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    Invelos Forums->DVD Profiler: Contribution Discussion Page: 1  Previous   Next
Are Subtitles Credits?
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorSpikyCactus
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Registered: July 16, 2010
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Hello everyone.

I have a question.

I'm presently auditing Freezer (5023965337528).

This film has all its credits in Japanese.  It has removable subtitles in English, which provide translations for some of the cast and crew credits.  I’ve checked 12 so far and the existing contribution has all the first and surnames as given in the subtitles, reversed.  In all these cases the Credit Lookup Tool supports this decision.

So my question is, should the Credited As field have the names reversed in it, to reflect what’s actually given in the subtitles, or should the Credited As field be left with the Common Names, as subtitles aren’t really the film’s credits?

Thanks  -  Paul
Do you ever find yourself striving for perfection with an almost worthless attempt at it?  Guttermouth "Lemon Water".  Also, I include in my Profiler database VHS tapes, audio DVDs, audio books (digital, cassette and CD), video games (digital, DVD and CD) and 'enhanced' CDs with video tracks on them, as well as films and TV I've bought digitally.  So I'm an anarchist, deal with it.  Just be thankful I don't include most of my records and CDs etc in it too; don't think I haven't been tempted...
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributorsamuelrichardscott
Registered: September 18, 2008
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I've stayed away from submitting cast for Eastern movies for the following 10 pages of reasons....
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorDanae Cassandra
Registered: Apr 11, 2004
Registered: May 26, 2007
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Lets see if I understand...  I'm not familiar with Freezer or its cast & crew, so I'll just use a well-known Japanese director for my example - Akira Kurosawa. 

Akira is his personal name, Kurosawa his family name.  In Japanese, the characters for these would be positioned so that his family name, romanized here as Kurosawa, is first, and his personal name, romanized here as Akira, was second.  I'd use the Japanese characters, but the forum only supports the Latin alphabet.  In the West we reverse the names to match our positional usage, giving personal name first and family name second.

The CLT supports Akira Kurosawa as his common name, not Kurosawa Akira.

For the purposes of Profiler, subtitles are as good as English credits since we cannot currently transcribe in any alphabet other than Latin.  Therefore, if the subtitles read "Akira Kurosawa" then you would record the credit that way.  If the subtitles read "Kurosawa Akira" then you would enter it as "Akira Kurosawa [Kurosawa Akira]" 

At least, that's how I understand the way profiles have been handled previously. 

There is no consensus on how to handle names for films not in the Latin alphabet, and this is really a problem for those DVDs that do not have subtitled credits.  If I was entering a film like that, I would simply use the common names for the cast & crew from the CLT as the way to enter them, since I feel that would be the most useful. 

However, there is NOTHING in the rules that indicate how to handle these names, especially unsubtitled varieties, so...
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
-- Thorin Oakenshield
 Last edited: by Danae Cassandra
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorSpikyCactus
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Registered: July 16, 2010
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Thank you.

Quoting Danae Cassandra:
Quote:

For the purposes of Profiler, subtitles are as good as English credits...


I think that was the core of my question really.


Quoting samuelrichardscott:
Quote:
I've stayed away from submitting cast for Eastern movies for the following 10 pages of reasons....


Be brave!  You are a Jedi Master of BY contributions after all!
Do you ever find yourself striving for perfection with an almost worthless attempt at it?  Guttermouth "Lemon Water".  Also, I include in my Profiler database VHS tapes, audio DVDs, audio books (digital, cassette and CD), video games (digital, DVD and CD) and 'enhanced' CDs with video tracks on them, as well as films and TV I've bought digitally.  So I'm an anarchist, deal with it.  Just be thankful I don't include most of my records and CDs etc in it too; don't think I haven't been tempted...
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributorsamuelrichardscott
Registered: September 18, 2008
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I'm actually disappointed in the lack of discussion on this one.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
Alien with an attitude
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting samuelrichardscott:
Quote:
I'm actually disappointed in the lack of discussion on this one.

I think that, for the most part, those of us who doen't collecte Eastern films, have decided to stay out of these discussions as we don't have the required expertise and it really doesn't have an impact on us...of course, it could be that it's just the weekend and people are busy having fun. 
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
 Last edited: by TheMadMartian
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributortkinnen
Registered: May 9, 2008
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Quoting samuelrichardscott:
Quote:
I'm actually disappointed in the lack of discussion on this one.


lol, I decided to stay out of the Asian name threads.

But since I'm here....

Yes the subtitles count as the translated credits in this case I would say.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTaro
Registered: February 23, 2009
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Since I speak/read Japanese, I thought it worthwhile to add my opinion.

We're talking about discs that have all Japanese credits (or other Asian credits), with subtitles for those credits in English, right?

First of all, it's unfair to expect everyone to speak all Asian languages. As such, I would accept subtitles as credits.

However, if later down the line someone comes along that does read that language and submits a modified credit list based on the actual credits, I would expect that to take precedence over the former


Random example: Goemon (Japanese movie - Funimation release)
1. MadMartian comes along and submits credits taken from subtitles > everyone approves
2. some time later I come along and romanize the Japanese credits, correcting names and adding more credits that were not in the subtitles > everyone approves

That way, everyone has a chance to submits credits and whenever possible, the original credits take precedence over the subtitles. I realize romanized credits need to be taken on faith as very few people can verify that, but in the end when we vote for credits, don't we already often vote on faith instead of rechecking every comma and accent?


That seems to be the ideal to me but unfortunately, that is not how things work right now. Some time ago I submitted a much more complete (and correct!) credit for Ghost in the Shell. Because one name was misspelled in the subtitled credits, my submission was denied: everyone taking the subtitles for reference (even though in that case, they were incorrect)

That's a pity .... especially since a lot of subtitles are incorrect and incomplete, especially for FUNimation releases. At one point I even saw in the subtitles a credited name that was completely wrong ... I don't mean one letter, I mean the enter name was wrong as the translator took the wrong pronunciation for the character that make up that persons name. That's not just me talking, but also that actors official website as well as my better half (who is a Japanese native)

But again, submitting such corrects is pointless as everyone goes back to the subtitles and votes No to my corrections. So for the past year or so, I keep those changes local. That's just the way the system is 
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 Last edited: by Taro
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributorateo357
Registered: December 27, 2009
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Uncredited actors may be listed in alphabetical order following all credited actors. Use the "Uncredited" checkbox to indicate these. Uncredited actors are not required entries.
Do not translate foreign language role names to the language of the locality unless a translation is provided in the film

These are the main 2 reasons I don't contribute Asian films.
If you use the subtitles, they may not list all of the actors/Charactors - so then they are uncredited. And your not suppose to translate the actual credits to your local language (English). Even when there is a credit role in english it usually doesn't match the total # of actual credits.
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantnuoyaxin
prev. known as ya_shin
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting samuelrichardscott:
Quote:
I'm actually disappointed in the lack of discussion on this one.

All the people who used to care have given up on the topic. As you hinted at yourself, the 10+ pages discussions were rarely given a chance to go anywhere.
Achim [諾亞信; Ya-Shin//Nuo], a German in Taiwan.
Registered: May 29, 2000 (at InterVocative)
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