Thursday, July 7, 2022

[Tentacles chittering]

They use words that perfectly capture the vibe.
It’s not just “creature walking,” it’s “squelching.”
It also shows how much thought their team put in to *every detail*. They thought about the whole experience.
~Kyle Bowe about the closed captions for the latest season of Stranger Things



True Confession: I have only seen part of the first episode of the Netflix series Stranger Things. I was too distressed by the "child in peril" storyline to keep going. But my parents and my daughter Ariana have watched it all. Ariana sent a message about the evocative closed captions -- a friend of hers had been snapping pics of some of these wonderful descriptions, e.g. "dissonant gibbering" and "tentacles chittering."

People on Twitter have been discussing the closed captions as well. One person even mentioned wanting to make found poetry from it. Sounds like a fun idea. Also, writing expressive, theatrical captions for favorite shows or movies, just as an exercise, or writing them for your life. What is happening in your soundtrack at the moment? "Coffee burbles invitingly." "Dog yips intently."

Here are more Stranger Things captions in case you want to use them for poetry/inspiration! (Clearly, I did not see them myself! Other folks reported them.)

sibilant whispering
sinister vocalizations
whimsical music turns menacing, swells
curious plucky music
desiccated withering
hand unfurling creakily
tentacles undulating moistly
eldritch thrumming
delicate, distressing music
otherworldly moaning
eerie whooshing
gate writhing wetly
ferocious guitar riff

**********

Bookseed Studio has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Jan!

10 comments:

Janice Scully said...

Some of these are really creapy! Tentacles undulating moistly and gate writhing wetly. Dampness definitely adds to the effect whereas dryness would detract from the effect. I'll have to check out Stranger Things . . . maybe.

Irene Latham said...

I admire the folks who bring the creativity to places that could so easily be dull! Perhaps you and Linda should team up on a creativity prompt book "captions & clunkers." xo

Linda B said...

I haven't watched "Stranger Things" but those captions really give the vibe. I agree with Janice, the moisture added makes things even scarier. It is fun to consider 'captions & clunkers'. Thanks, Tabatha

Bridget Magee said...

I've watched Stranger Things all the way through (my hubs and daughter #2 binge watched the entire season 1 the day it came out 5 years ago).
The show's use of closed captions adds a lot to the experience as does the soundtrack.
I also love the three superlatives Netflix uses to describe their shows...
I have a feeling Smidgey will comment on them in a future wee words post. :)

Mary Lee said...

These are quite evocative! Not enough to make me want to see the show, but maybe I can find some poems in there!!!

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I haven't been drawn in [moist sucking noise] by Stranger Things yet--if I watched it would mostly be FOMO. But I agree that there's a kind of poetry in these soundtrack captions. The reverse intrigue also exists. I often end up watching TikToks or Reels with no sound, and if there aren't extensive captions, I'm experiencing little silent movies. I like it.

Marilyn Garcia said...

I have watched all of Stranger Things. I believe these captions are significantly better than most of the dialogue. I wish I had known to turn them on and improve my viewing experience.

Elisabeth said...

I'm not able to watch that type of show either ... and judging by the subtitles I've made the right choice!

What a spooky collection of inspiration you've given us today! A good reminder that inspiration is all around us.

Michelle Kogan said...

I liked "Stranger Things" up to the present season and have since lost interest in it, though I think Marilyn has a good idea to turn off the sound and just read the closed captions…

Linda Mitchell said...

Oh, how fun...and how interesting and now I will turn on captions for everything I watch because I notice them and kind of smirk. But, now I will notice and record as prompts. Thanks, Tabatha! I too have left 'Stranger Things' to those that can handle more television viewing distress than I can. But, there's lots I do watch as I craft that I could grab from the screen. I love, love, love this idea!