Hannah Thompson
I'm a partially blind white woman in my late forties. In this image i am wearing glasses and smiling. I am a Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies and passionate about audio description.
Location UK
Activity
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@AlisonMyers It does not appear to have AD on BBC iplayer. How annoying given that an AD track exists.....
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Hannah Thompson replied to lucie mayer
@luciemayer thanks for all your great comments
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@AlisonMyers season 1 of Bump aired recently on the BBC in the Uk. I loved it. Good choice for your AI.
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@AlisonMyers visuals just as eye-candy for sight dependent people: this is a great thing to aim for.
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Hannah Thompson replied to sarah baylis
@sarahbaylis i’ve just had a look at the pad let, and The Elephant Man is the only one up there at the moment. I don’t think many other learners have got to that point yet.
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Hannah Thompson replied to sarah baylis
@sarahbaylis thank you for your engagement and your thoughtful comments
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@AndrewSharp i love this idea and think it could work really well. I do hope this happens one day soon…
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Thanks for spotting this, @sarahbaylis I’ll check this and follow up with the transcription company
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It does work @sarahbaylis and I think this is a great AI: I especially like the way you explain how the actor uses his body to create Merrick’s movements
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@luciemayer I like the way you note and then reject your doctor’s description in favour of your own. I also like the matter-of-fact way you explain your walking /crutches/ wheelchair decisions. Merci beaucoup!
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@AlisonMyers excellent point about name pronunciation
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@AlisonMyers good point: people are very keen to consult with communities, but don’t always remember to treat them as experts who should be paid
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I like the idea of a cultural or mission statement. @AlisonMyers
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@AndrewSharp this is what translation theory calls ‘dynamic equivalence’
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You are assuming that there is a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ way to describe, but given that all description is necessarily subjective, because based on one person’s relationship with language, there are surely as many potential descriptions as there are audience members?@AndrewSharp
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@AlisonMyers good points, but if your whole experience of the film is framed by the AD, it is hard to keep it in the background. Given how much film makers spend on other things, I think they could find the money to create amazing AD that added something to the film (for all viewers).
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@AlisonMyers thanks for this reminder of the realities and practicalities of the AD industry
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@AlisonMyers i’m not sure it is always the case that the audience comes for the production, not the AD. I know many people who consider the AD to be as much a part of the production as anything else…
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@AlisonMyers @AndrewSharp the question of filmic techniques is a good one: perhaps the genre of the film is important: is it more necessary to be explicit about visual techniques in an auteur or art house film? A film buff who has become blind as an adult will have different preferences to a blind-from-birth person
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Hannah Thompson replied to Alison Myers
@AndrewSharp @AlisonMyers Chris McCausland on AD porn is hilarious. I also recommend Lost Voice Guy. The Last Leg (with Adam Hills and co) began to accompany the 2012 Paralympics in London: it continues to improve the representation of disabled people on TV. Their ‘is it okay’ feature gives people permission to ask awkward questions.
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@RachelLambert your AD of the Solar System sounds wonderful!
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@AndrewSharp so true. I was in a meeting recently (about EDI) where everyone spectacularly forgot to describe their images despite being very meticulous with their self-descriptions.
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Hannah Thompson made a comment
There are some really fascinating debates going on in the comments this week; do check back to read and comment as other learners join in.
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@ClaireRooney I'm a big fan of multiple audios and an element of choice
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@AndrewSharp strange but refreshing :)
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@AlisonMyers I like the way you suggestion questions we could use to start a dialogue with directors.
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@AlisonMyers: 'In AI, do you describe the race of the actor if it contrasts with the race of the character?': this is information I would want to have if it wasn't visible to me, so I'd say 'yes' as long as others' races are also mentioned.
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@AlisonMyers I like your point about how describers can (and should) educate their clients.
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Hannah Thompson replied to Alison Myers
@AlisonMyers Do you think people's squeamishness about mentioning certain things (such as 'a man with cerebral palsy') shows that they are in fact themselves uncomfortable with cerebral palsy or see it is a negative or shameful thing?
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Hannah Thompson replied to Alison Myers
@AndrewSharp This is a tricky one....AD needs to be inclusive and equitable for users and people being described and it can be a tricky balance.
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@AlisonMyers I'm not sure if it is a micro-aggression not to get out of the way, but it definitely would be to answer on a blind person's behalf.
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@AndrewSharp an interesting question about when to name characters? I don't think the AD should necessarily wait until the character is named in the production.
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@AlisonMyers I like to think Netflix changed their guidance after reading the 'Describing Diversity' report.
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@AndrewSharp @sarahbaylis believe it or not, it was filmed in June… brrr
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@RaquelEspinosa this is a good question and I’m afraid I don’t know the answer: it will depend on what you do with the AI /AD.
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@AlisonMyers spoilers are best avoided I think so that all audience members experience the wow moment at the same time…
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@sarahbaylis the course isn’t really about the more technical side of AD: we will discuss ‘voice’ in terms of whether certain cultural productions should be described by people from specific communities
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Thanks for making these important points about the risks of inadvertently pressuring someone to reveal things they would rather not say. The cis/trans question is a fascinating one @AndrewSharp
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Hannah Thompson replied to Andrew Sharp
@AndrewSharp it can also benefit people who don’t realise they need it (tech issues; screen fatigue; zoom thumbnails too small etc)
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@AndrewSharp self-description gives blind people the same freedom to make snap judgements as their non-blind colleagues. It also gives a few sentences of a person’s voice to help with audio recognition.
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@AndrewSharp another advantage is that the process reminds everyone to make the rest of the meeting accessible (eg by describing ppt slides).
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@sarahbaylis it varies a lot: in the UK it is fairly routinely sent out to actors, but unless they understand what is at stake for them as well as the audience, they may not find the time to complete it.
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These are good points @AndrewSharp: I don’t think a preface is necessarily academic /learned though :)
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@sarahbaylis the play / film is someone’s subjective interpretation, and the AD is another person’s subjective interpretation…..
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@AndrewSharp I like the point you make about creating vulnerable and heartfelt descriptions. How important is it for an AD user to know or be reminded that describing is a subjective process, do you think? Especially when describing an artistic medium?
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‘We should never stop asking WHY the cinematographer put that object in the frame, and how that adds to the story.’ @AndrewSharp this is such a crucial point: thanks
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@ClaireRooney i love the way you’ve expressed these.
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@ClaireRooney good point. Thanks
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Interesting question @AndrewSharp : I think we all unknowingly make value judgements all the time and it is definitely easier to spot other peoples’ than our own.
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