Audio description

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The almost square logo shows a stylized, "crossed out" eye with strong black elements on a white background. The eye consists of an upper and a lower arched bar (the lids) and a circular disk between them (the pupil). The bars do not touch each other in the corner of the eye. With another strong bar placed diagonally through the eye, the eye is “crossed out”, but the bar is exposed in the area of ​​the eyeball, so that the eye-catching symbol remains unchanged.
Audio film symbol for films with audio description: The logo shows an abstract, crossed-out eye

Audio description , also known as acoustic image description or, more rarely, audio commentary , is a process that is intended to enable blind and visually impaired people to better perceive visual processes . The action is provided with an acoustic comment in order to make it understandable for the audience. This can definitely be helpful without such restrictions.

In films and in television programs, the audio description supplements the subtitling or translation into sign language for the deaf. These versions are then referred to as audio versions and the corresponding films are also referred to as audio films . Other areas of application for audio description are: Drama and musical theater, tourist offers such as city tours, nature trails and live sporting events.

In a departure from this understanding of the term, the term is also used in museums, in which visitors can receive more detailed information about the exhibits through a pre-recorded audio commentary .

Audio film

“A man's pair of eyes. He looks to the left, to the right, straight ahead. A crosshair closes around his right eye. The crosshairs open. The blurred silhouette of a man. He holds his hands protectively in front of his face. Running legs on wet asphalt. White lines form a fingerprint. Crime scene."

- opening credits of the series Tatort (TV series)

In audio films, as in the opening credits to the ARD series Tatort , the aim of the description is to make a meaningful selection from the abundance of visual information, to fix it linguistically and to fit the text into the dialogue or vocal breaks. The descriptive texts concentrate primarily on elements such as the locations, the appearance of the characters, facial expressions and gestures . The atmosphere of a scene should remain intact, so the comments must be as short as possible. Special attention is paid to special design elements and effects or passages in which the original sound was not dubbed but only subtitled.

The film descriptions are prepared by experienced authors. The film writers work either alone or in a team with a sighted and a blind writer. The cost of producing a 90-minute audio film is around 5000 euros.

Such films are broadcast on TV and sometimes in cinemas, where they can be viewed using wireless headphones or an app such as B. Greta from the Berlin developer Greta & Starks Apps UG can be received. In addition, DVDs are often available that contain the original audio version and an acoustic description of the image. A comprehensive overview of the audio films available in Germany can be found in the Hörfilm e. V., the association of German film descriptors.

Audio films on television

On October 11, 1993, ZDF broadcast an audio film for the first time with Eine unheilige Liebe in Deutschland. The ORF was followed in 2004 and sent as a first Hörfilm a result of the crime series Der Alte .

Until television reception was digitized, audio films were still broadcast using two-channel sound . As a result, such films could only be broadcast in mono (e.g. audio film sound on the left, "normal" sound on the right). This was a technically unsatisfactory solution, as many viewers could not set their television set so that only one of the two audio channels could be heard. On some televisions this option was completely absent.

Apart from such technical difficulties, other problems also stood in the way of the distribution of audio films, such as the production-related expense and the broadcasters' lack of finances. The question of how many blind and partially sighted people are even able to receive audio descriptions also played a role. For example, in the case of analog cable networks, it was (and still is) dependent on their operators whether or not several audio tracks are fed in. Even with antenna and satellite television, not all broadcasts were uniform.

After digitization, the audio descriptions are now usually found on a second (separate) stereo sound track. The original film sound is received on sound track 1; the mixture of original film sound and image description can be heard on sound track 2 (the sound is transmitted in Dolby Digital coding on the sound track, for example ). With digital reception, the audio track is set on the receiver ( DVB-T , DVB-S or DVB-C ).

New guidelines have been in effect at the Film Funding Agency since May 1st, 2013 . Since then, only barrier-free films with audio description for blind and visually impaired people and subtitling for the hearing impaired have been funded in Germany. The public broadcasters in Switzerland and Austria have also stepped up their efforts to implement audio descriptions.

Production of audio films (audio description)

With regard to the production, there are different procedures, for example the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation or the West German Broadcasting Corporation create their own radio films, other broadcasters commission agencies, dubbing studios or Deutsche Hörfilm gGmbH , a subsidiary of DBSV .

The Swiss SRG has committed itself to broadcasting at least 24 audio films per language region and year. In 2014, this requirement was clearly exceeded in the three broadcast languages, e.g. B. with 112 audio descriptions in the SRF program. There is no own production. The audio descriptions sent are taken from Germany and Austria.

Although Sat.1 was awarded the German Audio Film Prize in 2003 because the broadcaster financed the audio description for La Strada - Das Lied der Straße , private television in German-speaking countries does not broadcast any image descriptions, partly on the grounds that this is not technically possible is possible.

Internationally, the distribution of audio films is very different, so the BBC tries to make its program more attractive for the disabled with audio descriptions and accordingly now has a large range of series edited in this way. British Internet users have been able to watch these programs for some time via the so-called "BBC iPlayer". According to its own statement, the BBC is the first television broadcaster in the world to make its audio film content available on the Internet.

List of broadcasts

Among other things, the following regular broadcasts from German-speaking stations with acoustic image descriptions are offered:

Live audio description on television

This type of image description cannot be pre-recorded; instead, the speakers explain what is happening (e.g. a football game) for the audience. In doing so, they are not always limited to what is happening on the lawn, but sometimes comment on television images from the audience, which can have a certain entertainment value for the viewer.

In 2009, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation began adding a "live audio commentary" to sports broadcasts. After initially only the Bundesliga games and international matches of the Austrian national team were described, the ORF expanded the reporting to more and more sports, so that a large part of the ORF one sports program is now audio-commented. Since then, the live commentary has also been used apart from sports broadcasts, for example when Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married or when reporting from the Vatican (Christmas and Easter celebrations).

On January 19, 2013 Wetten, dass ..? for the first time with an audio commentary.

ARD and ZDF are taking a different approach: Since autumn 2013, audio descriptions of football matches have also been broadcast there. However, one falls back on the reports of the ARD radio.

List of regular broadcasts with live audio description

Other uses

Of course, audio descriptions aren't just usable on television. They can also be used in certain places, for example in order to not only hear the actors' dialogues in a theater, but also to be able to follow their actions on stage. Such projects are mostly implemented using weak VHF transmitters. These can only be received within a small radius and can be heard using standard radio equipment. There are also broadcasters of this type for sporting events, some of whose programs can be heard via live stream on the Internet.

Here in particular, the lines between football radio produced especially for the blind and “ordinary” football radio such as 90elf are blurring . The Bundesliga conference on ARD radio is also basically comparable. The situation for the listener is the same: he cannot watch a football game, which is why the commentators describe the scenes with particular care.

In 2011 the Austrian fashion group Palmers showed a commercial that u. a. worked with the means of audio description.

See also

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: audio description  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sophie Diesselhorst: If you can't see, you have to hear. (No longer available online.) In: Cicero. Cicero.de, March 18, 2009, archived from the original on November 7, 2013 ; Retrieved March 22, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Audio sample: Crime scene opening credits - on the website of Bayerischer Rundfunk
  3. ↑ a b Anne Bohlmann: For the ninth time, the German Audio Film Prize is awarding a prize to films suitable for the blind: Images to Hear. In: berliner-zeitung.de. Berliner Zeitung, March 15, 2011, accessed on May 8, 2013 .
  4. ↑ See: Greta & Starks Apps UG: Greta  - Barrier-free cinema with audio description. In: gretaundstarks.de. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
  5. ↑ http://www.hoerfilmev.de/index.php?id=117&PHPSESSID=c1b95adb28ea0bf7f62f965580c49786
  6. ↑ http://www.hoerfilmev.de/
  7. ↑ When words become words ... - 20 years of audio films in Germany. In: hoerfilmev.de. Audio film EV, accessed on March 23, 2013 .
  8. ^ "Order for a Murder" as the first ORF audio film. In: press release. ORF, February 19, 2004, accessed on June 5, 2014 .
  9. ↑ http://www.ffa.de/
  10. ↑ SRG SSR Annual Report 2014: Solidarity , accessed on September 21, 2019
  11. ↑ An evening of soft tones. In: welt.de. Die Welt, May 22, 2003, accessed May 7, 2013 .
  12. ↑ Football on ATV with barriers: blind and visually impaired people have to go to the ÖFB website. (No longer available online.) In: blindenverband.at. Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired Austria , November 5, 2012, archived from the original on January 18, 2016 ; Retrieved May 7, 2013 .
  13. ↑ BBC iPlayer audio description is now available , BBC Internet blog.
  14. ↑ Marc Carnal: Meine EM-Helden , fm4.orf.at, June 24, 2012
  15. ^ Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired Austria : “Wetten dass ..?” Accessible from Saturday , press release, January 15, 2013
  16. ↑ TV meets radio - audio description at the soccer World Cup 2014. In: press release. ARD, May 16, 2014, accessed on August 7, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Theater4all , oe1.orf.at, accessed on March 17, 2013
  18. ↑ Bundesliga on Ear , an offer in Austrian football stadiums, accessed on September 21, 2019.
  19. ↑ Video without audio description , video with audio description