I watched this documentary series before I read Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare. While the documentary series was interesting, this audio description is my favorite to critique. It’s also the most enjoyable to listen to so far.
For those unaware, audio description is a separate audio track added to visual media that describes visual aspects. This is mainly intended for blind and visually impaired audiences, but anyone can enjoy and benefit from it.
Series Premise
Prince Harry and his wife recount how they met and the events that lead up to the decision they made to step away from the royal family.
Series Information
Genre: Documentary
Category: Adult
Explicit violence: No
Explicit sex: No
Content warnings I noticed: Discussions of racism, harassment, and miscarriage
Review
The writing is good. The language fits the audience it targets.
Descriptions are good. Very easy to follow. Similar to other documentaries on Netflix like Pray Away and Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste, descriptions are literal with no metaphors. This one adds more to the traditional minimal style of describing, however. For example, I appreciate the attention to detail for Meghan’s outfits. Her wedding gown was especially well described, attention paid to part of the embroidery.
While a lot of attention is paid to Meghan’s outfits, I can’t remember attention being paid to other people’s clothes. If descriptions are already being given for her outfits, why not extend that? At first, I thought it would be a big part of the audio description, but, while that was the case, clothes are only a big deal when it comes to Meghan. While most descriptions jump over my head, I can’t remember anyone else’s clothing being described.
I’m not suggesting that everyone’s outfits get described. That’s impossible and unnecessary, but, if clothing will be a big part of the description, I think more emphasis should be placed on what others wear. I can’t remember Harry’s outfits being described, for example. He’s a big part of the documentary, too, so I don’t see the point of only focusing on one person’s outfits. It doesn’t feel balanced.
I’m no expert in writing audio description. I’m an educated consumer because I took a great course at my university. However, if I was working on this script, I would either find space to at least describe Harry’s clothes, focus less on clothing, or get rid of clothing descriptions completely. I don’t know. While I love the attention to detail on Meghan’s clothing, the balance isn’t there, so it feels strange.
A lot of the descriptions, while good, do assume that the viewer knows exactly who this is about. In some ways, I do, but there’s no focus on describing people often. I only remember that Meghan’s mother has dark hair because of the credits, but I can’t remember any other physical descriptions regarding her or anyone else. Also, I’m assuming Meghan’s mother’s hair is dark because it’s implied by the credits. People are sometimes mentioned and you have to fill in the details of what they look like. For example, during the wedding, the describer tells us that Victoria Beckham waves along with her husband. I know who Victoria Beckham is because I became a fan of the Spice Girls last year, but I don’t know what she looks like. Granted, in this scene, I don’t think there’s any space to describe any part of her, but it’s possible that there is space in other areas to offer at least a description of one physical feature.
Assuming that viewers know who’s being presented is not necessarily bad. However, there will be those who don’t know. I think it’s important to take that into account as much as possible.
The describer’s vocal performance is great. They’re engaging while not being distracting. They don’t interrupt any dialogue or commentary and allow the viewer to appreciate silence and music.
While most of the audio description is good, there’s a point where it’s choppy. At the end of episode six, the describer is cut off at the end while reading the text of statements made. I don’t know if the text is cut off visually, but, in every attempt, I was not able to get the rest to play. This seems to be choppy editing because it also happened in the documentary Britney Vs Spears. This, at least, is the case for Netflix.
I did find a version of the audio description that doesn’t cut off at the end. I resorted to a place known as Audio Vault. In this web site, you can find a bunch of audio described series and movies for free. There’s no video, just the audio track. You can find a lot of content, regardless of streaming service. Here’s the web site if you’re interested.
I’m not sure what happened here. I’m not giving Netflix the benefit of the doubt because the time of the episode is one hour and three minutes while the version I found in Audio vault adds a few more seconds. Netflix could have edited it better.
I have found choppy audio described content on Audio Vault here and there. I’m not sure if something happens with the editing when it’s uploaded to these platforms, but, on Netflix, I’ve seen choppy audio description three times counting this documentary. Most of the audio described content on Audio Vault is well edited.
Unfortunately, I now come to the most common critique I have with every audio description I review here. The documentary series is offered in several languages, but the audio description is only offered in English. By not offering audio description in all the languages the series is offered in, Netflix excludes viewers who are blind and visually impaired that don’t speak English. This is a Netflix problem that the company needs to work on. People pay them a good amount of money to be offered accessible content.
Conclusion
Overall, this audio description is good. It’s very vivid and engaging, despite my issues with it. Out of all the ones I’ve critiqued, this is my favorite. Great job, International Digital Center. I can’t wait to see more from you. I rate it two stars.
Anexis Matos 