Posted by Robin Ritter on Wed, Sep 28, 2011 @ 12:00 PM
This August 19, was National Aviation Day. The holiday was established in 1939 by then president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt to honor the anniversary of Orville Wright's birthday (and no, it's not the popcorn guy.) Orville and his brother Wilbur on December 17, 1903 made the FIRST controlled, powered flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina. A FIRST like that is nearly impossible to top so let's hone in on some unforgettable FIRSTS… first day of school, first date, first time using chopsticks, first car. How about that first roller coaster ride, or first 3D movie?
Do you remember your FIRST "encounter" with Closed Captioning? For me, years ago we'd gotten a new TV and there were at least a zillion buttons on the remote… one click led to another and another then, "Hey, where did those words on the screen come from?" I actually broke down… and read the dreaded "Operating Instructions". Stop laughing! I soon discovered how entertaining The Jerry Springer Show was with the CC button engaged... "[bleep] [bleeping bleep] [bleepitty bleep bleep]." Now, on top of that, we're watching sports with captions while the stereo cranks out our favorite tunes.
As the saying goes, "Smile, and the whole world smiles with you." Well, did you know that "FIRSTS" is a word that came originally from Pirate-speak? That's correct, Pirate-speak…. if ye leave out the "arrrrrr", ye be looking at "fists", matey. And yes, you read it here fist… I mean first. Well, you may not remember your first encounter with Closed Captioning, but you will remember your first encounter with a Closed Captioning company like CaptionLink. CaptionLink provides "Amazing Quality Everytime" and "Superior Customer Service." CaptionLink will take care of all of your captioning/subtitling needs and improve your bottom line!!!
Posted by Mike Williams on Wed, Jul 27, 2011 @ 03:37 PM
“As an independent producer of shows for TV, my budget doesn’t allow for frivolous spending. I have to watch every dime I spend. So why should I invest the extra money for closed captions. My viewers can all hear just fine, otherwise they wouldn’t watch my show.”
This is a comment from one of our clients. They weren’t clients when they made this statement, so they had to justify their reason to invest in closed captioning. It is actually pretty straight forward.
Based on 2001 statistics, there is upwards of 132 million people in the U.S. that are a part of the closed caption viewing audience. (Source; National captioning institute/U.S. department of education).This is over 42% of our U.S. population.
O.K., you say, so why should I worry about only 42% of the population watching my show? Simple answer: How many of your friends, acquaintances go to restaurants, clubs, sports bars and other loud venues that have TV’s as a part of their attraction? Ever notice the closed captions going across the bottom of the TV? Guess where a lot of viewers are?
Restaurants, sports bars, clubs and other loud venues! J
Next question: do you think any of your viewers ever go to the gym to workout? Or watch others workout?? According to statistics as reported in 2009, there are 29,750 gyms in the U.S., and 45 million, 300 thousand registered gym memberships in the U.S. I happen to be one of those members and I use the aerobic equipment, as in treadmill, elliptical machines, recumbent bike, and stairmaster at least 3 hours per week. Each machine has a TV attached. I listen to books on my IPOD and I read the closed captions while I workout. Closed captioning allows me to do both at the same time.
So do you think that the potential of an extra 177 million (including gyms) plus viewers is worth the investment in closed captions? Increased viewer’s equal increased sponsors. Increased sponsors equal increased revenue. If this makes Cents (intended), click on this link and we will help you increase your viewing exposure and give you more time to get to the gym or the sports bar to enjoy your show with closed captions!!
Posted by Seth Ritter on Wed, Jun 01, 2011 @ 10:50 AM
"Sherman set the Way-Back machine…" According to certain quantum physics camps, Mr. Peabody is not that far removed from present day technology. For now though, remember back to a special family time. For some (and this writer falls into this category) there was an almost Christmas-like magic in the air even if it was July. Oh yes, "…There arose such a clatter" not from "eight tiny reindeer", but from metal, sometimes ornery, folding TV trays joyously set up in such an array as to rival King Arthur's Round Table Knights.
Stardate 1954 (apologies to the Trekkies): "Disneyland" on the ABC network premiers, "Lassie" and the "Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" bark their way unto the airwaves. This created perfect market timing for Gerry Thomas, a salesman for C.A. Swanson & Son. He’s the most widely credited individual inventor of the revolutionary, TV dinner. The American Frozen Food Institute honored him in their "Frozen Food Hall of Fame" as the inventor of the TV dinner. How “cool” is that?
The concept really took root in 1954 when Swanson, a consumer trusted brand, launched a massive advertising campaign for their product, coining the phrase "TV Dinner", which helped to transform frozen meals into an American cultural icon. This was also a boost for the aluminum industry which benefited from this American food revolution by the sales momentum of TV dinners - packaged in an aluminum segmented tray for a mere 98 cents. A new generation created; feasting on turkey with cornbread stuffing, buttered peas, and sweet potatoes - right in front of the trusty Philco. That's some loving' from the oven!
Well, Mr. Peabody is bored and Sherman puts the Way-Back into gear again… the year 1947; the place, St. Louis, at intersection of Spring and Sullivan Avenues. Palermo's Tavern, becomes the gathering place on Friday nights to have a cold brewski and watch the fights on the latest technology… a 12-inch television, an original Philo T. Farnsworth model.
And now today?… Well let's just say the rest is history. It's nearly impossible to go to any dining establishment, eat a meal or have a cold one, without multiple screens clamoring for one's visual attention. Thank goodness for quality Closed Captioning… as I read between the bites.
Until next time... Seth
Posted by Seth Ritter on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 @ 02:36 PM
Be sure to choose your caption and subtitle partner with diligence and care. Accuracy and a persistent dedication to providing the highest quality visual translation of the spoken word is what's expected and delivered… Welcome to CaptionLink.
Words… we speak them, we hear them, we write them, we see them. This visual and auditory buffet of neural stimulation nourishes our gray matter. Our 24/7 synapse processors never sleep…. they may rest, but the pulse keeps on pulsing.
Depending on one's perspective words can be refreshing, invigorating and soothing to weary soul or perhaps a deluge of dark and murky "blah blah woof woof". So in continuing with this soft barrage of modern keystroke cuneiform, here's our "knowledge nugget" for the day.(why the "k" in knowledge?) According to "Ethnologue", http://www.ethnologue.com/ There are 6,909 living languages on this planet alone. Scholars may debate language classification versus dialect derivation, but the fact remains that words are the weft and tongues are the warp of this cultural fabric. Yet much to my dismay, Pig Latin, Ebonics, Double Speak, and Psychobabble were excluded from the living language tally. Ummerbay. Depending on your statistical information source, India has most recently become (or is rapidly becoming) the largest English speaking country. I pose this moderately relevant question…. who's really counting? Whether it's Wiki, the CIA, or the mainstream media providing this amazing diluted statistic, English is still the dominate communication conveyance. My apologies to The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, but being "Born in the USA" does have its linguistic perks. I do declare ya'll… dat yo, yo homeboy here… this OMG BFF dude, speaks fluently…. a vast host of Americanese dialects, but just "fugetaboutit". This language of ours is a dialectic polyglot of auditory conundrums. Huh? Simply put, what (watt) we (wee) hear (here) or (oar) see (sea) knows (nose) whether (weather) it's (its) time (thyme) or (ore) not (knot). I'm glad we cleared that up. That previous sentence demonstrates the beautiful chaos of written flavors.
Let us look forward to an effervescing 2011, not just in terms of a new tax year, but as to what will be the "Word of the Year" as deemed by the Oxford University Press http://blog.oup.com. For 2010, their winner was, "Big Society" defined as, "a political concept whereby a significant amount of responsibility for the running of a society’s services is devolved to local communities and volunteers." Wow-- I've now become giddy with a splash of nausea; yet upon reading further, the gem and its shortlist cohorts are from the United Kingdom, home of the original English Speakers. Well, I guess they should know. Should we give a "woot"? (a shortlist 2010 runner-up) "‘used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph, especially in Internet forums, message boards, texts, etc."
The continual evolution of the spoken and written is an accelerating subliminal juggernaut. Let's examine the premise briefly… 2001 the word D'oh! was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary. The D'oh! definition: "Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish. Also (usu. mildly derogatory): implying that another person has said or done something foolish." 2007 brought us "locavore", in 2008 "hypermiling" and for 2009, "unfriend" (or defriend). One of the few "new" words that has a credible basis for usage is, "steampunk" It may one day be the next heralded front page for "Popular Science". This moment by moment visual and verbal torrent can be best described today as "techno-blatant", defined as: "an in-your-face wave of current non-relevant stimulation". This also happens to be my personal "Word of the Year" pick for 2011. Why? Because I just now made it up. Yeppers, you read it here first.
Media today, and the reference here is to television and the internet content, is based primarily on quantity rather than quality. Good grammar has seemingly gone the way of buggy whips and reusable diapers. English is a rich and complex conveyance of ideas. The proper mechanics of discourse are more important than ever to communicate effectively. This will enable a content provider to retain an ever restless audience. Having a powerful command of the English language will greatly increase your odds of success. Accuracy of spelling and word selection such as, "weigh or way", "bare or bear", "there or they're or their", "your or you're", means more to your written language viewers than you could ever imagine.
So for your next project, be sure to choose your caption and subtitle partner with diligence and care. Accuracy and a persistent dedication to providing the highest quality visual translation of the spoken are what's expected and delivered… Welcome to CaptionLink.
PS -- Did I mention outstanding customer service? Huh? Anybody? I think I need a staycation.
Posted by Blog Tipster on Mon, Nov 01, 2010 @ 01:06 PM
It's all about the latest software update… the fastest processor, hottest video camera along with the slickest graphics… right? Those are wonderful condiments but let's not let them detract from the main meal. The hottest video camera can't make up for poor lighting. The fastest processor in the world won't fix boring dialog. The coolest graphics won't salvage a lame script. Most of the "gotchas" occur due to the lack of solid pre-production planning. All the big players do it and all successful production companies do it and do it well. Twenty minutes of storyboard review, double-checking your location details along with your post production timeline, to include the caption process, will save twenty hours worth of grief.
On time, on budget… this is no longer a fleeting mantra. Sponsor dollars are tightening and production budgets are shrinking while the cost of doing business seems to have a mind of its own. Whether you're a producer in the field or an exec schmoozing over a sushi sampler, that one extra meeting reviewing the workflow timeline is your greatest efficiency tool.
In my 20+ years of broadcast experience, only a few select shows flow like a peaceful mountain stream from start to finish. Does the phrase "crunch time" resonate with you? Generally, somewhere between the shot log and the FedEx truck is where the gremlins party. To help avoid the gremlins it's important to add one, if not two additional days to your production schedules for the unexpected and another two for captioning once your master is complete. A luxury? Well, sometimes, but if you had add those extra days in the first production meeting you might be able to ease off your blood pressure medicine a bit.
Let's do a quick breakdown of "crunch time". In its most simplified form it goes: Edit--approval--re-edit--approval--master--ship overnight… Simple in theory yet the variables are endless. With the FCC caption regulations for television and web video closed captioning has got to fit into that workflow timeline. Closed captioning used to be a royal pain and fell in the scenario somewhere between the final master tape and FedEx thrash to the network.
Today, the latest generation of post production tools such as Final Cut 7 from Apple, Adobe Premiere, Matrox MX02, Blackmagic Extreme, Avid Media Composer 5, Avid Symphony 5 to name a few, allow producers to edit and output HD and SD closed captions directly to tape, in-house without expensive external encoders or additional hardware. Perhaps your delivery is tapeless now.
Closed captions can be embedded into Quicktime, MXF, MPEG-2 transport and program streams for tapeless delivery. Many networks are starting to accept digital delivery of program material and closed caption files can be delivered separately via email for integration on network servers.
To cut down on turnaround time the caption process can begin as soon as you create a "locked" audio file (MP3, WAV, AIF) from your NL timeline. Even a rough audio file can get the caption ball rolling. Planning for closed captioning in that first pre-production planning meeting and beginning the closed caption process early in your workflow can ease the bite of the crunch time blues. Smooth, flexible workflows translate into dollars saved. Let the professionals at CaptionLink analyze and help streamline your production workflow.
It all adds up... with the mix of proper pre-production planning, gear in good working order, and the team of knowledgeable pros at CaptionLink, you'll eliminate many of the avoidable "gotchas". Maximizing your production budget and cutting caption costs has never been easier.
Until next time... Seth