Intensive Summer Course in Audiovisual Translation

Imperial College London 5 - 30 July 2010

The TV and cinema industry in Italy and in the world has undergone many changes in the last decade, and translators need to be versatile and flexible enough to respond to market requirements. Audiovisual translators are now required to undertake dubbing, voice-over, and subtitling on a wide range of texts: scientific and technical documentaries, docu-reality shows, interviews, news reports, films, TV series, and cartoons. While sharing the basic characteristics of all audiovisual material, each of these programmes presents different linguistic and textual challenges which translators need to be able to recognise and address. In its fifteen years of existence, the focus of the course has remained very practical, while continuing to adapt to the requirements of the market. Course structure This intensive four-week course provides a theoretical framework for translators in the field as well as valuable hands-on training with audiovisual material taken from different real work situations. The first two weeks look at translation and adaptation for voice-over dubbing of documentaries and interviews, while the second part of the course is dedicated to translation for subtitling of documentaries, films and TV series. In a supportive environment, you will produce and simulate your own translations and subtitles with the help of the professional subtitling software WinCAPS. Tuition will take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons for 4 weeks (total 36 hours). These group sessions will cover the specific linguistic and technical requirements of audiovisual texts and will be mainly based on practice, participants' work and feedback. In addition you will be offered 2 hours of tutorial over the 4 weeks of the course during which you will be given an opportunity to work on the technical aspects of adaptation for voice-over and subtitling in more depth. You will be required to work intensively on individual translation projects to be discussed and assessed during tutorials. The course directors, Fabiana Ribero Scali and Grazia Gatti, are established professionals within the industry as well as experienced trainers. Resources Imperial College has a very well equipped multimedia Translation Lab with state-of-the-art facilities. You will work with audiovisual digital material and will have unlimited access to computers, video and DVD viewing facilities, translation software, and professional subtitling workstations to allow you to work independently on your own projects. Entry Requirements All courses are targeted at Italian mother-tongue translators. You must either be a professional translator or have already received some training in translation. You will be sent a short translation test to complete and submit with your application. Certificate of Completion At the end of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion, provided that attendance has been satisfactory and you have completed your course projects. A graded Certificate of Achievement may be obtained on the basis of individual work supervised and assessed during tutorials. Tuition Fees The course fee is £600. Application If you want to apply for this course, please complete the application form that you can download from here. Email your application form to Ms Terri Jacques who will then send you a copy of the entrance test. Please write 'AVT Intensive Course - Italian' in the subject line of your message. The application deadline is 19th May 2010. Course confirmation will be emailed to you by the end of May 2010. Please do not book any flights or accommodation until your place on the course has been confirmed. Payment and cancellations All payments must be made in Sterling. You can pay by debit card, credit card or cheque. Once you are accepted onto the course, you will receive more detailed information on how to pay your fees. Cancellations up to 5 days before the start of the course will incur a 20% cancellation fee. After that date, we regret that refunds cannot be given. Accommodation If you are interested in booking temporary accommodation at the University's Halls of Residence, please e-mail accommodation or visit their website. Further information For further information about the course, please contact: Ms Terri Jacques, Translation Administrator, Department of Humanities, Imperial College London, Sherfield Building, Room S312C, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0)20 7594 8833 Email: t.jacques@imperial.ac.uk