In subtitled films, dialogue is conveyed via text, albeit in a highly restricted manner. To avoid distracting from the on-screen images, subtitles must consist of only a few characters and lines, and to ensure that the audience has enough time to read them, they need to be carefully timed and clearly worded.

Well-done subtitles should fit seamlessly into a film’s cuts, dialogue rhythms and composition. The dialogue needs to be conveyed as accurately as possible – in terms of content, speaking style and humor – which is made all the more difficult by the fact that viewers can easily compare the text to the words being spoken in the original language. As a result, the translation must to be both precise and natural.

The timing and content of the subtitles are closely tied together, and should ideally be done by the same person. This is why I use professional subtitling software (EZTitles) that can process and deliver all of the most commonly used video and subtitle data formats.