----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Follow-up statements and questions to my 'Sub-titling Survey' posted last week- 'Foreign film' is a film genre with a mega-message; the world and local views of diverse foreign societies, as seen through the eyes, languages and personal histories of its authors.* Should sub-titling typographically reinforce this message, or should it be transparently functional? Would one apply the same sub-titling system to all foreign films? Can sub-titling be made to reflect the character of a foreign-language culture, other than in the most stereotypical and obtrusive ways? The elements of foreign-language film sub-titling: translation - literal vs. semantic synchronization with the film spectacle and soundtrack pacing typography and layout * The idiosyncratic concerns and modes of expression of various directors and cinematographers, no matter how celebrated, are subsumed by the formative influences of their respective societies, in my view. Of course, international culture inexorably (and lamentably) becomes more homogenous... Responses may be posted to Screen-L or directly to me at your discretion. Thanks, David Smith [log in to unmask]