Feb 15, 2023 13:17
1 yr ago
62 viewers *
French term
France
Tracking the right turn of phrase
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: French to English, English, French
ouverture au noir
French to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
This describes the very beginning of a documentary; the full sentence is "Ouverture au noir sur des images d'archives". I think I get what it is, but how do you say that in English?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +5 | opening fade from black |
Jennifer Levey
|
| 4 +5 | fade-from-black |
Bourth
|
| 3 +3 | Fade-in |
Brittany Sanders
|
| 5 | black |
Saro Nova
|
| 4 | Opening to black (on archive footage) |
MassimoA
|
Proposed translations
+5
42 mins
Jennifer Levey
Chile
Chile
Native in English
Specializes in field
Chile
Human-scale Globalization
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
46
opening fade from black
Declined
https://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/fade.h...
Ouverture au noir sur des images d'archives
-->
Opening fade from black to archive material
'in' as in 'fade-in' can be omitted as its clear that the very first frame is black.
Ouverture au noir sur des images d'archives
-->
Opening fade from black to archive material
'in' as in 'fade-in' can be omitted as its clear that the very first frame is black.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Bourth
: !!!!
3 mins
|
| agree |
Anastasia Kalantzi
19 mins
|
| agree |
writeaway
: You were first, as a colleague likes to say
21 mins
|
| neutral |
Tony M
: I woulndt actually render 'ouverture' as 'opening' here, unless it were something like "The opening of the film is a fade up from black..." / "The film opens with..." etc.
30 mins
|
|
Asker tells us its the 'very beginning of a documentary', and the ST uses just one word Ouverture to convey that information. It can be done with a single word in English, too, so why not?
|
|
| agree |
Daryo
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Nicole Acher
9 hrs
|
| agree |
ormiston
: Why not more simply 'opens with ..'?
20 hrs
|
| disagree |
Saro Nova
: not fading necessarily; just a black screen; it would specify if there was a fade-in after establishing BLACK screen.
6 days
|
2 hrs
Opening to black (on archive footage)
Declined
"Ouverture au noir" for me has a symbolic meaning, something pure.
In practice, this means that the documentary will start with archival images.
In practice, this means that the documentary will start with archival images.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Daryo
: No. It means the movie starts from a completely black screen, usually with some sounds but sometimes with a black screen and in total silence.// BTW it's not reserved to 'archive footage', plenty of newish movies start with a fade-in.
2 hrs
|
+5
44 mins
fade-from-black
Declined
"Quand une image se fond progressivement dans une autre le fondu se nomme : fondu enchaîné ou fondus enchaînés. Quand le fondu laisse progressivement la place au noir complet, il s'appelle fondu au noir. L'inverse s'appelle fondu au blanc. La durée de ces transitions est variable, mais relativement courte [ ...] Le fondu au noir peut être une fermeture (la scène s'assombrit progressivement jusqu'à ce que l'écran devienne entièrement noir) ou une OUVERTURE AU NOIR (d'un fond noir, l'image apparaît progressivement). "
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondu
a dissolve (sometimes called a lap dissolve) is a type of film transition in which one sequence fades over another. The terms FADE-out (also called FADE to black) and FADE-in are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolve_(filmmaking)#:~:text=...
"Fade
A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white. A fade is different to a crossfade, which is a transition directly between two shots rather than one shot to a colour.
The "FADE FROM BLACK" and "fade to black" are ubiquitous in film and television. They usually signal the beginning and end of a scene.
https://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/fade.h...
" Logo: We FADE FROM BLACK to see, on a picture of a sunrise above the clouds, a white sphere with two big, red and blue curved triangles"
https://avid.miraheze.org/wiki/Legendtoonland_Limited [you can even see the clip]
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Note added at 4 hrs (2023-02-15 17:49:09 GMT)
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I don't think you need to feature 'ouverture' in the translation since it is encompassed by "fade from black"; it would be odd, I should have thought, to have a fade from black at the end of a movie.
@ Asker Yes, the hyphens are superfluous. I started thinking 'fade-from-black transition' before deciding that 'transition' was superfluous, and forgot to delete the hyphens.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondu
a dissolve (sometimes called a lap dissolve) is a type of film transition in which one sequence fades over another. The terms FADE-out (also called FADE to black) and FADE-in are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolve_(filmmaking)#:~:text=...
"Fade
A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white. A fade is different to a crossfade, which is a transition directly between two shots rather than one shot to a colour.
The "FADE FROM BLACK" and "fade to black" are ubiquitous in film and television. They usually signal the beginning and end of a scene.
https://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/fade.h...
" Logo: We FADE FROM BLACK to see, on a picture of a sunrise above the clouds, a white sphere with two big, red and blue curved triangles"
https://avid.miraheze.org/wiki/Legendtoonland_Limited [you can even see the clip]
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2023-02-15 17:49:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I don't think you need to feature 'ouverture' in the translation since it is encompassed by "fade from black"; it would be odd, I should have thought, to have a fade from black at the end of a movie.
@ Asker Yes, the hyphens are superfluous. I started thinking 'fade-from-black transition' before deciding that 'transition' was superfluous, and forgot to delete the hyphens.
Note from asker:
| As in: "a fade-from-black" opening? I'm a little baffled by the hyphens. |
| That should have been "a fade-from-black opening" - my mouse slipped! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Anastasia Kalantzi
17 mins
|
| agree |
writeaway
: You were not first, but hey nice references!
20 mins
|
|
I bet you say that to all ... I'll stop there, moderators wouldn't want me to continue.
|
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| agree |
Tony M
26 mins
|
| agree |
Samuël Buysschaert
33 mins
|
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: The question term begins with ouverture, which is absent from your translation.
3 hrs
|
| neutral |
Daryo
: correct, but you have a simpler and shorter version.
22 hrs
|
| agree |
Lara Barnett
1 day 20 hrs
|
+3
14 hrs
Brittany Sanders
United States
United States
Native in English
Works in field
United States
Fashion, travel, marketing
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: French to English
Fade-in
Declined
Fade-in sounds more colloquial, at least in American English. Plus it's standard film industry jargon, according to an article from Studio Binder. (Link below.)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Daryo
: a subtype of dissolve transition that gradually moves to or from an image to or from black [fade-out , fade-in] //well, you confirmed my hunch!
8 hrs
|
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: A 'fade-in' doesn't necessarily start from black, so 'black' must appear in the translation (not to mention ouverture...).
2 days 16 hrs
|
| agree |
Kevin Oheix
: or "fade in from black" https://www.flexclip.com/learn/fade-to-black-premiere.html
15 days
|
| agree |
Amanda Santos
: Precisely! A Fade-in is when you have a black screen fading into an image. An image fading into another image is called a "cross-fade"
56 days
|
20 hrs
black
Declined
Scene opens on a black screen, it does not specify that it fades from black or to black. Rather, it opens on black. If this is a script, contextually, it will be obvious that it is a black screen, no need to put in “open to” black.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: Only the start of the scene (possibly only one frame) is black - and the scene ends with the archive images. And which word in your translation conveys the concept of ouverture?
2 days 10 hrs
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In my experience, more current scripts leave out "open to" unless there is a specific emphasis. When it is the opening scene, it's obvious it will actually open to "Black", which is what I have come across a lot more than the latter. Frames are irrelevant
|
Discussion
"Fade in from black. The video/film begins with a black background to a new scene, which is often used for the opener of a video/film."
If it is, for example, part of the documentary's story-board, or a director's instructions to a video editor, the telegraphic rendering will be more appropriate. If it is taken from a film critic's review of the documentary, a longer rendering might be appropriate.
That said, the ST is in a telegraphic style typical of the language used by people working in the film/video industry, so ...
Fade in from black (effect) is also what comes to me.