Hello! You all right? I’ve been enjoying watching the TV series Reunion, which I watched with my husband. We’ve been watching it with sign language translation alongside the English, and it was good. I really enjoyed it because, finally, there’s a story about a deaf person who’s been arrested, as well as his life – and it feels like proper drama TV, you know? Usually when you watch those horrible crime and drama shows, it’s always hearing people going through something bad. But finally, we get to watch something where deaf people are included – in Reunion! It’s fantastic and brilliant!
I thought it was really interesting because it has a mix of deaf and hearing people. The hearing people looked like they’d clearly been taught how to sign – I heard it was probably six weeks, right? Six weeks of training? But I’m not sure if I’m right or wrong. Let me know.
I also watched the signs and thought they were interesting. These actors’ signing seems to be a certain way – more like the hearing way of signing. I can tell it’s what I’ve been used to in BSL deaf theatres before, where there are hearing people who have researched with BSL – but I can still tell. I’ve seen hearing people learn to sign for acting on stage. Interesting.
One thing that could use a small improvement is the framing. I understand the production team framed some scenes in a way that made it difficult to see the signing. Sometimes you’d expect to have an on-screen translator, but some signs were missing – we could only see mouthing. Of course, us British people could understand the English because we grew up in the UK, so we could lipread (or read subtitles if we don’t). But still, the signs were kind of cut off.
If you’re from a different country and only understand BSL, and English is difficult to follow, it can be quite awkward. You’re left wondering what they’re really saying – you need clarification. For example, there was a scene with the deaf actor man having an argument, where he shouted ‘shut up, shut up’ without signing. The on-screen translator didn’t pop up. Of course, we know what that means, but people from different countries might not.
So, this is just a short piece of feedback – if anyone mouths words without visible signing, it would be better to have the on-screen translator pop up. I understand that people who speak English can understand, but for signing people, there should really be an on-screen translator when sign language is enabled. I also understand it might feel awkward if the screen keeps switching back and forth to show or hide the translator.
But I really enjoyed the show – I was mesmerised. It was fantastic and perfect. And the cinematography was really brilliant. If you haven’t yet watched it, you should go ahead and have a look!
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