Professionals from Translata interpreted LIVE broadcasts of newsworthy events of the year, including Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle and the Academy Awards in Hollywood (popularly known as The Oscars).
Client
TV Markíza is the most-watched, private commercial television station in Slovakia that has been broadcasting in the country nonstop since 1996. To this day, the channel offers a programme that’s rich in content and constantly being updated to reflect the demands of its viewers.
The goal and needs of the customer
The company approached us with a request for simultaneous interpretation of the royal wedding between Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle on their wedding day – on 19 May 2018 from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
The second simultaneous interpretation we were tasked with was the 91st Annual Academy Awards (where the most prestigious film industry awards “The Oscars” were presented in a ceremony held in Los Angeles, USA), which took place on 24 February 2019 in the late evening hours at the studio.
Language combination and focus
For the royal wedding coverage, 2 particularly focused experts were needed:
Interpreter 1 – experience in interpreting church weddings and with church terminology
Interpreter 2 – an expert on royal protocol and on British culture; an English scholar/Anglophile
For coverage of the film industry awards ceremony, interpreters with experience in a similar interpreting format and who were interested in American show business were needed.
Materials for the interpreters
The wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
a generic script for guidance
The 2019 Oscars
script
shortlist of nominees
9 hours of interpreting
the prestigious Oscars, mastered flawlessly
Prepping for interpreting
Prepping for this interpreting assignment was broken down into three steps:
a detailed study of all available materials,
watching and studying ceremonies from previous years,
several hours studying the films, actors, and directors that were nominated as well as the fashion designers for award-winning celebrities, Hollywood show business, and more.
The interpreting process itself took place in real-time and was enhanced by a series of interesting comments and tips from the interpreters themselves.
Benefits
The client received extensive and terminologically challenging simultaneous interpretations of important foreign events.
Thanks to the professional specialisation of the interpreters (church terminology, British culture, royal protocol, etc.), the interpretations of the royal wedding went smoothly and without any problems.
The interpretation of the Oscars took place in the late evening hours and lasted a total of 9 hours.
Problems – how did we resolve them?
Both events took place abroad with a bit of a time lag, but even that didn’t stop our interpreters from doing their work at a high level of quality.
Client’s statement
“The interpretation was 100% professional and without a moment of hesitation. The interpreters came to the studio prepared and it was obvious that they had experience with simultaneous interpretation. The overall quality of their work far exceeded our expectations.”