How the subtitles for the 95th Academy Awards were “Everything, Everywhere” all at the right time

This year saw the Live Subtitling team take on the Academy Awards once again. Here, Live Subtitler David Murphy tells us what it takes to prepare for such an event.

The last year saw a return to relative normality for the film industry after two years of pandemic-induced disruption, fittingly celebrated in a ceremony for the 95th Academy Awards which was a more traditional and controversy-free affair. It was ironic, then, that a decidedly non-traditional Oscar contender – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – was the overwhelming success on the night itself. The Best Picture winner’s story based on the infinite possibilities of the multi-verse was also a sometimes-apt comparison to the process the Sky Access Services team of live subtitlers go through when captioning one of the most-watched television events of the year.

With a return to the full roster of twenty-three awards being handed out at the ceremony, the names and film titles of the 300-plus nominees were required by the team’s speech-recognition software, Dragon, to provide comprehensive subtitles throughout. This is in addition to the galaxy of Hollywood celebrities and former Oscar winners presenting the awards. These lists were trained into the software profiles of the live subtitling team covering the event in the hours before the stars began walking down this year’s curiously Champagne-coloured carpet.

Also prepared before curtain call at the Dolby Theater were the subtitles for the show-stopping Best Original Song performances. From Rihanna’s heart-felt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” to the fittingly avant-garde performance of “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”- every lyrical line was slotted into a caption beforehand to help ensure synchronicity with each song. This level of preparation also meant the eventual winner in the category - “Naatu Naatu” from the Bollywood action flick “RRR”- could feature subtitles in its original Indian language of Telugu.

While there was a crisis team present to ensure the stage remained PG-friendly this year, our subtitle team still needed to be prepared for anything. Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel’s intro featuring jokes about early the 1990’s oeuvre of Pauly Shore films put my subtitle skills to the test as much as the movie knowledge of my youth. It also brought back the rather shameful memory that I actually paid to see the now Oscar-winning Brendan Fraser eating dog food in 1992’s “California Man”. Likewise, it took tremendous improvisation from another team member to caption the impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday” sung by the star-studded audience to actor James Martin from Best Live Action Short Film winner, “An Irish Goodbye.”

Whether expected or not, every moment of Oscars Night was more accessible to Sky viewers thanks to subtitles simultaneously broadcast on Sky Showcase, Sky Arts, and Sky Cinema Greats. With a dedication comparable to Cate Blanchett’s maestro Lydia Tár and the reaction speed of Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh’s Kung-Fu skills, our team of live subtitlers tirelessly worked through the early hours of Monday morning. Using all the information available to us before the ceremony, we were prepared for the myriad possibilities of the 95th Academy Awards to ensure everything said or sung at this year’s Oscars had subtitles everywhere on three different Sky channels all at once!