Video Transcription Lessons in SignWriting

[Kimberley Shaw]

Hi Val and everyone:
I'll be sure to have a look at the how-to-transcribe-from-video link!
The poem transcription is for my own ASL study (of poetic versus prose
uses of ASL), but if I get proper permission, I'll be very happy to
share it on the SW site.
So, I'll go practice, practice, practice ...
- Kim

On 1/1/07, Valerie Sutton <signwriting at mac.com> wrote:
> SignWriting List
> January 1, 2007
>
> Kimberley Shaw wrote:
> > Val, I only get more and more impressed by the day by the things
> > you have done! I have been trying to transcribe a poem of Ella Mae
> > Lentz ("Travels with Malz"), and it has become an exercise in
> > frustration.As an ASL student who has just been placed into a 2nd-
> > year ASL class at a univiersity level, I am trying to figure out
> > why it is being so diffficult to simply write down sentence by
> > sentence from the VHS (no, the video her poem is on has never been
> > released to DVD, alas), and I am wondering how on earth you were
> > able to transcribe from video when you were not yet a signer. Was
> > it the dance training? Have all of you other signwriters got some
> > special wisdom to share with me? Or just useful tips? You don't
> > even want to know how many times I have had to hit "pause" and
> > "rewind" just to get the first sentence down on paper.
>
> Hello Kim, and Everyone!
> Thank you for this message, Kim, and to all who have already answered...
>
> And thanks for your kind words about the writing system...
>
> Regarding me personally...
> There is only one answer as to why I personally was able to invent
> Sutton Movement Writing...it was something I was born to do...it was
> not just dance training...it is the visual way I think and my
> personal choice to dedicate my life to the development of the writing
> system...There is no way to explain how inventors invent what they
> invent or how artists create their art...except that it was meant to
> be and it is a part of the soul of the artist or inventor...and of
> course, all the writers and readers and software developers, over the
> years, have contributed enormously to the important improvements of
> our writing system...so the team effort is also the other side of
> that coin...and the willingness to accept the changes necessary to
> make the writing system work for the majority...a complicated
> tightrope walk that has made a working and used writing system...and
> we are still and always will be in the process of improved software
> and literature and SignSpelling rules!
>
> So you can help that process move forward, Kim, by learning to
> transcribe well from video...and you can learn directly with me as
> your teacher...in one of two ways...free lessons here on the
> SignWriting List, or become a SignWriting Member and receive private
> lessons with me...
>
> SignWriting Membership
> Learn SignWriting with a Teacher
> http://www.suttonshop.com/ecommerce/pages/products_sw_detail.jsp?id=1.0
>
> ---
>
> Regarding free lessons on the SW List...
> Joe Martin and Stefan Woerhmann took a short course with me years
> ago. Read these web pages:
>
> Lessons in Video Transcription
> http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/transcribe/
>
> Learn to Transcribe from Video Course
> http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/transcribe/scribe003.html
>
> Stefan became a skilled video scribe because of his enormous talent
> and dedication to learn. That is why Stefan can transcribe ASL videos
> so well, even though he is really a German signer...because Stefan
> learned the skill of video transcription...and can write any movement
> from video...not just signed languages...
>
> So if you want to learn how to transcribe from video free here on the
> SW List, I am going to make three requests...
>
> 1. people sign-up for the free course, promising to participate and
> dedicate a little time to the course...so I am not working alone, but
> get obvious questions and participation from those who sign-up for it
> on the List...
>
> 2. we choose a video that my non-profit organization owns the
> copyrights to (and I have a huge amount of ASL videos to choose
> from), or...we write to Ella Mae Lentz's publisher to get written
> permission to transcribe and to then post the writing on the
> web...because I will post what we write on the web...so we must use
> something we can post freely...
>
> 3. once we choose the video, I will post small portions of the video
> on the web in Quicktime or WMV formats, for you to download or view
> on the web, and then I will ask participants to write that video
> clip, and post their SignWriting of the video to the SW List for
> discussion and we take one section of the video at a time...
>
> Some of the videos I have that we can transcribe are:
>
> 1. Sleeping Beauty in ASL signed by Darline Clark Gunsauls
> 2. Snow White in ASL signed by Darline Clark Gunsauls
> 3. Cinderella in ASL signed by Darline Clark Gunsauls
> 3. hours of Deaf DAC members discussing SignWriting issues on video
> 4. Other literature signed by Dave Gunsauls and Kevin Clark, such as
> the One Harbor poem, Humpty Dumpty and so forth...
>
> PLUS we have permission from an ASL teacher to write a little of his
> videos...that might be good for ASL instructors...If you prefer that,
> I can write to him again to be sure he wants his videos as a part of
> a video-transcription course...
>
> Happy New Year everyone!
>
> Val ;-)
>
>