...according to Thippatai Pirompak, 43
An audio describer helps blind people “see” and enjoy movies better
I was surfing YouTube one time and came across this old film noir with a woman’s voice dubbed throughout. It annoyed me until I realized that it was an audio description for people who are visually impaired. I was surprised since I had been working in the sound industry for 20 years without knowing about it. It inspired me to start doing research and to do it part-time.
Audio describers tell what they see. We do not interpret the whole thing
We only describe who or what are in the scene, what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. For example, if a woman in a black dress walks into the scene, you can say that there's a woman in a black outfit on the screen, but not what's going on in her head. The most important thing is to be their eyes, not their minds. Don't think for them.
However, audio description is nothing like telling a children's tales
We don't put too much emotion into our voices because the audience comes to “see” the movie. The voiceover shouldn't be more distinctive than a character's voice, whether it reflects excitement, sadness or happiness. All the original voices in the movie needs to remain dominant.
Creating an audio description for a movie can take months
First, an audio scriptwriter needs to watch the movie before writing what she or he would describe and notes down the timing (this takes approximately two weeks). Then, the audio describer narrates a scene following the given timing while also recording it (this takes a couple of days). Finally, the sound designer will use software, such as Adobe Audition, to edit the voice, and mix the sound and the movie together (this happen in the final few weeks). The editing part is the most difficult bit.
An audio description doesn't always have to be narrated after the dialogue.
For funny gags, you need to deliver the description before the joke happens so the blind audience can laugh at the same time as the other audience. If you give the description after, the blind audience may wonder what the others were laughing about. But for horror movies, it may be a good idea to allow the scary sound effects to happen first. If you narrate the description before, it may spoil the best scary bits.
Learn more about audio description at www.adofthailand.com