Emotions for the Ears

IN A MOVE that is likely to make an enormous difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people, GTH has become the first Thai film studio to add an audio description to the DVD release of its hit movie “Kidtueng Witthaya” (“The Teacher’s Diary”).
The technique, which is widely used in the UK and Australia, adds an additional narration that embraces the visually impaired audience and draws them into the wonderful world of movies.
“I was surprised and delighted when I heard about the project because audio description can raise our enjoyment of a film by more than 90 per cent,” says the president of the Thailand Association of the Blind, Torpong Selanon.
“In real life we sometimes go to see a movie even though it’s not easy getting into the cinema and we certainly understand much less of what’s happening on the screen. Even though we can’t see, we just want to feel how the characters meet and fall in love,” says Torpong, who lost his sight 22 years ago at age 16 when he was in a car wreck.
According to Torpong, Thailand now has about 170,000 blind people and the number is continuously increasing. The figure does not include the elderly who suffer from visual deterioration that often leads to blindness.
“It’s a burden for the blind to see a movie,” says Torpong. “It’s impossible to go alone first because we need help to find a seat. And if we go with a companion, then they need to choose seats that are far enough away from other members of the audience so as to not disturb them when they provide their blind pals with a running commentary.
The last movie Torpong went to the cinema for was “Zero Dark Thirty”, but he occasionally watches films at home, taking care to pick those that have an audio description on YouTube.
“I’ve watched “Guan Muen Ho” (“Hello Stranger”) four times but have yet to understand it completely, I have to ask my friends what happens in the scenes with no dialogue,” he says.
The tool has been a long time coming to Thailand and indeed to its film industry. Many Hollywood movies already boast additional tracks on their DVD releases and several cinemas provide earphones, which the visually-impaired can discreetly plug in, listen the audio description and feel at one with other members of the audience.
GTH chief executive Jina Osotsilp brought the idea to a studio meeting after her college friend – blind for several years – told her it was about time Thailand provided the same service as other countries.
“I though it would be good to start with this film as it was such an overwhelming success at the box office. Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea,” she says.
The additional script was developed by Supalerk Ningsanond, one the movie’s original script writers,
“I already knew the script, which was obviously an advantage. My first step was to research the Hollywood movies that have audio descriptions and consult with blind experts,” he says, adding that despite his preparation, he found the early going tough.
Once finished, he again checked with his non-sighted consultant group and incorporated their suggestions.
The key process, Supalerk explains, is to narrate what happens in the scene. This must be brief so it doesn’t interfere with the dialogue or spoil the content.
“Unlike the English language which has precise meanings, the Thai language is wordy, so it’s not easy to narrate the visuals in a limited time,” he says.
In addition, as the movie depicts two characters in two different times, the narration switches back and forth between the two timelines, something that confused even some sighted viewers when the movie was shown in the cinema. Supalerk thus gave an explanation first and says he was relieved when his blind group didn’t feel confused when watching it.
 “They are very concentrated when watching the movie and become wrapped up in the emotional and thrilling scenes,” he says.
“The more comical parts are not easy to explain in words so we had to drop narration for some of these. Nonetheless, they laughed at most of the comic scenes just like the sighted audience.”
 Torpong adds that writing for audio description and the narration must be considered as an artistic task, since it helps the blind to see and experience the emotions being played out on screen.
Salisa Paosombat, who works in the GTH’s DVD promotion department, was chosen as the narrator.
“Her voice has a unique character and is charming,” says the film’s director Nithiwat Tharatorn.
It was Salisa’s first voiceover job and she put her all into it, spending 12 hours straight on the first recording then discussing the script with Supalerk and listening to comments from the blind focus group. Two more all-day sittings and her job was complete.
 “The narration has to be brief and quick. It’s a bit like rapping but you have to do with the same emotions as the character is feeling. It was twice as hard in the scene where a heavy storm hits the houseboat.
“I was overwhelmed when I saw the blind laughing and crying in the film,” she says.
“Teacher’s Diary” was a surprise success for GTH, reaping in Bt100 million at the box office. Making the additional audio description track cost around Bt500,000 but Jina is quick to point out that the project is not a business concern.
“Everyone who’s been involved with the project is happy that we’ve given something to the blind,” she says.
The project is not the GTH team’s first experience in providing entertainment to the blind. A few years ago, the studio arranged a special screening for the non-sighted of “Fan Chan” in cooperation with Standard Chartered Bank.
And now that GTH has the experience, the visually impaired will be hoping “Teacher’s Diary” won’t be the last.
 SEEING
IN WORDS
- The audio description is available on the DVD for “Kidtueng Witthaya” (“The Teacher’s Diary”) and as an app that can be downloaded through the AIS Movie Store.
- All proceeds from the downloads will go to the Thailand Association of the Blind.