#captioned web tv

[b0ydyke]

you’re always changing, rearranging, calibrating, you think far too much

[goldenloverss]

"Gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your mongrel mind"

[Credits, left to right, top middle and bottom: no children by the mountain goats // aew mjf segment 5/26 // double edge demise by alpha wolf // here // hero worship dictionary page // AEW // double edge demise // AEW // double edge demise // here // sophokles, elektra // here // hero worship dictionary // federico garcía lorca]

[ink4blotches]

OTP

(Pavitr Prabhakar x You)

Synopsis: You like Mumbattan more than New York, so you chill there often. And sometimes help your best friend out as Spider-Woman. But the people of Mumbattan think there's something more to the relationship of the two heroes.

•

•

•

"What does OTP mean?" Pavitr breaks the comfortable silence that had set in as we sat atop the tallest building in Mumbattan, staring down at the -very- busy streets below.

"Uhm..Only Thing Purple?" I guess, scooting over as Pav moves to sit next to me. "No, it means 'One True Pairing', actually." He states, showing me his phone screen and scrolling on Tik Tok.

The video consisted of a fight Pav and I had the other day with an anomaly. Specifically the part where I not so heroically got electrocuted because I stepped in water.

The music filled as Pav landed beside me, reaching out and putting a hand on shoulder. "You oka-" He got cut off as he was shocked as well.

"Okay why would someone edit that?" I ask as I read the caption.

Two dumbasses...literally made for eachother!!

"I know right? I can still feel the lightning in my veins." Pav shivers, pulling his phone away from me. "And there are tons of edits of us saying we're OTP." He concludes.

A second passes in awkward, notedly not comfortable, silence before a loud explosion came from the streets below.

Ah, back to work.

•

•

•

•

"And Look at That! Our very own heroes have swung by for a quick hello!" The reporter woman smiled at us as I wiped the dirt off my clothed leg.

I smiled back, instantly stopping once I realized she can't see through my mask. "Are you- oh wow, is this live?" Pav asks, waving at the camera.

"Stop you're so embarrassing." I judged his shoulder, to which he threw an arm over my neck and ruffled my hair. "You know you love me." He laughs.

"Oh, wow! That brings me to my only question...the public wanna know! Are you two an item?"

Not this again.

Before I can open my mouth to deny, Pav laughs.

"No, but...might as well do this now. Y- I mean, Spider-Woman. I love everything about you. The way you part your hair, the way you laugh, all the way to your face when you eat really tasty food. And as the months have passed, I realized that I love you. So, will you go out with me?"

I looked between him and the camera, then back at him.

"Nah, I'll pass." I say simply. The lenses on his mask widen.

"I'm kidding! I'm joking! Yes, I'll go out with you Paaaaa...l. Pal." I caught myself. "Oh, my god. Yes!" He tackles me into a hug.

"This is great and all...but can one of you swing this girl to the hospital? The ambulance is backed up..." A paramedic taps me on the shoulder.

I immediately throw myself off Pav. "Yes- of course I'm so sorry come on let's go girl." I grab the citizen, being careful not to touch her...ouch, really nasty arm and swing away.

It takes a lot of focus to swing through Mumbattan with a passenger, but I've done it a billion times. However, it's a little more difficult this time.

Since my heart won't stop beating so fast.

•

•

•

•

I sat in a chair next to one of the crash victim's hospital bed. The teenage boy hadn't woken up yet, and as much as I'd like to be with Pav right now, my duty as Spider-Woman is to make sure people are safe- even if they're not from my universe.

The boy suddenly stirred in his bed, which caused me to put down my phone. "Hey, you're awake. You got into a car crash. How are you feeling?" I ask the boy, who's hospital bracelet says Aarush. Cute name.

"Ugh...like shit. Who are you?" Oh damn I forgot I took my costume off. "Uh...my names Carly, I'm a med student. It's a whole program- don't even worry about it." I shake my head with a laugh.

"Oh, okay. Hey, look it's Spider-Man." He looks at the TV which had been playing the news. I looked up just in time to catch Pav(Spider-Man) catch my hand with a web after I fell off the bridge trying to keep a car up.

I should probably work out more.

I watch with a warm face as the entire scene from earlier plays out again, Pav wrapping me in a hug and me swinging away with a girl in my arms.

"Damn, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are totally OTP."

[toastedclownery]

I’ve made some new Monkey Wrench headcanons.

Here they are:

1. While he doesn’t have a visible nose, Shrike does still have nostrils. They’re just very hard to spot.

2. Shrike is not good with kids at all. But he would never allow them to be hurt or distressed.

3. At the end of the third episode, Shrike stole half of the human trinkets that Scratch found.

“Nyeheheh! MINE! Let’s see. And it’s all a pile of worthless crap. How anticlimactic.”

4. When Scritch and Scratch had their ship checked out at the space station following the Mushroom Incident, an engineer at the station simply responded to their queries by saying “Frankly, it’s a miracle that this bucket of bolts is still intact.”

5. Sometimes Shrike gets strange looks in public from other aliens who don’t know what he is. Which is pretty much everyone. Other cephalopods are fascinated by him, as I said before.

6. Beebs once mistook a golf club for some sort of weapon. Shrike was quick to correct him. “No, this is something terrans used for sport. I think…”

7. Shrike’s tongue is also prehensile (as well as his toes). It’s at least 15 inches long.

8. Kara was the one who sent the pictures of Chester’s mutilated corpse to the news broadcasters in the first episode. She sent it anonymously and captioned it with “Fuck around and find out.”.

9. Kara refuses to go after children or the downtrodden.

10. Shrike refuses to let anyone else touch or wear his suit. “No! MINE!!!” *grabs suit and hisses like a creature*. Except Beebs, who he insists handles it carefully.

11. 62’s suit is damn near indestructible. It has built-in energy shields, a black box, an anti-AI counter intrusion defence and repulsion system, a built-in video camera, an emergency locator beacon, waterproofing, real-time meteorological scanning and data devices, underwater and zero gravity propulsion systems, built in scanning devices, self-repair and recharge capabilities, hazmat filter and containment mechanisms, a self-destruct mechanism and an escape hatch should it be activated or compromised.

As well as an internal dwelling space for 62 proper.

Killix was baffled when he first saw it “This thing is a goddamned fortress. It’s incredible. Who built this shit anyway?”

“I told you it was provided by my union, I had it made specially. My kind use them a lot when we have to. Uncle 47 worked on a prototype he made using an old Terran spacesuit.”

12. 62’s people consider the term “Yellowman” to be a slur. Shrike doesn’t like hearing it because it gives him flashbacks to a certain Terran web video he watched. “NOT THE YELLOWMAN!”. (It’s a little inside joke, there’s a local confectionery in my country called Yellowman, it’s like a honeycomb and toffee thing. And it refers to a creature from one of Mister Manticore’s early lost videos)

That’s all I’ve got for now.

What do you think?

1. Might just confuse them with pores

2. I'd love to study Shrike's behaviour with a child. ...That isn't indestructible

3. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT TAPE MAN.

5. He is a strange critter...

7. Jel has entered the chat

8. THAT WOULD BE WILD. I think the images alone would speak for themselves

9. Good for her!

11. Imagine a love it or list it TV program where it's just these guys and their suits

[some-eldritch-bats]

I have a normal relationship with high-voltage power transmission lines.

I think they're kind of beautiful, in an almost (but not quite) ethereal way. They have this kind of presence to them, a network of wires and steel beams that was constructed to be as functional and as absolutely efficient as possible, but still with nods to aesthetics because we are humans who cannot fully divorce ourselves from our emotions. They are vast, towering things, even larger if you consider the wires to be connecting parts of a single machine rather than each tower as separate, and yet they are incredibly spindly. If we could see them from above, they'd barely be there at all, from high enough.

They are, for the most part, largely unloved. They're even detested by some, by people who think the land exists for them to stare at and put on paper as photographs captioned with meaningless shit. But they power everything. Every part of our world is dependent on these things, these vast machines that conduct the electricity that runs our society. It's as if a spider's web had an arterial system - and, like a cobweb, we try to clear them away and keep them hidden out of sight, despite our dependence upon them to keep our houses neat and orderly.

So, they just stand there. Rain or snow or gale or sun. Pulling power and sending it on. A machine a hundred thousand kilometres long, that silently runs our lights and blenders and computers and defibrillators and TVs and GPS tracking tags. A machine that people don't think is pretty; that some people think is hideous. A machine that we need, can never separate ourselves from having, and that nobody understands or respects despite their absolute, abject reliance upon it.

I have a normal relationship with high-voltage power transmission lines.

[hippo-pot]

American Sign Language media content for receptive skills practice

Made this list because I really could have used it earlier on! My rubric is that it needs to include Deaf people signing, and that SimCom doesn't count (it may be present, but it can't be all there is).

This only includes stuff I've actually seen (or partially seen). Also, I'm including some warnings about what you may *not* want to watch, because again, I really could have used those warnings myself.

Easy (i.e. has subtitles and/or voiceover available, IIRC)

Mostly speaking:

CODA (movie; comedy/drama; on AppleTV+)

Kinderfänger (scary movie. Note that it has a 3.7/10 on IMDb. I personally liked it fwiw. not sure if it's streaming anywhere)

CODA (short film; on Kanopy)

Master of None S2.E6: New York, I Love You (TV show episode, currently on Netflix)

Wild Prairie Rose (drama/romance, currently on Peacock)

Queer Eye S8E4: Protect the Nest (reality TV, on Netflix)

CSI S11E13: The Two Mrs. Grissoms (crime show, Hulu)

ANTM Season 22 (the one with Nyle, obviously. I had to get this from the library on a DVD that, get this, had NO captions available. Not impressed. (The ASL was voiceovered))

Running Wild with Bear Grylls the Challenge S2E4: Troy Kotsur in the Scottish Highlands (reality TV, on Hulu I think)

CSI NY S3E12: Silent Night (crime show, Hulu). I found this one pretty ableist/audist (but it's hard to explain why without spoiling the whole thing - here's the summary if you're fine with spoilers: https://csi.fandom.com/wiki/Silent_Night) also the camera work sometimes seemed more interested in making the signing look artsy rather than making it legible lol

Sue Thomas, F. B. Eye (Peacock) - some episodes have lots of signing, some have none or close to it. Honestly it's pretty racist (the show came out 2002-2005. A lot of episodes are about terrorism, and they're constantly justifying racial profiling). If you can stomach that in exchange for surprisingly decent Deaf rep, here's a (probably incomplete) list of the ones with at least one non-Sue Deaf character, with a * if there are multiple: The Signing, The Heist*, He Said She Said, Girl Who Signed Wolf, Homeland Security, Bad Hair Day, Into Thin Air*, The Holocaust Survivor*, Elvis is in the Building*, Did She or Didn't She, The Fraternity*, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Troy Story*, Endings and Beginnings*. But yeah, I can't exactly recommend it, just trying to be honest about the pros and cons.

Switched at Birth - I really don't recommend this one either. I understand some people like it, but I have to give my disclaimer that if you watch a couple episodes and think "Well, I didn't like that, but maybe it will get better," lose that hope right now. To me, it only got worse. There is soooo much SimCom (yes, even later in the show when everyone should have learned to sign. Do NOT think there will be more or better signing later on). Daphne's actress has Meniere's disease; in a Reddit AMA, she said, quote, "Technically I am not deaf," so I really question why she was cast as the main Deaf character. Regardless of how she identifies, she is playing an experience she has not had; she isn't a native signer (she started learning in high school, not at age 3 like her character), and when she speaks in the show, she FAKES a "deaf accent". Also, this show is not as lighthearted as it looks, there are some truly disturbing plotlines that just get brushed over. Maybe you love this kind of drama - power to you. I'm just asking that if you watch a couple episodes and don't care for it, quit. Read some episode summaries on the wiki if you need to satisfy your curiosity, but don't hold out hope and watch almost 2 seasons' worth while feeling worse and worse about it l like I did. Moving on:

All or mostly signing:

Deaf U (reality show, on Netflix)

WHAT? (movie; comedy, silent movie; on Prime)

Blue Apple (creepy short film) https://media.gallaudet.edu/media/Blue+Apple+%281994%29/1_wke1swj2 also like. click around on the website. Gallaudet has soooooo much media available (plays, films, etc)

Scarecrow (creepy short film), also a Gallaudet production https://ssl.gallaudet.edu/videolibrary/?embed=16500 tbh there's not a ton of dialogue in this one, so maybe don't watch it if you don't like slow pacing

Don't Shoot the Messenger (raunchy YouTube series about an interpreter)

Barbie in ASL (On Max. It's the movie Barbie, but with a Deaf interpreter in the corner)

PBS also has some stuff with ASL interpretation. I didn't check everything so I don't know if they're all done by Deaf interpreters, but I recognized Jeremy Lee Stone as the interpreter for (at least some of) the Arthur episodes, and Lisa McBee for (at least some of) the Daniel Tiger ones https://pbskids.org/videos/american-sign-language-full-episodes

speaking of Jeremy Lee Stone, his Youtube channel is a great resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9HZ1JdV1Us

as are Nathie Marbury's storytelling videos https://www.youtube.com/@dawnsignpress/search?query=nathie

other kids' stories and resources for kids: https://www.youtube.com/@RMDSCO from Rocky Mountain Deaf School and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhbEjnwOPpyIHotZrGLu68OGeEZlTuvbg from Texas School for the Deaf (some of these are captioned or follow along with a book that they show on screen, but some aren't)

a few nonfiction Youtube series: Daily Moth (general news), Atomic Hands (STEM education), Quantum ASL (STEM education - just a couple longer videos, the rest are basically dictionary entries), BEHEARDDC (prison abolition), Joel West Barish (travel), Rogan Shannon (queer topics), Melmira (interviews)

Sign with Robert (available for free on both Kanopy and Tubi): this is mostly just general ASL teaching, but there are some episodes specifically labeled receptive practice where he tells jokes and stories (25, 26, and 29 - for 26 and 29 they play the stories twice, with captions the second time so you can see what you missed, it's actually super nice haha)

her specific channel doesn't have much, but you can just look up Melanie McKay-Cody, who does research about Indigenous sign languages (she is herself Cherokee). Lots of videos from her all over Youtube

SoCal Stories (interviews with folks including Marlee Matlin, CJ Jones, Bernard Bragg...): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8T937th3Qg&list=PLwR2tgM-4_AYjBRvj3GWqWRjjMiZz_w8u this is part of the Youtube channel Convo Communications, which has tons of other stuff I haven't explored

ASL music videos: this list was curated by a Deaf person so I trust it https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx1wHz1f-8J_xKVdU7DGa5RWIwWzRWNVt

Deafies in Drag (Youtube comedy series)

Reverie (short film, drama. Heavy themes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiFWE6Mtpu0

Perfect Match (short film, drama / sci fi) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxE65yzMgyE

The Witnesses (short film, satire) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9iQ_hjXDg

4 translations of MLK's I Have a Dream speech: Richard Bailey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H2-3O-NJFg (no captions or voiceover), JC Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUmdM965Si8 , Takiyah Harris (rough video quality on this one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiyG_h1tnZE , Missouri School for the Deaf students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mmxJByigac

jooux (sexual wellness resource): https://www.youtube.com/@jooux/videos

Intermediate

Mostly Speaking:

Sound of Metal (movie; drama; on Prime) (the late-deafened characters are not played by Deaf actors, but there's still a lot of Deaf actors. Most of the signing is mid-movie, and if I remember correctly, some is not subtitled, while some is)

Children of a Lesser God (movie; available on Kanopy). The signing isn't subtitled (it's mostly voice-interpreted by another character) and also it was very hard to understand - I gather it leaned more toward SEE? So that's why it's in intermediate.

Star Trek TNG S2E5: Loud as a Whisper (on Paramount+): no subtitles; most of the signing is voice interpreted, but not all. All the ASL is in the 2nd half but there's still a good amount, I thought

All or mostly signing:

look up Gallaudet Theatre Arts on Youtube. There's actually a variety of levels here (of the two I've watched, Bunnicula has voiceover, but Midsummer Night's Dream doesn't. The audio/video quality isn't great on any of it). I'm listing it as Intermediate because for e.g. Shakespeare you can just look up the script of the play and have it in another tab to check what's going on.

Sign (short film; some sexual content) https://vimeo.com/157890479 I was able to understand most of this, which means it's a loooot easier than the Shakespeare, but yeah, no subtitles, no voiceover, no help

The Deaf Family (YouTube sitcom) (don't be fooled, only the first episode has subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1uuntQOPnw&list=PLx1wHz1f-8J9KzkK5lLO3z0wk64eUzo3Y

Deaf Traditions: Storytelling and Poetry https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIpW9QfUw6zwGKJ0N_HGH_8PnF8g7FSmg these range from easy to hard, I would say. No subtitles

Bonus warning categories:

Doesn't have as much signing as you'd think

(ranked roughly from most signing to least signing)

The Circle, Season 5 (reality show on Netflix. I did really enjoy the Deaf contestant but I definitely wanted more)

Fargo, season 1-ish (show; horror? On Hulu) I only watched a few episodes but Russell was only getting like 5 min screen time per episode and i wasn't enjoying the show otherwise, so it wasn't worth it for me personally

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist S1E9: Zoey's Extraordinary Silence (jukebox musical TV show. On Peacock)

Only Murders in the Building (mystery show on Hulu) - through the 4 seasons of the show, the Deaf character (Theo Dimas) is in 4 episodes, then 2, then 1, then 0. 🤷‍♀️

The Family Stone (I did enjoy the movie though tbh. on Hulu)

Curb Your Enthusiasm S12E3: Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug (TV comedy, on Max) Troy only gets like 5 min of screentime 😭 he's an Academy Award winner...

Queer as Folk S1E4: F*ck Disabled People (on Peacock) (Nyle is in it but I don't think he even ever talks to anyone else who can sign? He's mostly communicating via writing)

Not Worth It

What the Bleep Do We Know: we attempted to watch this "doc" without realizing beforehand that it was all pseudoscience. Honestly, I'm not even sure there was signing in it? I think there was a little

Wonderstruck (2017). There are multiple Deaf actors on the roster. But not one of them gets to sign *anything* as far as I could tell. (One plays a character who hasn't learned to sign, I think at least two were playing hearing people (I do support Deaf actors taking hearing roles, but not if you're gonna take that as an excuse to do the reverse.... which this movie did.....), and some must have had barely any screentime). Two hearing actors get to sign (also the signing doesn't start til like the last 20 min of the movie), and two other hearing actors briefly fingerspell. 👎

Intentionally Didn't Watch (the summary was that bad)

These included Deaf people despite not really wanting them to exist!!!! (think along the lines of forcing ppl to get cochlear implants)

Scrubs S6E16, "My Words of Wisdom" https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/My_Words_of_Wisdom someone described this episode to me in a bit more detail than the summary here, and yeah. not good

House S5E22, "House Divided" https://house.fandom.com/wiki/House_Divided legit infuriating

[andreilslovechild]

So recently I've been obsessed with Hazbin Hotel like approximately half of the internet so welcome to my little idea for a Hotel Hazbin Au

Characters: Angel=Andrew, Alastor=Riko, Husk=Kevin, Nifty=Jean, Sir Pencious=Seth, Vaggie=Renee, Vox=Neil, Valentino=Drake, Velvette=Allison, Rosie=Nathan, Cherri Bomb=Nicky I'm playing around with the possibility of Charlie being Wymack but idk yet, rn charlie is James which is an OC of mine and a friends.

I'm obsessed with unrequited Vox/Alastor and Angel/Husk so Neil/riko rivalry with onesided sexual tension and maybe some hate sex and then some kandrew as well

Andrew will have much the same backstory as Angel except without the mafia family so instead of a spider hes a cat. He is in hell because he would hook up with then kill them to keep his secrets and then he'd take drugs to deal with the guilt. I haven't decided whether he died from a drug overdose or AIDS. His name would still be Angel since I'm obsessed with a pet Andrew being angel. He was "taken in" and contracted by Drake early on and he quickly becomes his favourite.

Riko is still gonna be a radio demon, but I think he died because he was too brave with his killings (still a serial killer like Alastor) and his brother killed him to make sure he didn't get the whole family caught. I think I might have his demon form be more of a raven than a deer too. Was also playing with the idea of him being the exy demon too which could be fun. He's also chained by Lillith ;)

Kevin has much the same backstory as Husk and he died from alcohol poisoning or liver failure and he used to be an overlord and got into gambling which led to his deal with Riko

Jean is based on some HCs I've seen for Nifty so he died from a couple gunshots and he used to be a butler or slave or something similar and he snapped and killed the family he worked for so that's why hes in hell. I don't really have any ideas for why he made a deal with Riko but he did.

Seth died from a drug overdose. he wants to be an overlord but hes not really that powerful so he never really gets there. He works for the NDAs (My name for the Vee's in this Au) and tries to get info for them like in the show but when he gets caught whoever plays Charlie forgives him

Renee has much the same backstory as Vaggie. She used to be an angel but she felt bad about killing demons so after letting some go her eye was stabbed out by lute and she became a fallen angel. shes not dating anyone in this au but she is the first guess and helps run the hotel.

Neil was the media person in his family, growing in popularity as a hilarious and sociable media personality. he died young when he was electrocuted by faulty wiring during a broadcast, ending up in hell and quickly climbing the ranks after meeting Drake and later Allison. He doesn't have a TV as a head but he is mostly made out of wires and kind of looks like a hologram, often glitching out and disappearing when he gets angry or overwhelmed.

Drake was a pedophile and rapist when he was alive. He ran a sex club where he often hired and took advantage of underage people and he would post videos of them being taken advantage of on the dark web. he was killed by an angry victim. After ending up in hell he made his living and climbed the ranks by becoming a famous porn producer and pimp in order to continue taking advantage of people. this is what gets Neil's attention as he owns anything to do with film and media, leading them to work together. when he finds Andrew, new to hell and looking for a place to stay and money for drugs he very quickly scoops him up and he becomes his favourite and most loved star.

Allison was the heiress to a famously rich family similar to Canon. She was controlling, mean, and obsessed with her image. She died from anorexia and quickly became popular on Voxtagram with her beautiful pics and witty captions and hashtags, quickly gaining the attention of Neil and Drake and becoming the final part of the NDAs.

Nathan was a prolific cannibalistic serial killer (a la Hannibal Lector) and he died during a police shoot-out. He ends up as the overlord of cannibal town after gaining power there and making lots of deals for many souls, becoming one of Riko's best friends too as he often frequents the area as a former cannibal himself.

Nicky is in hell because of his sexuality as well as some of the things he did while alive. after escaping his parents his morals are not very well made and he often makes bad choices that get him in deep shit. he dies after some homophobes find out hes gay and beat him to death (similar to what likely would have happened at Edens if Andrew hadn't stepped in in canon). once he does arrive in hell he figures "what the hell" and kind of goes off the rails a bit with drugs, drinking, and property damage, quickly adopting Andrew under his wing, claiming he reminds him of his cousin a bit and they become very close.

That's all I have so far!!!! please add if you'd like, i always love more ideas :)

[happyleech]

Things/Media I like

Youtube Channels

Sorted - British Food/Cooking youtube

Outsidexbox/outsideextra - Video Game youtube. Not actually all about xbox

DancingBacons - No (verbal) commentary food blogger

Solosolotravel - no (verbal) commentary Japanese train/travel youtube (turn on captions for the commentary)

SHN Survival Horror Network - no commentary horror letsplay youtube

SecretSleepoverSociaty - Vods of the corresponding video game Twitch channel

Drawfee - Art youtube.... i dunno how to describe drawfee haha

Fascinating Horror - Mini documentaries about disasters/accidents

Girl With The Dogs / Girl With The Dogs 2 - Dog grooming youtube

Alexandria Ryan - Make-up subscription boxes and advent calendars

Podcasts

Wolf 359 - Sci-fi, space, and comedy mashed into one. I'm love Hera

Sawbones - medical podcast (for fun!)

Music

Dreamcatcher - kpop

Poets Of The Fall

Chung Ha - kpop

Oneus - kpop

Stan Rogers

Marianas Trench

Melnitsa - Russian band

Journey OST

Stars

World Order - Japanese Band (NOT to do with conspiracy theories)

Video Games

Silent Hill

Control

Alan Wake

Bayonetta

Pikmin

Elebits

The Evil Within

Resident Evil

The Long Dark

Edith Finch

Dead by Daylight

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

2 Point Hospital/Campus

Atomicrops

Kingdom

Journey

Abzu

Books/Authors

Simon R Green

Terry Pratchett

Tamora Pierce

Garden Spells

The Price Guide to the Occult

The Greywalker Series

David Eddings (specifically the Elenium and the Temuli trilogies)

Enchanted Forest Chronicals

Movies/TV

Porco Rosso (Ghibli movie)

Mononoke (anime, not the Ghibli movie)(it's on canadian netflix rn and im so excited to rewatch)

The Mummy/The Mummy Returns

Webbed Site

Flight Rising - dragons

-

@kaifami

[crescentmoonrider]

People you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @keikotwins. Hi old friend !!

Three ships: I've been on my Fushiguro Toji/Okkotsu Yuuta agenda for the past 3 years and it doesn't look like I'm going to stop anytime soon lmao. Gong Shi-woo/Higuruma Hiromi are also often discussed with one of my friends these days. As for the third... let's say Adachi Tohru/Dojima Ryoutarou, since I've been thinking of doing a Stardew Valley playthrough while roleplaying as Adachi

First ship: Oh man. I think it's between Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker from D. Gray-man, or Envy/Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. My first long-fic was edvy for sure though !!

Last song: I am right this second listening to "抜刀" by 羽生まゐご ft. 花譜. A very sweet song from one of my favorite composers currently

Favorite color: I'm feeling like yellow right now

Currently watching: Well there's football on the tv right now, England vs Italy, but I am. Not exactly watching. We've been going through "Durarara!!" with the mom these past few weeks though !

Last Movie: Yesterday I half-watched "Péril en la demeure" (1985), which was. Certainly a movie. Surprising amount of homoeroticism considering the bulk of the story was about an affair between a man and a married woman. Been thinking about redrawing a scene with the guy and the hitman, just for fun

Currently reading: "Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World" (2005) ed. Johnathan Gray et al. I am on that literature grind for my Masters thesis, but it's an interesting read at least

Sweet/savory/spicy: Sweet !! Especially now that the weather's finally got a bit colder, sweets are always welcome

Currently consuming: Water. Got my bottle right next to me :3

Currently craving: A hug. I don't get to see my friends nearly as often as I used to and I can feel the touch-starvation settling in

Relationship status: Happily committed to my friends, both irl and online <3 No interest in dating anyone as of now

Last web search: "martha stewart snoop dog prison" because my book mentioned Martha Stewart and her fans and I was like. I do not know that lady, but for some reason her name brings to mind that picture of a white lady with Snoop Dog and a caption that was like "one of these people has been to prison and it's not the one you'd think" so I had to make sure. It was in fact this white lady by the way

Currently working on: Thesis......... but also Kinktober

Tagging: Anyone who wants to do this ! I don't want to make anyone feel like they have to do it, when I usually don't do these haha

[potetopro]

I Used Artificial Intelligence on Japanese Voice Actor (Seiyuu) Content

TL;DR Seiyuu fansubber rambles too long about how Whisper and other AI go *BRRRR!!!!* and the future of humanity is at stake. Actual TL;DR OpenAI's Whisper gives us a sneak peek into just how much automatic transcription and translation by artificial intelligence has improved. I wouldn't say it'll completely replace human translation just yet, but it's definitely something industries will have to adapt to.

Introduction

Let's start why I even decided to make this blog. I woke up today and noticed a message on The Seiyuu Stage Discord server that had a very interesting link to a reddit post. According to OP, they used OpenAI's Whisper to create a collection of English translated subtitles on the popular TV show "Tokyo Encounter", which is hosted by the famous Japanese voice actors (seiyuu) Nakamura Yuuichi and Sugita Tomokazu. OP claims that Whisper has "quite good translation" and was "roughly ~90% accurate". That's a pretty big claim if I do say so myself.

Although the link led to one of those shady pirating sites, curiousity got the best of me and I decided to download it like an idiot. Fortunately I didn't get hit with a trojan or anything, and the file was just a zip full of .ass files (subtitle files similar to .srt files). Before I jump into the main content of this blog post, I'd like to provide some important background information that is required to understand just what I'm talking about.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in the field of artificial intelligence. I am also not a native Japanese speaker.

Background Information

Even if you've been living under a rock for the past year or so, you've probably at least heard of the crazy fast advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) within the past few months. You've probably heard of Stable Diffusion, ChatGPT, and many other AI that have begun to revolutionize the world. Today I'll be doing a quick review of how well OpenAI's Whisper works on a certain type of niche content. For those of who are not yet unware, OpenAI is famous for it's AI "ChatGPT". I literally asked ChatGPT to explain what ChatGPT is here below.

What is OpenAI's Whisper?

So what about Whisper? What is its purpose? According to OpenAI's official blog post,

"Whisper is an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system trained on 680,000 hours of multilingual and multitask supervised data collected from the web."

To put it simply, Whisper is like a supercharged Google Translate for videos and audio or a better YouTube auto-captions.

Like YouTube's auto-captions feature, Whisper can transcribe human speech and even translate it into other languages. The one downside is that Whisper cannot auto transcribe and auto translate in real time, so you cannot watch a video/listen to audio at the same time. That leads me to the next section of this horribly organized post.

OpenAI's Whisper Vs. Japanese Voice Actor (Seiyuu) Content

Ok, with all of the background knowledge that's required to understand is now out of the way, I can finally jump into the main purpose of this blog. The main things I'll be exploring are listed below

Just HOW GOOD is Whisper AI at transcribing and translating Japanese? More specifically, speech from professional voice actors in Japan, who are usually known for having some of the most clearest enunciation in the country.

How does Whisper compare to other machine transcribers/translators such as YouTube's Auto-Captions feature and Adobe's Speech to Text feature for Premiere Pro?

Is Whisper AI even worth using?

Whisper AI - Transcribing & Translating

Due to some issues with my PC not cooperating with them, I am currently not able to actually use Whisper myself. Therefore, I will be using Whisper outputs that I got from other people.

Let's start by looking where Whisper messes up.

CLIP 1

Nakamura: How about you set it to today? Hanae: It's the 9th.

So in the clip above, Nakamura suggests Hanae to set the date on the game to be the day the episode airs/is recorded, which is on the 9th of the month. For some reason, Whisper completely messes up the translation. This is about 1 minute and 30 seconds into the episode, and until then there were no obvious mistakes from Whisper.

CLIP 2

There are two lines in the clip above that stand out to me.

花江 「出た！懐かしい」 Hanae: I remember this 杉田 「ちょっと声が若い」 Sugita: He's a young man

While the translation for Hanae's line isn't outright wrong, it lacks some nuance. I would've translated it as, "There it is! This brings me back!"

Whisper leaves out the nuance of Hanae being surprise when it suddenly appears on screen, and also him expressing his feeling of nostalgia.

With Sugita's line, Whisper straight up incorrectly translates the line. Sugita states that the voice of speaker in the game sounds like he's young (implying that the voice of the speaker sounds a lot older in the present day).

CLIP 3

In this 3rd clip, I'd like to praise Whisper for accurately transcribing the input controls that Hanae is reading out loud. There were no mistakes in this particular clip, and it didn't make any mistakes when Hanae was reading the input controls before this scene as well.

If I had to nitpick, Whisper seems to really push back the timing of each subtitle line way too much. You can clearly see that the line appears before anyone actually says anything, and this issue persists throughout the rest of clips I'll be showing. Obviously, this is something you can manually fix and is rather simple.

Also, Whisper seems to not care about pauses within a sentence. Hanae laughs, causing him to not complete his sentence smoothly, however Whisper doesn't take that into account. This ties into the next clip.

CLIP 4

In this next clip above, there are no mistakes. I would say that Whisper did a pretty good job here correctly translating what was said, and there's not really much to complain about.

However, I would like to note that Whisper lacks a sense of "spice" to all of its outputs. I can't say, "It's almost as if a machine made this", because well... a machine basically did. Whisper lacks that special feeling that a human took their time to think about and translate each line. It is quite literally robotic at times.

CLIP 5

So in this clip above, you can clearly tell that the issues I mentioned earlier are all kind of compounded.

The timing of the subtitle line is way too early.

"He's not doing anything." is not what Nakuramura said.

Whisper completely ignored what Sugita said.

CLIP 6

In this final clip from the show, I'd like to include it because what's happening on screen is just kind of funny.

Whisper mistakes Hanae saying すね毛 (sunege), which means leg hair, for the word "sneaky".

I would like to praise Whisper for properly indentifying that Sugita is the one actually controlling the character in this clip though. Japanese is a language where simply saying a verb can be considered as gramatically correct, which means that they can leave out pronouns like "I".

PIKA CLIP

Let's look at a clip that includes both human translation and Whisper translation. This clip was made by Pika Can't Sub, a fellow seiyuu fansubber and the one who originally linked the reddit post I mentioned earlier. They set up Whisper locally on their PC and tested it out themselves.

In the clip above, the WHISPER translated subtitles are the white ones on the top, and Pika's manual translation on the bottom. You can clearly see that Whisper is REALLY GOOD. Both Whisper's and Pika's translations work really well and there's practically little to no unnatural English.

One thing to note here is that this is appears to be a Japanese news show. Narrators must speak very clearly in order to convey the informaton to the viewers, so that probably helped by making it far easier for Whisper to accurately pick up on what was said.

Comparing Whisper to Other Audio Transcribers

YouTube's Auto-Captions Feature

With my limited test of Whisper I would say it is far, FAR, more accurate compared to YouTube's auto-captions. I'm sure most of you reading this blog have at least used YouTube's auto-captions feature before. Whenever you're watching on YouTube that doesn't have manually added captions, you can turn on this feature. It will transcribe what is spoken in the video, and can even automatically translate it to your desired language.

The biggest downside is that this feature tends to make mistakes, and I mean A LOT of mistakes. In my opinion, it works pretty well for English, but for other languages such as Japanese it tends to be really iffy. Mileage may vary. When using YouTube's auto-captions feature to translate from English to Japanese or the other way around, you'll most likely get very unnatural and odd translations.

If you've ever studied a foreign language before, you'll also know that languages like English and German drastically different from languages like Japanese and Korean. I believe that's the reason why so much gets lost in translation when using machine translation like YouTube's auto-captions. Sometimes the top comment on a YouTube video is just about laughing at the mistakes that the auto-captions makes.

It's almost as if Google Translate was just slapped onto YouTube and they called it a day.

Adobe's Speech to Text for Premiere Pro

I will using the video I created above as a reference for this section~

You may have also heard of Adobe's "Speech to Text" for Premiere Pro. Like YouTube's auto-captions and OpenAI's Whisper, it uses AI technology to transcribe human speech into text. As far as I'm aware though, Adobe's version does not have any translation feature, and also has a far more limited amount of languages that it can transcribe. In my personal opinion, it is far better than YouTube's auto-captions. Since Premiere Pro is a software application for video editing, the Speech to Text integration is really nice. One major downside is that this Adobe feature, along with the rest of their suite, is not free and you have to pay a monthly subscription just to use it.

Like Whisper, you give the AI an audio file that it will read. The AI will then spend a certain amount of time, which varies depending on the length of the audio file, and then spit out the transcription of what you originally fed it. What's nice about Adobe's Speech to Text is that you can literally select it word for word and it'll start playing the timeline from the exact point the AI picked up that word. With Whisper, it only gives you a completed file with timestamps. I believe Whisper gives you an SRT file and that's about it.

My Experience With Adobe's AI

The video is a snippet that I translated and edited from the Bocchi the Radio!, which is the official radio for the TV anime Bocchi the Rock!. The speakers in this clip are the voice actresses for Gotoh Hitori and Yamada Ryou. In this particular episode, 青山吉能 (Aoyama Yoshino) AKA Yoppii, has just physically moved away from her microphone in the studio in order to grab the mail that they have received from listeners of the radio. She is now rushing back to her seat and trying to make it in time to read the segment title and explanation before the music ends. You can also hear 水野朔 (Mizuno Saku) AKA Sakupi, laughing as she is confused as to why Yoppii is frantically running around the studio.

Adobe's version is definitely not perfect by any means. Below, I have provided a small snippet of the raw output I got from it after giving it a wav file (mp3 files work just fine as well). This is about 0:10 in the YouTube video above.

If you can understand Japanese and English, you can immediately tell there are some discrepancies in what Adobe's AI outputted.

Adobe's Speech to Text Output

Yoppii 「その割合こちらの。」 "Here's the proportion."

Yoppii 「コーナーリスナーさんから用件はこう��うことをしているという最新四家情報を送ってもらうコーナーです。」 This is a corner where listeners send us the latest information about the latest four houses that are doing this kind of thing.

My Manual Transcription Fix

Yoppii 「ああああ！！！！間に合え！！」 "AHHHH!!!! MAKE IT IN TIME!!!!"

Yoppii 「こちらのコーナー！リスナーさんから陽キャはこういうことをしているという最新ら陽キャ情報を送ってもらうコーナーです。」 "It's a segment~~! This is a segment where we get listeners to send us the latest extrovert information about how extroverts are doing ____."

For those who don't understand Japanese I'll try to explain some common issues I have with this feature, and elaborate more on the mistakes that the AI has made in this particular case.

One of the many issues I've had with Adobe's Speech to Text feature is that it tends to split lines at an odd place in the sentence. Not quite sure why that is, but I suspect it has to do with how this feature tends to split English speech. Sometimes the AI will spit out a line that is just a huge blob of text and you have to manually split it into multiple lines.

Sometimes Adobe's Speech to Text just leaves out entire words and/or completely transcribes the wrong word. I've noticed this happens whenever there's music that plays at the same time, and/or the audio of the speaker isn't clear. This occurs with YouTube's auto-captions as well and I can't blame it. Error 1: Yoppii is basically doing that fake "AHHHH!!!!" scream, and also yells "MAKE IT IN TIME!!!!" as she tries to get back into her seat in time. The AI obviously did not transcribe this part at all. Error 2: The slang term 陽キャ (you-kya) in Japanese refers to someone who is rather bright, cheerful, and outgoing. I translated it as extrovert in the clip. The AI picked it up as 用件 (you-ken) which means "business; things to be done; errand". It also picked it up a second time as 四家 which is literally four houses lol

In conclusion, with all the bashing I've done on Adobe's Speech to Text feature, I think it's actually really great. The particular example I showed above is usually a tough one for most AI/machine transcribers anyway. It ends to do really well, and far better than what YouTube's auto-captions usually outputs. Although I still have to manually retime all the subtitle lines and manually fix transcription errors, this AI has been an amazing tool in bringing my content creation to the next level.

I would say as a fansubber, timing all the subtitle lines is one of the most time consuming parts of the process, aside from actually translating all the lines. With Adobe's Speech to Text, it actually speeds up the process. With all the AI I've used so far, which isn't just limited to transcribing and translating AI, I've realized that they're best used as a sort of launching pad. With Adobe's Speech to Text, it gives me a rough mold (starting point) and then I can reshape it to how I want, which is a lot faster than starting with nothing at all.

Some other things that make Adobe's Speech to Text feature better than OpenAI's Whisper

You can choose whether or not to distuingish between mulitple speakers, and you can even manually rename or add more if you like.

After the trancription process is done, you can even convert all of it to captions. Since Premiere Pro 2022, Adobe has added a dedicated captions layer and other updates to make the editing process a better experience. I personally don't use this, because I tend to split each line in a very specific manner that's not possible with the current settings.

I also used Adobe's Speech to Text to help me create this video below.

Please check out the rest of my YouTube channel~

DeepL Translator

I'd like to just mention DeepL really quick. Like Google Translate, you can give it some text in one language and it will translate to one of the many other languages that are available. I would say DeepL gives far better translations than Google Translate.

DeepL also tends to do really well when translating single sentences. It is pretty good at keeping the nuances and that special human "spice" in slang. That's just my experience with Japanese to English and English to Japanese though.

Unfortunately, DeepL doesn't seem to have a video/audio transcription model or service. That means you would have to manually input each sentence if you were to do a video, and that would an absolute pain. DeepL does seem to have a feature that allows you to upload word documents and PDF files, but I have not tested that out.

Final Thoughts

If you actually read this far, you are a mad man and I truly appreciate you for taking time out of your day to do so. Thank you so much.

How should I conclude this blog...?

To put it simply, this is a game changer.

I started using Adobe's Speech to Text around the end of 2022, and at the time I thought it was an absolute game changer. I had seen some posts about OpenAI's Whisper on TikTok, but didn't think it would be better than Adobe's model. However, after doing some research and writing this blog, I think Whisper might be just as good, if not better than Adobe's. Of course, YouTube's Auto-Captions doesn't even compare. As for DeepL, I would say DeepL is way better for adding in that human "spice" and sounding naturally. Unfornatutely as of writing this blog, DeepL doesn't seem to be working on any video transcription service (that I'm aware of).

So is OpenAI's Whisper worth looking into and using it yourself? ABSOLUTELY. It's open-source, which means its free and the results it gives are without a doubt one of the best out there. AI such as Whisper aren't quite developed enough to completely replace transcribers and translators such as myself just yet, but I'm not sure how much longer until it will. As of right now, these types of AI can be used as a very powerful tool to accelerate your work and actually provide positive changes!

I can't wait to see how much further AI will improve within the next couple years!

Please check out the rest of my channel! I create japanese voice actor (seiyuu) subbed content, mainly on YouTube!

[geraldinepoles]

The Reason Why Do People Prefer News?

Today's digital age has seen media consumption shift away from TV and newspapers onto the internet. This has resulted in an increase in news online consumption. A growing number of people are opting to get their news from websites or social networks, as well as news apps. But why do people prefer online news? The reasons for this trend in this post.

Convenience

One of the main reasons the majority of people choose online news is the convenience. The internet lets users have access to the most up-to-date information at any time, from anywhere with smartphones or laptops. There is no need to wait until the newspaper comes out or for the latest news from the television. Online news sources are updated frequently, ensuring that users get the most recent updates as soon after it's published.

Variety

The advantages of online news are numerous. Online news is more diverse as opposed to traditional media outlets, which are limited in coverage. It allows users to get access to many different publications all over the world and can provide an enormous benefit. News sources online allow users to examine different views and take informed choices.

Interactivity

News sites also provide readers with interactive features. Readers can leave comments on news stories, share their views, and engage in discussions among other readers. This helps to create the feeling of community among readers, which can enhance the reading experience.

Multimedia

Multimedia content, such as videos and photos, is often available online news sources. It can improve the understanding of an piece. The news on the web is much more informative and enjoyable than traditional media. Mash Viral is the top online news site for the latest issues and breaking news on the fields of entertainment, sports, politics and gaming technology politics. We are thrilled to provide valuable information.

Speed

Online news sources are more trustworthy than traditional media outlets. The news online is typically more quickly than traditional media. This speed of news delivery makes news online a desirable choice for those looking to stay informed about recent events.

Personalization

The newsfeeds of readers can be personalized onlineby tailoring them to what they are interested in. This means that readers can receive news relevant to them, instead of having to search through irrelevant news stories either in the newspaper or TV.

Accessibility

Accessibility to online news can be easier for those handicapped. Online news sites often offer screen readers or closed captioning which allows those with hearing and visual disabilities to follow the latest news.

Social Media

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have also contributed to the growth of the consumption of news online. Users can follow news sites they love, like articles, share them and engage in conversations amongst themselves. The result is that news becomes more easily available and more social, which is why it has gained more popularity.

Reliability

Although there are a great deal of misinformation and fake news on the web, there are several reliable sources for news. The news sites on the web are typically subject to fact-checking and peer-review, which makes their sources more trustworthy than traditional media outlets that might be biased or have an agenda.

Cost

Additionally, online news is often free, or is available for a small cost. This makes it available to those who might not have the money to pay for an annual subscription to a paper or cable TV. People can also access the information of many sources at a low price without paying for a higher price.

Conclusion

The advantages of online news are numerous. News on the internet is popular due to its convenience, availability, diversity, interactivity and multi-media. Also, it provides the speed of a personal experience, as well as access and accessibility, as well as reliability and social aspect, as well as affordability and personalization. While more and more people browse news online traditional media, they must adapt to this changing landscape to be relevant.

[pompommepurr]

I posted 84 times in 2022

That's 84 more posts than 2021!

52 posts created (62%)

32 posts reblogged (38%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@meowdcyno

@08milk

@belfryprepz

@solpng

@bisexualshakespeare

I tagged 73 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#genshin impact - 8 posts

#manga - 5 posts

#junkissa neko - 3 posts

#yukiru sugisaki - 3 posts

#coffee cat - 3 posts

#i love them so much - 2 posts

#lyrics - 2 posts

#germany - 2 posts

#kdrama - 2 posts

#web weaving - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#when mina said you're anti social there's like a 97.5% chance you'll leave a company with a stress induced illness if you dont work with me

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

this is not even news but genshin hates dark skinned people and diluc skin outfit looks........

8 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

#4

babe wake up new fate quote dropped

[ID: screenshot from my liberation notes where yeom kijung is fixing her hair in the mirror while her mum says off screen „Fate is nothing more than a person‘s outlook on life.“/end ID]

11 notes - Posted May 18, 2022

#3

have these two memes cause i’m emotional about prehistoric planet alright

[ID: two memes edited by me.

1. A two-panel meme from Seinfeld. Jerry looks down with a bemused expression and asks: "You're crying from Prehistoric Planet?" George looks down with a teary expression and says: "Alcione hatchlings being clumsy in taking their first flight across the ocean to a forest that guarantees safety got to me." Jerry says: "All right." 

2. The Brooklyn Nine-Nine meme of Rosa Diaz holding a white puppy, replaced by two T. Rex babies from the tv show Prehistoric Planet. The caption reads: "I've only had Baby T. Rex for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself."

End ID]

13 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

#2

See the full post

20 notes - Posted May 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

136 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[lanottedellastrega]

Man, I haven't done a transcript in a while...

Editor's Letter: GHOULS ON FILM

Tobias Forge has always been wildly ambitious. After throwing everything at Ghost in his last real shot as a professional musician, he established the band as an occult-rock force you couldn't look away from, all shady Nameless Ghouls and papal vestments. As the years rolled by, Tobias might have unmasked, but the Ghost legend has only grown. Back at their early gigs in 2010, few could have predicted they'd have their own actual movie in 2024. Like everything Ghost do, Rite Here Rite Now has been kept tightly under wraps, but Tobias was kind enough to grant our Paul Brannigan an audience, and reveal the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to such a triumph of creativity. And if you're reading this letter on June 20, the day the magazine goes on sale and the day the film premieres, you're probably about to experience his vision for yourself. "This is not a tale about death, but one of life…" intones the voicover on Rite Here Rite Now's spooktacular, schlock'n'roll trailer. While we can't say for certain if Papa IV will survive in his current form, we certainly hope Ghost are around to entertain us for a long time to come.

Stay metal, Eleanor Goodman, Editor

RITES. CAMERA. ACTION! From dancing ghouls to…dead Papas? Tobias forge takex us behind the scenes of Rite Here Rite Now, Ghost's new movie spectacular. Words: Paul Brannigan - Lives: Ryan Chang - Portraaits: Travis Shinn

[Accompanying photo: two-page spread of the Forum Ritual, taken during Con Clavi Con Dio, with Papa downstage center holding the thurible. Caption: "Everything Ghost do is BIG. We expect no less from the film"]

Last year, in case you didn't notice, those "hands that threaten doom" which Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson once sang about, inched 10 seconds closer to midnight. The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the people who created the Doomsday Clock back in 1947 to gauge how close humanity is to destroying the world, reset the minute hand for the 25th time since its creation, moving it closer to the hour than it has ever been. So the prospect of imminent global catastrophe is now ever more pronounced, which, to be honest, is something of a bummer.

"We are approaching the end of an era. So let's have a good time." It was with these equally doom-laden words that Papa Emeritus IV, Ghost's puckish frontman, welcomed the faithful to the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on September 11 last year, for the first of two 'rituals' bringing the Re-Imperatour USA 2023 tour to a close. For those in attendance, the weight of those words hung heavily in the air.

In February last year, news that a second night at the 17,500-capacity venue had been added to the end of the Swedish band's tour schedule, after the first show sold out, was delivered in Chapter 16 of the occult rock collective's web series. The episode, titled Tax Season, was accompanied by a message from "The Clergy" stating, "We wish to inform you that in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes."

The clip itself featured none-too-subtle hints that Papa Emeritus IV may not be long for this world; at one point, while he's playing a retro racing video game, he's distracted by the sight of a glass coffin being wheeled past his door, and when his attention returns to his TV screen, the words 'Game Over!!!!!!' appear. In Ghost world, where every symbol is scrutinised to the nth degree by the faithful, this was interpreted as a warning that the writing was on the wall for this Papa in the City of Angels. And when it was revealed that the group's two-night stand at the Forum was to be filmed for a future film release, with all phones to be confiscated from patrons upon entry, we feared the worst.

Hammer duly dispatched Associate Editor Dave Everley to Los Angeles to bear witness to what promised to be the gravest chapter yet in Ghost's evolution. At the conclusion of the second night at the Forum, however, Papa IV - "channelling the ghosts of Freddie Mercury and vintage Willy Wonka", Dave noted - was still standing, indeed dancing…but there was a lingering suspicion that there was more to be revealed.

Then, on May 1 this year, came a new message: the announcement that Rite Here Rite Now, Ghost's debut feature film, chronicling the events in Los Angeles, would be screened in cinemas worldwide on June 20 and 22. And those studying the minutiae of the film poster observed that the letter "o" in the final word of the title had been substituted for an analogue clock, its hands positioned at - and you might be ahead of us here - two minutes to midnight. Well, well, well…

"The Doomsday Clock is not an actual clock - it's more of a measuring tool for us to understand how near we are to fucking things up. But it's not like a timer on a bomb, and that means that we can still change things around. And this film is a little bit about that, about turning around and changing your ways, even if it's just your attitude towards things."

The real world time is 6:30pm (BST) on May 9, and an email has just informed us that 'Mary Goore' has joined our Zoom call from Stockholm. Those familiar with Ghost's pre-history will be aware that this was Tobias Forge's stage name in both his death metal band Repugnant and his glam metal outfit Crashdiet, and though he chooses today to keep his camera off, the voice on the call is unmistakably that of Ghost's 43-year-old leader. The trailer for Rite Here Rite Now premiered exactly four and a half hours ago, and as far as Tobias can ascertain, it's been "well met" so far the only "concerns" he as noticed to date bein raised by fans worried that the film has not yet been booked into picture houses in their homelands.

"The film is being distributed in many countries, but not all," he explains, "so I understand that there were some voices that felt like we'd overlooked this or that country. It's like when you announce a tour, and immediately get 'Why aren't you coming to… [insert country name]?' That wasn't our decision, I can't tell you why, it's just that some countries didn't want the film, or whatever."

Officially, the first seeds for Rite Here Rite Now were planted in Tobias's mind "over a decade" ago.

"When Ghost got signed to Loma Vista, Tom Whalley [owner and CEO] asked what the story of the band was," he explained in the press release announcing the film. "He felt telling a story was vital in order to get new fans engaged. I said that because we were a new 'baby' band and, more importantly, we were an anonymous baby band, there wasn't really a compelling story to tell. Not yet anyway. But I told him that if he wanted a story, I could come up with one. This film is the fruit of that conversation."

Those who've follwed the band from their earliest days, however, will know that, from the outset, Ghost emerged accompanied by a sense of theatre. Back in 2012, when I spoke to Swedish journalist Richard Lagergren, formerly the guitarist in the band Portrait, and the first 'outsider' to be informed of the existence of Ghost, he used the words "very cinematic, very surreal and very intense" to describe his first encounter with the group. He revealed that he was at his home one Sunday afternoon in October 2010, when he received a phone call telling him that a local band wished to see him. Within an hour, a car pulled up outside his home, and he was blindfolded, driven into the countryside and led into a disused warehouse, where, once his blindfold was removed, he found himself face-to-face with Papa Emeritus and five Nameless Ghouls, and was informed that he had been selected to begin disseminating word of Ghost's Satanic ministry to the world. This was very much not how bands were expected to conduct their business in 2010, and it telegraphed, from day one, Tobias's (still present) desire to keep Ghost out of step with standard, traditional music industry conventions.

[Accompanying photo: Portrait of Papa IV taken in his costume from the start of the show - gold Huntsman jacket, black pirate shirt, black ascot with devil scarf ring, distressed black pants. He is staring at the camera, his arms crossed and his hands at shoulder height, making the sign of the horns. Caption: "What delights are up Tobias's ornate sleeves this time?"]

"From the start, we were cutting against the grain," he reflects. "If you think back to that time, it was the beginning of when the music industry demanded a sort of hyper-frantic online presence from bands, and every band was updating Facebook as soon as they did anything, sending out private messages, like, 'Hey, everyone, don't forget to buy tickets!' I said immediately to my label, 'I don't wanna do that, I fucking hate that shit, and I don't wanna be part of that…and we're a fucking anonymous band.'

"So it was an issue, and we had to steer around a lot of those things, while figuring out, 'How do we communicate with the world what we want to communicate?' We had to figure out ways to sort of cable out a story to the world, a story that we didn't really have at that time, or a story that I didn't want to tell. Because what was that story going to be? My story? No, fuck that. So I said 'I'm gonna come up with a story, and it might unfold in the form of short little online episodes.' And Tom Whalley was like 'OK, I'm intrigued. What do you want to do?'

"So we started doing these episodes about The Ministry, with our little commercial messages attached, and it turned out fun. But obviously it became very complicated: there's a reason why bands just turn on their phones and are like, 'We're coming to Brazil!' It's so much easier. Whereas everything that we've ever done has always been way more complicated. But lots of fun, too. And so, via those web episodes, the story has really taken shape. The idea of making a film has been in my head for years, and I've always been adamant about the web episodes not being too detailed, because you don't want to paint yourself into a corner, so there's been a lot of loose threads. But I figured that I could take these loose threads, tie them together in some sort of comprehensible form, and that could be the film. And that's why we're talking today, finally!"

If you think that today Tobias Forge is going to outline exactly what happens onscreen in Rite Here Rite Now, you really haven't been paying attention to how Ghost operate. For as much as Tobias loves theatre and showmanship, he also treasures and truly values the mystique around his band. And that has its roots in the way he himself discovered his favourite bands as a teenager. For as much as he loved Kiss, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, the Sex Pistols and Venom, the young Tobias Forge was equally immersed in an underground extreme metal community where anonymity was prized above adulation.

"A lot of the bands that I grew up listening to weren't very famous at all," he recalls. "Some of them didn't ever play live, some 'bands' were actually one guy in his bedroom, and you knew very little about anyone. And when these bands did communicate with the world, it was through fanzines, and very adolescent interviews where they gave outrageous, very provocative answers. That helped cement my magnetism towards maintaining mystique, and back in 2010, I definitely thought that there was a way where Ghost could achieve some sort of success whilst 100% maintaining a mystique. And over the years, I've learned that was hard…but then I never thought we'd be as successful as we are.

"The best way to be anonymous in a band is by not forming a band. Don't do it! It's counterintuitive to remain anonymous if you want to be in a big professional band, and it's counterintuitive to sign with a major label who want to break your band. I've always been under the impression that in order to become a representative of the night, you have to be supernatural, but now it's time to let the world in on the story so far, to some extent."

[Accompanying image: Papa IV on stage during Year Zero, microphone in his left hand, his right hand counting two. Caption: "Is Papa IV on borrowed time?"]

With Rite Here Rite Now, Tobias admits that he's in "virgin territory". But here's what we're allowed to know. The film takes place over the course of one evening, with a narrative centered around a gig in Los Angeles, but with flashbacks referencing storylines in the Ghost 'webisodes', which began on YouTube in March 2018. For metal fans, the concept of a feature film blending a live show with a dramatic narrative will likely call to mind Metallica's bold and largely incomprehensible 2013 film Through The Never, a commercial disaster for the band, with James Hetfield subsequently admitting that it "disappeared" and describing the entire experience as "bittersweet". Tobias insists that, actually, there are no overlaps in what he set out to do with Ghost's film - "that film was never a guiding light" are his exact words - and he cites two alternate films as much more instructive in terms of his ambitions.

"As we were pitching the film, the two films that I mentioned a lot in orer for people to try to comprehend artistically what I'm trying to do were [The Rolling Stones' 1983 concert film] Let's Spend The Night Together mixed with [The Sex Pistols' 1980 'mockumentary'] The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle. There is a sense of an origin story, but it's very much a story that takes place during an evening. So you sort of step right into what is happening right there and right then, and maybe the main character's inability, or unwillingness, to be there.

"One issue, or one challenge, that we faced was making a film that was comprehensible to anyone who had no clue about what Ghost is," he continues. "We have a very, very passionate fanbase, who, to a large degree at least, are very aware of everything that goes on with Ghost. The easy part, conceptually, was to make a film that would please them, because they know the story already, they know the context that we are now extending with this film, because it's basically picking up where the last episodes ended. But we wanted it to be that someone who doesn't know shit about the story gets brought up to speed pretty quickly. But this is where my ability to be objective ends, because I'm wondering, 'Do people understand what I'm saying here? Do people get that?'

"Obviously, as with everyone else, I'm a Star Wars fan, and that worked pretty well in the sense where you just crash land right into the story. That works where the message of the film is quite simple, and I think that the message that we're trying to convey with this film is to be right here right now, and not anywhere else. That's what I'm hoping everyone will understand."

[Accompanying photo: Papa and the ghouls backstage before the show. Caption: "What role will the Ghouls play in Rite Here Rite Now?"]

This sounds quite straightforward on paper. But, as Tobias was to quickly learn, the film business is not straightforward, not when films cost 'x million' dollars to make, and someone has to stump up those 'x million' dollars to get it from scripts and storyboards to the screen. Making a film, Tobias says with a very audible sigh, is so much more complicated than making a record, not least because the trust that an artist accumulates working in the music business doesn't necessarily translate to being trusted with a multi-million dollar film budget.

"The film had to go through discussions with finance people who were as curious about the content as you are," he says, diplomatically. "And let's just say that I sometimes struggled to convey what we were just talking about, and not everyone understood it. I'd be saying, 'Look, this is not really, you know, just us live from the Forum.' And they were like, 'Well, could you scrap the live show and just do a film about something else?' And I'd say, 'Well, that kinda defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to sell to you.' So that was a little bit weird."

The end result of such conversations was that no financial backer came onboard for the film, and Ghost and their management ended up funding the whole process - which, he says, ultimately simplified things. But the uncertainty meant that acclaimed Swedish filmmaker Jonas Akerlund - famously once a member of Bathory, and a creative visionary who's made music videos for the likes of Madonna, The Prodigy, U2 and more, as well as directing films such as Lords of Chaos and Spun - decided to step away from potentially directing the film to instead take on a co-producer role, and to advise Tobias as a friend.

In his place, as director, came American filmmaker Alex Ross Perry. He first saw Ghost opening up for Iron Maiden in New York in July 2017, at the conclusion of Maiden's North American tour for The Book of Souls, and subsequently directed the band's own 'mockumentary' Metal Myths, as well as the fabulously provocative promo video for the band's cover of Genesis's 1992 single, Jesus He Knows Me.

"He was obviously the right choice," says Tobias, "and a no-brainer to come aboard, because not only is he a very, very nice guy, but he also totally understands the band.

"Jonas was very involved with all the legwork beforehand, but when he stepped down as the director, and became a producer, it actually made things a little bit easier, because he became less stressed about it; all of a sudden he became calm, and just became my friend instead, pushing everything along. At no point did I feel like I'd bitten off more than I could chew, but the whole thing was definitely a huge learning experience.

"A lot of film studios sometimes struggle to comprehend something that isn't mainstream," he adds. "Like, it's not uncommon that you might want to make a film about, say, a historical event, and they would be, like, 'Hmmm, it's really depressing that the boat sinks in the end. Can it not do that?' And you're like, 'Well, no, the story is about these two lovers that meet on the sinking boat, and yeah, he dies in the end.' 'But that's so depressing! Can we make a different ending?' 'Er, No.' 'Well, we don't want to pay for that.' That's the sort of shit you're up against."

For Tobias, Rite Here Rite Now is clearly the biggest project that he's ever taken on, but Ghost fans shouldn't worry that they're about to lose their hero to Hollywood. At one point today, he mentions his work on the next Ghost album, specifically saying that he's "synchronising" his work on the film with the new record, so we may get an announcement on that sooner rather than later.

There remains one last matter to discuss. In each chapter of Ghost's journey to date, there has been death and renewal, with a new Papa coming along at the end of each cycle to replace the outgoing bandleader. And yet Papa IV was not killed off in Los Angeles. So, Tobias, is he going to transition into the next cycle?

A drawn out "Errrrrrrr…" comes through the speakers before an answer arrives.

"He will be with us, yeah. For a lifetime, if you will. As everyone is."

Okaaaaaay. But will Papa V also be appearing soon?

"I hope so."

At this point, the band's PR steps in to advise that we have one last question. So we ask if Rite Here Rite Now is close to the vision Tobias had in his head when he first embarked upon this ambitious undertaking.

"It's never, you know, 100%," he answers, "but pretty damn close. A lot of things that I think scared people in meetings a year ago, are things that I know that we pulled off. As an artist, people want you to dream big, but I always try to come up with things that are actually doable.

"Everything with Ghost is difficult and expensive, but the records are getting closer to what I imagine, and this film turned out pretty close to what I envisioned. And when I see the film, even I look at the show and go, 'That's pretty entertaining, that's pretty cool.' This is a film that you have not seen before. And you can all tell me what you thought when you see me next, OK?"

SIDEBAR ARTICLE 1: "I'M IN AWE OF TOBIAS!" Rite Here Rite Now director Alex Ross Perry explains how he helped Ghost's mastermind realise his vision.

[Accompanying photo: Another portrait of Papa IV in the gold jacket. His left hand is on his hip, his right gestures across his body, as though he is pointing to the sidebar. Caption: "Tobias has one helluva vision. Getting execs to understand it ain't easy!"]

[Inset photo: Alex Ross Perry looking off-camera to the right, as though he is staring at the photo of Papa next to him.]

Pennsylvania-born filmmaker Alex Ross Perry has a CV that includes helming music videos for the likes of Kim Gordon, Pavement, Sleigh Bells and Bully; writing, producing and directing acclaimed grunge/punk movie Her Smell; and creating Ghost's brilliant 2022 mockumentary, Metal Myths. However, he explains, working with Tobias Forge on Rite Here Rite Now was an experience like no other.

How did you and Tobias first come into one another's orbit? "I first saw Ghost opening up for Iron Maiden in New York, at the Barclays Center, seven years ago, and then I went on YouTube and had a lot of fun diving into their music videos. I'd done work for [Ghost's US record label] Loma Vista, and so I said to them, 'Nothing I've done is in the world of this band, but I'm a big fan, so if you ever need anything in the world of Ghost, my hand is raised.' And a couple of months later, I was asked if I wanted to create an official/unofficial Ghost mockumentary, streamlining the narrative woven into the band's story, and that became Metal Myths, which launched on April Fool's Day 2022."

How was that received? "I know that Tobias really liked what we did with that, and thought it was an amazing testament to his work and creativity. So then I was asked to curate an event at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles to celebrate Ghost's Grammy nomination [for Best Metal Performance, for Call Me Little Sunshine], and we had some fun working on the Mary On The Cross [sic] 1969 era. While I was out in LA, we did the Jesus He Knows Me music video too, and I was told, 'We're doing a movie,' so I said 'Well, if you need any help, I'm here.'"

What did you make of Tobias when you first spoke to him? "I was, and am, a huge admirer of everything that he's built, so I was in awe of his creativity and the scope of his vision, and I remain so having now collaborated with him on this movie. He's one of the greats, in terms of the vision he has. He's a nerd, a repository for information and references to music history and film history, and that is incredibly rare. His vision has taken him so far in 10 years, and in 10 years' time it'll have taken him even further. My favorite band is Kiss, and Tobias might say the same, but they stumbled when they tried to branch out with [1978 TV film] Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park, whereas Tobias built a visual narrative into the Ghost solar system from the beginning. Working with him was constantly inspiring."

What was the most challenging part of the whole process for you? "It was just logistically very complex. It was challenging being at the Forum, shooting scenes that we were going to connect with scenes that we would be filming five months later."

How much creative input did you get to have, and how much were you able to bring your own vision to what was already mapped out? "I consider it a real collaboration between the two of us. His vision for the storytelling is crystal clear, but even though the A to Z is mapped out, there's so much room to discuss what happens from B to Y. You could just talk all night about that, and we did many times, like, 'Does this happen?' 'Is this joke funny?' 'Should this scene have no dialogue?' I took ideas that were not possible and turned them into ideas that are possible. We sat on his tourbus one month before the Forum and just talked until 4 or 5am about every story beat, every scene, every moment between the characters. It was such an amazing experience from start to finish."

SIDEBAR ARTICLE 2: "I'D SIT WATCHING FILMS ALL NIGHT, THEN HAVE A HORRENDOUS NEXT DAY IN SCHOOL!" Five flicks that fired the imagination of teenage cinephile Tobias Forge

[Accompanying photo: A third portrait of Papa IV in the gold jacket, staring directly into the camera and throwing the horns with both hands. Caption: "What the Devil will Tobias do next?"]

By his own admission, Tobias Forge is a film nerd, who watched "everything, all the time."

"I've always been very interested in cinema," he says. "As a kid, I'd watch everything that my older brother and his friends were watching, and as soon as I was old enough, I had a TV and VCR in my bedroom. I spent so much time in front of the TV playing guitar and watching films - French drama, comedy, horror, action, all kinds of films. I'd sit watching films all night, then have a horrendous next day in school! Anyone who has a record collection and video collection similar to mine will recognize lots of little references in our film."

Here are five films that regularly got slotted into the video cassette recorder in Tobias's teenage bedroom.

THE FUNHOUSE (Tobe Hooper, 1981) Tacky, violent and unpleasantly scary slasher flick set in a traveling carnival, directed by Tobe Hooper, who had produced, co-written and directed 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A commercial failure, but one with cult appeal for fans of 80s 'video nasties'.

SCARFACE (Brian De Palma, 1983) Endlessly quotable and unrelentingly violent crime drama depicting the rise and fall of drug lord Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino. One of the most iconic gangster films ever made, referenced on countless gangsta rap records. All together now: "Say hello to my little friend!"

C.H.U.D. (Douglas Cheek, 1984) Schlocky sci-fi horror about murderous humanoids roaming the sewers of New York City. Ghost pal Dave Grohl was also a fan of the movie. His teenage band, Mission Impossible, recorded a song called C.H.U.D. with a chorus that ran: 'Chaotic Hardcore Underage Delinquents! Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers!'

BETTY BLUE (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1986) Impossibly intense French 'erotic psychological drama' featuring lots of philosophical musing, lots of steamy sex, and an inevitable slide into madness. A cult classic, which shifted tens of thousands of film posters to art and film studies students worldwide, it made 21-year-old Beatrice Dalle an international sex symbol.

LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF (Leos Carax, 1991) Another intense, wordy French drama about a doomed, obsessive love affair, staring a young Juliette Binoche as homeless artist Michele besotted with alcohol-and-pills-addicted wannabe circus performer Alex (Denis Lavant). The film went insanely over-budget and took forever to shoot; by the end, real-life lovers Binoche and Carax had split.

Copped the Ghost Metal Hammer so thought I’d share the contents for anyone who may not be able to buy it for themselves (the article and Tobias interview is Rite Here Rite Now spoiler free!)

Let me know if any of the photos are bad quality and I’ll re-take them!

[techtired]

How To AirPlay From Mac to Roku

One more expected necessity nowadays is the integration of technologies, such as AirPlay Mac to Roku. Apple has a sharing feature lets you stream items from your computer to other gadgets, including the streaming media player. This enables uploading videos, photos, and audio, but the other does not. Suppose you are interested in improving this workflow and learning more about the future of moving beyond the computer screen and into a media player. In that case, this guide will be helpful. We will also explain why the media application is the best fit for connecting such gadgets. Section 1: Preparing for Sharing First, you need to check if your media player and computer have the required features to share files. Checking Compatibility Mac: This sharing feature is compatible with computers with newer operating system versions. This capability comes included. Roku: Sharing currently works for many streaming media players using current software. For instance, there are models such as the Smart Soundbar. If you want to be sure about the model of your media player, you can get it from the settings. For instance, if your software requires updating, you can look for the update in the settings. Enabling sharing on the media player Power on the device and go to settings. Turn on sharing. You can also set an extra condition as a code to enhance security. Make sure both your devices are connected to the same wireless connection It would be best to do this by clicking on your computer's media file— a video, image, or music. Go to the sharing icon or tab from the menu and select the mirror Mac to Apple TV. You can choose the player you want if other media players are available. If you set a code, you must enter it on the TV to connect. Your media should now appear on your television. A specialized media app can enhance the watching experience in cases of lag or connection issues. Part 2: Reasons Why the Media App is Among the Best The computer and the media player provide sharing capabilities, but there are issues with specific formats or latency issues. It is compatible with most formats and has fast streaming capabilities. Here's why it's the top solution: Here's why it's the top solution: Extensive File Support While essential sharing may sometimes fail due to unsupported formats, the media app supports almost any file. Regardless of MP4, MOV, MKV, and AVI formats, this app opens and plays them with no additional codecs. This flexibility suits users with different media who want to share it without issues. Optimized Streaming Some of the many advantages of sharing include that with the media app; files can stream instead of having lags and buffer times. There is very little lag time when watching videos; you can watch videos in high definition, etc. Streaming eliminates the problem of synchronization of the devices to make your experience a better one. Intuitive Interface You can freely control media and streaming because the interface is friendly. To use it: Install the App: You can download it from the web and install it on your computer. You can obtain it from the official website or the app store. Open Media: Open it and click on the link to stream the file. Connect Devices: Click the streaming icon, and if the devices are on the same network, select your media player if it is available. Enjoy Streaming: Your media is ready on your player with no interruption. It is more advantageous than essential sharing, notably for large or high-definition files. Custom Playback Another helpful function is the ability to control the video playback. Some features you can easily set include speed, subtitles, and even audio and video options within the application. This level of control is not possible otherwise, which provides a substantial streaming benefit. It also supports External Audio and Captions. For example, you can use external audio tracks and subtitles when streaming foreign materials with multiple soundtracks. Make sure to download subtitles within the application to avoid any issues. No Extra Equipment Needed The app requires no additional hardware or software on the media player. It is software that you can download and install on your computer and stream effortlessly. Reliable Performance There is more consistent streaming stability than sharing lags or even stuck videos. It manages the playback of even large media files well for improved full-high-definition video. Secure Streaming Wireless streaming has the disadvantage that other users can view your files. The app employs encrypted protocols for the content to ensure your media stays private. Conclusion Sharing is fast, but some issues may be faced with specific formats. Elmedia Player provides the best solution to avoid the problems mentioned while using the media app. Full compatibility with devices and easy playback controls make it an ideal solution for seamless streaming between devices. Whether the user is watching movies, listening to music, or viewing photos, this app offers the best streaming with smooth playback and performance. Next time you want to stream media, you can use it to share. Read the full article

[internetcompanynews]

Escape To The Country’s Sonali Shah poses with very-rarely seen young daughter in sweet snap - Journal Important Web - BLOGGER https://www.merchant-business.com/escape-to-the-countrys-sonali-shah-poses-with-very-rarely-seen-young-daughter-in-sweet-snap/?feed_id=178553&_unique_id=66cc63c2a65e9 Sonali Shah, a well-known face on our screens, has presented shows like Newsround and Escape to the Country. But when the cameras stop rolling, Sonali leads an intriguing life, from her private family life to penning children’s books and showcasing an impressive talent.The BBC presenter, 44, is happily married to Adarsh Shah and they have two children, Ariana and Rafi, born in 2013 and 2016 respectively. The family, who reside in London, keep their personal life private, but Sonali has shared a few glimpses, including an adorable newborn photo of Ariana on Instagram to mark International Daughters Day in 2020. The TV presenter shared an adorable snap with her rarely-seen daughter back in 2020 for International Daughters Day (Image: Instagram/Sonali Shah)She captioned the photo: “I took this photo almost 7 years ago… Ariana used to sleep on my shoulder… now she rests her head on my shoulder when she stands so tall next to little ol’ me. My mum is right, there’s nothing quite like having a daughter.”In an interview with Baby Magazine, Sonali described motherhood as a “rollercoaster”, saying: “I know it’s a cliche expression but life as a mum is the ultimate rollercoaster especially because I’m a working mum.”She spoke about the chaos of getting ready for work and the precious moments she gets to relax and appreciate her life. Sonali also spoke to the Express about her wedding day, revealing she wore two dresses, which she designed herself during a two-week trip to Mumbai. The TV presenter keeps her family life away from the spotlight (Image: Instagram/Sonali Shah)Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for freeShe said: “I spent two weeks in Mumbai and designed them myself. Saris are the closest things I have to couture.”Sonali grew up in Edgware, London and was raised by her parents who migrated from India, along with her younger brother Amal. She attended Longfield First and Middle School, followed by Whitmore High School in Harrow.She later pursued broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University. After completing her degree, she joined the BBC World Service as a producer in 2002 and started presenting on The World Today and World Business Report. Since then, she’s hosted numerous shows like Sportsround, BBC’s coverage of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Commonwealth Games and BBC One’s British Olympic Dreams. From her time on TV, Sonali has made a host of celebrity friends including Strictly Come Dancing stars Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec, along with Nicki Chapman, the late Jonnie Irwin and Jules Hudson. Sonali with Strictly Come Dancing stars Janette Manrara and Aljaž Škorjanec (Image: Instagram/Sonali Shah) Sonali Shah, Nicki Chapman, Jonnie Irwin and Jules Hudson in 2023 (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)But there’s more to Sonali than just presenting – she’s also a dancer, having trained for over a decade. The 44 year old specialises in street dance, Indian classical and Indian folk dance.The Newsround presenter is certainly a talented dancer as she performed to Outkast’s Hey Ya! on BBC’s Let’s Dance for Comic Relief. Although she didn’t make it to the final with co-presenter Ore Oduba, she still enjoys dancing and occasionally shares her moves on Instagram.In addition to her presenting work, Sonali has also written a children’s book. Taking to social media with a burst of excitement, she shared: “Popped into @waterstonestrafsq over the weekend to see if #TheBestDiwaliEver is actually IRL bookshops…I had to see it to actually believe it…was a proper pinch me moment..” Sonali danced to ‘Hey Ya!’ by Outkast with Ore Oduba for BBC’s Let’s Dance for Comic Relief (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)She couldn’t contain her joy as she announced: “I HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK AND IT’S IN AN ACTUAL BOOKSHOP.

” Her debut, titled The Best Diwali Ever, spins the tale of a girl on a mission to win the rangoli competition and have the most fabulous Diwali celebration.Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.“Sonali Shah is a familiar face on our screens, having presented Newsround and Escape to the Country, but away from TV spends time with her husband and two children…” http://109.70.148.72/~merchant29/6network/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/g3672e6b85e1aa16dc24b98701aa9cabb2990840dba5fa60b39949e263590d10ee7ecde75202704ce5ec6f8337c96cf2910e.jpeg Escape To The Country’s Sonali Shah poses with very-rarely seen young daughter in sweet snap - Journal Important Web - #GLOBAL BLOGGER - #GLOBAL

[chennaitop10]

The Importance and Role of Dubbing Studios in Global Entertainment

Introduction

Dubbing plays an essential role in the entertainment industry by providing voiceovers in different languages, enabling content to reach global audiences. Dubbing studios are specialized spaces equipped with technology and skilled voice artists to recreate dialogues in new languages while maintaining the original emotional intensity, timing, and sound quality. In this article, we explore the process of dubbing, the importance of dubbing studios, and the services they provide.Discover the top 10 dubbing studios in Chennai, offering expert voiceover, sound recording, and post-production services for films, TV shows, and commercials. These studios provide high-quality dubbing solutions tailored to meet the needs of various media projects.

The Role of Dubbing Studios

Dubbing studios are the heart of the post-production process. They are responsible for adapting foreign-language films, TV shows, animations, video games, commercials, and web content for new audiences. With the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, there’s a growing demand for multilingual content, making dubbing more important than ever.

A successful dubbing session requires a team of voice actors, directors, engineers, and translators working together. Each role contributes to ensuring that the dubbed version stays faithful to the original in terms of tone, style, and cultural nuance.

The Dubbing Process

Dubbing involves several stages:

Translation and Adaptation: The first step is translating the script into the target language. It’s not a literal word-for-word translation, but rather an adaptation that ensures the dialogue fits the culture and context while matching the timing of the original footage.

Voice Casting: Once the script is ready, voice actors are chosen based on their vocal match to the original actors and their ability to convey the same emotions. The voice casting process is crucial for maintaining the character's personality and relatability in the dubbed version.

Recording: In soundproof booths, voice actors record their lines while watching the original footage. They aim to match the lip movements and timing of the original actors. Directors oversee this process to ensure the performances are in line with the intended delivery of the original scene.

Sound Editing: After recording, sound engineers work to synchronize the dialogue with the original soundtrack, including music and sound effects. The goal is to make the dubbed version feel seamless and natural.

Final Mixing: The final step involves blending the dialogue with the original sound elements to create a smooth, polished track that is ready for distribution.

Key Features of Dubbing Studios

Dubbing studios are designed with specific features to ensure high-quality output:

Soundproofing: Dubbing studios are fully soundproof to prevent any background noise or external disturbances from affecting the recordings.

High-End Equipment: Studios use state-of-the-art microphones, monitors, and editing software to achieve the best possible sound quality.

Isolation Booths: These booths allow voice actors to record their lines in a controlled environment, reducing reverb and external noise.

Post-Production Facilities: Dubbing studios are equipped with advanced software for editing, sound synchronization, and mixing to create professional-grade dubbed content.

Services Offered by Dubbing Studios

The services provided by dubbing studios go beyond basic voiceover recording:

Language Dubbing: Studios specialize in multiple languages, allowing content to be dubbed into any regional or international language.

Voiceovers for Animation and Video Games: Dubbing studios also cater to the booming animation and gaming industry, where voice acting plays a pivotal role in character development.

Subtitling and Captioning: In addition to dubbing, many studios offer subtitling and closed captioning services for the hearing impaired or viewers who prefer to read along with the original dialogue.

Commercial and Corporate Work: Dubbing studios often work on corporate videos, commercials, educational materials, and e-learning projects that require voiceovers in various languages.

Narration and Audiobooks: Many dubbing studios also record narrations for documentaries, audiobooks, and podcasts.

ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement): For films and TV shows, studios offer ADR services where actors re-record lines to improve audio quality or correct errors made during filming.

Top Dubbing Studios Around the World

The demand for dubbing services has led to the establishment of renowned dubbing studios across the globe. Here are some of the top dubbing studios known for their work:

VSI Group (Global): With offices in major cities, VSI is a leading dubbing studio specializing in multilingual content for films and TV shows.

Deluxe Media (USA): Known for high-quality dubbing, Deluxe Media serves major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms.

Iyuno-SDI Group (Global): Operating in over 30 languages, this group provides dubbing and subtitling services for global content distribution.

Voxx Studios (USA): A major player in the Los Angeles area, Voxx Studios offers dubbing, ADR, and voiceover services for both film and TV.

Conclusion

Dubbing studios have become integral to the entertainment industry, helping to bridge language barriers and make content more accessible to global audiences. With the rapid expansion of streaming services and the globalization of media, the demand for professional dubbing studios continues to grow. Whether it's for a blockbuster movie or an educational e-learning program, dubbing studios ensure that the message is delivered clearly and authentically, no matter the language.Find top dubbing studios in Chennai offering professional voiceover, sound recording, and post-production services for films, TV shows, and multimedia projects.