Transcript:
IW 65: Interview Filip Machac Part 3: A River Runs Through His Passion
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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]
00:00:02
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go tointerpretersworkshop.com
00:00:28
Let's start talking... interpreting.
[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]
00:00:34 Tim
And now the quote of the day.
00:00:37 Tim
Today I have two quotes, the first by Pablo Casals, Catalan and Puerto Rican cellist, conductor and composer.
00:00:49 Tim
“I don't have hobbies. I have passions.”
00:00:54 Tim
And the second quote by Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer,
00:01:01 Tim
“Today is life. The only life you are sure of make the most of today get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”
00:01:23 Tim
These two quotes are ideas that I need to remember every day.
00:01:28 Tim
We all need to be passionate about life.
00:01:32 Tim
We are with people today, our families, our friends, our colleagues. Get interested in what you do and what you want to do.
00:01:42 Tim
Today we talk with Filip again, and we learn a little bit about what he does around the profession…
00:01:50 Tim
Translations into subtitles and a little bit of artistic passion that he has.
00:01:58 Tim
And we discuss a little bit about artistic interpretation.
00:02:02 Tim
Let's get started.
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
00:02:08 Tim
So tell us a little bit more about Filip. [Filip: mhmm]
00:02:11 Tim
You are an interpreter, but you're also a few other things, I believe.
00:02:16 Filip
I am, I am. [both slightly chuckle]
00:02:19 Filip
I've always liked other kinds of translation, let's say. [Tim: mhmm]
00:02:25 Filip
So, when I was working part time as an interpreter in my beginnings, [Tim: mhmm] now I'm full time interpreter, but in my beginnings I tried to look for…
00:02:37 Filip
…other possibilities of, of working [Tim: mhmm] for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
00:02:44 Filip
And I started…
00:02:46 Filip
Where it was…
00:02:47 Filip
Yeah, it was kind of lucky coincidence that my colleague, who also have worked as an sign, as a sign language interpreter, also did subtitles [Tim: mhmm] for Deaf and hard of hearing.
00:03:00 Filip
And luckily, I attended her course at the university where…
00:03:08 Filip
It was more like a a course focused on practical learning of the process of making subtitles for movies, lectures mostly for, for example, for our classmates, deaf students, deaf university students. [Tim: mhmm]
00:03:22 Filip
And later, later she gave me contact to the, to the translating and interpreting agency, which provides subtitles with this kind of editing for uh, for Deaf and hard of hearing viewers [Tim: mhmm] of documentary films festival.
00:03:43 Filip
It's called one world, [Tim: mhmm] and it's documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic. [Tim: mhmm]
00:03:49 Filip
And it's been about four years now.
00:03:53 Filip
I think I've worked for this agency and I've been a part of a team [Tim: mhmm] which tried to, maybe try to set up some, set up some rules of making subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] because it's kind of interesting and it's something that will take part in September.
00:04:12 Filip
I think because…
00:04:13 Filip
The Conference of Services for the Deaf and hard of hearing people [Tim: mhmm] will take place in September in Prague.
00:04:22 Filip
And we are going to present the field of making subtitles for Deaf and Hard of hearing, as well.
00:04:29 Filip
And also we'd like to mention something that's already in process.
00:04:35 Filip
Because the, let's say the law [Tim: mhmm] maybe is, is being prepared and the law is going to describe some rules of making subtitles for different hard of hearing in general, [Tim: mhmm] not only for the festival itself, but in general.
00:04:51 Filip
And… I haven't been part of the team who prepared it because I'm not competent at all for, for, for, for doing that.
00:04:58 Filip
But the association of Organizations of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Czech Republic prepared it, [Tim: mhmm] or a team of professionals who, who did it actually from the professional point of view, and also the clients’ point of view, [Tim: mhmm] because it's, it's of the same importance. And it's always good to have the client’s point of view when you're, when you're trying to discuss with government ministries [Tim: yeah] to maybe, to persuade them that the law is important [Tim: mhmm] or that the rules are important to be settled, because…
00:05:31 Filip
And the main reason for it is that in recent years there have been many streaming platforms where streaming movies and TV series who are subtitled abroad, [Tim: mhmm] they are not…
00:05:45 Filip
They are not Czech companies.
00:05:46 Filip
So, if they are making subtitles for Deaf people…
00:05:51 Filip
Or for hard of hearing people they’re following different rules maybe or different set of rules than we are. [Tim: mhmm]
00:05:58 Filip
And then Deaf and hard of hearing people in the Czech Republic want actually. [Tim: yeah] So, it's something that's crucial to have somewhere [Tim: mhmm] to have the law or to have a set of rules that you can have to maybe persuade them to adjust these rules in terms or depending on the country.
00:06:21 Filip
Or on the on depending on the language in, in which they are providing the subtitles. [Tim: mhmm]
00:06:28 Filip
So, it's something that's being in progress now and I hope it will improve the services provided by these kind of streaming platforms and it, it will improve the situation in subtitles in Czech televisions, Czech commercial televisions as well, [Tim: yeah] because there are very few movies, documents, [Tim: mhmm] and TV series, for example, that are actually having subtitles that are sufficient for, [Tim: mhmm] for Deaf and hard of hearing people.
00:06:59 Tim
So very few right now.
00:07:00 Filip
Very few right now.
00:07:01 Filip
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:02 Tim
Yeah, I see.
00:07:04 Tim
Can you give us some examples of rules or standards that you would try to follow [Filip: mhmm] in subtitling for Deaf and hard of hearing. I mean, normally we think well, you just transcribe the, the spoken language into the written language, [Filip: mhmm] but what kind of things do we have to take into account? [Filip: mhmm]
00:07:24 Filip
I think many of listeners of this podcast know basic, like the mainstream subtitles that are transcribing. [Tim: mhmm] Only maybe sometimes are helping viewer a bit to, to realize who's actually talking. [Tim: mhmm]
00:07:40 Filip
But if you compare these subtitles for hearing people, it's for movies, and in the Czech settings, the main difference is that we have to substitute the, the audio part of, of the medium itself, so it includes...
00:07:56 Filip
Well, identification of who's actually talking, who's actually speaking now right now, [Tim: mhmm] because when a person who can't hear the sound or the audio of the, of the movie or document, if he's watching it, he might spend more or most of the time, watching time he spent on the subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] on reading the subtitles and might get lost…
00:08:23 Filip
Who's actually talking about something?
00:08:26 Filip
So the, this kind of identification is very crucial and we're using various types of it.
00:08:33 Tim
Do you move the text next to the person who's speaking, or do you add the name of the character, or color of…
00:08:40 Filip
Uh huh, usually we add the name or color. [Tim: mhmm] And, but...
00:08:44 Filip
I've seen some innovative form of subtitles where actually the subtitle was put, uh, next to the person who's talking, but it's kind of hard to do it properly because usually, uh translators or subtitle makers, are working for some kind of agency and they are…
00:09:06 Filip
They are unable to control the final, the final version of subtitles.
00:09:11 Filip
I mean the final graphic version of subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] so it's quite… It's kind of hard, be- because they usually provide a text file… [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:19 Filip
…including all these identifications, maybe some functional or functional sounds described like where something happens, but you're unable to see it in the movie, for example, where the bomb explodes or the door cracks or something like that. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:36 Filip
It's all, all these things have to be put in the subtitles to be, to give the, to give the viewer similar, maybe similar outcome of, of the movie. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:48 Filip
I don't know how to describe better, but usually, usually the subtitle maker prepares this kind of text file. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:56 Filip
Adding all of these things, but usually he's not the one who's actually adding it to a movie. [Tim: mhmm]
00:10:03 Filip
Usually the provider is or the graphics studio is, so…
00:10:08 Filip
We are unable to control it, so these are innovative types of subtitles are something that it's not quite common still. [Tim: yeah]
00:10:17 Tim
What you're trying to do now is create a law or policy [Filip: yes] so that you can control it more rather than just letting the graphic design person or the editor for the film to decide.
00:10:30 Filip
Right, right.
00:10:31 Filip
And also the policy varies from provider to provider or company to company. [Tim: mmm]
00:10:36 Filip
So, we need something that would maybe generalize it a bit and make it similar to every provider.
00:10:44 Filip
So that, uh, the Czech viewer, Czech Deaf or Hard of hearing viewer of movies and documents would have the similar experience of watching it. [Tim: yeah]
00:10:54 Tim
For me, one of the first experiences that I had, that I can remember when I came to the Czech Republic just visiting, I was asked by some Deaf friends here to go see a film in the theater.
00:11:07 Tim
And I thought because I'm from the US, many of our moviegoers don't experience the movie because they don't get subtitles.
00:11:16 Filip
Right.
00:11:16 Tim
So, it's still a battle in the States.
00:11:18 Tim
But here the Deaf said, “Come on, let's go watch this movie.”
00:11:22 Tim
And I immediately thought well, how am I gonna watch the movie?
00:11:25 Tim
They said, “Ohh it's in English!” and then I thought, well, how are you gonna watch the movie?
00:11:29 Tim
And they said, “Oh, we've got subtitles in Czech!” and I thought, well what?! [Filip slightly chuckles]
00:11:33 Tim
I found that Deaf here seemed to go to movies more often than Deaf in the states. [Filip: mhmm]
00:11:39 Tim
Or at least experience the movies better, because at least they have some subtitles.
00:11:44 Tim
But then I found out that the actual movies that are produced here in the Czech Republic for Czech audiences in spoken Czech, they usually don't have subtitles in Czech.
00:11:55 Tim
Is that still true?
00:11:57 Filip
Uh, well, I think that will change in the future, but I think in the cinemas when you are going to watch a movie in the cinema, [Tim: mhmm] they are not required to have Czech subtitles there.
00:12:15 Filip
Maybe somebody would correct me because I'm not really sure about the legislation [Tim: mhmm] connected to that, but I remember that for example…
00:12:22 Filip
DVD's and other media that are providing that were historically providing movies, or distributing, or selling movies. [Tim: mhmm]
00:12:33 Filip
Movies from the Czech production had to contain had to include Czech subtitles.
00:12:37 Tim
Uh-huh. OK.
00:12:39 Tim
Oh, that makes more sense.
00:12:40 Tim
OK.
00:12:42 Tim
But foreign films here, obviously, for the hearing audience and the Deaf audience, they have Czech subtitles many times or Czech dubbing.
00:12:50 Filip
They do, yeah, but our culture is more used to dubbing, Czech dubbing, like hearing culture [Tim: mhmm] in the Czech Republic, so.
00:13:00 Filip
Yeah, I think it's changing.
00:13:01 Filip
It's been changing as there are many streaming platforms providing loads of content, so it's impossible to add dubbing to prepare quality dubbing to every movie and every series.
00:13:15 Filip
So, subtitles are being more common nowadays. I would say. [Tim: yeah, yeah]
00:13:21 Tim
OK.
00:13:22 Tim
Well, we look forward to hearing how this legislation works out.
00:13:25 Filip
Yeah, me, me too. [both laugh]
[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]
00:13:31 Tim
And I look forward to every week with you.
00:13:34 Tim
Click on the links in the show notes to support the show and cover some of the costs that I have to make these episodes.
00:13:40 Tim
I appreciate it.
00:13:42 Tim
Now let's go learn more about Filip.
00:13:45 Tim
So, what did you do before you were an interpreter or? [Filip: mhmm]
00:13:50 Tim
Other work or that sort of thing that you still do?
00:13:54 Filip
I've always been a musician [Tim: mhmm] and it's something that I do like all, all my life.
[SOFT FAST CELTIC BACKGROUND MUSIC STARTS (7-8-9 (instr.) music: Filip Machač & Filip Šelemberk, ar.: Isara)]
00:14:01 Filip
Sometimes it's hard to balance it with the with the profession with, with work and with family as well, but I…
00:14:10
It, it was kind of, kind of easy.
00:14:13 Filip
It will, will get harder as I, as I'm going to have a baby. And now… [both chuckle]
00:14:18 Filip
Me and my wife are going to have a baby. [Tim: Congratulations!]
00:14:19 Filip
So, it would be, may be…
00:14:21 Filip
Well, thank you.
00:14:22 Filip
We didn't, uh, It may be more difficult to balance everything that I do or that I've done in recent years, but I've always been a musician.
00:14:32 Filip
Music is something that I might say it's the passion of mine. [Tim: mhmm] And it's something that helps me both relax but also maybe improve my soft skills.
00:14:45 Filip
It's always influencing my everyday life [Tim: mmm] as the interpreter profession, the interpreter profession is influencing my everyday life.
00:14:52 Filip
My, maybe, my type of communication, type of communicating [Tim: mhmm] with friends with other people, not only my clients and colleagues.
00:15:04 Filip
Uh, music also influences everything... [Tim: mmm]
00:15:05 Filip
…in my life.
[SOFT FAST CELTIC BACKGROUND MUSIC CRESCENDOS AND ENDS]
00:15:11 Tim
So, what do you play?
00:15:13 Filip
I play electric guitar.
[ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS A SHORT, FAST CELTIC MUSIC CLIP (Nights in London (instr.) music: Jenna Reid, Liz Carroll & Michael McGoldrick, ar.: Isara Shetland Night in London (Jenna Reid) - Diplodocus (Liz Carroll) - Pitt Street (Michael McGoldrick)]
00:15:22 Filip
And a mandolin.
[BACKGROUND MUSIC STARTS-SOFT WOMAN’S VOCALS ACCOMPANIED BY A MANDOLIN AND CELTIC BAND (Půl slánky [Half a saltshaker] (Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stór) music: Irish folk, lyrics: David Šelemberk and Saša Niklíčkov]
00:15:30 Filip
Because I am a member of a band focusing on Irish and Scottish music [Tim: mhmm] like the traditional one, [Tim: mhmm] and we're, we're having Czech lyrics.
00:15:44 Filip
So, we're trying to, maybe to, not to provide… [both chuckling about the comparison to interpreter profession]
00:15:47 Filip
It's not a, this kind of, this kind of it's not a profession or it's, but we're trying to
00:15:53 Filip
…maybe share our passion of this type of music to Czech listeners to, to Czech fans.
00:16:01 Tim
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:02 Tim
And what is your group called?
00:16:04 Filip
The group's called Isara.
00:16:06 Tim
OK.
00:16:06 Tim
And how do you spell that?
[THE MUSIC FADES OUT]
00:16:07 Filip
We spell that I-S-A-R-A [Tim: uh huh] and the meaning is, it's a, an old name of, one of Czech rivers, [Tim: mhmm] but also many German rivers. [Tim: ahh] I realized because for example in Munich I, yeah, in Munich there's a river Isar. [Tim: aha]
00:16:25 Filip
So, it's kind of like the Celtic, Celtic, one of the Celtic names for rivers.
00:16:31 Tim
I see.
00:16:32 Filip
And the reason, because, is because the band, the first rehearsal of the band (I wasn't a member of it in these days) was near the river called similarly, actually in Mlada Boleslov.
00:16:45 Tim
So do you play lead guitar or bass?
00:16:50 Filip
I play, uh well…
00:16:51 Filip
Actually, it's not the lead guitar as you would imagine in the rock band, where usually two like 3 guitars are so. [Tim: mhmm]
00:17:01 Filip
I play mostly tunes on mandolin like the traditional tunes that are played by usually in these kind of bands by violins, whistles, flutes. [Tim: mmm]
00:17:12 Filip
So, uh, we have a, a flute player, whistle player in, in the band and I'm like the additional leading, maybe additional leading or melodic instrument.
00:17:24 Tim
Uh-huh. Yeah.
00:17:25 Filip
And but, but it is a mandolin, but the electric guitar has a variety of possibilities of how to use it in a band, so I may be still on the, on some kind of continuum between the rhythmic part of, of the, of the sound and the lead part of the melodic part of the sounds we, we do, we play. [Tim: yeah]
[SHORT CELTIC TRANSITION MUSIC (FROM Nights in London…)]
00:17:55 Tim
So, do you interpret your band songs?
00:17:59 Filip
I don't, I don't. [BOTH LAUGH]
00:18:00 Tim
OK.
00:18:01 Filip
But it would be…
00:18:02 Filip
It would be interesting and actually our drummer was before he joined us, [Tim: mhmm] he was a member of a band that cooperated with Czech Sign language interpreters in recent years or in, in the past. [Tim: mhmm]
00:18:17 Filip
And they made a DVD consisting of their songs interpreted into sign language and it was just beautiful.
00:18:27 Filip
But it's yeah.
00:18:28 Filip
We're getting into… [chuckles, Tim too]
00:18:29 Filip
Getting into the artistic field of, uh, of our profession, which I don't think I'm capable of. [Tim: yeah] But maybe…
00:18:37 Filip
Maybe not yet, because I've always admired it. [Tim: mmm]
00:18:41 Filip
It would be something that, that got me, or that hoo- hooked me to the profession as well, because I… it's simply super visual, super beautiful and it's very hard.
00:18:52 Filip
It's very hard to prepare for it.
00:18:54 Filip
It's very hard to establish a team of people who know how to do it properly. [Tim: mhmm]
00:18:59 Filip
And who know how to provide, uh, the emotions that are hidden maybe in instruments of music as well because these are not only the lyrics. [Tim: mmm]
00:19:09 Filip
Actually, [laughing] I have one or two experiences of artistic interpreting, but it doesn't mean that I would attend some or I would perform some songs on a concert. [Tim: mhmm]
00:19:22 Filip
But for example, I was interpreting for the competition of, yeah, let's say, competition of teachers uh and my uh, my Deaf colleague…
00:19:33 Filip
Uh, my former, my, my former Deaf colleague was attending this competition, he got into final. And the other… There was some…
00:19:43 Filip
There were some tasks to perform in front of their students and in front of the committee that actually decided who would win.
00:19:53 Filip
And one of the competitors used song as a performance and it was kind of tricky because he, he's from, he's Silesian, he's from Ostrava where…
00:20:06 Tim
A small region to the east.
00:20:08 Filip
People have very, very, yeah, it's, it's a small region in the east of our Republic where there is a very strong accent. [Tim: mmm]
00:20:15 Filip
And, and all of the performance was based on that funny aspect of the accent.
00:20:22 Filip
So I loved it as a, as a viewer or as somebody who, who's watching it.
00:20:26 Filip
I would totally love it [Tim: mhmm] because it was super funny.
00:20:29 Filip
But it was very hard to prepare a translation or a [Tim: mhmm] proper interpretation of this to provide it to, to the Deaf audience that were at the final at the gig, actually.
00:20:42 Filip
So it's one of my experiences where luckily I had a team of interpreters both hearing and Deaf who helped me to prepare proper translation of songs [both laughing] that were included and all the jokes that were including dialects, [Tim: yeah] kind of humor, actually. [Tim: mhmm]
00:21:01 Filip
That is quite common in Czech Republic in hearing society.
00:21:04 Tim
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:05 Tim
It's always difficult to interpret not only songs, but humor. [Filip: yeah]
00:21:11 Tim
And then when you mix the two, it's even more of a wonderful experience, you might say, yeah.
00:21:16 Filip
Yeah, yeah certainly.
00:21:18 Filip
And, and as I'm more used to like more serious situations [both chuckle] in, in community interpreting this is always freaky. [Tim: yeah]
00:21:27 Filip
But it's always fun and I, I... To be honest, I really enjoyed that it haven't been recorded.
00:21:34 Filip
Actually it was, [both laugh] but it hadn't been broadcasted because we had two other sign language interpreters who were, who were interpreting it for the TV broadcast [Tim: mhmm] through the check television.
00:21:48 Filip
But we were on stage, so we were only in in quotation marks only…
00:21:54 Filip
Interpreting for the audience who actually sat there, but it was, it was still kind of kind of hard, hard job, yeah. [Tim: yeah, yeah]
00:22:04 Tim
As an interpreter, my point of view is that I interpret artistically, definitely if it's part of the job.
00:22:10 Tim
But I don't decide to make an interpretation of some song and put it on YouTube or on social media, I think that's kind of cultural appropriation or a little bit of the viewpoint of I'm trying to give this to the deaf community when they haven't actually asked for it.
00:22:28 Tim
I think that's a fine line that we as interpreters have to think about with artistic interpreting.
00:22:35 Filip
Right.
00:22:35 Filip
Yeah, yeah, I, I totally agree with that.
00:22:37 Filip
And it's always important, super important to get Deaf people involved in these kind of translations or interpretations of songs, maybe, maybe some theater plays as well, [Tim: mhmm] because it's super hard and it always, it always it's important…
00:22:55 Filip
Maybe to firstly to know if actually Deaf people want to, want to have it. [Tim: mhmm] if the demand is actually from them, from, from the community or if I want to just show my superpowers to others. [Tim laughs]
00:23:10 Tim
Yeah, exactly.
00:23:11 Filip
So for me I have the, I have the, similar opinion that it's always Deaf, Deaf point of view needed, definitely. [Tim: yeah]
00:23:19 Filip
I remember attending a efsli conference in Helsinki few years, a few years ago. I think it was in 2016… [Tim: yeah]
00:23:29 Filip
While I was a student and we had a chance to see the performance of Deaf rapper. [Tim: mhmm]
00:23:38 Filip
It was awesome.
00:23:39 Filip
He's, he's called Signmark.
00:23:41 Filip
He's from Finland and he's awesome.
00:23:43 Filip
He, he always, he always performs with his hearing alter ego.
00:23:48 Filip
But that wasn't the case of the conference because he shouldn't [couldn’t] come, I think, and was awesome.
00:23:54 Filip
The guy, the guy was just incredible. [Tim: mhmm] And it's, it's really the way I like deaf people to perform art, yeah.
00:24:01 Tim
Mhmm, yeah, yeah.
00:24:03 Tim
It's, it's, it's a very fine line [Filip: It is.] to interpreting artistically, especially if you have something called, you know, slam poetry. [Filip chuckles: Yes.]
00:24:13 Tim
That's always fun to interpret yes.
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
[CELTIC BACK GROUND MUSIC STARTS (7-8-9 (instr.) music: Filip Machač & Filip Šelemberk, ar.: Isara)]
00:24:22 Tim
We've all heard it: Do what you love. Love what you do. Then your work is not work.
00:24:31 Tim
If you're passionate about what you do, then it's less likely that you get burnt out, if you truly have passion for what you do.
00:24:40 Tim
Today, Filip told us some of his passions, some of his interests, his hobbies centered around one of the reasons why he loves interpreting, working with languages, working with people, being able to manipulate the language and be creative in such a way that it feels almost like an art.
00:25:02 Tim
Understanding the nuances of how to translate the sounds of the environment, the sounds that are unseen on the screen, thinking about that helps us understand that sometimes when we're interpreting, we need to go above and beyond what we have heard.
00:25:20 Tim
There are other nuances of things that we hear or notice as hearing people that need to be put into the interpretation because it gives a better, let's see what was the word Filip used?
00:25:33 Tim
…a better outcome… for that scene of our interpreting gig.
00:25:40 Tim
And I use the word gig for me.
00:25:43 Tim
Because it makes my [changes to heavy business talk] interpreting assignment sounds so much cooler than just assignment.
00:25:50 Tim
It's a gig.
00:25:51 Tim
It's a fun time for me to be with the “band” in that environment.
00:25:57 Tim
The interests that we have can apply to our interpreting work. Filip's interest in translation and subtitles helps him see the workings behind the scenes of the legislations, the policymakers, all of the advocates for improving the services for the communities that we serve.
00:26:19 Tim
As a musician, he is in a unique position to be able to understand the nuances between these two passions.
00:26:27 Tim
Sometimes we have to be wary if we turn our hobby or our passion into quote, work, unquote, because that's when burnout starts to happen, resentment for the work that changed our passion to a doldrum to a work weary environment.
00:26:49 Tim
Our discussion about artistic interpreting merely touched on this topic.
00:26:55 Tim
There are so many things to consider about artistic interpreting.
00:27:00 Tim
If it's a song, we have to think about the lyrics.
00:27:03 Tim
What do the lyrics mean?
00:27:05 Tim
Why did the writer, the composer, write this song?
00:27:09 Tim
Does that come into account?
00:27:11 Tim
Does the fact that every song is interpreted by every individual in their mind differently, a song may trigger a memory or a person, or an event for that one person as the interpreter. We cannot interpret it the way that every individual understands that song.
00:27:31 Tim
So we have to go with what was the meaning from the lyrics and from the writer.
00:27:37 Tim
But then we have the extra added meaning that comes from the music itself, from the instruments, from the emotions that are elicited from that sound.
00:27:49 Tim
So many things to consider, and this episode does not have the time to go through it.
00:27:54 Tim
However, there are moments when we are at a gig and we're interpreting, say, for a conference or workshop, and the speaker wants to or the organizers have a…
00:28:06 Tim
Song as the interpreter we have to 1st quickly do many things, but the most important thing is to understand why the organizers picked this song.
00:28:18 Tim
Was their goal to connect this song to the theme of this event?
00:28:24 Tim
Or perhaps the goal of the speaker is to make an emotion in the audience?
00:28:30 Tim
What was the goal that made them pick this song?
00:28:34 Tim
What is the song supposed to do to the hearing audience that is the most important thing for us at that moment in that type of situation to try to convey in our interpretation, not whether or not someone's playing the piano or someone's playing a guitar, or they're dancing.
00:28:51 Tim
That's not the point.
00:28:53 Tim
The point is what they thought this song was going to do, for that moment, at that event.
00:29:00 Tim
Everything else about artistic interpreting will have to go to workshops and perhaps even a couple of my InterpreTips episodes, but until that time… keep calm.
00:29:13 Tim
Keep passionately interpreting with gusto.
00:29:18 Tim
I'll see you next week.
00:29:20 Tim
Take care now.
[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:29:48]
IW 65: Interview Filip Machac Part 3: A River Runs Through His Passion
Support the Podcast!
[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]
00:00:02
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go tointerpretersworkshop.com
00:00:28
Let's start talking... interpreting.
[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]
00:00:34 Tim
And now the quote of the day.
00:00:37 Tim
Today I have two quotes, the first by Pablo Casals, Catalan and Puerto Rican cellist, conductor and composer.
00:00:49 Tim
“I don't have hobbies. I have passions.”
00:00:54 Tim
And the second quote by Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer,
00:01:01 Tim
“Today is life. The only life you are sure of make the most of today get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”
00:01:23 Tim
These two quotes are ideas that I need to remember every day.
00:01:28 Tim
We all need to be passionate about life.
00:01:32 Tim
We are with people today, our families, our friends, our colleagues. Get interested in what you do and what you want to do.
00:01:42 Tim
Today we talk with Filip again, and we learn a little bit about what he does around the profession…
00:01:50 Tim
Translations into subtitles and a little bit of artistic passion that he has.
00:01:58 Tim
And we discuss a little bit about artistic interpretation.
00:02:02 Tim
Let's get started.
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
00:02:08 Tim
So tell us a little bit more about Filip. [Filip: mhmm]
00:02:11 Tim
You are an interpreter, but you're also a few other things, I believe.
00:02:16 Filip
I am, I am. [both slightly chuckle]
00:02:19 Filip
I've always liked other kinds of translation, let's say. [Tim: mhmm]
00:02:25 Filip
So, when I was working part time as an interpreter in my beginnings, [Tim: mhmm] now I'm full time interpreter, but in my beginnings I tried to look for…
00:02:37 Filip
…other possibilities of, of working [Tim: mhmm] for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
00:02:44 Filip
And I started…
00:02:46 Filip
Where it was…
00:02:47 Filip
Yeah, it was kind of lucky coincidence that my colleague, who also have worked as an sign, as a sign language interpreter, also did subtitles [Tim: mhmm] for Deaf and hard of hearing.
00:03:00 Filip
And luckily, I attended her course at the university where…
00:03:08 Filip
It was more like a a course focused on practical learning of the process of making subtitles for movies, lectures mostly for, for example, for our classmates, deaf students, deaf university students. [Tim: mhmm]
00:03:22 Filip
And later, later she gave me contact to the, to the translating and interpreting agency, which provides subtitles with this kind of editing for uh, for Deaf and hard of hearing viewers [Tim: mhmm] of documentary films festival.
00:03:43 Filip
It's called one world, [Tim: mhmm] and it's documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic. [Tim: mhmm]
00:03:49 Filip
And it's been about four years now.
00:03:53 Filip
I think I've worked for this agency and I've been a part of a team [Tim: mhmm] which tried to, maybe try to set up some, set up some rules of making subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] because it's kind of interesting and it's something that will take part in September.
00:04:12 Filip
I think because…
00:04:13 Filip
The Conference of Services for the Deaf and hard of hearing people [Tim: mhmm] will take place in September in Prague.
00:04:22 Filip
And we are going to present the field of making subtitles for Deaf and Hard of hearing, as well.
00:04:29 Filip
And also we'd like to mention something that's already in process.
00:04:35 Filip
Because the, let's say the law [Tim: mhmm] maybe is, is being prepared and the law is going to describe some rules of making subtitles for different hard of hearing in general, [Tim: mhmm] not only for the festival itself, but in general.
00:04:51 Filip
And… I haven't been part of the team who prepared it because I'm not competent at all for, for, for, for doing that.
00:04:58 Filip
But the association of Organizations of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Czech Republic prepared it, [Tim: mhmm] or a team of professionals who, who did it actually from the professional point of view, and also the clients’ point of view, [Tim: mhmm] because it's, it's of the same importance. And it's always good to have the client’s point of view when you're, when you're trying to discuss with government ministries [Tim: yeah] to maybe, to persuade them that the law is important [Tim: mhmm] or that the rules are important to be settled, because…
00:05:31 Filip
And the main reason for it is that in recent years there have been many streaming platforms where streaming movies and TV series who are subtitled abroad, [Tim: mhmm] they are not…
00:05:45 Filip
They are not Czech companies.
00:05:46 Filip
So, if they are making subtitles for Deaf people…
00:05:51 Filip
Or for hard of hearing people they’re following different rules maybe or different set of rules than we are. [Tim: mhmm]
00:05:58 Filip
And then Deaf and hard of hearing people in the Czech Republic want actually. [Tim: yeah] So, it's something that's crucial to have somewhere [Tim: mhmm] to have the law or to have a set of rules that you can have to maybe persuade them to adjust these rules in terms or depending on the country.
00:06:21 Filip
Or on the on depending on the language in, in which they are providing the subtitles. [Tim: mhmm]
00:06:28 Filip
So, it's something that's being in progress now and I hope it will improve the services provided by these kind of streaming platforms and it, it will improve the situation in subtitles in Czech televisions, Czech commercial televisions as well, [Tim: yeah] because there are very few movies, documents, [Tim: mhmm] and TV series, for example, that are actually having subtitles that are sufficient for, [Tim: mhmm] for Deaf and hard of hearing people.
00:06:59 Tim
So very few right now.
00:07:00 Filip
Very few right now.
00:07:01 Filip
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:02 Tim
Yeah, I see.
00:07:04 Tim
Can you give us some examples of rules or standards that you would try to follow [Filip: mhmm] in subtitling for Deaf and hard of hearing. I mean, normally we think well, you just transcribe the, the spoken language into the written language, [Filip: mhmm] but what kind of things do we have to take into account? [Filip: mhmm]
00:07:24 Filip
I think many of listeners of this podcast know basic, like the mainstream subtitles that are transcribing. [Tim: mhmm] Only maybe sometimes are helping viewer a bit to, to realize who's actually talking. [Tim: mhmm]
00:07:40 Filip
But if you compare these subtitles for hearing people, it's for movies, and in the Czech settings, the main difference is that we have to substitute the, the audio part of, of the medium itself, so it includes...
00:07:56 Filip
Well, identification of who's actually talking, who's actually speaking now right now, [Tim: mhmm] because when a person who can't hear the sound or the audio of the, of the movie or document, if he's watching it, he might spend more or most of the time, watching time he spent on the subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] on reading the subtitles and might get lost…
00:08:23 Filip
Who's actually talking about something?
00:08:26 Filip
So the, this kind of identification is very crucial and we're using various types of it.
00:08:33 Tim
Do you move the text next to the person who's speaking, or do you add the name of the character, or color of…
00:08:40 Filip
Uh huh, usually we add the name or color. [Tim: mhmm] And, but...
00:08:44 Filip
I've seen some innovative form of subtitles where actually the subtitle was put, uh, next to the person who's talking, but it's kind of hard to do it properly because usually, uh translators or subtitle makers, are working for some kind of agency and they are…
00:09:06 Filip
They are unable to control the final, the final version of subtitles.
00:09:11 Filip
I mean the final graphic version of subtitles, [Tim: mhmm] so it's quite… It's kind of hard, be- because they usually provide a text file… [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:19 Filip
…including all these identifications, maybe some functional or functional sounds described like where something happens, but you're unable to see it in the movie, for example, where the bomb explodes or the door cracks or something like that. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:36 Filip
It's all, all these things have to be put in the subtitles to be, to give the, to give the viewer similar, maybe similar outcome of, of the movie. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:48 Filip
I don't know how to describe better, but usually, usually the subtitle maker prepares this kind of text file. [Tim: mhmm]
00:09:56 Filip
Adding all of these things, but usually he's not the one who's actually adding it to a movie. [Tim: mhmm]
00:10:03 Filip
Usually the provider is or the graphics studio is, so…
00:10:08 Filip
We are unable to control it, so these are innovative types of subtitles are something that it's not quite common still. [Tim: yeah]
00:10:17 Tim
What you're trying to do now is create a law or policy [Filip: yes] so that you can control it more rather than just letting the graphic design person or the editor for the film to decide.
00:10:30 Filip
Right, right.
00:10:31 Filip
And also the policy varies from provider to provider or company to company. [Tim: mmm]
00:10:36 Filip
So, we need something that would maybe generalize it a bit and make it similar to every provider.
00:10:44 Filip
So that, uh, the Czech viewer, Czech Deaf or Hard of hearing viewer of movies and documents would have the similar experience of watching it. [Tim: yeah]
00:10:54 Tim
For me, one of the first experiences that I had, that I can remember when I came to the Czech Republic just visiting, I was asked by some Deaf friends here to go see a film in the theater.
00:11:07 Tim
And I thought because I'm from the US, many of our moviegoers don't experience the movie because they don't get subtitles.
00:11:16 Filip
Right.
00:11:16 Tim
So, it's still a battle in the States.
00:11:18 Tim
But here the Deaf said, “Come on, let's go watch this movie.”
00:11:22 Tim
And I immediately thought well, how am I gonna watch the movie?
00:11:25 Tim
They said, “Ohh it's in English!” and then I thought, well, how are you gonna watch the movie?
00:11:29 Tim
And they said, “Oh, we've got subtitles in Czech!” and I thought, well what?! [Filip slightly chuckles]
00:11:33 Tim
I found that Deaf here seemed to go to movies more often than Deaf in the states. [Filip: mhmm]
00:11:39 Tim
Or at least experience the movies better, because at least they have some subtitles.
00:11:44 Tim
But then I found out that the actual movies that are produced here in the Czech Republic for Czech audiences in spoken Czech, they usually don't have subtitles in Czech.
00:11:55 Tim
Is that still true?
00:11:57 Filip
Uh, well, I think that will change in the future, but I think in the cinemas when you are going to watch a movie in the cinema, [Tim: mhmm] they are not required to have Czech subtitles there.
00:12:15 Filip
Maybe somebody would correct me because I'm not really sure about the legislation [Tim: mhmm] connected to that, but I remember that for example…
00:12:22 Filip
DVD's and other media that are providing that were historically providing movies, or distributing, or selling movies. [Tim: mhmm]
00:12:33 Filip
Movies from the Czech production had to contain had to include Czech subtitles.
00:12:37 Tim
Uh-huh. OK.
00:12:39 Tim
Oh, that makes more sense.
00:12:40 Tim
OK.
00:12:42 Tim
But foreign films here, obviously, for the hearing audience and the Deaf audience, they have Czech subtitles many times or Czech dubbing.
00:12:50 Filip
They do, yeah, but our culture is more used to dubbing, Czech dubbing, like hearing culture [Tim: mhmm] in the Czech Republic, so.
00:13:00 Filip
Yeah, I think it's changing.
00:13:01 Filip
It's been changing as there are many streaming platforms providing loads of content, so it's impossible to add dubbing to prepare quality dubbing to every movie and every series.
00:13:15 Filip
So, subtitles are being more common nowadays. I would say. [Tim: yeah, yeah]
00:13:21 Tim
OK.
00:13:22 Tim
Well, we look forward to hearing how this legislation works out.
00:13:25 Filip
Yeah, me, me too. [both laugh]
[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]
00:13:31 Tim
And I look forward to every week with you.
00:13:34 Tim
Click on the links in the show notes to support the show and cover some of the costs that I have to make these episodes.
00:13:40 Tim
I appreciate it.
00:13:42 Tim
Now let's go learn more about Filip.
00:13:45 Tim
So, what did you do before you were an interpreter or? [Filip: mhmm]
00:13:50 Tim
Other work or that sort of thing that you still do?
00:13:54 Filip
I've always been a musician [Tim: mhmm] and it's something that I do like all, all my life.
[SOFT FAST CELTIC BACKGROUND MUSIC STARTS (7-8-9 (instr.) music: Filip Machač & Filip Šelemberk, ar.: Isara)]
00:14:01 Filip
Sometimes it's hard to balance it with the with the profession with, with work and with family as well, but I…
00:14:10
It, it was kind of, kind of easy.
00:14:13 Filip
It will, will get harder as I, as I'm going to have a baby. And now… [both chuckle]
00:14:18 Filip
Me and my wife are going to have a baby. [Tim: Congratulations!]
00:14:19 Filip
So, it would be, may be…
00:14:21 Filip
Well, thank you.
00:14:22 Filip
We didn't, uh, It may be more difficult to balance everything that I do or that I've done in recent years, but I've always been a musician.
00:14:32 Filip
Music is something that I might say it's the passion of mine. [Tim: mhmm] And it's something that helps me both relax but also maybe improve my soft skills.
00:14:45 Filip
It's always influencing my everyday life [Tim: mmm] as the interpreter profession, the interpreter profession is influencing my everyday life.
00:14:52 Filip
My, maybe, my type of communication, type of communicating [Tim: mhmm] with friends with other people, not only my clients and colleagues.
00:15:04 Filip
Uh, music also influences everything... [Tim: mmm]
00:15:05 Filip
…in my life.
[SOFT FAST CELTIC BACKGROUND MUSIC CRESCENDOS AND ENDS]
00:15:11 Tim
So, what do you play?
00:15:13 Filip
I play electric guitar.
[ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS A SHORT, FAST CELTIC MUSIC CLIP (Nights in London (instr.) music: Jenna Reid, Liz Carroll & Michael McGoldrick, ar.: Isara Shetland Night in London (Jenna Reid) - Diplodocus (Liz Carroll) - Pitt Street (Michael McGoldrick)]
00:15:22 Filip
And a mandolin.
[BACKGROUND MUSIC STARTS-SOFT WOMAN’S VOCALS ACCOMPANIED BY A MANDOLIN AND CELTIC BAND (Půl slánky [Half a saltshaker] (Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stór) music: Irish folk, lyrics: David Šelemberk and Saša Niklíčkov]
00:15:30 Filip
Because I am a member of a band focusing on Irish and Scottish music [Tim: mhmm] like the traditional one, [Tim: mhmm] and we're, we're having Czech lyrics.
00:15:44 Filip
So, we're trying to, maybe to, not to provide… [both chuckling about the comparison to interpreter profession]
00:15:47 Filip
It's not a, this kind of, this kind of it's not a profession or it's, but we're trying to
00:15:53 Filip
…maybe share our passion of this type of music to Czech listeners to, to Czech fans.
00:16:01 Tim
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:02 Tim
And what is your group called?
00:16:04 Filip
The group's called Isara.
00:16:06 Tim
OK.
00:16:06 Tim
And how do you spell that?
[THE MUSIC FADES OUT]
00:16:07 Filip
We spell that I-S-A-R-A [Tim: uh huh] and the meaning is, it's a, an old name of, one of Czech rivers, [Tim: mhmm] but also many German rivers. [Tim: ahh] I realized because for example in Munich I, yeah, in Munich there's a river Isar. [Tim: aha]
00:16:25 Filip
So, it's kind of like the Celtic, Celtic, one of the Celtic names for rivers.
00:16:31 Tim
I see.
00:16:32 Filip
And the reason, because, is because the band, the first rehearsal of the band (I wasn't a member of it in these days) was near the river called similarly, actually in Mlada Boleslov.
00:16:45 Tim
So do you play lead guitar or bass?
00:16:50 Filip
I play, uh well…
00:16:51 Filip
Actually, it's not the lead guitar as you would imagine in the rock band, where usually two like 3 guitars are so. [Tim: mhmm]
00:17:01 Filip
I play mostly tunes on mandolin like the traditional tunes that are played by usually in these kind of bands by violins, whistles, flutes. [Tim: mmm]
00:17:12 Filip
So, uh, we have a, a flute player, whistle player in, in the band and I'm like the additional leading, maybe additional leading or melodic instrument.
00:17:24 Tim
Uh-huh. Yeah.
00:17:25 Filip
And but, but it is a mandolin, but the electric guitar has a variety of possibilities of how to use it in a band, so I may be still on the, on some kind of continuum between the rhythmic part of, of the, of the sound and the lead part of the melodic part of the sounds we, we do, we play. [Tim: yeah]
[SHORT CELTIC TRANSITION MUSIC (FROM Nights in London…)]
00:17:55 Tim
So, do you interpret your band songs?
00:17:59 Filip
I don't, I don't. [BOTH LAUGH]
00:18:00 Tim
OK.
00:18:01 Filip
But it would be…
00:18:02 Filip
It would be interesting and actually our drummer was before he joined us, [Tim: mhmm] he was a member of a band that cooperated with Czech Sign language interpreters in recent years or in, in the past. [Tim: mhmm]
00:18:17 Filip
And they made a DVD consisting of their songs interpreted into sign language and it was just beautiful.
00:18:27 Filip
But it's yeah.
00:18:28 Filip
We're getting into… [chuckles, Tim too]
00:18:29 Filip
Getting into the artistic field of, uh, of our profession, which I don't think I'm capable of. [Tim: yeah] But maybe…
00:18:37 Filip
Maybe not yet, because I've always admired it. [Tim: mmm]
00:18:41 Filip
It would be something that, that got me, or that hoo- hooked me to the profession as well, because I… it's simply super visual, super beautiful and it's very hard.
00:18:52 Filip
It's very hard to prepare for it.
00:18:54 Filip
It's very hard to establish a team of people who know how to do it properly. [Tim: mhmm]
00:18:59 Filip
And who know how to provide, uh, the emotions that are hidden maybe in instruments of music as well because these are not only the lyrics. [Tim: mmm]
00:19:09 Filip
Actually, [laughing] I have one or two experiences of artistic interpreting, but it doesn't mean that I would attend some or I would perform some songs on a concert. [Tim: mhmm]
00:19:22 Filip
But for example, I was interpreting for the competition of, yeah, let's say, competition of teachers uh and my uh, my Deaf colleague…
00:19:33 Filip
Uh, my former, my, my former Deaf colleague was attending this competition, he got into final. And the other… There was some…
00:19:43 Filip
There were some tasks to perform in front of their students and in front of the committee that actually decided who would win.
00:19:53 Filip
And one of the competitors used song as a performance and it was kind of tricky because he, he's from, he's Silesian, he's from Ostrava where…
00:20:06 Tim
A small region to the east.
00:20:08 Filip
People have very, very, yeah, it's, it's a small region in the east of our Republic where there is a very strong accent. [Tim: mmm]
00:20:15 Filip
And, and all of the performance was based on that funny aspect of the accent.
00:20:22 Filip
So I loved it as a, as a viewer or as somebody who, who's watching it.
00:20:26 Filip
I would totally love it [Tim: mhmm] because it was super funny.
00:20:29 Filip
But it was very hard to prepare a translation or a [Tim: mhmm] proper interpretation of this to provide it to, to the Deaf audience that were at the final at the gig, actually.
00:20:42 Filip
So it's one of my experiences where luckily I had a team of interpreters both hearing and Deaf who helped me to prepare proper translation of songs [both laughing] that were included and all the jokes that were including dialects, [Tim: yeah] kind of humor, actually. [Tim: mhmm]
00:21:01 Filip
That is quite common in Czech Republic in hearing society.
00:21:04 Tim
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:05 Tim
It's always difficult to interpret not only songs, but humor. [Filip: yeah]
00:21:11 Tim
And then when you mix the two, it's even more of a wonderful experience, you might say, yeah.
00:21:16 Filip
Yeah, yeah certainly.
00:21:18 Filip
And, and as I'm more used to like more serious situations [both chuckle] in, in community interpreting this is always freaky. [Tim: yeah]
00:21:27 Filip
But it's always fun and I, I... To be honest, I really enjoyed that it haven't been recorded.
00:21:34 Filip
Actually it was, [both laugh] but it hadn't been broadcasted because we had two other sign language interpreters who were, who were interpreting it for the TV broadcast [Tim: mhmm] through the check television.
00:21:48 Filip
But we were on stage, so we were only in in quotation marks only…
00:21:54 Filip
Interpreting for the audience who actually sat there, but it was, it was still kind of kind of hard, hard job, yeah. [Tim: yeah, yeah]
00:22:04 Tim
As an interpreter, my point of view is that I interpret artistically, definitely if it's part of the job.
00:22:10 Tim
But I don't decide to make an interpretation of some song and put it on YouTube or on social media, I think that's kind of cultural appropriation or a little bit of the viewpoint of I'm trying to give this to the deaf community when they haven't actually asked for it.
00:22:28 Tim
I think that's a fine line that we as interpreters have to think about with artistic interpreting.
00:22:35 Filip
Right.
00:22:35 Filip
Yeah, yeah, I, I totally agree with that.
00:22:37 Filip
And it's always important, super important to get Deaf people involved in these kind of translations or interpretations of songs, maybe, maybe some theater plays as well, [Tim: mhmm] because it's super hard and it always, it always it's important…
00:22:55 Filip
Maybe to firstly to know if actually Deaf people want to, want to have it. [Tim: mhmm] if the demand is actually from them, from, from the community or if I want to just show my superpowers to others. [Tim laughs]
00:23:10 Tim
Yeah, exactly.
00:23:11 Filip
So for me I have the, I have the, similar opinion that it's always Deaf, Deaf point of view needed, definitely. [Tim: yeah]
00:23:19 Filip
I remember attending a efsli conference in Helsinki few years, a few years ago. I think it was in 2016… [Tim: yeah]
00:23:29 Filip
While I was a student and we had a chance to see the performance of Deaf rapper. [Tim: mhmm]
00:23:38 Filip
It was awesome.
00:23:39 Filip
He's, he's called Signmark.
00:23:41 Filip
He's from Finland and he's awesome.
00:23:43 Filip
He, he always, he always performs with his hearing alter ego.
00:23:48 Filip
But that wasn't the case of the conference because he shouldn't [couldn’t] come, I think, and was awesome.
00:23:54 Filip
The guy, the guy was just incredible. [Tim: mhmm] And it's, it's really the way I like deaf people to perform art, yeah.
00:24:01 Tim
Mhmm, yeah, yeah.
00:24:03 Tim
It's, it's, it's a very fine line [Filip: It is.] to interpreting artistically, especially if you have something called, you know, slam poetry. [Filip chuckles: Yes.]
00:24:13 Tim
That's always fun to interpret yes.
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
[CELTIC BACK GROUND MUSIC STARTS (7-8-9 (instr.) music: Filip Machač & Filip Šelemberk, ar.: Isara)]
00:24:22 Tim
We've all heard it: Do what you love. Love what you do. Then your work is not work.
00:24:31 Tim
If you're passionate about what you do, then it's less likely that you get burnt out, if you truly have passion for what you do.
00:24:40 Tim
Today, Filip told us some of his passions, some of his interests, his hobbies centered around one of the reasons why he loves interpreting, working with languages, working with people, being able to manipulate the language and be creative in such a way that it feels almost like an art.
00:25:02 Tim
Understanding the nuances of how to translate the sounds of the environment, the sounds that are unseen on the screen, thinking about that helps us understand that sometimes when we're interpreting, we need to go above and beyond what we have heard.
00:25:20 Tim
There are other nuances of things that we hear or notice as hearing people that need to be put into the interpretation because it gives a better, let's see what was the word Filip used?
00:25:33 Tim
…a better outcome… for that scene of our interpreting gig.
00:25:40 Tim
And I use the word gig for me.
00:25:43 Tim
Because it makes my [changes to heavy business talk] interpreting assignment sounds so much cooler than just assignment.
00:25:50 Tim
It's a gig.
00:25:51 Tim
It's a fun time for me to be with the “band” in that environment.
00:25:57 Tim
The interests that we have can apply to our interpreting work. Filip's interest in translation and subtitles helps him see the workings behind the scenes of the legislations, the policymakers, all of the advocates for improving the services for the communities that we serve.
00:26:19 Tim
As a musician, he is in a unique position to be able to understand the nuances between these two passions.
00:26:27 Tim
Sometimes we have to be wary if we turn our hobby or our passion into quote, work, unquote, because that's when burnout starts to happen, resentment for the work that changed our passion to a doldrum to a work weary environment.
00:26:49 Tim
Our discussion about artistic interpreting merely touched on this topic.
00:26:55 Tim
There are so many things to consider about artistic interpreting.
00:27:00 Tim
If it's a song, we have to think about the lyrics.
00:27:03 Tim
What do the lyrics mean?
00:27:05 Tim
Why did the writer, the composer, write this song?
00:27:09 Tim
Does that come into account?
00:27:11 Tim
Does the fact that every song is interpreted by every individual in their mind differently, a song may trigger a memory or a person, or an event for that one person as the interpreter. We cannot interpret it the way that every individual understands that song.
00:27:31 Tim
So we have to go with what was the meaning from the lyrics and from the writer.
00:27:37 Tim
But then we have the extra added meaning that comes from the music itself, from the instruments, from the emotions that are elicited from that sound.
00:27:49 Tim
So many things to consider, and this episode does not have the time to go through it.
00:27:54 Tim
However, there are moments when we are at a gig and we're interpreting, say, for a conference or workshop, and the speaker wants to or the organizers have a…
00:28:06 Tim
Song as the interpreter we have to 1st quickly do many things, but the most important thing is to understand why the organizers picked this song.
00:28:18 Tim
Was their goal to connect this song to the theme of this event?
00:28:24 Tim
Or perhaps the goal of the speaker is to make an emotion in the audience?
00:28:30 Tim
What was the goal that made them pick this song?
00:28:34 Tim
What is the song supposed to do to the hearing audience that is the most important thing for us at that moment in that type of situation to try to convey in our interpretation, not whether or not someone's playing the piano or someone's playing a guitar, or they're dancing.
00:28:51 Tim
That's not the point.
00:28:53 Tim
The point is what they thought this song was going to do, for that moment, at that event.
00:29:00 Tim
Everything else about artistic interpreting will have to go to workshops and perhaps even a couple of my InterpreTips episodes, but until that time… keep calm.
00:29:13 Tim
Keep passionately interpreting with gusto.
00:29:18 Tim
I'll see you next week.
00:29:20 Tim
Take care now.
[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:29:48]
