1.Making Every Word Count- Theatre Captioning in the UKLissy Lovett General Manager of STAGETEXT (UK)

2. Running order Who is STAGETEXT? Captioning basics Technology Software Captioning Process Captioner Training Operational Models 3. Making every word countWHO IS STAGETEXT? 4. Background to STAGETEXT Founded in 2000 4 of our 6 Trustees and 1 of our 6 staffare deaf, deafened or hard of hearing Funded by Arts Council England andcharges to theatres Work in theatres, museums andgalleries 5. What does STAGETEXT do? Delivers English captions/subtitles forevents which are spoken in English Helps theatres set up their owncaptioning services Develops technology Develops audiences 6. STAGETEXTs achievementsin theatre STAGETEXT delivers 220 captionedperformances each year Over 40 theatres now have access totheir own captioning equipmentacross the UK Over 40 people are trained as theatrecaptioners in the UK Wide range of types of events 7. BelgradeTheatre, CoventryMaking every word countCAPTIONING BASICS 8. What can you make out from this piece of spoken text?Sound file from the Universityof Manchester 9. What can you make outthis time? 10. Video created bywww.makesensedesign.com 11. Who uses captions? Deaf, deafened and hard of hearingpeople who wish to access plays in English 1 in 6 of population Wide range of types & severity of hearing loss People whose hearing is not as sharp as itused to be 40% of people over the age of 50 and 70% ofthose over 70 have age-related hearing loss Hearing audiences 12. The audience 13. Questions so far? Actors warm-up prior to captioned performance of Life is a Dream, Donmar Warehouse, 18 November 2009. Photographer: Matt Humphrey 14. Making every word countTECHNOLOGY 15. Display options OpenClosedcaptioningcaptioningGaiety Theatre,Isle of Man 16. Open captioningClosed captioningPros Pros Audience doesnt have More likely to beto declare available every night No change of focus Consbetween captions and Change of focusstagebetween device and Sociable activitystage is difficultCons Missing action on stage Unit positioning crucial when reading textto experience 17. Open captioning LED displaysMiss Saigon. With kind permission ofCameron Mackintosh Limited.Bristol HippodromePhoto: Freia TurlandGwion Wyn Jones in Oliver! With kindpermission of Cameron Mackintosh Limited.Photo: Simon Annand 18. LCD displays Going Dark, by Fuel at the Young Vic Theatre, LondonThe Captioning Studio, Australia 19. ProjectionTin Bath TheatreCompanyReasons to be Cheerful,Graeae Theatre Company 20. Positioning of open captions Positioning of the captioning displayscan make or break the performance Need to consider Configuration of the stage/seating Are there pieces of the set flying in or out? Where are the speakers being hung? Where are the lights shining? Where is the seating for caption users? 21. British Sign LanguageInterpreterstandingstage rightCredit: the Seea Voice projectwww.see-a-voice.org 22. Captioned performance ofLittle WomenSadlers Wells 22 23. Transcribed post-showdiscussion following a performance of Yellowman Hampstead Theatre 23 24. CaptioningUnit flownlow at backof stage 25. Captioned performance of Miss SaigonCaptioned performance of Miss Saigon at the Bristol at the Bristol HippodromeHippodromePhotographer: Freia Turland 26. CaptioningUnits eitherside of stage 27. Getting It Wrong and Getting It Right The poorly positioned boxes meant that thecaptions were so high up and too far to theleft and right of the stage that it wasimpossible to follow the captions and theaction. I found the captioning truly impressive - notat all intrusive. It was sited in the middle ofthe set, and felt a natural part of it. In fact, itworks so well, its almost as if its always beenthere and Ive only just noticed. 28. Closed captioningHandheld devicesAirscript DurateqFigaro 29. The future?Sonys subtitling glasses 30. STAGETEXT use LED displays 31. STAGETEXTs captioning equipment Microphone Caption unitcableLaptop Interface2nd caption unit Bristol Old VicPhoto: Mike Lusmore 32. Questions about technology? 33. Captioned performance ofHansel and GretelNorthern StagePhoto: Linda BorthwickMake every word countSOFTWARE 34. SoftwareRequirementsPossibilities Import text In the UK we have used: Edit text Eclipse Output text CaptionView Skip sections And now Add ad-libs STAGETEXT bespoke software 35. STAGETEXTs software 36. Questions about software?Captioned performance ofAladdin, The Wok n Roll PantoNew Wolsey, Ipswich.Photo: Mike Kwasniak 37. Making every word countCAPTIONING PROCESS 38. The captioning processImported to Electronic InitialFirst script STAGETEXTscript formattingchecksoftwareSecond script Refinement of Checks withWork with check formattingcompanyDVD CheckFinal queries with Performance! formattingcompany 39. Formatting 40. Final formatted captions 41. Captioning challenges 3,500 to 6,000 lines per script Up to 60 hours formatting time Spelling and punctuation Research Checking spellings Foreign languages Song lyrics 42. UK captioning conventions Full text of play, nothing omitted Exception when lines overlap, or very fast Character names included Sound and musical effects included Present tense In the world of the play, so shouts from gardennot shouting off stage Minimal interpretation Accents sometimes included Emotions rarely included Nothing is translated 43. Who is using the captions?New Wolsey Theatre 359 people in audience 17 people booked for captioningwith box office (4% of totalaudience) 103 people returned the card tosay that they had found thecaptions useful (29% of totalaudience) CONCLUSION: 20 to 30% of yourtotal audience will be using thecaptioning but will not havedeclared as caption users 44. Making every word countCAPTIONER TRAINING 45. Who makes a good captioner? Excellent spelling, punctuation andgrammar we need people who careabout apostrophes Confident around computers Confident when liaising with theatrecompanies (but not too pushy!) Someone who would enjoy bringingtheatre to people who otherwisewould miss out 46. UK captioners Only one or two for whom captioningis a full-time job Usually caption as a part-time jobon top of regular employment Mostly professional (i.e. paid) Come from theatre backgrounds,deaf organisational backgrounds, orcompletely unrelated backgrounds 47. What does captioner training needto include? 1. Seeing a Captioner training at the Walescaptioned show Millennium Centre, Cardiff 2. Process 3. Conventions 4. Software training 5. How to liaisewith theatre staff 6. Practice 48. STAGETEXT captioner training 3 or 4 daysPre-training Work atface-to- tests homeface trainingExamined MentoredSupportedshowshow show 49. Questions about captioning and captioners? Captioned performance of Hansel and Gretel Northern Stage Photo: Linda Borthwick 50. Making every word countOPERATIONAL MODELS 51. UK captioning modelsEquipmentCaptioners Hire in from STAGETEXT Hire in from STAGETEXT Own their own Train in-house people Share some locally Hire in freelancers Touring theatre Train touring companycompany ownmembersequipmentAll combinations of the above happen in the UK 52. Using an external provider They provide the equipment and thecaptioner and do all the hard work You will need to take responsibility forsecuring a script for the captioner touse You still need to get the audiencethere! 53. Captioned show process forSTAGETEXTBook captioner Double checkConfirm DVD &Find suitable date(and STTR ifwhich equipment script will be Arrange site visit& timenecessary)will be used available Send captioner Send orderCheck bookingCheck allocationSend brandingbriefacknowledgmentdetailsof seatsinformation Check alls wellContact Send post-showRemind theatre with theatre &Technical briefCompany discussion detailsto test loop captionerManager Add newOn show dayPrepare FOHcaption-user Follow up with Collate feedback attend get in, posters & names totheatre brief ushers, etc feedback forms database 54. Having an in-house service You need equipment and staff whocan set it up You need a locally-based captionerwho has been trained You will need to take responsibility forsecuring a script for the captioner touse You will need to get in the audience 55. Sharing resources locally Are there any other theatres thatmight be interested in sharingequipment with you? Might they also be interested in sharingthe costs of training a captioner? Huge benefit is that you can worktogether on developing audiencesand you can be sure that yourcaptioned performances will neverclash! 56. Working with your captioner Contract Fees and expenses Who owns the script? Will the captioner share the scriptand whose decision is that? 57. Questions about our operatingmodels, or anything else? 58. Thank you! 59. Contact detailsLissy Lovett Tel: 020 7377 0540General ManagerMobile: 07813 139408STAGETEXT www.twitter.com/STAGETEXTFirst Floor, 54 Commercial St, www.facebook.com/STAGETEXTLondon E1 6LTwww.youtube.com/STAGETEXTwww.stagetext.orglissy@stagetext.orgwww.twitter.com/lissylovett