Audio-described humour to make them laugh: An example from 'A Chinese Odyssey'

By Zi Ye

Have you ever laughed when you saw Sheldon cosplaying as Wonder Woman on The Big Bang Theory or chuckled at Joey wearing all of Chandler’s clothes when you were watching Friends? Many people may be amused by these humorous scenes, but how do visually impaired persons (VIPs) enjoy such content without visual information? Humour is a crucial part of mainstream media entertainment and a fundamental aspect of culture that should be accessible to all.

In translation studies, humour has been studied extensively. Initial research focused on the conveyance of verbal humour, such as wordplay or culture-based jokes, between different language communities. As print culture was gradually supplanted by mass media, subtitling, dubbing, and other modes of audiovisual translation became more popular. Humour from both visual and audio channels gained more attention, albeit as a supplement to verbal content. The ongoing transition to the digital age further emphasised ‘media for all’ and expanded the scope of audiovisual translation modes to include some access services, such as audio description (AD). AD uses natural pauses in dialogue or narration to insert descriptions of essential visual elements. [1] As such, it can be used to help VIPs appreciate audiovisual products such as film. Instead of transferring language meaning, AD transfers visual signs into oral words, which is commonly classified as inter-semiotic translation. [2] In this mode, non-verbal humour becomes the research focus, challenging the long-term dominance of verbal humour and bringing new difficulties. For example, some types of humour, such as facial expressions or camera movements, are uniquely visual. Could they still be funny when translated into words? Combined with the distinctive features and limitations of AD texts, such as strict time constraints, conveying humour through AD has become a new research puzzle. This blog post      examines how AD handles humour and how effective it is in conveying comedic effect to VIPs, thus approaching humour translation from a new perspective on the semiotic level.

In the following, I will use the example of a Chinese comedy film, A Chinese Odyssey: Pandora’s Box (大话西游之月光宝盒, Dahuaxiyou zhi Yueguangbaohe). This AD version of the film was produced by Sound of Light (光影之声, Guangying zhi Sheng), a leading and reputable Chinese AD production group in Shanghai run by volunteers. Because China’s copyright regulations prohibit sharing audio-described video segments, a screenshot illustrates the original film here.

Context: The two male characters, Zhizunbao and Er’dangjia, lead a group of bandits to arrest demons. They wear special clothes made of ‘invisibility stickers’ to go unseen by the demons.

Figure 1: Er’dangjia (left) and Zhizunbao (right). [3]

AD_ZH:

同样穿着隐身裙的至尊宝走出，二当家横着挪出，众山贼偷笑。

【快】二当家穿着纸胸罩和草裙，头戴纸花环，挥动纸团妖娆地跳舞。

(Zhizunbao walks out in his invisibility dress. Step by step, Er’dangjia moves out from the side. The bandits all giggle.

[Quickly] Er’dangjia wears a paper bra and skirt, with a paper wreath hairband on his head. He waves paper balls while dancing coquettishly.)

According to Chorão’s classification of humour in an audiovisual text, [4] this scene is purely visual humour without accompanying dialogue. The visual information (fig. 1) communicates that Zhizunbao and Er’dangjia both look hilarious, scantily clad in clothes made of white ‘invisible’ stickers. The contrast between Er’dangjia’s feminine attire and fierce character compounds the humorous effect. Furthermore, this scene is a parody of the ballet Swan Lake. With classical music playing, Zhizunbao in a bow tie and Er’dangjia in a white dress are reminiscent of the Prince and Princess. This deliberately clumsy parody allows the visual humour to be fully realised.

The AD employs a relatively objective description, detailing what can be seen onscreen. Although Zhizunbao’s hilarious outfit is briefly mentioned, the AD mainly emphasises the humour by describing the incongruity of Er’dangjia’s feminine characteristics compared to his face. It describes him as walking like a shy girl, using ‘挪出’ (nuochu), which means moving in slow, small steps. Additionally, the AD uses ‘胸罩’ (bra, xiongzhao), ‘短裙’ (skirt, duanqun), and ‘花环’ (wreath hairband, huahuan) to describe what he is wearing. These terms are commonly associated with women’s attire in China. The Chinese adverb ‘妖娆地’ (yaorao de), similar to the English ‘coquettishly’, is also typically used to describe women. With these descriptions, VIPs should be able to imagine the conventionally feminine characteristics Er’dangjia shows. Although the AD does not describe his rude, fierce face, VIPs can imagine it from his rough voice; they will be able to perceive the contrast and thus be entertained. As for the parody of Swan Lake, AD does not explicitly note it or give specific clues to suggest it. This may be because of time limitations and the need to align AD content with the onscreen information. Thus, whether VIPs could recognise this as a parody would largely depend on their knowledge of the background music. If not, they could lose part of the humorous enjoyment that their sighted peers experience.

This analysis demonstrates that visual humour can still function through AD, especially with the help of sound. However, the restrictions inherent to AD mean that certain humorous elements may be omitted, probably causing a partial loss of comedic effect. This leads me to wonder about ways to mitigate such loss of humour. Given the audio nature of the AD service, a more comedic delivery of the AD content in intonation, tone, and speed may become a potential complement. This will be further evaluated in my PhD project.

Zi Ye

University of Bristol

Acknowledgements:

I would like to express my great thanks to the following Chinese AD production groups for providing valuable research materials: Entertainment Accessibility Project Team (文娱无障碍项目组, Wenyu Wuzhang’ai Xiangmuzu), Feeling Images through Your Heart Programme & Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province (心聆感影 & 广东省立中山图书馆, Xinling Ganying & Guangdong Shengli Zhongshan Tushuguan), Shanghai Voice of Light (上海光影之声, Shanghai Guangying zhi Sheng), Wuxi Yangguang Volunteer Association (无锡阳光志愿者协会, Wuxi Yangguang Zhiyuanzhe Xiehui), Xinmu Cinema (心目影院, Xinmu Yingyuan).

[1] Louise Fryer, An Introduction to Audio Description: A Practical Guide (London: Routledge, 2016), p. 8.

[2] Jorge Díaz-Cintas, ‘Audiovisual Translation Today. A Question of Accessibility for All’, Translating Today, 4 (2005), 3–5.

[3] A Chinese Odyssey: Pandora’s Box (大话西游之月光宝盒, Dahuaxiyou zhi Yueguangbaohe), dir. by Jeffrey Lau (San Bo, Mega Star, Media Asia, 1995). <https://www.netflix.com/search?q=%E5%A4%A7%E8%AF%9D%E8%A5%BF%E6%B8%B8&jbv=374329> [accessed 3 April 2023].

[4] Graça Bigotte Chorão, The Audio Description of Humour, online video recording, YouTube, 3 January 2021, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DfWQbC6FpY&t=45s> [accessed 3 April 2023].