Code of Good Subtitling Practice - en
Code of Good Subtitling Practice - en
• Subtitlers must always work with a copy of the production and, if possible, a dialogue list
and glossary of atypical words and special references.
• It is the subtitler's job to spot the production and translate and write the subtitles in the
(foreign) language required.
• Translation quality must be high with due consideration of all idiomatic and cultural
nuances.
• Subtitle text must be distributed from line to line and page to page in sense blocks and/or
grammatical units.
• The language should be grammatically correct since subtitles serve as a model for literacy.
• All important written information in the images (signs, notices, etc.) should be translated
and incorporated wherever possible.
• Given the fact that many TV viewers are hearing-impaired, "superfluous" information, such
as names, off-screen interjections, etc., should also be subtitled.
• The in and out times of subtitles must follow the speech rhythm of the
dialogue, taking cuts and sound bridges into consideration.
• Language distribution within and over subtitles must consider cuts and sound bridges; the
subtitles must underline surprise or suspense and in no way undermine it.
• The duration of all subtitles within a production must adhere to a regular viewer reading
rhythm.
• No subtitle should appear for less than one second or, with the exception of
songs, stay on the screen for longer than seven seconds.
• Wherever two lines of unequal length are used, the upper line should
preferably be shorter to keep as much of the image as free as possible and in left-justified
subtitles in order to reduce unnecessary eye movement.
• There must be a close correlation between film dialogue and subtitle content; source
language and target language should be synchronized as far as possible.
• There must be a close correlation between film dialogue and the presence of subtitles.
• The (main) subtitler should be acknowledged at the end of the film or, if the credits are at
the beginning, then close to the credit for the script writer.
• The year of subtitle production and the copyright for the version should be displayed at the
end of the film.