"Flow Modified for Individuals with Visual Impairments"
In a significant stride towards accessibility, the animated film "Flow" has been enhanced for visually impaired and blind audiences with the inclusion of audio descriptions. This feature, a crucial element for enhancing the cinematic experience for those with visual impairments, provides detailed verbal descriptions of visual elements during the movie, allowing viewers to better understand and engage with the narrative.
Created by artists from Latvia, France, and Belgium, "Flow" is a groundbreaking animation that conveys emotions through cinematic techniques such as colour, framing, and blocking, without relying on dialogue. The film's use of descriptive audio likely complements these visual storytelling methods, potentially improving the viewing experience for visually impaired audiences by providing a more immersive and inclusive experience.
Laura Ziemele, an interpreter and voice-over artist from Latvia, plays the role of the narrator for the audio descriptions. Her task involves ensuring the narration does not interfere with dialogue, important noises, or music, and finding the right placement for the audio description to not disrupt the film's dialogue, sound effects, or music. The audio descriptions aim to describe characters' actions, facial expressions, environmental details, and other artistic expressions, all while avoiding judgments or attitudes, such as limiting the use of adjectives.
"Flow" features a unique cast of animal characters: Cat, Lemur, Retriever, Secretary Bird, and Capybara. Interestingly, it is believed that the film has no human dialogue, which presents a unique challenge for the audio descriptions, particularly in the case of the Lemur's dialogue.
The success of "Flow" is evident, with more than 300,000 people having seen it in Latvian cinemas, making it the most watched film of all time in Latvia, surpassing both Latvian works and Hollywood blockbusters. The film has also received critical and public acclaim, winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
This special edition release of "Flow" also includes English descriptive audio for visually impaired audiences, marking another step forward in making audiovisual works of art more accessible to all. While specific information about how the audio description in "Flow" impacts visually impaired audiences or its unique features compared to other films would require more detailed analysis or interviews with those involved in its audio design, it is clear that this addition significantly enhances the film's accessibility and inclusivity.
In this special edition release of "Flow", the inclusion of English descriptive audio for visually impaired audiences not only mirrors the movie's emphasis on emotion through cinematic techniques but also extends its accessibility to the realm of health-and-wellness, particularly mental-health, by providing an immersive and improved viewing experience. Laura Ziemele, an interpreter and voice-over artist from Latvia, ensures the narration sees no conflict with dialogue, important noises, or music, carefully placing the audio descriptions to optimize understanding while maintaining the film's creative originality.
