Hi! I’m Abigail Poulton, 23, and I’m a London based actress from Birmingham. During a recent visit back to the West Midlands my Mum and I thought it would be nice to go to the cinema together to see an exciting new release; like any mother and daughter would do.
On Sunday morning, I sat in the cinema with my Mother, who is deaf, to watch the subtitled version of Girl on the Train. Now don’t get me wrong, we are both extremely grateful that there are subtitled screenings at these local cinemas but the restricted timings don’t half limit you.
Anyway, after getting comfy and diving into a large tub of popcorn, the house lights came down and the screening commenced.
What. No.
Surely not.
There were no subtitles on the trailers (the whole 20 minutes of them).
As the camera panned onto a heart throb whispering a dramatic line into the heroine’s ear, the scenery swirled around them in technicolour, along with my mind that moved in loops and waves-
Why are there no subtitles on the trailers?
Surely this is a mistake?
How, in this day and age, with the rapid progression in technology, are they screening trailers without subtitles at a SUBTITLED screening???? How?
I was appalled and shocked.
But mostly, I was left feeling annoyed. Annoyed at the fact the screening, despite being a subtitled screening, was not fully accessible for the viewing audience. My Mother was being left in the lurch only having the visuals of the trailers to guide her. All those key phrases & lines that have been timed and positioned perfectly to hook you in and want to buy tickets for these new release – Well, they were being thrown away.
Despite the film itself being gripping & engaging, I left the auditorium that cold Sunday afternoon feeling like my Mother had a different experience than myself due to sheer ignorance.
On our drive back home I tweeted the picture house we attended to see if there was anything being done to rectify this simple yet baffling issue. Much to my surprise it seemed like nothing had been done about this. it seems to be the fault of the big-budget production studios for not providing trailers with subtitles to the screening venues.
But why has it not been standardised yet? Make it a standard – ALL trailers that are to be presented in the UK must have an optional subtitled track that they can play at subtitled screenings. Why can’t it be that simple?
I am currently in communication with UK Cinema Aassociation to get the topic discussed in their next Disability Working Group meeting; a standing forum of cinema operators, film distributors and charity partners (including Action on Hearing Loss) that meet quarterly to review progress across a range of areas around cinema and disability and access.
I know one thing is certain – This needs to change.
We need to take action and speak to those in charge. Let’s makes some noise and get the change ball rolling.
If restricted screenings weren’t bad enough, (having to see a murder mystery at 10am on a Sunday morning), the experience was inaccessible.
To summarise, it should be a standard that all subtitled screenings have subtitled trailers. Simple.
Otherwise cinemas are making deaf people sit looking at footage they can’t hear while overlooking a huge group of viewers for potential ticket sales for these new releases. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. They are not catering for a sixth of the population in Britain who have some level of deafness; thus not catering for their audience.
I don’t know about you but I am hungry for answers. Answers and results. What are your views? Will you join me?
Abigail Poulton describes herself as “an actor, charity shop addict, and CODA. Her (subtitled) acting reel can be seen here and you can follow her on Twitter here.
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JilleJill
October 19, 2016
Our local cinema advertises the fact that they would like you to ask for subtitles. When you do they say no! It falls far short of a service for the Deaf public. It falls short of the law
Tracey
October 19, 2016
My local cinema has subtitled films for less than 1% of the showings. And even those are at ridiculous times of the day. I mean, no deaf people have jobs, right?!
derekbrandon
October 19, 2016
Having trailers subtitled would also help to avoid the frustrating uncertainty – ‘Will the film be subtitled?’. Occasionally cinema staff fail to ensure that a subtitle track has been set to ‘on’, for a scheduled subtitled show. Audience members expecting subtitles notice they are missing (usually when the first words are spoken on screen), which often results in a frantic search for a member of staff to ‘switch the subtitles on’. Usually, when this happens, the film is restarted and the subtitles appear. To avoid this uncertainty, an extra ‘test’ line could be inserted into the beginning of every subtitle track to read ‘subtitles by (company that produces the track)’. Set to appear immediately after the BBFC certificate notice, it would clearly indicate to audience members that the subtitles were ‘on’. Of course ideally, film companies would make trailers accessible, they’d include subtitle tracks (which are always available). cinemas could ensure that they linked to the main feature subtitle track. So customers would know that if the trailers are subtitled, the film will be subtitled. If not, it won’t be. In the meantime, here’s a link to subtitled cinema trailers: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/trailers.html Derek, YourLocalCinema.com
F Dakin
October 19, 2016
Absolutely i will join you to fight for changes. Every time I went to cinema with my teenage daughter who is deaf turned out to be a very stressful event no matter how much planning i had done beforehand. The timing of subtitled screening is very limited and especially for a children’s films, quite often during school hours or school days and in the evenings. When other teenage (hearing) friends of my daughter could just choose a film and go to cinema together but my daughter becomes isolated and cannot go just because it is not subtilted. In our 21st Century’s technology, the failure of making cinema fully accessible and inclusive at all times is inexcusable! Also, the cinema has no understanding that headphones for Audio Drscription is no use for hearing aids or cochlear implant users!! There is no loop system or neckloop provided at major cinema chains. There is complete ignorance of understanding the difference between people of hard of hearing and of severe/profound hearing loss. I have complaint to the major cinema chain before, they said it is head office problem and no one at customer services ever replied to my email. They also passed the responsibility of the filmmakers it distributor as there are only limited copy of subtitled version of that film provided to the cinema. I do not care whose responsibility is that, they need to sort it out. It is too unreasonable for a deaf teenager being left out and unable to join hearing peers to see a new release at the time her peers could.
Raynar Rogers
October 19, 2016
I totally agree.
Love from a loyal follower
derekbrandon
October 19, 2016
The major film companies pay me to promote subtitled shows in cinemas. If anyone’s interested, here’s how it works:
The top 50 box office films of last year included subtitle tracks on release date. In total 181 films included a track. There’s no need for a separate ‘subtitled print’ anymore. These days the subtitle track is usually included on the regular film (now a hard disc or download by satellite, rather than a reel of film).
Around 50 cinema companies provide regular subtitled shows. Every week around 450 cinemas nationwide, including almost all multiplex cinemas, provide around 1,500 accessible, English-language subtitled shows, specifically for customers with hearing loss and their friends/families. They’re all listed here, on the website I manage: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/films.html
But overall, almost half of UK cinemas, including almost all outdoor and pop-up cinemas, fail to make use of the subtitle tracks that film companies provide on most popular films.
Although it’s estimated that almost ten million people in the UK have hearing loss, most are of an age where cinema is not a regular pastime. Because the number of cinema-goers that require subtitles for their film enjoyment is a fraction of the regular audience, subtitled shows are less ‘economically viable’ than regular shows. To provide a subtitled show a cinema may have to put purpose before profit, forego extra income. For that economic reason, cinemas limit the number of subtitled shows they provide. Which of course limits opportunities to attend. This is reflected in attendance figures. Last year there were less than a half million admissions to ST shows. A substantial figure, but less than 0.5% of last year’s 172m admissions.
Providing subtitled shows at off-peak times further limits the audience size. (Off-peak, mid-week, daytime shows – subtitled or not – are usually poorly-attended because most cinema-goers attend school, or have jobs).
It’s generally accepted by service providers that to provide ‘access’ facilities – wheelchair spaces, ramps, disabled toilets/parking spaces, elevators, audio/text info – may not always be ‘economically viable’. (Though it may be less costly than the long-term economic impact of exclusion).
Cinemas are obliged under the Equality Act to make ‘reasonable adjustments’. For some cinemas, one weekly subtitled screening of one film is considered reasonably equal. (To a customer with hearing loss, reasonably equal access may mean a selection of the top five films, with a choice of daytime, evening and weekend shows of each. Still not quite equal, but far more reasonable).
Subtitled shows CAN be profitable. Recently, more than 550 people attended five subtitled ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ 3D shows at a London cinema. But ‘regular’ shows usually generate far more money than subtitled shows.
So the current solution – separate, segregated on-screen subtitled shows – isn’t ideal. Most people that would like to attend subtitled cinema shows cannot do so, because the shows are very limited.
US and Australian cinemas have recently advanced in the area of cinema access, by widely-adopting ‘personal’ subtitle solutions – glasses or seat-mounted displays. These solutions render the subtitles invisible to the general audience – only the wearer/user sees them. Utilising these solutions, all shows of all films (that have subtitle tracks) can also be subtitled shows. All shows can be inclusive – accessible to customers with or without hearing loss. Cinemas can provide many more opportunities to attend. Fri/Sat evening shows can be provided.
Smartphones can also be used as personal subtitle solutions, via a simple app (but as yet, no official infrastructure is in place to synchronise a subtitle track on a phone to a film playing on the cinema screen). Mainstream, ‘off the shelf’ Google Glass-style products can also be configured for cinema use.
The UK cinema industry is currently investigating ways to improve access to its cinemas. It tested subtitle glasses and displays a few years ago and continues to investigate ‘access’ products that come on the market.
Hope that helps. Any queries, please ask. Film companies pay me to promote accessible cinema, it’s my job to help!
Derek Brandon, YourLocalCinema.com
http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/films.html
Jonathan Wells
October 19, 2016
I just wait for the DVD to come out! And carefully check before buying it, often works out less than the cinema ticket and car parking.
I wouldn’t mind having subbed films at better hours though – why not have a cinema of our own somewhere? Maybe an arthouse cinema could devote an evening every so often to screening subbed films to deaf people?
Joanna
October 20, 2016
The Watershed in Bristol with the help of David Ellington have set up ‘Deaf Conversations in Film’ (http://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/7720/deaf-conversations-about-cinema-i-daniel-blake/) where they show there newest film releases with subtitles & you can discuss the film after if you like – it’s great! There’s so much more needed to be done on a national and global level to tackle the issue of inaccessibility in all areas of the media industry though!