Translation Master: Where there is passion, there is a subtitle group

"The era that needed Sagittarius.com has gone." In this farewell speech titled "Dumping, Giving Up, and Leaving", Shen Sheng did not mention many external factors, but the description of "the era" still made this farewell full of sadness.

The closing remarks were widely circulated on the Internet. Some subtitle groups announced their closure one after another, and voices about the "end of the era of American drama subtitle groups" were heard on the Internet.

For most fans of British and American dramas, subtitle groups help them bridge the language gap with foreign dramas. This emotional dependence has intensified the fans' sympathetic interpretation of the situation faced by subtitle groups today.

"Subtitle groups will continue to exist for a period of time," said Guan Xin, a well-known subtitle producer. Unlike most drama fans and netizens, Guan Xin believes that as long as there is passion, there will still be subtitle groups. This view has also gained a lot of support in the subtitle group circle.

In the past 13 years, the subtitle group has achieved a counterattack from grassroots to mainstream and has experienced the best times. As more and more authentic British and American dramas are introduced to China, copyright supervision departments and video websites that hold copyrights are paying more and more attention to copyright. For the subtitle group, this era of change means cooperation, but also means that the pressure from copyright will follow like a shadow.

Thirteen years of ups and downs

Since its inception in 2001, the subtitle group has experienced about thirteen years of development. At the beginning of the 21st century, American dramas were just beginning to gain popularity in China, and some drama fans gathered on online forums. In addition to gathering together to discuss and exchange ideas, subtitle groups were also born out of love.

In 2002, fans of the American TV series "Friends" also gathered together and established the "F6 Forum", the originator of American TV series subtitles, through the Internet, and derived the F6 Subtitle Group. Later, the subtitle group gradually evolved with division of labor and cooperation, giving birth to the TLF Subtitle Group, YYeTs (renamed "Renren Film and Television" in 2007), "Eden Garden", and later Fengruan Subtitle Group and "Ruanlanxiong" Subtitle Group, Youyouniao, Shengcheng Home, Feiniaoyingyuan and other subtitle groups.

Between 2003 and 2004, the rise of the BitTorrent forum (BT forum for short), the increase in network bandwidth and the widespread use of P2P software further accelerated the growth of subtitle groups. In 2006, the American TV series "Prison Break" swept the domestic Internet, and countless American TV series fans followed the show.

The movie-watching craze caused by Prison Break in China also caught the attention of the New York Times. In a report titled "Chinese Subtitle Groups Breaking Cultural Barriers", the New York Times focused on the leader of the domestic subtitle group, Taidi.

Since then, mainstream media such as China Central Television, the national television station, have once again paid attention to domestic subtitle groups. Some well-known domestic newspapers and periodicals have also interviewed subtitle groups. The "mysterious" subtitle groups have gradually appeared in the context of mainstream culture, and this phenomenon is also considered to be the heyday of Chinese subtitle groups.

During this period, Shooter.com also grew from a forum where a few netizens spontaneously collected and uploaded subtitles to a subtitle exchange and sharing platform. In the past 13 years, the subtitle group has achieved a counterattack from grassroots to mainstream, but has been involved in "controversy" many times. On December 4, 2009, more than 530 audio-visual websites, including BTChina (BT China Alliance), were stopped by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television for "working without a license."

In the second half of 2010, due to suspected copyright issues, the server of Renren Yingshi was confiscated by the relevant departments. With the donations from netizens, the website server was repurchased and it was fully restored a month later. In April this year, when World Intellectual Property Day was approaching, Renren Yingshi was shut down again. On October 27 this year, Renren Yingshi was named by the American Film Association and included in a global audiovisual piracy investigation report.

The Golden Age of Subtitle Groups

Guan Xin, a well-known subtitle maker, started to try subtitle translation for American TV series between 2003 and 2004. At that time, Guan Xin was still in college, majoring in Russian, but he was obsessed with learning English and put most of his energy into it. Through the Internet, he and several American TV series fans formed a subtitle group and started to try subtitle translation.

"Back then, the speed of uploading and downloading was not as fast as it is now. I downloaded two episodes of American TV series and left them running at night. When I woke up in the morning, I found that they were not downloaded properly. So I went to class and came back to watch them at noon after class." Guan Xin recalled that the efficiency of the subtitle group's translation was not as high as it is now. After downloading the original film, Guan Xin was often responsible for listening to and translating word by word, writing the manuscript, and then giving it to other members of the subtitle group for written translation and subtitle production. Finally, it was handed over to classmates with good internet speed at home to upload to the Internet.

"When the American TV series Prison Break was at its peak, I translated it. I went to a movie theater in Guangdong to watch the movie. Before the show started, the audience in the front row were talking about Prison Break. I went up to them and told them that I translated the show. They couldn't believe it. After the movie, they even invited me to dinner." Senior subtitle producer "Minority" told Tencent Technology about his experience. Since 2005, this subtitle producer has translated almost all the most popular American TV series in different periods. His online name appears in the opening credits of American TV series and is known by countless fans. In his opinion, the past period of time was indeed the best time for the subtitle group.

"Minority" and the subtitle group members successively produced subtitles for several episodes of the American TV series "24". At that time, the show had countless fans in China, and after the subtitles were posted online, they were recognized in the circle for their translation level. That summer, the well-known subtitle group Eden found "Minority" and invited it to join the group.

"So far, it can be said to be a golden age." Yan Feng, a professor at the Chinese Department of Fudan University, compared the period from around 2005 to the present to the "golden age" of subtitle groups. In an interview with the media, Yan Feng affirmed the contribution and professionalism of subtitle groups, and believed that domestic subtitle groups have filled various gaps in the entertainment needs of Chinese people.

"Subtitle translation covers a wide range, with a large number of translations and a very fast speed. As for American TV series, almost all famous American TV series have been translated, and they are basically updated synchronously." Yan Feng said. This professor of Chinese Department loves watching American TV series and foreign documentaries, and is familiar with subtitle groups such as Renren, Yiden Garden, Fengruan, Shengcheng, TLF, Youyouniao, Xiamoqiu, etc.

Changing times

After Renren Yingshi and Shooter.com announced their closure, Yan Feng posted a Weibo post in which he described the subtitle group as the "fourth translation activity".

"In the past, this work was done by a small number of cultural elites and professionals." Yan Feng explained to Tencent Technology that compared with history, subtitle groups are large-scale self-organized "wild" translation activities. With the help of new media on the Internet, the number, diversity and breadth of translation have reached a new height. Yan Feng believes that it is not an exaggeration to compare subtitle groups with their predecessors.

Yan Feng described the role of subtitle websites such as Renren Yingshi and Shooter in the Internet era as "like a huge base." On the base, various grassroots scattered work and resources gather together to form a strong popularity and synergy.

"At that time, there were a lot of subtitle groups gathered on online forums. Subtitle groups kept popping up, and some groups might only translate one or two episodes of a TV series, but they would be a subtitle group if they put a name on it." Guan Xin remembers that many subtitle groups appeared, but many disappeared. Several well-known subtitle groups also experienced several ups and downs, and gradually evolved into the current situation.

During the period when some subtitle groups announced their closure, voices about the "end of the era of American drama subtitle groups" were heard on the Internet. For most British and American drama fans, Shooter.com, which has existed for 15 years, and Renren Films, which was born 10 years ago, are of great significance. The language barrier makes fans distant from these foreign dramas, but the existence of subtitle groups and Shooter.com helps them cross the language gap and narrow the distance between each other. This emotional dependence has intensified their compassionate interpretation of the situation faced by subtitle groups today.

"Subtitle groups will continue to exist for a period of time." Guan Xin believes that subtitle groups originated from enthusiastic drama fans, not investment behavior after market judgment, so as long as there is passion, there will still be subtitle groups. However, these subtitle groups may not necessarily embrace the era of video websites purchasing genuine videos.

Several domestic subtitle groups have tacitly acknowledged similar statements. "Subtitle groups are currently at the center of public opinion, and no one wants to be noticed because of this." A subtitle group leader told Tencent Technology that in fact, most subtitle groups are still producing subtitles step by step, but it is inconvenient for them to show up in a high-profile manner during the "special period."

"The era of subtitle groups is changing." The senior subtitle producer "Minority" who has been involved in subtitle translation for nearly 10 years told Tencent Technology that this change is reflected in "stricter copyright protection, more genuine British and American dramas introduced, and less demand for subtitle groups."

"The main reason is the pressure of national policies. Since 2012, the subtitle group has had to fight guerrilla warfare and dodge from time to time," another head of a subtitle group told Tencent Technology. Her subtitle group focuses on translating subtitles for British and American comedies. It was established in 2012 and now has more than 100 members. It has translated more than 50 movies and 20 TV series, with a total of more than 700 episodes.

At the beginning of the establishment, the person in charge noticed that the times had changed. "The country's copyright management awareness has begun to take action, and domestic video websites have also begun to introduce genuine products, which naturally has an impact on the subtitle groups and other grassroots teams." She said.

Say goodbye or embrace the times?

In this era of rapid expansion of the British and American drama market, private subtitle groups are faced with the dual choice of copyright pressure and cooperation opportunities.

"Subtitle groups started as a hobby and grew from small to large. In this process, on the one hand, they expanded the influence of foreign dramas and movies, benefited the audience and added value to genuine works; on the other hand, they were 'watched' by copyright holders and regulatory agencies because of copyright issues." Liu Qian believes that subtitle groups can be understood as "thieves" with a righteous purpose. In today's era, private subtitle groups face copyright pressure. Under the existing policy supervision system and driven by industry interests, if they want to survive, cooperating with video websites is obviously a way out.

On November 1, 2011, the "Global Famous Schools Video Open Course" was launched, and he cooperated with Renren Films to serve as subtitle translator. In 2012, Phoenix Angel Korean Drama Club cooperated with video websites to translate and produce the Korean drama "My Love from the Star".

Guan Xin also observed the subtitle groups around him and noticed that this seems to be the only formal commercialization path that can be seen at present, but at the same time he also found that this kind of cooperation usually means losing the right of authorship. "If we cooperate with legitimate video websites, it goes against the original intention." The "minority" expressed a more direct denial of this kind of cooperation.

As copyright pressure increases, subtitle groups are facing an awkward situation. "On the one hand, we have to meet the needs of the audience, and on the other hand, we have to avoid policies." The head of the aforementioned subtitle group that focuses on translating British and American comedies said that the current cooperation with domestic legitimate content providers is concentrated on large subtitle groups with strong comprehensive strength. More subtitle groups want to be authentic, but have no way to do so, so they have to continue to survive in this cautious way.

The aforementioned head of the subtitle group who did not want to be named told Tencent Technology in a self-deprecating tone that the subtitle group will face "pressure" from copyright holders, but sometimes they are also faced with the passive situation of having their painstakingly translated subtitles plagiarized and it is difficult to "protect their rights."

"The more genuine products imported into China, the better." "The minority" expressed his views to the reporter. "In the early years, when British and American dramas were still relatively niche, almost 100% of the channels for people to obtain them came from subtitle groups. Nowadays, more and more people like to watch British and American dramas, but the proportion of subtitle groups in the channels for people to obtain British and American dramas may be getting smaller and smaller."

Guan Xin said that the more resources are available through formal channels, the smaller the subtitle groups will become, or even disappear, but the opposite is also true.

As the popularity of the forum declined, Guan Xin moved to the Weibo platform around 2010 and 2011, publishing independently translated British parliamentary debates and other foreign political commentary programs and talk shows. These programs have received extremely high attention, with more than 10 million hits. Today, his full-time job is to co-founder of Benniao IELTS and to take on some teaching work. The aforementioned senior subtitle producer who did not want to be named has long stopped translating American TV series, but occasionally does some American stand-up comedy.

Guan Xin believes that there are some differences between today and the era when subtitle groups became famous. The Russian communication forum he co-founded once had 300,000 members, and the ID "Guan Guan" was also very famous at that time. However, after several rectifications, the domestic subtitle group landscape has been constantly changing, and the forum has suffered a serious loss of personnel. In 2011, the forum completely died.

Just over a month ago, the F6 forum, the birthplace of the American TV drama subtitle group, also quietly announced its closure.

"People of our age have already come out, and now it's the era of kids." Guan Xin, a well-known subtitle group producer, couldn't say for sure whether the subtitle groups should embrace or say goodbye to the current era in the face of copyright pressure and enforcement efforts by regulatory authorities.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.