Forced Narratives

Forced Narratives are used when dialogue in certain scenes of a production is not dubbed into German or is intentionally presented in another language for dramaturgical reasons. In such cases, the dialogue may be subtitled in German to ensure that the content remains understandable for viewers. This section provides important information on specifications and the design of Forced Narratives in video files.

 

Specifications and Guidelines for Forced Narratives

Forced Narratives must be embedded in video files

  • Forced Narrative subtitles (FN subtitles) must be embedded in Broadcast Masters and Archive Masters.
  • Sequences containing text-based Forced Narratives must be integrated into the Broadcast Master or Archive Master as textless elements in accordance with the applicable technical specifications.

Picture Position of Forced Narratives

  • Forced Narratives must be positioned centrally at the bottom of the picture.
  • A Forced Narrative subtitle may consist of a maximum of two lines. Each line must contain a maximum of 40 characters, including spaces.
  • Sufficient clearance from any applicable safe area/cache must be maintained for Forced Narrative subtitles.
  • Forced Narratives must not be placed within the cache area.

Display Duration

  • The display duration depends on the number of characters in each Forced Narrative subtitle and should be at least 1.5 seconds.
  • The reading speed should not exceed 15 characters per second.
  • The minimum gap between two subtitles is generally four frames. For large amounts of text or condensed dialogue, this may be reduced to one frame between subtitles.

 

 

Design of Burned-in Forced Narrative Subtitles

  • As a general rule, Forced Narrative subtitles must be burned into the Broadcast Master or Archive Master using a white font.
  • Helvetica is the recommended font. If a programme-specific font is available, for example one used for other texts and inserts, this font may be used provided that readability is maintained.
  • Coloured or black background boxes must be avoided.
  • To ensure the readability of Forced Narrative subtitles, a slight black outline around the font is generally required (Figure 1).
  • In some cases, a slight drop shadow may additionally be applied if it improves readability (Figure 2).
Screenshot einer Sendung mit eingebrannten Forced Narratives mit schwarzer Umrandung
Figure 1: Example of a burned-in Forced Narrative subtitle with a black outline
Screenshot einer Sendung mit eingebrannten Forced Narratives mit schwarzer Umrandung und Schattenwurf
Figure 2: Example of a burned-in Forced Narrative subtitle with a black outline and drop shadow