Tracking sonic timelines in closed captioning

Verbs are the heart of nonspeech captions, especially when paralinguistic sounds are involved (grunting, laughing, crying, etc.), because captioning nonspeech is fundamentally about representing and embodying action (which is what verbs do). Note, first, the distinction between discrete and sustained sounds. Nonspeech sounds that have a clear beginning and end are discrete or one-off sounds […]

Closed captions as identity markers (leitmotifs)

When the same nonspeech caption is repeatedly associated with a specific character or recurring context, it comes to serve as a kind of leitmotif for that character or context. In classical music, especially the operas of Richard Wagner, a leitmotif refers to a musical phrase, melody, or flourish that is associated with a specific character […]