Deaf News Briefs: Black ASL on Cartoon Network; “Stranger Things” subtitles
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
LA Times features BASL representation in “Craig of the Creek”
The Los Angeles Times published an article last week featuring the Southern California Black Deaf Advocates (SCBDA)’s role in providing consultation for deaf animated characters in an episode of “Craig of the Creek” on Cartoon Network.
The show has a Black Deaf character named Jackie and one of the scenes shows him signing with his father. You can see the clip in the link in the description or in the transcript. The clip also shows Jackie signing with other characters — his friends.
[clip plays]
Three of the Deaf mentors interviewed for the article are Bibi Ashley, Alice Rash, and Dr. Rezenet Moges-Riedel. The LA Times said the SCBDA provided guidance on the use of Black American Sign Language (BASL).
The SCBDA posted on Facebook a message of gratitude to the LA Times and Cartoon Network for spotlighting BASL. They shared a quote from the article describing BASL, “BASL is a distinct variety of ASL that is distinguishable by elements such as the signer’s body language and facial expressions. In addition to using a larger signing space, BASL users also use more two-handed signs and incorporate African American English slang.”
Rash told the LA Times, “Keep in mind that not all Black Deaf people use Black ASL. It depends on where you’re from and how you grew up.”
Moges-Riedel said it’s important for young children, especially CODAs, to see Black Deaf representation and for audiences to know that there are regional dialects of ASL.
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Hype over “Stranger Things” Season 4 subtitles
There is a lot of hype from both deaf and hearing people over the subtitles in the fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” The subtitles use very creative, descriptive words to describe unique sounds.
Some examples are “tentacles squelching wetly,” “hand unfurling creakily,” or “wet footsteps squelch.”
Vulture did an interview with the show’s subtitle author, who is named “Jeff T.,” and QA editor Karli Witkowska.
Both said they usually create subtitles based on the audio rather than based on scripts. Jeff said he chose words such as “squelching” to evoke disgust and horror to match up with the show’s visuals.
Jeff said he became a subtitler after answering a Craigslist ad 15 years ago, while Karli studied audiovisual translation in graduate school.
So if you want to see some creative subtitles, check out Stranger Things season four.
Craig of the Creek:
Clip: https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1546608310169866247
SCBDA: https://www.facebook.com/Southern-California-Black-Deaf-Advocates-SoCal-BDA-103811205739671
Stranger Things:
https://www.vulture.com/2022/07/stranger-things-subtitles-captions-team-interview.html
https://screenrant.com/funniest-stranger-things-subtitles-season-4-missed-reddit/