Emily Wang: Midterm Portfolio – #4 Audio Description
Project Description:
For my Audio Description assignment, I decided to add audio description to the trailer of the film PERFECT DAYS. It’s the story of an old man named Hirayama, who works as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He is a calm, quiet existence. Everyday, he wakes up at the same time, gets ready the same way, and works the same way.
I watched the film recently and was deeply touched by Hirayama’s life philosophy. His way of life exudes a gentle beauty. He loves trees and gazing at komorebi, the shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind. Therefore, I wanna transfer this touch of gentle beauty through my audio description to audiences.
Documentation:
Transcript:
The tape recorder is opened. 磁带机被打开
The camera pans down to an aged man’s profile, bathed in sunlight. 镜头下移，一张苍老的男性侧脸沐浴在阳光下
With his eyes closed and a relaxed expression, he quietly lies in the room, enjoying the music. 他闭着眼睛，神情放松，静静地躺在房间里享受音乐
the sunlight, the serenity, and the moment 阳光，静谧，和此刻
The scene gradually overlaps with the leaves and shadows in his dreams. 画面逐渐和他梦中的叶与影重叠
In black and white, a faint light flickers. 黑白画面，微光闪烁
The scene slowly fades back to reality. 画面渐渐淡去回归现实
He was riding his bike past the riverbank, 他骑着车路过河边
Effortlessly, 很轻松
and freely. 很自由
Reflection questions:
When I did my audio description, I intentionally added pauses between the lines as I want my audio description to follow the pace of the visual to blend into the trailer instead of only informing my audiences what’s happening. Also, those pauses leave spaces for imagination. I include how the camera moves in it because I think that would help people understand the scene and the director’s way of shooting. I did the whole description in a poetic language to convey this gentle beauty, which is also the theme of the film.
One thing I could do to improve the accessibility is to include captions of the audio description! Currently, only the captions of the lyrics of the background music are included. Also, at the end of the trailer, the background music gets louder. Though I have adjusted the loudness of the audio description to make it louder, I think it would be better to make it even more.
Another thing I think about is should I describe the context of the video at the beginning? My original thought was that I could just tell people before playing the trailer, as I want to keep the poetic vibe from the beginning to the end, and not breaking the wholeness of the piece. However, now I think having one or two lines describing the context would better help my audiences understand the trailer.
What is the theme of the work? What is it you aim to express?
The nature of the work is a film trailer. The theme of the work is to introduce the audience to the film PERFECT DAYS, and the story of the old man named Hirayama, who works as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. I aim to express this gentle beauty, he as a calm and quiet existence, to the audience.
How is that theme particularly expressed through the modality of the week?
I left spaces for imagination! When doing audio description, I intentionally added pauses between the lines as I want my audio description to follow the pace of the visual to blend into the trailer instead of only informing my audiences what’s happening.
Which elements of the work are beautifully/wonderfully/perfectly expressed through the modality?
The theme and the visual are both well expressed! I did the whole description in a poetic language to convey this gentle beauty, which is also the theme of the film.
Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?
The cohesiveness of the work.
Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work ? Who is this modality not accessible for?
People with hearing impairment are excluded for some parts of the project.
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)
One thing I could do to improve the accessibility is to include captions of the audio description! Currently, only the captions of the lyrics of the background music are included. Also, at the end of the trailer, the background music gets louder. Though I have adjusted the loudness of the audio description to make it louder, I think it would be better to make it even more.
Additional Modality:
For additional modality, I decide to do a tactile graphics for this project as I wanna transfer this gentle beauty and feeling of freedom to my audience through touch. Again, I give some keywords in the script to DALLE and have it generate some conceptual images for me. Here’s the one I love the most!
However, I think this conceptual image is somehow too concrete. I want to express the theme in a more abstract way. I want to make something that is both visual pleasing and easy carrying. The medium I choose is petals. There are several key visual elements in the trailer: music / sunshine / old man / leaves / shadows / memory. All of them are pointing towards a feeling of lightness and warmth. Therefore, I think petal is a perfect medium to express how Hirayama embraces the most ordinary and primal aspects of life.
I make a bookmark! Instead of buying flowers, I collect the petals fallen on the ground, dry them up, and restick them together into the shape of the flower. Then I find a silk-like white fabric and hang the ‘flower’ onto it. The fabrics brings another layer of warmth and freedom, reminds me of the past memories and the pure joy.