6. THE SIGNER(S)

The signer is the 'face' of your video. In most productions, the signer is much more than the presenter. Signers will also be involved in writing or translating the texts, and sometimes in scriptwriting. Not every Deaf person is a good signer, not every good signer can sign fluently in front of a camera, not every person who can do this is appropriate for every subject, and/or for every target group.

In most countries, there are very few people with experience in this field- almost all of them are self-taught: they've learned on the job. It is very important that more people receive training in this field.

Signer...

The term'signer' is used to indicate the signing presenter, narrator, actor, interpreter, etc. etc.: all persons who will be using sign language in front of the camera.

The selection of the right signer (or several signers) for your production, is very important. The signer will be the'face' of your production- many viewers will remember and evaluate a production on the basis of who the signer is, and how well s/he signs.

Author, translator...

In mainstream video and film-productions, actors and presenters are usually selected after a script is written. For singing books, however, signers are best involved from a much earlier stage. The signer(s) will usually contribute to the writing of the scenario and the translation of texts into sign language.

Selection criteria

Issues you should take into account when selecting a signer, are :

EXAMPLES

Children's preferences

For the user tests in the Netherlands, Deaf children rated 6 short video-clips of different signers for attractiveness. Almost all children liked the most expressive signer best, because- they said - he was very funny, and very easy to understand. One video-clip showed a signer of about 10 years of age; opinions varied, but most children thought this signer was appropriate only for productions for very young children. The most important criteria for the selection of a signer was- according to the children- that the signer signs very clearly, and that the signer signs directly to the camera. Deafness, the age of the signer, and whether a signer is good looking were rated as far less important.

Unfriendly, or uncomfortable?

For the user tests with students, a video and CD-ROM were made and these were tested were Deaf students in Hamburg. Some of the students commented that one of the signers used more Signed German than GSL (German Sign Language) in one part of the presentation. This may have been caused by to the fact that the script was written in German and not in glosses and that the presenters sometimes found translation of the script difficult. There were also comments that one of the presenters looked rather unfriendly. The signer herself explained that she did not feel very comfortable at times signing in front of the camera. Some participants remarked that they had difficulty lip-reading the presenters. They would have liked the lip patterns to be clearer.

Deaf, or hearing?

For the user tests in the UK, 14 adult Deaf viewers watched video-clips of two professional signers signing a short script: one hearing, one Deaf. Most subjects preferred the Deaf signer; they felt that the signer was fluent and natural and that they could understand her without too much concentration. The concepts were highly visually presented, she was clear in her BSL concepts and used a lot of facial expression. The subjects thought that the hearing signer could do the job, but they felt that'something was missing'. One subject said she preferred the Deaf signer because she could identify with her as another Deaf person.