Types Of Audiovisual Translation Research Articles

PECULIARITIES OF SUBTITLED TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF ANCIENT EGYPT EXPLAINED IN 12 MINUTES

High-quality translation from a foreign language plays a key role in the commercial and creative success of any film. Due to the growing need for this type of translation, highlighting the specifics of documentary film translation will be useful for novice documentary translators and professionals interested in various types of translation. Background. Documentary is a widespread and one of the most interesting genres of cinema for people of all ages. Subtitling as a type of audiovisual translation allows viewers not only to get closer to the original story of the event broadcast in another language, but also to hear authentic speech and other elements of the video. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to identify the specifics of the subtitled translation of documentaries and to identify the translation transformations used in the translation of such a film genre. To do this, it is necessary to identify the essence of subtitling; consider the requirements for the compiling subtitling, identify the difficulties that translators may face in the process of subtitled translation; analyze translation transformations in the subtitled translation of documentaries. Materials and methods. The practical material for the study was the short documentary film Ancient Egypt explained in 12 minutes, published on the YouTube video hosting channel Captivating History. To solve the tasks set, both theoretical and practical research methods were used: analysis of literature on translation theory and subtitled translation as a special aspect of audiovisual translation; analysis of translation transformations during subtitled translation of the documentary film Ancient Egypt explained in 12 minutes. Results. The results of the study showed that subtitling is a complex and creative task for a translator. Subtitles for films allow you to create an emotional contact between the reader and the author of the film, to focus his attention on important information and, most importantly, to preserve the authenticity of the documentary material. In the subtitled translation of documentary films, it was revealed that the most common transformations are transliteration, omission, generalization and functional substitution. Practical implications. The results of the research can be used by novice translators and professional translators when translating documentaries.

FEATURES OF ANIMATED FILMS SUBTITLING BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE STRANGE PLANET ANIMATED SERIES

FEATURES OF ANIMATED FILMS SUBTITLING BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE STRANGE PLANET ANIMATED SERIES

AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION OF «DISNEY» CARTOONS’ TITLES INTO KAZAKH LANGUAGE

The provided article depicts peculiarities of the audiovisual translation in «Disney» company’s cartoons that were translated into Kazakh language. The relevance of the given topic is that currently audiovisual translation plays a significant role in spreading diverse cultures on a global scale, also most Disney cartoons are popular among children, teenagers and adults. Hence, there is a growing need for high-quality analysis and translation of audiovisual texts into different languages for their wide use in the world of mass-communication. The aim of the article is to identify main features of audiovisual translation as an essential type of translation activity as well as to find out what types of audiovisual translations were applied for translating Disney cartoons into Kazakh language. The scientific novelty of the given research is considering three types of audiovisual translation into Kazakh language based on Disney cartoons which have not been subjected to this kind of analysis. To sum up, the theory of audiovisual translation, as well as the methods of its teaching, have recently been in the focus of attention of native and foreign scholars. The globalization of the modern world, the development of intercultural communication of digital technologies and ways of exchanging information pose new challenges for researchers. One of these tasks is a deep study of different types of audiovisual translation. As a result, a great number of Disney cartoons were investigated in Kazakh language and findings are presented in this article. Keywords: audiovisual translation, cartoon, culture, Disney company, dubbing, English, Kazakh language, subtitles, voice-over.

Motivation for User-Generated Translation on Chinese Online Video Platform

This article presents a socio-cultural study of user-generated translation (UGT), which is increasingly gaining momentum on Chinese social media platforms and presents itself as a subculture on online communities. Using Bilibili.com as the test-ground of study, this article designs an inclusive questionnaire and conducts sociological and psychological analysis on the motivation for UGT by 17 uploaders that are selected based on their different influence and translation field. The study finds that at least six categories of motivation contribute to these user-translators’ good-will practice, both altruistically and utilitarianly. We believe our methodology and findings can pave way for further investigation into the complexities and nature of this new type of audio-visual translation by grass-roots in a digital era and participatory culture.

Тифлокомментирование как лингводидактический метод развития творческих способностей у студентов гуманитарного профиля неязыковых вузов в процессе обучения иностранным языкам

The study aims to substantiate that audio description, being a type of audiovisual translation, can be a relevant method of foreign language teaching that helps to develop creative abilities among students at non-linguistic universities. The paper examines the peculiarities of audiovisual translation, describes the process of using the audio description method for teaching foreign languages in order to develop creative abilities among students at non-linguistic universities and substantiates the potential of applying the audio description method in teaching foreign languages to students at non-linguistic universities. Scientific novelty lies in defining audio description as a linguodidactic method of foreign language teaching aimed at developing such creative abilities among students of the humanities at non-linguistic universities as the ability to create a literary verbal description, narration or commentary of a film in a target language. As a result, the main types of tasks and exercises for compiling a literary description/commentary of a film event focused on the development of students’ creative abilities in the process of learning foreign languages based on the linguodidactic method of audio description have been elaborated and presented.

TRANSLATION OF SUBTITLES TO ASIAN FILMS AND TV SERIES

Background. This issue is important today due to the growth of production in film industry and the necessity to translate Asian animes and doramas which are very popular among the Russian audience.
 Purpose. The difficulties which a translator faces while working with subtitles to Asian films are analyzed.
 Material and methods. The article studies the Netflix subtitle styleguide and doramas and animes, their distinctive features, the most famous directors and peculiarities of creating subtitles to them. It is the descriptive method that was used.
 Results. Subtitles are in demand nowadays and this type of audiovisual translation is more economically advantageous than dubbing or voice-over. While creating subtitles one should consider a number of technical requirements, which lead to necessity to apply linguistic transformations. Given the lack of translators who know Asian languages the subtitles are translated from English into Russian. While working the translator should keep the consistency of terms and proper names, consider cultural features, transliterate names correctly.
 Practical implications. The results received can be used in teaching audiovisual translation. The results can be of use for audiovisual translators.

Accessible Cinema for Older Adults

Age-related sensory and cognitive decline of older adults is typically not taken into consideration while designing accessible audiovisual services. As most studies on audiovisual translation (AVT) and media accessibility have focused on young or adult audiences, we know little about specific preferences and needs of older adults regarding AVT. In 2015, 82% of Polish older adults declared that they never or almost never go to the cinema, which for the vast majority of foreign films offers subtitling. A study carried out as part of the AudioMovie project in Poland suggested that older adults may have problems with reading subtitles and that they are willing to use an accessibility application to watch films with audio subtitles (AST) in the cinemas. However, we still do not know if they are able to deal with the technology once they actually start using it. This focus group study investigated whether older adults experience problems with reading subtitles and whether they be willing to use a smartphone application in the cinema. The results show that older adults may have problems with following subtitles, especially when watching fast-paced films, and, although they are not always proficient smartphone users, the overall reception of the app was positive. Lay summary In Poland, the translation of foreign films in cinemas is usually provided through subtitling (dubbing is used only for family films). This mode of audiovisual translation might be particularly difficult to process for older viewers who usually experience vision loss, hearing loss and decline in cognitive functioning. While most academic studies have focused on young or adult audiences, little is known about the specific preferences and needs of older adults regarding the type of audiovisual translation. A survey carried out in Poland in 2018 has suggested that older adults may find it difficult to read subtitles and that they may be willing to use a smartphone application that would provide an oral translation (voice-over or dubbing) in cinemas. However, it is not yet known if this group of viewers is prepared to manage the functions of the technology (in this case, a smartphone) once they start using it. With that in mind, I conducted a group interview which investigated whether older adults experience problems with reading subtitles, and whether they would be willing to use a smartphone application in the cinema. The results show that older adults may have problems reading subtitles, especially when watching fast-paced films. The overall reception of the app was positive, though the participants were not always proficient smartphone users. The study also suggests that such applications could help elderly cinema-goers watch films in their preferred types of translation (such as dubbing or voice-over).

Audiovisual translation of discursive markers in texts with academic terms

This research aimed to identify effective ways to translate discursive markers from English when subtitling and dubbing feature films. Facilities translation of subtitles and dubbing were studied on the example of "well, you know, like and I mean," which, according to many linguists, are the most frequently spoken markers of the English language. During the study, it was found that discursive markers "well, you know, like and I mean" perform formal discursive and pragmatic functions in the dialogues of artistic films. From a formally discursive point of view, well, you know, like, and I mean help the addresser in formulating and correcting an utterance (functions of searching for an expression and corrections) and contribute to the coherence and organization of discourse (functions of the communicative step, thematic organization, explanations, entering an example and quoting). From a pragmatic point of view, discursive markers express the subjective attitude of the addresser to the content of his statement (functions of emphasis and uncertainty) and help the addresser to establish contact (functions of mitigation and a call for solidarity) or, conversely, keep a distance with the addressee (functions of evasion and etiquette). We noticed that in both types of audiovisual translation, there is the tendency to reduce discursive markers well, you know, like and I mean. However, the studied discursive markers are omitted more often than dubbing when subtitling. Firstly, we connected it with the hard spatiotemporal limitations of subtitling, which force the translator to reduce language units that do not carry plot-forming and character-forming load. Second, we noted a change in the form of speech during subtitling from oral to written. In this regard, the translator is forced to omit colloquial discursive markers well, you know, like and I mean, which are not peculiar to a written form of speech. In turn, dubbing does not apply the space-time constraints described above, so the translator has more opportunities to convey discursive markers well, you know, like and I mean. Translation of discursive markers often seems even desirable, as it allows you to achieve synchrony of the sound of the original and translated replicas and "put" the dubbing text on the lips of actors. Secondly, during dubbing, there is no change in the form of speech from oral to written, in connection with which the discursive markers well, you know, like and I mean, characteristic of colloquial speech, not only can but often must be translated, as this contributes to realism and natural sounding of the dubbed dialogue. We have established that when subtitling and dubbing artistic films, the reduction of discursive markers sometimes leads to functional loss. However, in dubbing, with the omission of discursive markers well, you know, like and I mean functional losses are observed much less often than in subtitles. We conclude that a smaller proportion of functional loss in dubbing is because when omitting discursive markers in translation, most of their formal discursive and pragmatic functions can be transferred by voice actors using phonation-paralinguistic means (intonation-prosodic means).

Innovations in audiovisual translation – thematic analysis of national art texts

The article discussed innovations in audiovisual translation: from reproduction to perception of music or film texts. Cinematography is an integral part of world art, representing a universal way of interaction between different cultures. Audiovisual translation is currently a popular type of translation activity since foreign films form the basis of film distribution in the country. Today, over 50% of the cross-cultural exchange of information is carried out through films, television programs, shows, and video games. Audiovisual translation requires special skills and abilities from translators since the actions they perform are radically different from their usual experience of working only with a verbal (text/speech) series. Recipients of an audio-visual work process message are received simultaneously through several information channels. This imposes a special responsibility on audio-visual translation. The work aims to identify the main features of audiovisual translation as a particular type of translation activity. The object of the research is the process of audiovisual translation as a special type of translation activity. The subject of the study is the features of subtitling as a type of audiovisual translation. The research is based on the method of linguistic translation analysis, which includes such components as observation, description, generalization, comparison, and systematization. In addition, the methods of contextual and interpretative analysis, discourse analysis, and comparative analysis of film discourses were used. The practical results of the research are the systematization, generalization, and application of existing methodological recommendations for working on an audiovisual translation (in particular, over-subtitling), the linguistic translation analysis of the film "Searching for Sugar Man,” as well as the creation of the text of the translation of this film into Russian using subtitling. The choice of the material is due to its novelty and the diversity of social, historical, and cultural realities and the song component, which are of interest from the point of view of linguistic translation analysis.

Texts with academic terms

The article discusses innovations in the audiovisual translation of texts with academic terms. The modern world does not stand still as new technologies emerge that make it possible to create a large amount of audiovisual content. Every year, there are many recent films, TV series, and cartoons in foreign languages that require translation. As a result, audiovisual translation is becoming ever more relevant for research. Our paper aims to identify the main features of audiovisual translation as a particular type of translation activity. The research objective is the process of audiovisual translation as a special type of translation activity. The subject of the study pertains to features of subtitling as a type of audiovisual translation. The theoretical basis of the research consists of the works of scientists in the field of cultural studies (L.G. Dunyasheva, J. Mitri, etc.), semiotics (R. Barth, Y.M. Lotman, U. Eco), discursive linguistics (N. D. Arutyunova, T. van Dyck, M.L. Makarov, O.A. Radchenko, etc.), translation studies (V.S. Vinogradova, T.A. Volkova, V.N. Komissarova, etc.), and theory and practice of audiovisual translation (H. Dias-Synthesis, M.A. Efremova, A.V. Kozulyaeva, etc.).

Orijinal Netflix dizisi “Dark” örnekleriyle görsel-işitsel metinlerde çokkipli metin çözümleme (çevriyazı) yöntemi

Çokkipli metin çözümlemesi görsel-işitsel ürünleri çeviri amaçlı incelediğimiz ve çözümlediğimiz bir yöntemdir. Çeşitli düzgülerin bir araya getirerek oluşturduğu görsel-işitsel ürünlerde kiplikler çok önemli bir rol oynar. Bir anlatıda görüntü, imge, sembol, hareket, karakterlerin duruşu veya beden dili, çekim türü, renk, müzik ve diğer tüm ögeler sözel göstergelerle aynı anlam yaratma potansiyeline sahip kipliklerdir. Hepsinin bir arada bulunuşu ve kipliklerin etkileşimli ortaklığı, birbirini bütünleyerek anlamı oluşturur. Görsel-işitsel çeviride kiplikleri çözümlemek ve anlam bileşenlerinin farkına varmak, görsel-işitsel çeviri eğitimi alan öğrencilere ve çevirmenlere bütünsel ve işlevsel bir bakış açısı kazandırmaya yardımcı olur. Görsel-işitsel çeviride kiplikleri çözümlemek, bir taraftan bütünsel ve işlevsel bir bakış açısı kazandırmaya yardımcı olacağı gibi diğer taraftan altyazı, dublaj, voice-over özellikle sesli betimleme gibi görsel-işitsel çeviri türlerinde farklı veriler sunarak, çevirinin dilsel boyutundan öteye taşınması açısından önemlidir. Çokkipli çevriyazı yöntemi ile çalışmak ve görsel-işitsel metinleri çözümlemek çevirmen adaylarının temel edinçlerine yenilerini katar, görsel-işitsel çeviri edincini geliştirir. Bu çalışmada çokkipli çevriyazı yönteminin görsel-işitsel metinlerde nasıl uygulandığı betimlenerek gösterildi. Netflix’te yayımlanan Almanca “Dark” dizisinden birkaç sahne bu yöntemle çözümlendi ve görsel-işitsel bir metni bütün bileşenleriyle kavramanın çeviri açısından önemi tartışıldı. Bunun sonucunda bu yöntemin görsel-işitsel çeviri eğitiminde uygulanabileceği görüldü.

ОЗВУЧУВАННЯ В ТЕЛЕВІЗІЙНОМУ ВИРОБНИЦТВІ: ТЕОРЕТИЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

<p><em>This article discusses the basic approaches of translating foreign content on television as voice. The peculiarities of the professional approach to the case are analyzed, as well as the basic terms used in everyday work with different types of audiovisual translation are classified. Factors such as lip-sync, voyce-over, extralinguistics, and others have been widely used in practicing voice acting and play an important role in almost any translation process. The scientific works of such specialists as V. Gorshkova, S. Kuzmichov, M. Savko, T. Chernyayeva and others were analyzed, which revealed the main stages of the voice work process. Other types of translation are also analyzed, such as subtitling, dubbing, simultaneous translation and voiceover. The main differences in translation for subtitling and translation for duplication have been identified, as well as the main examples of adaptation of translation for a country with distinct cultural features, such as translation of audiovisual content. The basic competences required for translation are revealed: ability to perceive foreign vocabulary by ear, ability to separate the main from the minor, knowledge of system equivalents and ability to extract them, having an arsenal of situational idioms, proper pronunciation and speaker’s skills. The opinions of different scholars were combined and the basic concept of «duplication of audiovisual content» was deduced. Namely, it is a multilingual transmission of content that is one of the most common types of translation for film, video and television products. This term also means a special recording technique that allows you to replace the soundtrack of a movie with the recording of the original dialogue soundtrack with the recording of the dialogue in the language of translation.</em></p><p><strong><em>Key words:</em></strong> <em>voicing, re-voicing, subtitration, simultaneous translation,</em> <em>audio description, duplication of audiovisual content.</em></p>

Towards the Joint Study of Access Services and Universal Design for Learning

Access services have been studied from various perspectives as types of Audiovisual Translation, including their role as tools for education, and foreign language learning in particular, when audiovisual material is used for learning purposes. This paper aims to introduce a research path in audiovisual accessibility, from an Audiovisual Translation point of view, and accessible education by joining the dots between Access Services and Universal Design for Learning, with the aim to propose a holistic approach to accessible learning environments. Within this context, both access services and Universal Design for Learning are seen as both functional and pedagogical tools that can be used to achieve education which satisfies the needs of all learners. The current contribution takes Subtitling for the D/deaf and the hard-of-hearing as an example of access services whose educational value has been established and investigates its potential role in an educational environment that has been based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning.

Audiovisual Translation in Romanian TV News Programmes

This paper proposes an investigation into the place of audiovisual translation in Romanian television news programmes. Although news translation has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, the same cannot be said about the various forms of audiovisual translation used in news programmes, which might range from interlingual subtitling and voice-over to media interpreting and signed language interpreting. The present paper attempts to highlight the contexts in which these types of translation are used in Romanian broadcast news, their features and functions. We will begin by discussing the concept of news translation and contrast it with audiovisual translation in the news. This will be followed by an overview and short description of the different forms of audiovisual translation encountered in the news. Based on this framework, we will then conduct a small-scale survey of several news broadcasts of the Romanian public television service in order to identify the situations in which a particular type of audiovisual translation tends to be used, as well as the reasons for resorting to it and ensuing results.

Game on! Burning issues in game localisation

Game localisation is a type of audiovisual translation that has gradually been gathering scholarly attention since the mid-2000s, mainly due to the increasing and ubiquitous presence of video games in the digital society and the gaming industry's need to localise content in order to access global markets. This paper will focus on burning issues in this field, that is, issues that require specific attention, from an industry and/or an academic perspective. These include the position of game localisation within the wider translation studies framework, the relationship between game localisation and audiovisual translation, game accessibility, reception studies, translation quality, collaborative translation, technology, and translator training.

Percepcja emocji i interpretacja dzieł malarskich poprzez tłumaczenie audiowizualne – rola audiodeskrypcji w nauce niewidomych uczniów

Abstrakt
 Cel badań. Przeprowadzone badania oscylują wokół zabarwienia emocjonalnego deskrypcji do reprodukcji malarskich. Punkt wyjścia dla rozważań nad audiodeskrypcją jest podział dokonany przez Romana Jakobsona, wedle którego audiodeskrypcja daje się sklasyfikować jako intersemiotyczny typ tłumaczenia audiowizualnego. W artykule zostaje podany zarys audiodeskrypcji w Polsce oraz jej ogólne ujęcie w dyskursie naukowym. Zwraca się uwagę również na dwa podejścia do tworzenia opisów audiowizualnych – niemieckie (zadaniowe i techniczne) oraz polskie (artystyczne i nastawione na wzbudzenie emocji u niewidomego odbiorcy). Celem badań jest ukazanie połączenia dydaktyki i przekazu emocji w audiodeskrypcji i określenie ich funkcji.
 Metodologia. Przedmiotem badań jest publikacja Beaty Jerzakowskiej Posłuchać obrazów, w skład której wchodzą deskrypcje do obrazów z Podstawy programowej dla uczniów gimnazjum i liceum. W ramach artykułu dokonana zostaje analiza jakościowa dwóch deskrypcji pod kątem językowym, para-tekstualnym oraz z uwzględnieniem elementów dydaktycznych.
 Wyniki. Audiodeskrypcja jest komunikatem emocji, która pomaga uczniom rozwijać swoją wrażliwość i poznawać nowe konteksty kulturowe.
 Wnioski. Deskrypcje spełniają funkcję artystyczną, ponieważ zastępują warstwę wizualną wyjściowego dzieła. Poza tym badane audiodeskrypcje niosą ze sobą funkcję edukacyjną, ponieważ stanowią uzupełnienie kształcenia literackiego i językowego uczniów. Kolejną funkcją audiodeskrypcji jest ich pragmatyzm – autorka książki świadomie łamie przyjęte standardy tworzenia audiodeskrypcji, dodając do opisów m. in. pytania retoryczne, metafory i synestezje. Ponadto dydaktyzm i próba przekazu emocji uwidaczniają się również w warstwie brzmieniowej tekstu oraz w muzyce wkomponowanej w każdą z AD.
 Słowa kluczowe: audiodeskrypcja, tłumaczenie audiowizualne, przekład intersemiotyczny, emocje.

The use of audio description in foreign language education

Abstract Audio description (AD) is a type of audiovisual translation (AVT) used for making video content accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Over the last decade, the pedagogic potential of AVT in foreign language learning (FLL) has gained increasing recognition by experts. However, AD as a didactic tool in FLL is an innovative area that has received very little attention so far, despite its significant potential for language learners. In addition, many experts in Applied Linguistics have shown a growing interest in the study of fluency, pronunciation and intonation. With these ideas in mind the author of the present article has carried out a small scale preliminary experiment with university students of Spanish as a foreign language. This article presents the methodological framework of the experiment which includes the instruments for data gathering. Although only six students completed the experiment, their responses were positive and encouraging as they found active AD tasks useful for language learning. It is hoped that the lessons learnt will inform the methodological framework for larger scale studies.

Assessing Three Audiovisual Translated Versions of Toy Story 1: A Functional Approach

Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a rather newly explored sub-discipline of translation studies. This paper compares the micro and macro translational strategies adopted in two types of AVT, namely dubbing and fansubbing. The corpus of study is a Disney cartoon, Toy Story1 dubbed from English into two Arabic varieties; Egyptian colloquial Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), as well as a fansubbed version translated from English into MSA. The functional approach is realized by employing the points of analysis suggested by Chaume’s (2004) model of analyzing audiovisual material and the problematic areas identified by Chiaro (2009), using the micro translational strategies pinpointed by Pedersen’s (2005) extralinguistic cultural-bound references (ECRs) analytical model. The results of the research indicate that the fansubbed version tends to adopt a foreignized macro strategy with the direct or literal translation strategy as the prime micro source language (SL) strategy. The Egyptian colloquial Arabic dubbed version tends to adopt a domesticated macro strategy with the substitution strategy as the prime micro target language (TL) strategy. Finally, the MSA dubbed version tends to adopt a foreignized macro strategy with the direct translation strategy as the adopted main micro SL strategy

"Mind you, that's just, like, a guestimation": A diachronic analysis of morphological creativity in American teen talk and dubbing

The language of adolescents has always been of particular interest to linguists mostly for being extremely creative. Adolescence is, in fact, a transition stage that coincides with the entrance into secondary school, where teenagers strive to construct their own identity, mainly through linguistic innovation (Eckert 1989, 1997, 2004). In this sense, language becomes a strong identity marker (Edwards 2009) whose role becomes crucial in the portrayal of adolescent characters in films. The present paper aims at investigating the language of American adolescents diachronically in three famous movies of different decades from the 1980s to 2000s, namely Sixteen Candles (1984, Hughes), Clueless (1995, Heckerling) and Juno (2007, Reitman), which revolve around teenagers’ life at high school. The first step in the analysis consists in the identification of some characterising features of teen talk, especially focusing on word formation. Then, the analysis will be carried out contrastively and cross-culturally from a translational perspective, since these phenomena will be also investigated in Italian dubbing. More specifically, it will be ascertained whether or not these features are transposed into Italian, if so, pinpointing the most common strategies employed as well as the strategies used for compensation when, on the contrary, the complexity and difficulty in rendering certain linguistic and cultural specific phenomena hamper to find efficient translating solutions in the target text. Finally, problems deriving from this type of audiovisual translation, like lip synch, will also be taken into account and it will also be checked if the dubbed version succeeds in depicting the characters in the same way as in the original text.

Devising a systematic approach to examination marking criteria for audiovisual translation: a case study from Poland

Until recently, audiovisual translation in Europe ‘was learned in situ, away from educational establishments’. Despite a number of publications devoted to different aspects of this dynamically evolving discipline, the teaching and assessment of the different types of audiovisual translation have received limited attention. One case of this is Poland, where audiovisual translation has been introduced at universities relatively recently, and where there is a need to develop a systematic and objective approach to the assessment of different types of audiovisual translation which could be followed in final examinations. This article focuses on the issue of evaluating audiovisual translations in the higher education context. Based on the market standards reported in the literature, we identify challenges specific to voice-over, subtitling and audio description, and argue that the different types of audiovisual translation require different assessment categories. We then develop sets of detailed voice-over, subtitling and audio-description specific evaluation criteria which were applied to assess student translations in a master’s and postgraduate programme at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. The criteria cover information transfer and language, together with a range of technical aspects. The discussion centres on our approach to ranking and grading the evaluation criteria, followed by a reflection on how those criteria worked in practice in final exams.