2.3 Film Translation
A number of terms,such as “film translation”,“screen translation”,and “multi-media translation”,are used by many scholars in reference to the translation of audiovisual material.In this dissertation,the researcher focuses on the study of “film translation” as one kind of audiovisual material translation.This is because “films refer to all kinds of recorded audiovisual material,” while “audiovisual translation and film translation are synonymous; meaning the translation of recorded audiovisual material,and could therefore be interchangeable” (Karamitroglou 2000: 2).In her dissertation,“film translation” would be more specific than “audiovisual translation” given that the researcher is researching the issues and discussing the strategies contained within a selection of 15 animation films.
In his survey of marketing within leisure services,Merlin Stone analysed family expenditure data and found that,when income rises 10 per cent,expense on leisure products increases by between 15 per cent and 30 per cent.Amongst the most popular leisure centres,cinemas were found to be the destination of choice (Chen 2010:10,Fang 2004:20,Stone 1990: 82).Irene Waters also offered similar evidence in her study,“The easiest and cheapest entertainment to tour is film” (Waters 1994: 187).According to a recent online research in Baidu (the biggest SE in China),it was found that “to go to a cinema” was the third highest choice by common people after the first highest one “to surf on line” and the second one “to listen to music”.The survey showed that there were 13.19% people (740 people voted online) still have the interest of watching films in cinema.In a survey of around 100 university students and 100 members of the general public of various ages,Waters asked,“Which is your favourite entertainment in your daily life?” 70 % of university students and 75 per cent of the general public indicated “watching films” as their first choice.While it should be acknowledged that these sources are up to 25 years old,and written before the internet was widely used,film nonetheless remains an important medium of entertainment whether watched online or via streaming.
According to the China Film Industry Report 2014-2015 (Entgroup 2015),China’s film box office approached USD 4.8 billion and audiences exceeded 800 million,with more than 5,500 cinemas and more than 23,000 projection screens; film watching objects grows continuously,and young people born between 1985 and 1990 and town youngsters became the main audiences.The below figure shows the Chinese traditional film market keeps growing rapidly despite of new media emerged,more and more films were imported to China since 2009.(https://www.daowen.com)
According to Hollows and Waters,“popular film was often used as the exemplary instance of mass culture; it implied knowledge,aesthetic appreciation,creativity,intellectual activity and receptiveness to new ideas” (Hollows 1995: 16,Waters 1994: 14).Against the backdrop of globalization,film,as a means of intercultural communication,plays a very important role in sociocultural exchanges between people of different nations.Therefore,the study of Film Translation,as a kind of subset of AVT in Translation Studies,is worthy of exploration.
Figure 1 Imported films from 2009 to 2014 to China