Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2007 September 10

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September 10

Jodie Foster

How tall is Jodie foster? 207.69.139.157 13:16, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

5'3" according to quotes attributed to her.[1][2] --John Hubbard 16:03, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

IMDb says "5' 3½" (1.61 m)". Most stars' heights are listed in IMDb on their bio pages. —Tamfang 06:12, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

"The Office" Character Inquiry

Hello. What is the name of the IT Technician who has a recurring role on The Office. I remember Michael hiding from him in one episode by turning off the lights of the office and telling everyone to duck underneath their desks, but I can't seem to remember the guy's name. I just know that he is an Indian-American male. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Djcurtis (talk • contribs) 15:15, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

We responded to this previously, here is the archive link. --LarryMac | Talk 15:21, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

According to IMDB, the character is named Sadiq.[3] (based on matching photos from the episode). You may also be interested in a clip of a similar character in the UK series. --John Hubbard 15:44, 10 September 2007 (UTC) p.s. Don't forget to ask a librarian if you need help too!

Tots TV

Gooooood Evening,

A very babyish question now, but I've been reminiscing. In the kids show Tots TV, there was a horrible, messy, silent dog that lived in the house, but the tots weren't aware of it. What was it's name? Thank You ::Manors:: 16:54, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Furry Boo? DuncanHill 16:57, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Ah of course, Thank You. ::Manors:: 17:59, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

We really do have an article on everything! I'd never noticed before that Tom was black; how unobservant I am... Skittle 23:44, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Tots TV is shown every weekday on CBeebies (my 2 year old is a big fan). Kelpin 17:02, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

cant remember the name of a french/german film

hey, im trying to work out the name of a film that i saw ages ago. it was either in german or french (sorry, cant remember that either!). here is the basic plotline from what i can remember:

the girl has a boyfriend and he gets in trouble with some gangster guy or something, and then they go through what they did to get through it.a nd they keep replaying ti but doing different things each time and seeing the outcome

thanks--81.153.199.1 19:22, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

You don't mean Run Lola Run, do you? / edg ☺ ★ 19:24, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Sounds very much like it. Corvus cornix 15:59, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

That's Run Lola Run for sure. Coolest movie ever... Beekone 17:15, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Sub Titles in Films

I am curious ... does anyone knows how, exactly, the text of subtitles is incorporated into a film? Let's say, for example, we were to watch the film Titanic on DVD. If you set it up correctly, the text of the character dialogue would be printed on the screen along with the visual images of the film. So, for example, under the video of Leonardo DiCaprio would appear the text "I am the king of the world!" as he speaks that line of dialogue in the film. This is my question: how exactly do those "words" get placed in the film ... and by whom exactly? I mean, does MGM or Paramount or 20th Century Fox (or whoever) hire a secretary and then give a copy of the real film script to the secretary and ask her to type it all in? Or does MGM / Paramount / 20th Century Fox (etc.) hire a secretary to sit there and listen to the film and type / transcribe the words (sort of, in the way that a court reporter does a court transcript)? So, really, I guess what I am also asking is ... how does the studio (or us, as the viewing audience) know that the printed / typed words are correct? Of course, it is patently obvious in 99% of the cases. But, there are often times that I will rewind a movie 100 times, asking myself "what exactly did that character say? I can't seem to make it out, because he mumbled the words". How are those hard-to-decipher words input? Is the secretary looking at a real script? Or is she just rewinding the film 100 times and trying to listen intently, like I am? Furthermore, who exactly decides what other filler words to add in? Like, when they say, "Mr. Smith loudly pounds his fist on the table" or something like that. Is that all carefully scripted by the studio / director / producer / executives / etc.? Or do they just go out and "hire" some closed captioning / transcript service whose employees merely add whatever they feel is appropriate to the sub-titles? Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro 20:28, 10 September 2007 (UTC))

The major studios contract with approved vendors to supply and create the subtitles used in films. They are working from scripts and the audio-visual of the film, that is real-time watching. Check out the website for the vendor Cinetyp Hollywood [4] for more information.
Librarians - Ask us, we answer!
Find your local Library at [5] Ktg2 21:40, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

While your little sign-off is amusing, I would note that the local libraries of a significant percentage of readers are not represented by that link, as it only lists them for the US. Skittle 23:34, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

There are computer programs made specifically for captioning or subtitling, but they aren't anything too advanced. Just a way for you to be able to watch the video while typing and then set how long the text should be on the screen. I highly doubt that any of the people they hire to do it have any contact with the studios as far as creative stuff is concerned, considering how many errors there are in them. I guess it's possible for them to get a script, but I've seen it done before and they didn't have one; they just watched the movie and typed it out. As for actions like "Mr. Smith pounds his fist," (or [DOOR OPENING] or [GUNSHOT] or any other offscreen noises) those wouldn't be included in subtitles (which are intended for people who don't speak the movie's language) but would be in captions (intended for deaf or hard of hearing) and the exact wording would again likely just be up to the captioner. Recury 13:38, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

When you watch the subtitles, often at the end it will say 'subtitles courtesy of .....' or some such. (this isn't spoken aloud. also interesting in phone commercials, the subtitles often give info on the tty services for the deaf offered by the phone company, which is not spoken aloud). My observations are that there seem to be two kinds of subtitles, ones where the text seems to be given to the subtitler in advance, and sometimes the speech doesn't quite match which i attribute to improvisation by the actors or maybe a very last minute script change, and the kind where it's obvious they are translating on the fly, like a debate or a sports event, and they pretty much screw up half the transcript.

OT: I have an el cheapo Sanyo VCR (so cheap it doesn't even display the clock on the front panel) from Walmart which has a nifty feature they call "tvguardian" or tvg; if you turn it on it reads the closed caption and mutes the sound around "bad language" and instead displays the closed captioning, with the "bad word" replaced with something more acceptable. It has various settings, for sexual language, sacreligious language, etc., with tolerant, moderate, severe, for each. Very cool for showing something to young kids where the movie would be fine but the language is something you'd rather they not get used to just yet, "School of rock" being a great example. Gzuckier 16:16, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

My hearing is just bad enough, and/or actors' diction is sometimes bad enough, that I usually play DVDs with captions or subtitles on (most DVDs of recent material have both, and I see little difference between them, contrary to what Recury says above). I've often noticed that whoever wrote them could not possibly have had access to the script. A couple of examples that stuck in my mind:

• In How to Marry a Millionaire William Powell quotes some well-known proverb in Latin (I have forgotten what it was, but it was relevant to the scene) and the caption says only "[Speaking Latin]".
• In A Hard Day's Night John Lennon, clowning in a bathtub, pretends to be a sinking U-boat and cries "Helf uns!" (German: Help us!); the caption says "Headphones!"

I've also seen cases where the caption-writer didn't understand English, but can't recall one now. —Tamfang 06:45, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

I rather enjoy when the subtitles translate Kenny. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 17:52, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

While not an actual film, many anime dvd's have a problem with subtitles. Often in English, the character will say something, only to have a subtitle say something different. This is because the English words have to be changed to better suit the lip sinc, to fill time, or to change Japanese culture references to English ones. While not common, I have seen this in American films as well, although I have no examples at the moment. Also, it seems different channels subtitle things different. Such as one channel showing music playing by showing music notes, another by saying "Music Playing," and one saying the actual title of the song. Then there's the issue of shows like the Colbert Report, and the words will appear several seconds after they're said. All in all, it's hard to set subtitles down to one set process. BioYu-Gi! 22:39, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Follow Up

Wow, thanks for the great input. A slight point of confusion, though. Is there some kind of "difference" between a subtitle and a caption? If so, what? Isn't it all just words typed on the TV screen for whatever purpose (regardless of whether the viewer is of a foreign language and/or whether the viewer is deaf/hearing impaired)? Is there a difference between the two ... or is it all just text typed onto the screen? Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro 17:34, 11 September 2007 (UTC))

Really the only differences are that subtitles for the hearing impaired (closed captioning) can be turned on and off with most modern TVs and that they will display offscreen noises. Like if there is a close-up shot a person's face and then there is a loud noise of a plane passing overhead, captioning will say [PLANE PASSES OVERHEAD] but regular subtitles won't bother since the non-hearing-impaired can still hear the plane just fine. Of course the British have to make things difficult by calling closed captioning "subtitles." Recury 18:52, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

TCG/TV tie-ins

How many TV series are based on, or have based on them, trading-card games? Are there any such series that are not shonen animés? NeonMerlin 21:58, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Star Trek Customizable Card Game springs to mind. Algebraist 11:36, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

and Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game, Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collectible Card Game, Doctor Who - Battles in Time, The X-Files Collectible Card Game, The Simpsons Trading Card Game. Algebraist 11:41, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Anything a nerd could like, there is a card game of it. Try browsing Category:Collectible card games. Recury 13:27, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Objective Question in regards to 80's childs rhyme with slur

I may have not asked the question correctly, for it was deleted w/o cause. (Background for questioning) I myself grew up in a highly populated homosexual environ with my homosexual brother. People are people. So nothing against or for, just a question of how this song came about, and why children of 4, 5, 6, and to the Teens would chant it. Similar to the Streets of Cairo tune.

The song goes I pledge allegiance to the flag / michael jackson is a ___(here is the slur for sexuality) / pepsi cola burned him up / now he's drinking seven-up. Anyone know Origin's or Variations? Thank you. --i am the kwisatz haderach 23:42, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Funny, it doesn't look deleted; it's still there under "There's a place in France" (Sep.6). —Tamfang 06:53, 12 September 2007 (UTC)