Literary Translation and Screenplays
Literary Translation and Screenplays
Films originate from ideas written on paper. The production process starts with several texts, which represent the seed of a film and which are key in making it come true. Summaries, film teatments, moodboards, screenplays are fundamental for funding applications and are often presented to production and distribution companies that can contribute to bringing a film to life.
Often, translating production texts effectively makes the difference in selling a project to potential co-producers and/or distributors, and can be fundamental when applying for funds.
Thanks to our training in both the literary and audio-visual fields, we can handle different types of cinema-related texts, such as moodboards, scenarios and screenplays. We handle every project with a combination of fidelity to the source text and adaptation to the target language, in order to re-create the atmosphere and the emotions that the source text was meant to create. Thanks to teamwork we are able to identify nuances and subtexts and to look at them from different perspectives.
In addition to translation services, thanks to our partners from Read My Script, we offer analysis, editing and script doctoring services for both narrative and cinematographic texts -especially screenplays- so to support aspiring authors, people that want to develop an idea from scratch or that need support in writing or revising a story.
What are its main features?
The translation of screenplays brings together elements of literary translation and of audiovisual adaptation, namely writing natural and spontaneous dialogues. In a screenplay, technical terms from the cinema field and expressions typical of oral dialogues.
The layout is very specific, and requires a very specific knowledge of writing norms and formatting rules.
What softwares are used for it?
For the translation of screenplays, we use the professional screenwriting software Final Draft. Instead, if our clients need a more specific or peculiar layout, we use Microsoft Word.
We translate several types of text linked to the production of a film, such as summaries, film treatments, moodboards, director's notes, production notes, pressbooks.
How and when is it carried out?
We read, analyse and edit cinematographic texts in order to point out their strengths and weaknesses and to assess their potential. Through our script doctoring service, we provide all-around support for the author during the whole writing process, so that the story can be developed in a successful and interesting way.
Where is it used?
These services are available for texts of several genres, especially scenarios, treatments and screenplays.
Quali conoscenze e competenze richiedono le traduzioni cinematografiche?
- Deep knowledge of the source and target languages, of cultural references, of the features and the
differences between written and oral language - Knowledge of different translation styles and techniques
- Being able to identify the narration context and the style that best applies to it, and being able to adhere to it throughout the whole text
- Knowledge of linguistic registers and socio-linguistic aspects of the target culture
- Ability to read, interpret texts and subliminal meanings
- Ability to write and rework written texts
- Awareness of the visual power of words and the need to be able to replicate images in a written form
- Conoscenza dei layout dei diversi tipi di un testo, delle indicazioni e degli elementi tecnici in essi presenti (ad esempio indicazioni di scena, Time Code e così via)
- Knowledge of cinema jargon and terminology
We offer localization packages that include different services both for pre-production (such as translation of screenplays, summaries and so on...) and post-production (such as the creation of dialogue lists, translation, script adaptation for dubbing, standard subtitling and subtitling for the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing.
English 
Italian