Joel Snyder #arsad2019

PODCAST| Francesca Raffi interviews Joel Snyder, President of Audio Description Associates and Director of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind.

Dr Joel Snyder talks about his professional experience as audio describer, audio description trainer, President of Audio Description Associates and Director of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind. Then, he tells us more about his book entitled The visual made verbal, A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, which offers an overview of the field, including its history, application to a range of genres, description of training techniques and much more. The book confirms that high-quality AD but, accessibility in general, crosses many domains and in his book, Dr Joel Snyder described the four Fundamentals of Audio Description that he had established: Observation, Editing, Language, and Vocal Skills. At ARSAD 2019, Dr Joel Snyder will present, together with his wife, Esther Geiger (LIMS Maryland Modular Certification Program, WACMA, USA), Audio description: Listening to Movement.

Joel Snyder (Audio Description Associates, American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project, USA) & Esther Geiger (LIMS Maryland Modular Certification Program, WACMA, USA) “Audio description: Listening to movement”: in his introduction to the second edition of The Mastery of Movement, Rudolph Laban wrote: “What really happens in the theatre does not occur only on the stage or in the audience, but within the magnetic current between both these poles.” He suggests that the performers on stage form the “active pole of this magnetic circuit [and] are responsible for the integrity of purpose” in the performance that determines the quality of the “exciting current between stage and audience.” Laban’s focus here is on the skill of the performer in communicating with the audience. It is assumed that the audience is able to fully perceive that skill and experience that communication. But what if the exchange is interrupted, not by lack of clarity on stage, but rather by an audience member’s lack of access to that full perception. How, for example, can a blind person “see” a dance performance? This paper/presentation will discuss how audio description, enhanced by Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) fundamentals, provides access to the arts for people who are blind or have low vision. Describers observe, select, and then succinctly and vividly use language to convey the visual image that is not fully accessible to a segment of the population—new estimates by the American Foundation for the Blind now put that number at over 21 million Americans alone who are blind or have difficulty seeing even with correction. In the United States, the principal constituency for audio description has an unemployment rate of about 70%. With greater access to our culture and its resources, people become more informed, more engaged with society and more engaging individuals—more employable.

To check out ARSAD complete programme, click here.