[access-uk] Re: Tonight's Harry Potter and AD

  • From: Jonathan <digitaltoast@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2012 20:07:38 +0000

There are some links and contact details you might find useful at the
end of my email...

As far as quality goes, I can only speak for ITFC 3 years ago, but the
QA was pretty tight, at least then.

All scripts AND recordings were cross-checked for everything, and
someone had to listen to the entire final thing. Even the crap like
"When cats throw up" at 3am on some obscure satellite channel had to
be perfect.

When the recording is complete, a file of time codes, fade curves and
track names are bundled up and sent to the layback studio, where it
gets mixed with the original track, the level of fade, which is
usually preset, deciding how much the background track is faded. It
SHOULD be the case that the AD and movie tracks are the same volume,
just that the movie track is faded during the AD section.

Did it sound like this?
http://progressive.ifdnrg.com/streams/yourlocalcinema/harrypotter72ad.mp3

There are several companies that do AD though - ITFC, Red Bee, IMS,
Sky to name a few, and it's not always easy to tell who did what.
So it's best to contact the broadcaster themselves - you might find
this 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/2011/01/tv_audio_description_how_is_it.html?page=33
and 
http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/tvradiofilm/television/adtv/Pages/adfeedback.aspx
interesting. In case you don't want to wade through all that, the key
contact numbers are:

BBC - telephone 03700 100 222
BBC iPlayer - email AccessibilityTeam@xxxxxxxxx
ITV - telephone 0844 881 4150 or email viewerservices@xxxxxxx
Channel 4 - telephone 0845 076 0191
Five - telephone 08457 050 505 or email customerservices@xxxxxxx
Sky channels - telephone 0844 241 0333 or email
accessiblecustomerservice@xxxxxxxxx

Hope that helps!

On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 7:02 PM, Kevin Lloyd <kevin.lloyd3@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> It does make you wonder if they have any quality assurance checking at all
> for AD programmes.  I know in this case the AD is quiet but I've lost track
> of the number of movies I've stopped because the AD is ridiculously loud and
> makes the movie unwatchable...
>
> Kevin Lloyd
> E-mail: kevin.lloyd3@xxxxxxx
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "ANDY COLLINS" <Andy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 5:46 PM
>
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Tonight's Harry Potter and AD
>
>
>> Thanks Pele - I'll give that numbrer a try this week -
>>
>> Andy
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pele West" <pele.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 10:40 AM
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Tonight's Harry Potter and AD
>>
>>
>>> Hi Andy
>>>
>>> I entirely agree with you. The mix between the film and the audio
>>> description was not very good, but then, neither was the film.
>>>
>>> A few years a go there was a problem with Audio Description in our area
>>> on ITV where the sound would break up when something was being described. I
>>> reported it and after a few months ITV engineers identified the problem
>>> and rectified it.
>>>
>>> My first contact was the ITV Duty Office on 0844 881 4150.
>>>
>>> I have no idea if this is still a valid number, but it is worth a try.
>>>
>>> Pele West
>>>
>>>
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