Audio description Thevisualmadeverbal JoelSnyder AudioDescriptionAssociates,TakomaPark,Maryland,USA 1. Introduction Letusbeginthisdiscussiononaudiodescriptionwithaverbalversionofavisual image.Considerthedescriptionthatfollows: Onastage:atleft,awomaninaflowinggown,herhandsclaspedinfrontofher, standsbeforeakneelingmaninadoubletandfeatheredcap.Hecroons:“Why dostthyheartturnawayfrommine?”Atright,amanatamicrophonespeaks: “Basically,theguywiththegoofyhatistickedbecausethisbabehasbeenrunnin’ aroundwiththedudeintheblacktights”.Thecaptionreads:“Manyoperacom- paniesnowprovideinterpretersfortheculturallyimpaired”. Doesitconjureavividimageinyourmind’seye?Youcanvisittheactualimage beingdescribedonthisvolume’saccompanyingDVD.GotoDVD>Snyder> Cartoon. 2. A brief history of audio description: Its beginnings in the USA Audiodescription(AD)wasdevelopedintheUnitedStates.Itwasthesubjectof aMastersThesisinSanFrancisco,Californiainthe1970’sbyFrazier,whobecame thefirsttodeveloptheconceptsbehindtheactandtheartofAD.Earlierstill,in 1964,ChetAvery,ablindemployeeworkingintheDepartmentofEducation, knewofagrantsprogramthereforthecaptioningoffilmsfordeafpeople.He suggestedthatdescriptionsbeprovidedonfilmsforblindpeopleandencour- agedblindconsumerorganisationstoapplyforfinancialsupporttoprovideAD onfilms.However,theorganisationswereatthattimemorefocusedonsecuring employmentforblindpeoplethaninpromotingaccessibilitytothemedia. 192 JoelSnyder In1980,WayneWhite,HouseManageratArenaStageinWashington,DC, assembledagroupofpeopletoadvisethetheatreonaccessibilityissues.Avery waspartofthegroupandspokewithWayneWhiteaboutdescriptionpossibili- ties.AlsoapartofthegroupwasMargaretPfanstiehl,ablindwomanwholed TheMetropolitanWashingtonEar,aradioreadingservicecateringfortheblind. TheEarregularlyuseditsstudiostobroadcastreadingsofnewspapersandmaga- zinestoindividualswhowereblindorotherwisehadlittleaccesstoprint.Al- readyequippedwithrecordingfacilitiesandacrewofvolunteer‘voicetalents’, Pfanstiehlandherhusbanddevelopedtheworld’sfirstongoingaudiodescription programmefortheperformingarts. 3. The art of audio description Toagreatextent,audiodescriptioncanbeconsideredakindofliteraryartformin itself,atypeofpoetry.Itprovidesaverbalversionofthevisualwherebythevisual ismadeverbal,aural,andoral.Thisisnormallydoneusingwordsthataresuccinct, vivid,andimaginativeinordertoconveythevisualimagethatisnotfullyacces- sibletoasegmentofthepopulation(i.e.theblindandthepartiallysighted)and maynotbefullyrealisedbytherestofus,whocanseebutmaynotobserve. Usingrelativelyunsophisticatedtechnology,ADcanenhanceartsexperiences forallpeoplevisitingexhibitsinmuseums,theatregoers,andfolkswatchingtele- visionathomeoratthemovies.Itcanalsohelpimprovechildren’sliteracyskills. ADcanbeusefulforanyonewhowantstotrulynoticeandappreciateamorefull perspectiveonanyvisualeventbutitisespeciallyhelpfulasanaccesstoolfor peoplewhoareblindorhavelowvision,anditcanbefoundthesedaysnotonly atartseventsbutalsoatweddings,parades,rodeos,circuses,sportsevents,and evenfunerals. Itmightbeeasiesttoseewhataudiodescriptionisallaboutbylisteningtoan excerptfromtheIranianfeaturefilmThe Color of Paradise(MajidMajidi1999), firstasitwasscreenedinmovietheatreswithnodescriptionbutassomeonewith novisionmightexperienceit. Exercise1The Color of Paradise Tolistentothesoundtrackofthisscenewithoutanyvisualsgoto:DVD>Snyder> The Color of Paradise>Audioonly. Inasecondstage,listentothesameexcerptbutthistimeasdescribedbythe NationalCaptioningInstitute’sDescribedMediadivisionbygoingto:DVD>Snyder >The Color of Paradise>AD. Audiodescription 193 Anannotatedscriptofthedescriptionforthisexcerpt,includingtimecodes,is alsoincludedasapdfdocumentontheaccompanyingDVD(DVD>Snyder>The Color of Paradise>Annotatedscript),butshouldbeconsultedonlyafterexperiencing theexcerptsfirstwithoutADandthenwithAD.Thenoteswillaffordsomeinsight intothereasoningastowhythepreciselanguagehasbeenused;thewordshavebeen selectedtobringcertainimagestoyourmind’seye. Afinalclip,thistimewiththeoriginalsoundtrack,theimagesandtheAD,has alsobeenincluded(DVD>Snyder>The Color of Paradise>AD)inordertoallow sightedpeopletocomparetheactualdescriptiontothevisualimagesinthefilm.Dothe descriptionsaccuratelyreflectwhatcanbeseenonscreen?Arethedescriptionsobjec- tive?Dotheycreatevividimagesintheviewerwhodoesnothaveaccesstothevideo? Bearinmindthattheexcerptbeingusedforthisexercisecomesfromthemiddle ofthefilmandthecharacterofMohammed,hisphysicalperson,wouldhavealready been described. However, after listening to the AD but before the actual video is played,itisinterestingtoaskpeopleiftheycangleananyparticularcharacteristics aboutMohammedsimplyfromthedescriptionofhisinteractionwithhisenviron- ment,thetree,andhissurroundings. Exercise2The Color of Paradise AsanadditionalexerciseinpreparingAD,itcanbeagoodideatohavestudents watchthevideoclipwithoutanydescription(DVD>Snyder>The Color of Paradise> Original).Theycanbeaskedtoviewtheexcerptseveraltimesanddeveloptheirown versionofanaudiodescriptionscript,takingcaretowriteconcisely,objectively,and vividly.Itisalsoimportanttoavoidvoicingdescriptionwheneverdialogueor,inthis case,criticalsoundelementsoccurintheoriginalsoundtrack(Section5). 4. Venues for audio description IntheUnitedStates,whereveratelevisionstationisequippedtoparticipate,AD letsallblindtelevisionviewershearwhattheycannotsee.Itisaccessibleviaa specialaudiochannelavailableonstereotelevisions.ViewersselecttheSAP(Sec- ondaryAudioProgram)channelinordertoheartheoriginalsoundtrackaccom- paniedbythedescriptions,preciselytimedinandouttooccuronlyduringthe silentlapsesbetweendialogueexchanges.Althoughthisismainlytelevisionfor blindandlowvisionpeople,sightedviewerscanalsoappreciatethedescriptions when,forinstance,theyareinthekitchenwashingdisheswhiletheshowison.As confirmedbyalandmarksurveycarriedoutbyPackerandKirchner(1997:on- line)fortheAmericanFoundationfortheBlind:“individualswhoarefamiliar withvideodescriptionobtainnumerousbenefitsfromit”. 194 JoelSnyder Toalimiteddegree–inapproximately200movietheatresnationwide–au- diodescriptionisavailableforfirst-runfilmscreenings.ADcanalsobefoundon several hundred VHS videotape titles (http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/ resources/dvs-home-video-catalogue.html) although the VHS format does not allowforthedescriptiontobeturnedoff.DVDsareafarmoresuitableformat sincetheyallowforanaudiomenuandtheabilitytoselectdescriptionifdesired. Unfortunatelyonlyabout80titlescurrentlyofferdescriptionintheUSA. TherearenowfederalprovisionsregardingAD–inparticularSection508 requiringdescriptionwithgovernment-producedmedia.AFederalCommunica- tionsCommission(FCC)rule,establishedin2002,createdamandateforcom- pulsorydescriptiononbroadcasttelevision.Itwassetasideinacourtchallenge focusedonwhetherthegovernmentagencyexceededitsauthorityinorderingthe mandate.ButeffortsarependingintheUSACongresstodirecttheFCCtore- establishthemandatejustascaptioningforthedeafandthehard-of-hearinghas beenrequiredformosttelevisionbroadcastsintheUSforoveradecade. Inliveperformingartssettings,ADisofferedfree,usuallyatdesignatedper- formances.Peopledesiringthisservicemayreceiveheadphonesattachedtosmall receivers,aboutthesizeofacigarettepack.Priortotheshow,aliveortapedver- sionoftheprogrammenotesistransmittedthroughtheheadphonesafterwhich, thetraineddescribernarratestheperformancefromanotherpartofthetheatre viaaradioorinfra-redtransmitterusingconcise,objectivedescriptionsallslipped inbetweenportionsofdialogueorsongs. Inmuseums,usingADtechniquesforthedescriptionofstaticimagesand exhibitionsnotonlyenhancesaccessibility,butitalsohelpsdevelopmoreexpres- sive,vivid,andimaginativemuseumtours.Thisenablesdocentstomakethemu- seumexperiencemoremeaningfulforeveryone,whichisgreatlyappreciatedby allvisitors.RecordedADtours,specificallygearedtopeoplewithlowvision,are increasinglycommon.Combinedwithdirectionalinformation,theserecorded toursenablevisitorswhoareblindtouseasimplehand-heldaudioplayertotour atleastaportionofthemuseumindependentlyandwithnewaccesstothevisual elementsofexhibitions.Othercuratorsareinterestedinhavingcertainvideos withinanexhibitoraparticularfilmdescribed. 5. The skills of the professional audio describer Havingtraineddescribersformanyyears,Ithinkitmightbeofinteresttolearn whatittakestoofferADinwaysthatwillbemostuseful.IndevelopingADfor television,avideoorDVD,thetheatre,oramuseum,Iemphasisefourelements, thefirstofwhichisallabouttheskillthatSherlockHolmeshoned: Audiodescription 195 1. Observation:Baseballcatcheranderstwhilephilosopher,YogiBerra,saidit bestwhenstatingthatonecanseealotjustbylooking. Effectivedescribers mustincreasetheirlevelofawarenessandbecomeactive‘see-ers’,develop their‘visualliteracy’asSchaefer(1995)callsit,noticethevisualworldwitha heightenedsenseofacuity,andsharethoseimages.Keller(1993:online)puts itlikeitis:“Thosewhohaveneversufferedimpairmentofsightorhearing seldommakethefullestuseoftheseblessedfaculties.Theireyesandearstake inallsightsandsoundshazily,withoutconcentrationandwithlittleapprecia- tion”. 2. Editing:Describersmusteditorcullfromwhattheysee,selectingwhatis mostvalid,whatismostimportant,whatismostcriticaltoanunderstanding andappreciationofavisualimage.Inaddition,choicesaremadebasedonan understandingofblindnessandlowvision–goingfromthegeneraltothe specific,useofcolour,inclusionofdirectionalinformation,andsoon.For instance,asyousitinaclassroomandlooktowardthefrontofthespace:what wouldyoufocusoninadescriptionofasnapshotofthatimage?Ifyouhad onlyfivewordstouse,inpriorityorder,whatwouldyoulist?Thechalkboard? ATVmonitor?Acleardesk?Anopendoor?Inconsideringascenefroma film,youcanoftenbeguidedbythedirectororcinematographerwhohas