Off, published by OUP and then the Quick Take Off in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Latin American Spanish. He also directed some of the Cut Paste and Surf series for Nelson Thornes and went on to direct a series of videos, Active French, Active German and Active Italian for Livemocha.
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