Sophie Ana Paris: Midterm Portfolio – #1 Captions
I chose this scene because I thought it would be very interesting to tackle the challenge of a satirical scene in which the tone of voice is very important, but is not clear based on written captions alone.
What is the theme of the work? What is it you aim to express?
The primary theme of this work revolves around accessibility and inclusivity in media consumption, with a specific focus on how humor and tone, especially in satirical content like an SNL skit, can be conveyed to the D/deaf community. By using emojis to caption a video clip, I am hoping to bridge the gap between the auditory and visual aspects of media, making the emotional and tonal nuances of spoken dialogue accessible to those who cannot hear it.
How is that theme particularly expressed through the modality of the week?
The use of emojis makes use of a visual language to convey tone that are often lost in text. Emojis serve as a bridge, providing visual cues that aim to function in a similar way to the tone of spoken language. This approach directly addresses the challenge of making satirical content, which heavily relies on tone to convey humor, accessible to a wider audience.
Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?
Complex or rapid dialogue might be challenging to caption accurately with emojis, potentially leading to oversimplification or things being left out all together. Also, emojis can be interpreted differently for each person, leading to potential misunderstandings.
Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work ? Who is this modality not accessible for?
Individuals who are blind or low vision will likely not be able to interact with the emojis. People who have trouble interpreting social cues and facial expressions might also find this confusing or unhelpful.
Now that you’ve identified who is excluded, what is one way you could remix this piece to include another population? (You don’t have to make this part, but think about it and write about it)
For people who are blind or low vision, adding audio descriptions would likely be helpful. However, the rapid pace of the scene and fast dialogue would make it hard to add audio descriptions. For people who struggle with interpreting facial expressions, rather than an emoji, perhaps there could be a word in its place such as “angry” or “confused.”
Where do the text and image rub up against each other in your assignment?
With the addition of various emojis to express tone and emotion, there’s a lot happening visually that could potentially overwhelm the viewer. This might make it too fast-paced or distracting, detracting from the viewer’s ability to fully absorb and appreciate what is happening in the video. The balance between enhancing the viewing experience and overloading it with visual cues is hard to find, and potentially can lead to viewers more focused on interpreting the emojis rather than engaging with the content of the skit itself.
Where do you find tension or curiosity?
The tension lies in the balance between accurately conveying the tone and emotion of the skit through emojis without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the dialogue. It would be interesting to explore how well emojis can convey complex, satirical content and whether this visual language can universally translate the nuances of humor and tone to different types of people.
Customized emojis used in the video:
