Who is paying for these increasingly terrible movie subtitles in theaters?!

electricsailor13 said:Over the last ten days, I’ve caught two movies at the theater: Star Trek Beyond and Suicide Squad. The films themselves aren't exactly masterpieces, but that isn't even the main issue. The subtitles are absolutely PATHETIC!! It feels like someone just ran everything through Google Translate and hit I'm Feeling Lucky!

I don't even know where to begin; there is so much poorly translated dialogue that fails to capture the spirit of either the English or the American language. Even though I don't actually need the subtitles, I find myself watching them and comparing them to the original audio. My conclusion is simple: they completely ruined both movies with this.

Since Suicide Squad is still fresh in my mind... they translate "Boss on deck!" as "The Boss is on board!" and so on and so forth...

So, here is what I want to know:

1) Who is actually producing these subtitles?
2) How much are they paying for this work?
3) Could I offer my services for half the price?

Jessica Morris6 said:Look, if you actually went through the proper training and finished your schooling, you can pull in just as much as they do. But if you're coming in without any formal education, then you're looking at maybe one-third of that rate, roughly $1.00 to $1.50 per minute... I'm not 100% certain on the exact math, though.
I've already come across discussions about how the subtitles from AMC Theatres are pretty mediocre at best, but honestly, you shouldn't be so quick to trash them when you've only brought up a single example...

• An IELTS certificate with a C2 score, or 8.5 out of 9
• A CELTA certification for teaching English as a second language
• Teaching at a high school in New York City
• Peer-reviewing scientific papers in English

electricsailor13 said:Over the last ten days, I’ve caught two movies at the theater: Star Trek Beyond and Suicide Squad. The films themselves aren't exactly masterpieces, but that isn't even the main issue. The subtitles are absolutely PATHETIC!! It feels like someone just ran everything through Google Translate and hit I'm Feeling Lucky!

I don't even know where to begin; there is so much poorly translated dialogue that fails to capture the spirit of either the English or the American language. Even though I don't actually need the subtitles, I find myself watching them and comparing them to the original audio. My conclusion is simple: they completely ruined both movies with this.

Since Suicide Squad is still fresh in my mind... they translate "Boss on deck!" as "The Boss is on board!" and so on and so forth...

So, here is what I want to know:

1) Who is actually producing these subtitles?
2) How much are they paying for this work?
3) Could I offer my services for half the price?

goldenhound32 said:Just out of pure curiosity, how would you handle that translation?

I was watching some movie the other day, but I can't quite recall that specific line.

electricsailor13 said:Heads up!! The Boss is coming!

electricsailor13 said:A few hours passed between the movie and this post, and most of my thoughts evaporated, leaving me with only that one specific example that stuck in my mind.

My qualifications in this field include:

• An IELTS certificate with a C2 score, or 8.5 out of 9
• A CELTA certification for teaching English as a second language
• Teaching at a high school in New York City
• Peer-reviewing scientific papers in English

If you could point me toward a link or a contact, I would appreciate it. 👍 Money is neither my primary nor my secondary motivator.

Nicholas Nguyen said:It isn't just a theater issue; it’s happening on television too, whether you're watching cable or one of the three major networks here in the States.
I distinctly remember a disastrously bad translation—or rather, a total lack of subtitles—for a movie that aired on FOX about a month and a half ago.

Every single line of dialogue involving sex or using "crude" terms like dick, tits, pussy, fuck and similar was completely untranslated. The characters would carry on for several sentences without a single subtitle appearing, only for a caption to pop up every few lines once they moved past the "controversial" words.
The best part? It was a horror movie rated R, airing around 1:00 AM, packed with blood and violence. I have no idea who they think they're "protecting" with this kind of censorship.

rustywalker1 said:I was just watching some trailers at AMC Theatres, and I noticed the subtitles were in Mexican. 🤦

Honestly, if you aren't going to get the translation right, why bother showing it at all? 🙄

Jessica Morris6 said:The best translators are those working for PBS because they actually employ editors. Though even they slip up occasionally.

Next in terms of quality is SDI Media
www.sdimedia.com

After them comes MEDIATRANSLATORS
mediatranslations.com

There are others, though I don't know them all. DOBBIN is garbage. Maybe one out of ten is actually decent. They make mistakes even in 70s police procedurals where the dialogue was straightforward...
I have no idea who handles the theater translations. It also depends entirely on what kind of subtitles are ordered. Someone might want to cut costs and order something that isn't technically sound. You end up with bad CPS, lines that are way too long, and things like that.

PBS has almost perfect subtitles; they pay attention to everything. Not just the accuracy of the translation, but the grammar and technical requirements too. They are better than most channels in the world. Except, occasionally, their editors might just skim over a subtitle, leaving some minor nonsense behind. But I rarely run into a loss of meaning. Their errors are of the sort that only someone properly trained in grammar or linguistics would even notice.

FOX and ABC are a bit weaker. FOX is the weakest of that trio; they have constant fails. You can see the same thing when reading their news tickers.
On PBS, you rarely see vulgarity; they always try to adapt it for their audience.