Thread by @fxdurandy

So how much would it take to get French subs done?, is a question I get asked often. 1/9

To which I invariably respond: 2/9

As in: how many subtitles will there be? While per-film or per-minute rates give you cost visibility, they are grossly unfair to your translator and therefore not conducive to a healthy working relationship. 3/9

The reason is that the amount of dialogue – the source material for your subtitler – may vary significantly from film to film. 4/9

There are the quiet ones (approximate number of subs per minute). 😶
Tree of Life (4.8)
Sátántangó (4.5)
2001: A Space Odyssey (4.4)
Gerry (4.1)
5/9

And there are films that talk and talk and talk. 🤪
Casino (16.3)
Annie Hall (16.8)
Before Sunset (18.1)
The Social Network (19.1)
(This list was made with inputs from film guru @GBouqueau)
6/9

These are extreme values, of course, and your film will probably fall somewhere in between. Also, the amount of work may not be strictly correlated with the number of subs. But it’s easy to see why a per-subtitle rate would be fairer to you and your translator. 7/9

Note that even films by the same director may vary substantially in their dialogue intensity. 📈 8/9
Trapped (3.6)
Lootera (7.6)
Udaan (9.1)
AK vs AK (15.8)

And so next time you approach a subtitler with the how-much question, remember to think about how-many first. 🙏🏼 9/9