1.
The Birth of a Nation
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The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed and co-produced by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from the novel and play The Clansman and it was released on February 8,1915. Three hours long, the film was presented in two parts separated by an intermission, it was the first 12-reel film in America. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth is dramatized, there were widespread African-American protests against The Birth of a Nation, such as in Boston, while thousands of white Bostonians flocked to see the film. The NAACP spearheaded a campaign to ban the film. Griffiths indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year. The films release is credited as being one of the events that inspired the formation of the second era Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Birth of a Nation, along with the trial and lynching of Leo Frank for the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta, was used as a tool for the KKK. Under President Woodrow Wilson, it was the first American motion picture to be screened at the White House, Griffiths innovative techniques and storytelling power have made The Birth of a Nation one of the landmarks of film history. In 1992, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, the film follows two juxtaposed families. One is the Northern Stonemans, abolitionist U. S, representative Austin Stoneman, his daughter, and two sons. The other is the Southern Camerons, Dr. Cameron is married to his wife, the couple also has three sons and two daughters. Phil, the elder Stoneman son, falls in love with Margaret Cameron, while the visit to the the Cameron estate in South Carolina. Meanwhile, young Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman, during the Civil War, the young men from both families enlist in their respective armies for the war. The younger Stoneman and two of the Cameron brothers are killed in the war, meanwhile, the Cameron women are rescued by Confederate soldiers who rout a Black militia, after an attack on the Cameron home. Ben Cameron leads a charge at the Siege of Petersburg. But he is wounded and captured. He is then taken to a Union hospital in Washington, D. C, during his stay at the hospital, he is told that he will be hanged
2.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 German silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Considered the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypnotist who uses a somnambulist to commit murders, the films design was handled by Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig, who recommended a fantastic, graphic style over a naturalistic one. The film presents themes on brutal and irrational authority, Dr. Caligari represents the German war government, and Cesare is symbolic of the common man conditioned, like soldiers, to kill. He says the film is a premonition of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, other themes of the film include the destabilized contrast between insanity and sanity, the subjective perception of reality, and the duality of human nature. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was released just as foreign film industries were easing restrictions on the import of German films following World War I, so it was screened internationally. Accounts differ as to its financial and critical success upon release, critic Roger Ebert called it arguably the first true horror film, and film reviewer Danny Peary called it cinemas first cult film and a precursor to arthouse films. Considered a classic, it helped draw attention to the artistic merit of German cinema and had a major influence on American films, particularly in the genres of horror. As Francis sits on a bench with a man who complains that spirits have driven him away from his family and home. Francis explains she is his fiancée and that they have suffered a great ordeal, most of the rest of the film is a flashback of Franciss story, which takes place in Holstenwall, a shadowy village of twisted buildings and spiraling streets. Francis and his friend Alan, who are competing for Janes affections. Meanwhile, a man named Dr. Caligari seeks a permit from the rude town clerk to present a spectacle at the fair. The clerk mocks and berates Dr. Caligari, but ultimately approves the permit and that night, the clerk is found stabbed to death in his bed. The next morning, Francis and Alan visit Dr. Caligaris spectacle, upon Dr. Caligaris orders, Cesare awakens and answers questions from the audience. Despite Franciss protests, Alan asks, How long will I live, to Alans horror, Cesare answers, Until dawn. Later that night, a figure breaks into Alans home and stabs him to death in his bed, a grief-stricken Francis investigates Alans murder with help from Jane and her father, Dr. Olsen, who obtains police authorization to investigate the somnambulist. That night, the police apprehend a criminal in possession of a knife who is attempting to murder an elderly woman. When questioned by Francis and Dr, at night, Francis spies on Dr. Caligari and observes what appears to be Cesare sleeping in his box. However, the real Cesare sneaks into Janes home as she sleeps and he raises a knife to stab her, but instead abducts her after a struggle, dragging her through the window onto the street
3.
Film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides
4.
Art Deco
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Art Deco, sometimes simply referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It took its name, short for Arts Decorators, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925 and it combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. It featured rare and expensive materials such as ebony and ivory, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York were the most visible monuments of the new style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the became more subdued. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel and plastic, a more sleek form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s, it featured curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco became one of the first truly international architectural styles, with examples found in European cities, the style came to an end with the beginning of World War II. Deco was replaced as the dominant global style by the functional and unadorned styles of modernism. The term arts décoratifs was first used in France in 1858, in 1868, Le Figaro newspaper used the term art décoratifs with respect to objects for stage scenery created for the Théâtre de lOpéra. In 1875, furniture designers, textile, jewelry and glass designers and it took its present name of ENSAD in 1927. The term Art déco was then used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in the Times, describing the different styles at the exhibit. Art Deco gained currency as a broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first major book on the style. Hillier noted that the term was already being used by art dealers and cites The Times, in 1971, Hillier organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which he details in his book about it, The World of Art Deco. The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, the term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs, or SAD, was founded in 1901, a similar movement developed in Italy. The first international exhibition devoted entirely to the arts, the Esposizione international dArte decorative moderna, was held in Turin in 1902. Several new magazines devoted to decorative arts were founded in Paris, including Arts et décoration, Decorative arts sections were introduced into the annual salons of the Sociéte des artistes français, and later in the Salon dautomne. French nationalism also played a part in the resurgence of decorative arts, in 1911 the SAD proposed the holding of a major new international exposition of decorative arts in 1912
5.
1st Academy Awards
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AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks hosted the show. Tickets cost $5,270 people attended the event and the ceremony lasted fifteen minutes. Awards were created by Louis B, Mayer, founder of Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation. It is the only Academy Awards ceremony not to be broadcast either on radio or television, during the ceremony, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards in twelve categories. Winners were announced three months before the live event, some nominations were announced without reference to a specific film, such as for Ralph Hammeras and Nugent Slaughter, who received nominations in the now defunct category of Engineering Effects. Unlike later ceremonies, an actor or director could be awarded for works within a calendar year. Emil Jannings, for example, was given the Best Actor award for his work in both The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command, moreover, Charlie Chaplin and Warner Brothers each received an Honorary Award. Major winners at the ceremony included 7th Heaven and Sunrise, which received three awards, and Wings, receiving two awards. Among its honors, Sunrise won the award for Unique and Artistic Picture and these two categories at the time were seen as equally the top award of the night intended to honor different and equally important aspects of superior film making. The next year, the Academy dropped the Unique and Artistic Picture award, in 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was established by Louis B. Mayer, originator of Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation, which then would be joined into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, mayers purpose in creating the award was to unite the five branches of the film industry, including actors, directors, producers, technicians, and writers. Mayer commented on the creation of the awards I found that the best way to handle was to hang medals all over them, if I got them cups and awards theyd kill them to produce what I wanted. Thats why the Academy Award was created, Mayer asked Cedric Gibbons, art director of MGM, to design an Academy Award trophy. Nominees were notified through a telegram in February 1928, in August 1928, Mayer contacted the Academy Central Board of Judges to decide winners. The ceremony was held on May 16,1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, located in Los Angeles and it consisted of a private dinner with thirty-six banquet tables, where 270 people attended and tickets cost five dollars. Actors and actresses arrived at the hotel in luxury vehicles, where many attended to encourage celebrities. The ceremony was not broadcast on radio or television, and was hosted by AMPAS director Fairbanks, winners were announced three months before the ceremony. Three categories were eliminated for subsequent presentations, Best Engineering Effects, Best Title Writing, the larger film producers received the preponderance of awards, Fox Films Corporation, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Radio-Keith-Orpheum and Warner Brothers Production
6.
Sound film
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A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900. Reliable synchronization was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems, innovations in sound-on-film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures using the technology, which took place in 1923. The primary steps in the commercialization of sound cinema were taken in the mid- to late 1920s, at first, the sound films which included synchronized dialogue, known as talking pictures, or talkies, were exclusively shorts. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects, the first feature film originally presented as a talkie was The Jazz Singer, released in October 1927. A major hit, it was made with Vitaphone, which was at the time the brand of sound-on-disc technology. Sound-on-film, however, would become the standard for talking pictures. By the early 1930s, the talkies were a global phenomenon, in the United States, they helped secure Hollywoods position as one of the worlds most powerful cultural/commercial centers of influence. In Europe, the new development was treated with suspicion by many filmmakers and critics, in Japan, where the popular film tradition integrated silent movie and live vocal performance, talking pictures were slow to take root. In India, sound was the element that led to the rapid expansion of the nations film industry. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as the concept of cinema itself. On February 27,1888, a couple of days after photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge gave a lecture not far from the laboratory of Thomas Edison, the two inventors privately met. No agreement was reached, but within a year Edison commissioned the development of the Kinetoscope, essentially a peep-show system, as a visual complement to his cylinder phonograph. The two devices were brought together as the Kinetophone in 1895, but individual, cabinet viewing of motion pictures was soon to be outmoded by successes in film projection and these appear to be the first publicly exhibited films with projection of both image and recorded sound. Phonorama and yet another sound-film system—Théâtroscope—were also presented at the Exposition, three major problems persisted, leading to motion pictures and sound recording largely taking separate paths for a generation. The primary issue was synchronization, pictures and sound were recorded and played back by separate devices, sufficient playback volume was also hard to achieve. Finally, there was the challenge of recording fidelity, cinematic innovators attempted to cope with the fundamental synchronization problem in a variety of ways. In 1902, Léon Gaumont demonstrated his sound-on-disc Chronophone, involving an electrical connection he had recently patented, four years later, Gaumont introduced the Elgéphone, a compressed-air amplification system based on the Auxetophone, developed by British inventors Horace Short and Charles Parsons
7.
Sheffield
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Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its derives from the River Sheaf. With some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 569,700, Sheffield is the third largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000, in the 19th century, Sheffield gained an international reputation for steel production. Known as the Steel City, many innovations were developed locally, including crucible and stainless steel, Sheffield received its municipal charter in 1843, becoming the City of Sheffield in 1893. International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in these industries in the 1970s and 1980s, the 21st century has seen extensive redevelopment in Sheffield along with other British cities. Sheffields gross value added has increased by 60% since 1997, standing at £9.2 billion in 2007, the economy has experienced steady growth averaging around 5% annually, greater than that of the broader region of Yorkshire and the Humber. The city is in the foothills of the Pennines, and the valleys of the River Don and its four tributaries, the Loxley, the Porter Brook, the Rivelin. 61% of Sheffields entire area is space, and a third of the city lies within the Peak District national park. The area now occupied by the City of Sheffield is believed to have inhabited since at least the late Upper Palaeolithic period. The earliest evidence of occupation in the Sheffield area was found at Creswell Crags to the east of the city. In the Iron Age the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine tribe called the Brigantes and it is this tribe who are thought to have constructed several hill forts in and around Sheffield. Gradually, Anglian settlers pushed west from the kingdom of Deira, a Celtic presence within the Sheffield area is evidenced by two settlements called Wales and Waleswood close to Sheffield. The settlements that grew and merged to form Sheffield, however, date from the half of the first millennium. In Anglo-Saxon times, the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, after the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, from 1570 to 1584, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor. During the 1740s, a form of the steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been possible
8.
Law & Order
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Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It originally aired on NBC and, in syndication, on cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13,1990, and completed its 20th, at the time of its cancellation, Law & Order was the longest-running crime drama on American primetime television. Its record of 20 seasons is a tie with Gunsmoke for the longest-running live-action scripted American prime-time series with ongoing characters, although it has fewer episodes than Gunsmoke, Law & Order ranks as the longest-running hour-long primetime TV series. Gunsmoke, for its first six seasons, was originally a half-hour program, plots are often based on real cases that recently made headlines, although the motivation for the crime and the perpetrator may be different. The show has been noted for its revolving cast over the years, the success of the series has led to the creation of additional shows, making Law & Order a franchise, with also a television film, several video games, and international adaptations of the series. It has won and has been nominated for awards over the years. On May 14,2010, NBC announced that it had canceled Law & Order, in July 2010, however, he indicated that those attempts had failed and declared that the series had now moved to the history books. However, in February 2015, rumors started that NBC was planning to bring the back for 10 episodes. In May 2015, former star Sam Waterston announced to The Hollywood Reporter that he supports and would join a revival of Law & Order, saying, Youre darn right. Creator Dick Wolf has expressed wanting to use a L&O revival to do a ripped from the headlines story-line surrounding the trial of Robert Durst. Everybody who knows me knows its something I want to do, he continued, at the 2015 Television Critics Association summer press tour, Wolf noted everyone wants a revival, It is a question of. Most of the involved are very successful in their careers. To try to get everything in sequence is more difficult than it looks on the outside. I would love to do it if we can make it work, in 1988, Dick Wolf developed a concept for a new television series that would depict a relatively optimistic picture of the American criminal justice system. He initially toyed with the idea of calling it Night & Day, the first half of each episode would follow two detectives and their commanding officer as they investigate a violent crime. The second half of the episode would follow the District Attorneys Office, through this, Law & Order would be able to investigate some of the larger issues of the day by focusing on stories that were based on real cases making headlines. Wolf took the idea to then-president of Universal Television Kerry McCluggage, who pointed out the similarity to a 1963 series titled Arrest and Trial, which lasted one season
9.
Demoscene
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A compo is a contest relating to programming, computer graphics and music that takes place within the demoscene and related subcultures. The term compo is a shortening of competition, compos are typically held at demoparties. The usual format is to show the competing entries sequentially with a video projector, in addition to party-based contests, there have also been online compos on websites and bulletin board systems. The main competition on most demoparties is the demo compo, a typical party also includes an intro compo, a music compo and a graphics compo. Other common contests include wild compo and game development compo, compos are often split into subcategories by technical and stylistic restrictions. Compos at a demoparty are usually held during the afternoon and lasting after midnight, each compo has its designated deadline, to which the competitors must deliver their entries, either via traditional physical media or through the party LAN. The crew also performs preselection on the entries to be able to fit in a given timeframe with the competition, and also to maintain a quality level for a given competition. Compos show the production in an order, some parties prefer to reorder competition entries in an ascending order quality-wise. At some parties, individual competitions omit the display of the name at this point. After the compo, visitors are given the opportunity to vote, to avoid mass-votes by individuals, a votesheet or votekey is usually only handed out to a visitor in exchange of a mark on the ticket, such as tickmark or the removal of the wristband. Votes, usually done via either preferential voting or range voting, are calculated after the voting deadline, fastcompos are a common form of entertainment at demoparties. Unlike regular compos, fastcompos are announced at the party, usually only a few hours to a day before the deadline, fastcompos may be held for music, graphics, demos and anything else regular compos are
10.
ColecoVision
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The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries second-generation home video-game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered an experience to more powerful arcade game systems compared to competitors such as the Atari 2600. Approximately 145 titles in total were published as ROM cartridges for the system between 1982 and 1984, Coleco withdrew from the video game market in 1985, and ColecoVision was discontinued that same year. River West Brands currently owns the ColecoVision brand name, by Christmas of 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units, in part on the strength of its bundled game. The ColecoVisions main competitor was the more advanced but less commercially successful Atari 5200. The ColecoVision was distributed by CBS Electronics outside of North America, sales quickly passed 1 million in early 1983, before the video game crash of 1983. By the beginning of 1984, quarterly sales of the ColecoVision had dramatically decreased, over the next 18 months, the Coleco company ramped down its video game division, ultimately withdrawing from the video game market by the end of the summer of 1985. The ColecoVision was officially discontinued by October 1985, the video game crash of 1983 has been cited as the main cause of the ColecoVisions being discontinued less than three years after its launch. In 1983 Spectravideo announced the SV-603 ColecoVision Video Game Adapter for its SV-318 computer, the company stated that the $70 product allowed users to enjoy the entire library of exciting ColecoVision video-game cartridges. In 1986, Bit Corporation produced a ColecoVision clone called the Dina, the controllers connect into plugs in a recessed area on the top of the unit. The design of the controllers is similar to that of Mattels Intellivision—the controller is rectangular and consists of a numeric keypad, in place of the circular control disc below the keypad, the Coleco controller has a short,1. 5-inch joystick. The keypad is designed to accept a thin plastic overlay that maps the keys for a particular game, each ColecoVision console shipped with two controllers. All first-party cartridges and most third-party software titles feature a 12-second pause before presenting the game select screen and this delay results from an intentional loop in the consoles BIOS to enable on-screen display of the ColecoVision brand. CPU, NEC version of Zilog Z80A @3, from its introduction, Coleco touted the ColecoVisions hardware expandability by highlighting the Expansion Module Interface on the front of the unit. These hardware expansion modules and accessories were sold separately, Expansion Module #1 makes the ColecoVision compatible with the industry-leading Atari 2600, with some exceptions. Functionally, this gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console of its day, the expansion module prompted legal action from Atari, but Atari was unable to stop sales of the module because the 2600 could be reproduced with off the shelf parts. Coleco also designed and sold the Gemini game system, which was a clone of the 2600, Expansion Module #2 is a driving controller that came packaged with a port of the arcade game Turbo. The gas pedal is merely a simple on/off switch, so many gamers used the second ColecoVision controller as a shift for more precise speed control
11.
Subtitle (captioning)
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The encoded method can either be pre-rendered with the video or separate as either a graphic or text to be rendered and overlaid by the receiver. Teletext subtitle language follows the audio, except in multi-lingual countries where the broadcaster may provide subtitles in additional languages on other teletext pages. EIA-608 captions are similar, except that North American Spanish stations may provide captioning in Spanish on CC3, DVD and Blu-ray only differ in using run-length encoded graphics instead of text, as well as some HD DVB broadcasts. Sometimes, mainly at festivals, subtitles may be shown on a separate display below the screen. Television subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing is referred to as closed captioning in some countries. The word subtitle is the prefix followed by title. In some cases, such as opera, the dialog is displayed above the stage in what are referred to as surtitles. Today, professional subtitlers usually work with specialized software and hardware where the video is digitally stored on a hard disk. Besides creating the subtitles, the subtitler usually also tells the computer software the exact positions where each subtitle should appear and disappear, for cinema film, this task is traditionally done by separate technicians. The end result is a file containing the actual subtitles as well as position markers indicating where each subtitle should appear and disappear. These markers are based on timecode if it is a work for electronic media. For multimedia-style Webcasting, check, SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, same-language captions, i. e. without translation, were primarily intended as an aid for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Internationally, there are several studies which demonstrate that same-language captioning can have a major impact on literacy. This method of subtitling is used by television broadcasters in China. Same Language Subtitling is the use of Synchronized Captioning of Musical Lyrics as a Repeated Reading activity, the basic reading activity involves students viewing a short subtitled presentation projected onscreen, while completing a response worksheet. Closed captioning is the American term for closed subtitles specifically intended for people who are deaf and these are a transcription rather than a translation, and usually contain descriptions of important non-dialog audio as well such as or and lyrics. From the expression closed captions the word caption has in recent years come to mean a subtitle intended for the hard of hearing, be it open or closed. In British English subtitles usually refers to subtitles for the hard of hearing, however, programs such as news bulletins, current affairs programs, sport, some talk shows and political and special events utilize real time or online captioning
