(no subject)

[fenlings]

So there was English club today! And I brought my laptop up to show the three ichinensei that were there today random stuff because we didn't have anything exciting planned.

I showed them the Seaman Ship CM, and they agreed that it was cracktastic. So it's not just a Japan thing. It's actually a CRAZY thing.

Then I showed them the cat-rabbit korean love story, and the Maiyahi flash, both of which they enjoyed. And the Trogdor movie trailer. And Star Wars and Serenity movie trailers. And, onlymesmerized, the "Tribute" music video.

I - it's just what was short and on my computer at the time?

And then I showed them Tokyo Breakfast because I like to CORRUPT THE YOUTH.

And they were all 「先生、ニガァって何ですか。」

So the English teacher and I explained and - wow, I'm a really bad person, aren't I?

::cackles::

Comments

[zerl.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you so much for your feedback! I loooove nitpicky concrit; if I didn't, I wouldn't ask. And I know I said it once but I'll say it again, it's just such a rush to be discussing the subtitles with the actual author of the vid. We're even in the same country!
(Hey, speaking of, some friends and I are scheduling to do an Eclipse chat (http://www.livejournal.com/users/zerl/27104.html) this evening, from 9 pm. The language is Japanese, but there's going to be another non-native speaker, joudama99. If you're comfortable enough with your Japanese to try chatting, would you care to join in? We'd be delighted to have you. Or if that's too intimidating, you could just sort of peek in. :-)

Your translation is more of a poem than a translation.

Yes, that's the biggest weakness -- and strength, at the same time, I think -- of my vid translations. As I see it, translating lyrics in the limited time frame is already a tough task, but to do it while being faithful to a vid is nearly impossible, if you wanted to do anything even remotely like literal translation. This is because each line holds not just denotational meanings but also a huge range of connotations, of which vidders take huge advantage of in making their vids. There's just no way to keep all those "real meanings" and "hidden meanings" intact while keeping the word count under the maximum of readability (about 4 characters per sec for normal movie theaters).

Which is why I've come to always resort to changing the words around in translating the chorus sections. On the one hand, it would be better if I could avoid it. Vids are extremely fast-paced compared to movies, and so there's already enough strain on the viewers' eyes to begin with. No need to add the task of following new words, if it weren't strictly needed to understand the vids. But it is, I think. All good vidders take the same lyrics and focus on a different connotation of the same words, second time and third time around. Now, they're fresh AND in accord with the English lyrics because the vidders manage to cultivate the words' connoted meanings, but the translator can't hope to do that without maybe expanding the translation of a single line into two or three whole sentences. Second best solution: change things around and try to at least, you know, rhyme. (Or sort of. XD)

Then the rest is a question of which lyric-scene matching to keep in the translation, which to cover (or hope the viewers cover in their minds) by way of Japanese connotation, and which to completely abandon. In the first stanza, I had to abandon "fingers," although 蝕み manages to add the sense of invasion; I hoped the visuals would be enough to make that connection. Same with "blessings and burns" vs. "Godless under your cover," etc, etc. I'm so happy to hear you're satisfied with the overall end result for its tone, if not for exact word-for-word accuracy. I chucked accuracy out of the window about three minutes into the translating process. :P