What is Localization and Why is it Key in Video Production?

What is Localization?

Localization is the adaptation of an audiovisual project to meet the needs of a very specific market, with the objective of making it more relatable to the local audience.

A successfully localized film is one that appears to have been developed within the local culture. In order to truly localize a film, you must take into consideration the local costumes and understand not only speech and language differences but cultural ones as well.

Localization also involves adapting other elements to a target market, including

• Changing content to suit local preferences
• Converting to local currencies and units of measurement
• Modifying graphics to the correctly translated text (essential for video game localization)
• Using proper formatting for dates, addresses, phone numbers, etc
• Addressing local regulations and legal requirements (key in localizations for the health sector)
• It might even involve changing objects, sports, or even characters

As you can see, localization services go beyond mere translation. In short, it is the process of taking your video content produced in a specific language for a specific audience and transforming it to be understandable by another relevant new market.  

Why Localization is so Important?

Localization is so essential to reaching a new market that most books and movies change their titles and even cover art to appeal to different geo-markets.

Localizing your content allows your product to expand its reach to a new audience, building credibility and increasing sales. It is all about profitability and growth. 

It not only makes your project available but also more appealing to people in different regions. And if your content is more appealing, the audiences are more likely to enjoy it. Anyone who is trying to reach a global audience should consider localization.

The importance of localization is clear; it has to be part of your growth strategy if you are looking for other markets in different countries. If you are serious about that, at Golocalise they are ready to adapt your content to all foreign markets efficiently.

Localisation or Localization?

Localisation is predominantly used in British English, while Localization is predominantly used in the United States. Ironically, even this very word is part of the localization process (read about the difference between American and British English).

Difference Between Translation and Lozalisation

Localization is often confused with translation, but these terms mean two different things. Translation is the process of converting text from one language to another and Localization is the process of adapting the text to a very specific location.

Some may say that film localization is just a fancier way of saying film translation, but it is a crucial element when you’re ready for a prosperous international expansion.

There is no other way to reach a new market without using translation, but to do it successfully you must go beyond that and adapt your product for international use, by conforming them to the conventions of each target, including local language nuances and cultural styles.

Achieving comprehension of the narrative is crucial, and it can be very challenging to prepare and very few companies can rise efficiently to that challenge. GoLocalise has the most efficient team of language specialists ready to start your project and deliver great results. 

How to Localize a Video Production? 

Movies go through a localization process for which their content, characters, or even scripts and texts are altered and edited depending on the destination where the movie will be shown.

The research process behind those modifications is crucial to film localization.

Movies deliver messages through symbolism, metaphors, and even jokes. Therefore, it is no surprise that when it’s time to adapt it for a foreign audience’s consumption, a literal translation of the script would simply not do.

It’s a very challenging process conveying the deeper meanings of films to linguistically and culturally-diverse audiences without changing the films’ content, but by far it is the best strategy if you want your product to be relatable to a specific target.

As London’s leading Voice Over Agency, GoLocalise produces top quality Localization projects in over 100 foreign languages.

Localization Services in Over 100 Languages

When it comes to adapting a movie for a completely different audience, there are several steps that need to be followed so that the message won’t get lost in translation.

A comedic plot is a lot more complicated to export. Humour is not the same everywhere, especially when the comic references have some sort of linguistic double meaning or local characters. That’s why text adaptation is very important. 

Playing with words is smart, but it will limit the number of people from other countries and cultures that can follow up. And even if the audience understands what’s being said, it might not find it relatable or funny in the slightest. Cultural factors have to be considered as well. 

The tone of voice and pronunciation are also relevant when thinking about giving the audience a realistic context of events. But most importantly, the film must keep its essence.

There is a lot of research behind a Localization project. The script has to be evaluated in a worldwide light. Every line spoken or written must go through intense research that will provide insight into consumers’ behaviour in the target country, such as

1. Who exactly is the targeted audience?
2. What do people enjoy watching the most?
3. What will they find funny?
4. What’s their economic or even political context today?
5. What kind of media do they use?
6. What topics are negatively sensitive at this moment?
7. What contents are more appropriate to develop?

It may sound arduous, but it will prove to be helpful and profitable to contact the best professionals for your Localization project.

Making a film is also making history, and that history has to be told and understood in more than one language. It’s important to count with professionals that will best know how to adapt the essence of your project to captivate different new audiences all over the world.

GoLocalise can definitely help you in this venture expanding your business to new countries.

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