Contemporary Palestinian ArtSTA Project, Spring 2011

Faculty Member: Dr. John Halaka

STA: Joseph Emery

Project Proposal

Dr. Halaka envisioned a project consisting of three parts:

1.Editing several videotaped interviews2.Translating the spoken Arabic language to English

sentences3.Using the English sentences to create English

subtitles

Part I

The first part of the project consisted of editing, translating, and subtitling the videotaped interviews that Dr. Halaka conducted with Palestinian artists.

The archived interviews will be available for Dr. Halaka’s students' research, and since very little has been published or broadcast on contemporary Palestinian art, the archived interviews will also be valuable for other scholars researching the subject.

Obstacles Encountered

Because the project was so complex due to its multiple components, it was difficult to plan because the work had to be divided and prioritized.

The process as a whole was quite tedious due mostly to the translating and subtitling that needed to occur. Once the technique was perfected, however the efficiency and speed increased.

The Goal

My responsibilities as an STA were to type the English translations that Professor Halaka gave, and create the subtitle blocks inside Final Cut Express.

Step 1: What technology did I use?

I found that the most practical technology to use in a project like this was Adobe Final Cut Express. This program has all of the components necessary to successfully subtitle each interview. It is also quite user friendly which adds to its efficiency.

This software was available for my use in the Media Center, under Scott’s supervision, and in Professor Halaka’s studio. Once the program was understood, there was no need to employ Scott’s guidance.

Step 2: How did I get things done efficiently?

At first the thought of translating and subtitling interviews using a foreign program seems like a daunting task, however after getting started and learning the software, it became easier. In other words, once an interview was translated, the subtitling process was quite trivial.

Inside Final Cut Express, the use of shortcut keys greatly increases efficiency. By utilizing those special keys, the time it takes to do certain tasks decreases while productivity grows.

In addition, the use of two monitors, one for Word and the other for Final Cut Express, allows the copy and pasting method to be smoother.

Translating Process

Subtitling Preview - before

Subtitling Preview - during

Subtitling Preview - after

Step 3: How did I organize the interviews?

After Professor Halaka and I go through each interview and translate the Arabic to English, the Word document is saved on an external hard drive (HD). Next, the subtitling is done and, once complete, the finished interviews are saved on the HD as well.

To organize the interviews on his HD, I made folders for each artist, and within those folders, I saved the files for each of the edited interviews. Each of these artist’s interview files is labeled based off of their completeness and current date.

Name of Artist >> Work completed today >> Today’s date