Analysis of Open Caption Telops (OCTs) in relation to subtitling into English of 爸爸去哪儿 ? [bàba qù nǎ er]

Abstract

This dissertation presents the analysis of Open Caption Telops (OCT) in relation to traditional interlingual subtitles in the film 爸爸去哪儿 ? / Where are we going, Dad? (2014). It will compare the OCTs to the English subtitles when they are available and look at what could be understood by the viewers as no OCT is directly translated. Through multimodality as described by Stöckl (2004), Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) and Pérez-González (2014), this dissertation will attempt to analyse different elements, i.e. core modes, that make up an OCT and thus contribute to overall meaning of OCTs and see if meaning can be derived from other modes besides language. These elements include typography and animation of OCTs. It will also look closely at its functions such as when OCTs act similarly to a traditional subtitle and correspond to the participant’s dialogue. Other functions are when the OCTs help the audience to understand what is happening in a situation in a particular way and when it bridges changes of scene. A brief overview of the history and context of OCTs will also be given. The film 爸爸去哪儿 ? (2014) is a result of localisation and therefore has a specific audience in mind; one that has a grasp of both English and Mandarin as well as knowledge of Chinese culture and the television series from which the film originated. However, while the language may not be accessible to an English-speaking audience the other elements in the OCTs do add meaning that can be communicated.