Subtitles provide a text alternative for the dialogue of video footage – the spoken words of characters, narrators and other vocal participants.
Closed Captions (CC) not only supplement for dialogue but other relevant parts of the soundtrack – describing background noises, phones ringing and other audio cues that need describing.
If your film needs subtitles or closed captions, make sure to follow the guidelines below.
Guidelines for Subtitles and Closed Captions:
Should hold a maximum of two lines of text on screen at a time.
In case of CC - should have a coloured background with high contrast (i.e. white on black).
In case of Subtitles - should have high contrast with the film (i.e. coloured background or stroke).
Font should be similar to Helvetica (a sans serif font).
Font should be large enough to read easily (minimum font size of 18 points).
In case of CC - Background noises, or non-speech sounds, should be added in square brackets.
Punctuation and both lower- and upper-case letters should be used.
Limit captions to 20 to 30 characters on screen per second.
Left-justify multi-line captions.
Should be placed in the center of the lower third of the screen, but move when obscuring important visual elements.
For screening purposes, either one should be BURNED into the film.
VISUAL EXAMPLE OF SUBTITLES AND CLOSED CAPTIONS
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