Sneak Peek: Joel Snyder Podcast

Jo Reed: I'm interested in the process of creating audio description. Let's take media, for example, for television and film. there's the description, and somebody needs to write that but then it needs to be voiced. Is this typically done by the same person? Are these two separate entities?

Joel Snyder: For media, it has to be written, and then it's voiced; and almost always, those are two different people. It involves careful analysis and research, involving the particular video being shown. We are in service to the people listening, but also to the artist and the art form that we're describing, so we need to understand what a director is doing, what a cinematographer is doing, and glean from that piece-- first, observe everything that we can possibly see. We learn to become active seers, not passively letting the world wash over us. No, really look; really look, and then edit from that what's most critical to an understanding-- "he points to his head"-- and an appreciation-- "his hand is on his heart"-- of the image. Because there's not time to describe everything. The eye takes in far more than the voice can recount, so we have to be selective. And actually, that makes for better writing, better description, anyway, if we're zeroing in on the essence. And then-- and yes, then it's voiced by a separate person.