The expanding role of text on screen: Subtitling Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Spree

The aim of this article is to investigate the additional layer of text on screen present in Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Spree (2020) and explore the translator’s perspective on the incorporation of such elements. The article discusses the participatory chat messaging systems accompanying live video of today and attempts to place them within an existing framework of text on screen as understood in audiovisual translation (AVT) and media accessibility (MA) studies as well as previous screen productions. The relationship between audience involvement and presence of modes of AVT is then explored to better highlight the importance of translation in audience reception. The authors characterize dynamic chat elements in the analysed movie to point to potential implications that further incorporation of elements of massive chat into filmic narratives might have for conventional modes of AVT, in particular for subtitling.