Closed-captioning

trumptmantrumptman
Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
(deep ominous melody resumes)



Strange but true, in my house I have left the closed-captioning on pretty much full time.



(wind whistles)



Having a five and seven year and their assorted friends over means loads of noise.



(door creaks)



The kids aren't always loud, but they do seem to scream, fight, argue at the most inopportune times of movies or shows. Like when some scared woman is whispering what it is that is preventing her from going to the police and so forth.



(flames swooshing)



I think I sometimes detect a sly sense of humor in terms of musical and sound descriptions.



(scary music transforms into light, melodious theme)



Perhaps it is just me though.



(bell dings.. boy giggles)



I suppose I could turn them off, use a PVR and rewind to the part the kids just screamed though.



(Sounds of commotion upstairs)



I've elected to try this though and find some of the captions very interesting.



Anyone else do this?



Nick

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    You've put too much effort in to this to get a ZERO response.



    But based on the replies, I think perhaps it might just be you.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Oh, my wife and I leave closed captioning on almost all of the time and even usually turn on subtitles when watching movies. We do it for the same reasons as you, Nick. Plus, we both feel like our six year old can benefit from being able to see the words on screen as they're being said. He's a very auditory learner, so hearing the words and seeing how they're spelled will help him with reading, spelling, etc.



    I have to say that leaving on closed captioning can be very interesting. A lot of times you can see where news anchors are ad libbing or flub up on something because the producer spelled something wrong. It's also curious when a prime time TV show has changed the audio at the last minute but the captioning was kept the same. Happened a lot with The West Wing when it was still on.



    But again, when kids are noisy it's a show saver.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    I encountered a new (for me) experience in the world of captioning yesterday. Wife demanded we get out of the house and so we tried to find a kid friendly movie available. Sadly the closest thing to kid friendly right now in our area was The Simpsons. We said what the heck and so we went. We went to this theater because it was close and had a time similar to when we wanted to see the movie. However they were showing all their first run movies with Spanish subtitles.



    I wish it were possible to get Spanish programming with English subtitles. I know it is sometimes possible to get English programming with Spanish translations via SAP. (Doesn't seem advertised as much anymore) Ideally I wouldn't mind trying out Spanish programming with English subtitles, and English programming with Spanish subtitles. It might help with those second language skills.



    Nick
  • Reply 4 of 7
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I have never used closed captioning.



    When I'm watching something in English with friends, they usually want the subtitles on despite having a pretty good understanding of the language. When I go to the movies, of course there's subtitles.



    In a noisy environment, I'd only use subtitles with something that has no subtlety (like most computer games). Otherwise I'd push off watching/playing till later when I can do it in peace.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    @_@ artman@_@ artman Posts: 5,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trumptman View Post


    [I]



    Anyone else do this?



    Nick



    I did when I watched DVDs on my PS2. Seemed that the PS2 was not friendly with certain DVDs and would cause an irritating buzzing noise that came through my speakers on my television. I bought a DVD player to alleviate it, but 9 times out of 10 I watch DVDs now on my Mac. It just looks and sounds so much better. I use headphones sometimes too. Can you do that with your situation instead of closed-captioning?



    (footsteps fading into distance)
  • Reply 6 of 7
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by @_@ Artman View Post


    I did when I watched DVDs on my PS2. Seemed that the PS2 was not friendly with certain DVDs and would cause an irritating buzzing noise that came through my speakers on my television. I bought a DVD player to alleviate it, but 9 times out of 10 I watch DVDs now on my Mac. It just looks and sounds so much better. I use headphones sometimes too. Can you do that with your situation instead of closed-captioning?



    (footsteps fading into distance)



    I could but then I wouldn't be able to hear the children.



    The only thing more annoying than a loud child is a silent child. Children are just generally loud but silent when they are doing things they know they ought not do.



    For example the other day I found my silent seven year old son shaking up all the sodas in the fridge one at a time. (I don't think he realized they wouldn't stay shaken up several hours later) The loss of electronics for the day will hopefully make him realize that pranks are not to be attempted against me.



    Nick
  • Reply 7 of 7
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trumptman View Post


    The only thing more annoying than a loud child is a silent child.



    Though, a child being loud during one of the very few shows you watch during the week is quite annoying. My wife and I watch maybe 2 or 3 shows a week together. Leave it to the kiddo to walk in in the middle of it to expound on how his little Superman toy can fly really really fast (along with the obligatory "WHOOSHING" sounds).
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