How Blind People Watch Movies (ft. Tommy Edison/Blind Film Critic)

[@tutu8896]

"Tommy, have you seen this yet?" "No" "Have you heard it yet?" hahaha

[@breadmoneymusic]

"Do you know where the audio description is?" "No." "The on-screen menu."

[@TommyEdisonXP]

Thanks for having me on your channel, James. Enjoyed making the collabs.

[@calapp1188]

Great video guys, really interesting stuff.

[@aoosa4755]

But.. how did you type?.?.? 🙀

[@daskampffredchen]

Someone types for him and also reads the comments for him

[@-belue-6697]

Das Kampffredchen...Speech to text!...To read, Sir I reads it out! 😎🎃✌️🖖🤘🙏🏽

[@LostWhits]

Some media players can be set up to select a particular audio language or subtitle language as the default.

[@bmilano1580]

LOL, I love how Tommy just blatantly describes the video like even the special effects. I wouldn't even have noticed it because I was distracted by sight

[@MattieAMiller]

Them talking about adding more description to videos makes me think of Mr Rogers Neighborhood. A blind girl had wrote to him saying that she was worried the fish weren't getting fed, so he would always say when he was feeding the fish. Something as small as that can really make a difference for so many viewers.

[@MegaCasper04]

Wouldn't it be awesome if in movie theaters had headphones for people who require audio descriptions that are in sync with the movie?

[@faithl.9706]

Radler Vlogs Im pretty sure they do. You just have to ask for one.

[@kellyagee5742]

some do.

[@Veela666]

or just headphones in general. or a jax i can plug mine into.

[@julienichols5490]

Yes that would be great it's funny you should mention that on One of the movies I have it has an audio option on the DVD that does just that a description of the film the movie Ted has it it's friggin Hilarious !😂😂😂

[@angrythumbman6290]

Rosie Cheeks I think movies on DVDs and blue ray have them

[@tiny99990]

I feel that Tommy was joking when he said he was handsome... but he is handsome.

[@roxcyn]

tiny99990 - You both are.

[@RisWish]

What's very interesting to me are the differences when it comes to audio description. I live in Germany, my dad is blind since birth and my stepmom is legally blind. She actually works in audio description and it's so much more detailed! They take the time to actually describe everything, what people are wearing, what they're typing etc. My dad also speaks English, so I was excited to show him some Netflix shows when they announced their new AD feature. We were pretty disappointed by it, because it's just not up to the German standard. I had to fill in a lot of blanks for him. The trouble is, German film studios/TV stations have started to notice that English AD is quicker and cheaper, so the quality is going down. It's a move in the wrong direction :(

[@BaldMancTwat]

If anything the English ones should get better.

[@RisWish]

Harambe Yes, definitely but companies don't think like that, all they care about is money.

[@tobyonekenobi]

AD on British TV is very detailed. It sounds like it might be on par with Germany. I don't know about DVDs or Netflix, but certainly on the BBC and Channel 4 we have almost poetic audio descriptions.

[@RisWish]

Toby Spencer Really? I watched the first episode of Doctor Who with AD and thought it was pretty bad. Maybe they improved since 2005, which would be great of course.

[@Krowtic]

Netflix's Daredevil with Audio Descriptions is pretty great even for someone with sight.

[@LostWhits]

I never thought to do that.

[@iwantmybed3090]

Yeah, I love putting those on. They add a layer of depth to characters’ expressions, and the descriptions of what the filmmakers intend to portray add a whole new perspective to the experience!

[@blindknitter]

I will have to try that. I love Dare devil!

[@cheaterman49]

Thanks a lot to Tommy for the very relevant feedback about accessibility options not being easily reachable (9:33) ! I'm a UI developer myself, and as interfaces go we usually rely mostly on visual clues to make the user navigate a system, and it's really hard to plan ahead properly for blind people. I'll try to help others focus more on that as well in the future!

[@KlingonCaptain]

I'm not blind, but I actually enjoyed watching Toy Story 3 with the audio descriptions turned on. I'm glad that most Disney Blu-rays have audio descriptions.

[@drwoo6090]

I suffer from vertigo. At times, it's so bad, I can't lift my head off the bed. The room spins, and I feel nauseous!

[@branditheempress]

I would have never noticed the voice effects because of my ability to see but wow it's amazing what you don't pick up on. This was one of my favorite videos I have seen on KZbin in awhile

[@anniebe4992]

Awesome! I just listened to the video, without watching the film sequences and the audio description was very helpful!

[@anniebe4992]

***** thank you, too, dear James, and enjoy the remaining holidays!

[@elizabethsmith7224]

I never knew how audio description worked, it's really cool it must be tough for audio descriptions to describe what is happening during a battle without taking over the dialogue or sound effects

[@elizabethsmith7224]

*talking

[@jamesrath]

It usually does well not to speak over dialogue. Sounds effects sometimes.

[@Nattypr23]

Came from Tommy's channel and just subscribed...Im not blind yet but I do have many eye issues, I'm photophobic and my eyesight gets worst as I age, so your videos are very interesting to me, keep up the good job 💖.

[@SouthdownWatersForge]

Huge inspiration. I became legally blind in April 2016 and am trying to make it as a blacksmith on youtube. Great to see what i can potentially aspire to

[@a14a17k]

This was a really neat video to stumble across. As someone with another rare visual disorder (iriscoloboma) I have a new found appreciation for my visual abilities and a sense of community others who see/understand the world in unique ways

[@mikesmedleymusic6287]

Thanks so much for putting this together! I love both your channels, and seeing a collaboration was awesome! I'm a severely legally blind 17-year-old, and it's great to know that there are people like you guys who are still following their dreams despite being blind. You especially as often people look at you weird if you're blind and want to do anything visual. I play piano and sing in a rock band and got dubbed the sound guy because I have stronger hearing, and I also run lights😂 Would love to get a pilot's license some day, but apparently you need to be able to see too do that? Whatever.. keep up the great work, and I'd totally love to grab lunch with you if you're ever in the Philly area to hear your story and pick your brain if you ever have some down time!

[@gracelockhart6040]

Yeah, you need to see well to be a pilot. You'd be flying an extremely heavy object though the air with passengers.

[@patricia5617]

i don't have any experience with AD but i expected... more? i don't know it it's because the video has been cut, but i expected to hear like "the image shifts" "the image is blurry" something like that. because seen the video you get the feeling of the eyes not focusing but not with the AD

[@ashleycheng2164]

First time for me to even know about the AD feature, so amazed and glad for you guys! Had a teary moment when tommy talked about watching the metrix

[@carolnorton2551]

I'm a sighted person and never go to movies but I enjoyed this video enormously. Thank you.

[@NinjaGamesWorld]

I have vertigo and feel like I am always moving but because of my ears.

[@sarah157100]

Omg I love this video. I’m legally blind as well. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@EazzyBeezie]

Hey James, here because I saw you on Tommy’s channel. You two had an awesome video. Subbing!

[@ali3nch1ck12]

I remember I commented asking for more ADs and you commented back and now I understand that I wanted more ADs because i haven't developed the context and imagination skills to really understand how to fill in the blanks when I can't see it

[@jayzerino]

Tommy is the nicest guy and so are you much love to both of you 😆😆

[@NearlyBlindKnitterandStitcher]

I watched you on Tommy's channel, cooking blind was brought up. Check out "The Brothers Green" they cook very creatively with the George Forman grill, microwave, and toaster oven. Good luck! - from a fellow legally blind person.

[@FronteirWolf]

My mum has vertigo, didn't for most of her life, now things move constantly for her and she needs a stick to get about. I asked her about it and she said it's her normal now, and it would be strange if the pavement was staying still. She also said it's hard to know if a car is staying still or moving sometimes. She's autistic so has always been noise sensitive, but now sudden loud noises actually knock her off balance. She fainted in church and pretty much since then the world always moves in her eyes. Sometimes it's so bad she can't go out, but most of the time it's manageable and she takes medication which helps the moving thing.

[@mellaniyswansong7135]

Audio books are great movies for me. Just finished all the alien movies on audiobook.

[@KSMSDRPEPPER]

As a deaf person... well I know this guy @DeafProducer - he's worked in TV - and he has lots of #DeafBlind friends so ... I'm curious, I need to send the link to him to see. I'm having more and more vision issues myself, and I think it would be interesting to see his observations on making films #accessible to both deaf/blind where they can't easily read caption and also, of course, can't hear the audio description. There's various shades of deaf/blind along the continuum so I get that too - some were blind and have been losing hearing over time, and of course there are those deaf who then begin losing sight. And then there's Helen Keller and those like her who were born deaf and blind, so they might not even know they are "missing out" on video, ya know? So anyway, just a lot of thought firing off and yet, oh and I need to copy this to Tommy @blindfilmcritic will he get this copied here or is it @TommyEdisonXP or be sure to copy this to him, too, please and thank you!! Cool video by the way. Ohhh and the vertigo thing - you know a lot of deaf people have vertigo. I had the Benign Positional Vertigo, where it's more like everything suddenly tilts like 30-45 degrees and freezes until at some point it all gets right-sided. I've had other friends who have the merry-go-round-and-around vertigo (I guess similar to what getting completely drunk can also do for people, like the whole "stop the floor from spinning, I want to get off!" kind of thing... In my case, through trial and error, I've found that certain types of foods can impact my vertigo, as can general dehydration and lack of sleep, oddly. But others yea, the vertigo is just there regardless of what they eat or do. So I can empathize and I'm just thankful I don't have them currently...

[@LostWhits]

I used to play Pixar movies with audio description to go to sleep.

[@cheaterman49]

You're both awesome :-) thanks for the great videos!

[@MakeupLover444]

Molly Burke said she used to call her eyes my dancing eyes in a video. I think that's a cool description 👍🏼

[@reneetodd6552]

Absolutely beautiful, Love the poetic dialogue!

[@ishamassoud7906]

i had several glaucoma and corneal transplants last few years and became legally blind , so new to this world and so scared and so inspiring to see that i am not alone

[@jamesrath]

Hey Isha, I know it can be scary but you've got this. You got a community, and there are many resources out there. Though I was born legally blind, I did have an experimental surgery when I was 12 that was showing positive results for a couple years only to lose it all overnight and having to experience going legally blind (again). So I feel I kinda but also don't kinda get it as it was only for a few years I could see well. Regardless, you're not alone!

[@sesseljabs964]

it's kinda sad that most people that make their youtube videos a more accessible is the people that are disabled that way

[@animeislife8414]

Am I Alive ? l

[@estherrosi-kessel5192]

Am I Alive ? People don’t get it! They forget.

[@michaelgibbs514]

Tom Scott is brilliant for captions.

[@LaurenTrivison]

Really cool video! I can't wait to see more videos from you, you did a great job :)

[@bzqp2]

Here where I live the foreign movies have a voice-over instead of subtitles. The curious thing is, that they don't lower the volume when the voice-over is on. And it still remains perfectly legible. I imagine you can also keep the same volume levels throughout the whole descripted video.

[@chazhinkley6602]

Just found your channel. Really awesome stuff. Subscribed.

[@alienangel777]

Wonderful video. I just have to ask; have you or other companies considered using professional voice actors for audio descriptions? Blind people deserve so much better quality than what is currently offered. The audio description especially on this video was lifeless, monotone, and she seemed completely disinterested. As a sighted person, I was saddened at the narrator's lack of talent or simply a lack of care in doing a good job of narrating the whirl of motion, emotion, tone, music, and overall feeling of the video. Is this the exception, or do we need to raise money in order to be able to hire the talent to do movies and the sight impaired justice?

[@alienangel777]

I agree! Netflix has great audio talent. I've done some professional reading to narrate books, especially science and medical books for which most narrators have problems pronouncing a lot of words correctly, such as "deoxyribonucleic acid", stories for the eyesight challenged, and just for fun. I'd love to offer some time to narrate your art for free!

[@Shift18]

I'm curious what it would be like for Tommy to picture what was going on when things are being described in his head, if visual thoughts are just replaced with more of just an 'understanding' of whats happening using his other senses to fill in the blanks.

[@MistyAnime]

Kill Bill has great Audio description

[@nictheartist]

How do they keep up? Most of it is non-stop action!

[@publiusvelocitor4668]

Tommy, I would love to hear a review of Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark" I adore her, and many people think this is her best serious acting, and of course since she plays a blind character, maybe you will have ideas about it that other critics missed. Love your videos!

[@CrazyRoadblockisbae]

Just subscribed! Hello and nice to meet you!

[@theblanketfortcohort7332]

We've got an audio description button on our remote- no one in our household needs it but it makes you jump when you press it accidentally XD Also, if you're blind from birth, what do you actually /get/ from AD? It's describing visual information, but if you've never taken in visual information what does it do for you?

[@JuggaloJD420]

that was interesting. (SubScribed) i never thought about having the description explained. Keep up the videos.

[@upnorthvlogs]

That’s great maybe you’ll have your own channel someday

[@Garrettdx1988]

there are soooo many cuts in this video

[@frittatasTV]

yeah, it does just mean that james puts a lot of time and effort into his videos

[@markieman64]

The ability to add audio description to KZbin videos would be good.

[@unuhinuii7764]

I only discovered audio description a few years ago and was actually amazed how much i had been missing in the visuals. Of course the facial expressions and body language, but often also long things if what people do get described in terms of emotion. So the descriptions could be very helpful for small children too, or those with alexithymia or autistics. So suddenly what you see (or rather don't see) has a name: nervously, jealously, angrily, dreamily. One of the movies i love with audio description is Imitation Game. I had seen it in cinema and thought I understood it perfectly. So then having that with description (on a British Airways flight with accessible inflight movie selection) it was really weird, like a very different movie. I had no clue until then the facial expressions would be described, and I thought Alan had often this expressionless face... that then got described in a lot od different ways. If i watch something alone, i use the descriptions. My other half prefers them off, so good to have a good imagination (and him fill in random relevant visuals). Also weird how some movies and tv are so much more accessible with sound alone, like travel shows and cooking shows work easily as they are. And old movies seem to have this lovely era of when theater actors became film actors, so all the emotional cues were so much better acted and so many movies of that era work so well just guessing what happens.

[@SteppingStonevlogs]

Who else watched the movie with yoir eyes closed? And how did that understanding change when you saw it? thought it helped me understand how it be for one of them.

[@jamesrath]

Thanks for watching!

[@Sgt-Gravy]

Does Tommy like horror & how do blind people handle fear? Sighted people are stereotyped to hide under blankets or turn the lights on... thanks for being an inspiring group. love your videos.

[@Ricardoromero4444]

Is jiu-jitsu beyond you? Jiujitsu being mainly ground fighting, I believe it could be a fun sport for blind people.

[@LostWhits]

Blind Judo is a Paralympic sport. So I assume jujitsu wouldn't be out of the question.

[@knas1200]

You guys rock, keep it up!

[@SkyNetworkTV]

My TV also has a video description feature but I can't use it because my cable company doesn't have video description, I wish they did.

[@TirsaTalks]

Thanks for this video, very informative! :)

[@gohandelacruz2405]

This made me cry. someday if I have a lot of money i will spend all of it just to cure your blindness I think? IDK. I'm a fan from philippines! :)

[@Jaraban]

I thought i was bad off having to wear glasses since I was 2 but you sow a difference. Just a question how did you complete your high school exams if that is what you call it. I am english

[@estherrosi-kessel5192]

I have albinism and nystagmus too, but I don’t notice the nystagmus. I don’t notice my eyes moving, and I don’t get vertigo from it at all.

[@jamesrath]

I've heard that from some people with Nystagmus, while others experience as much if not more than me. Nystagmus is strange like that where it's a different case for everyone

[@LivingAble]

Apparently all the disabled youtubers are in LA lol. I need to move there for some collabs :P Huge fan of yours, Tommy's, and Andrea's! Question James, since your eyes are always making things feel like things are moving, earthquake like etc, do you find it beneficial to close your eyes and rest them? I guess you get used to it but I know the few times I have been dizzy it's exhausting so i'd imagine it was for you also.

[@BLINDEXPLORERASIFMUHAMMAD]

Living Able hi I live in the UK i have just losted my eye sight and I have started to vlog more about disabilities and sight loss and visual impairment

[@andreanatsuminadeau5608]

It's funny how able people tend to mix disabilities and what each person with a specific disability might need to improved there life a bit. For instance on Netflix (at least in french) it's written the french equivalent of "Audio description for the hearing impaired" and I'm like "Audio description is kind of useless to HOH/deaf people, give them subtitle and caption, audio description is for the blinds" The audio description on your video was good, but since there was a lot of dialogue on your part it was almost overlapping with Andrea's description it was a bit overwhelming. I usually put audio description on with my blind BFF in action stuff or movie/series with lots of silence but with stuff with lots of dialogues she usually get most of it, sometime I have to describe stuff she did'nt react as she should if she understood what really happened. Sometime I will complement an audio description that miss something that I feel is important cuz audio description is kinda new so it's not perfect but it's great for you folks.

[@wereaboutsunknown]

I have a question. How well would 360-degree sound to accentuate the experience for blind people work? By being able to control where sounds come from, you could make things more or less confusing. For example, by standardizing where the audio description comes from you could make the experience more immersive. My grandmother (with glaucoma) suggested it to me after I had her listen to some opera from my headphones.

[@kenzofinucane4057]

You dont need your eyes to dance, try it (but be careful)

[@NibNa5ty]

Your videos have touched me. thank you take care

[@BLINDEXPLORERASIFMUHAMMAD]

Very amazing video well done

[@juliabrown3610]

Tommy is the best!

[@auntyangie33]

Thanks this was great.

[@auntyangie33]

👍

[@Chepecafeteria]

I think Tommy needs an explanation of what slow motion is.

[@Chepecafeteria]

James Rath you're right, he did mention that he watched the matrix.

[@agatarosicki467]

I have a Facebook page called abscess doing it blind! I would greatly appreciate if I could share your video with other persons about what you're discussing in the video! I always like to ask permission before actually post on my page thank you very much

[@FruddyG]

Would ignorance be bliss being born blind vs acquiring later

[@monsters691]

When james said "have you seen these yet " I was thinking oh you asshole then he said have you heard this yet Long story short I'm still laughing

[@monsters691]

1:10

[@hadassahbenson4020]

Why do u think subtitals are a main stream and audio descriptions aren't?

[@chanteledwards3615]

Hadassah Benson as a "seeing" person I found it to be a distraction. I'm glad it helps the blind though.

[@MistyAnime]

subtitles have been around far more longer than audio description and that's why it's main stream. AD is still in it's early days

[@swag-machine]

I love your videos :) !

[@puttputt524]

Maybe ha can play shuffleboard or golf

[@Skittledikk]

Do you think he knows he looks like a smaller chinned, closed eyed jay leno

[@currykingwurst6393]

Nerfern He did a video on that. “Do blind people know what they look like?“

[@Morna777]

Do you use descriptive audio when it's available?

[@jamesrath]

Yes I do!

[@zech6846]

Yuuuuiiaaaaooooouuyyryyyyyeratoooooo.

[@julienichols5490]

I LOOOVE that video I am legally blind and have been since birth I was 3 months early and got too much oxygen and I weighed less than 1lb&10oz I have a severe lazy eye-my bad eye I think they call it R.O. P. retinopathy of prematurity I was a child of the system and they don't keep track of a Foster child's medical history I was adopted from foster care system and I have Zero medical history of both myself and my Bio family

[@Taylor-cy3cd]

soo many jump cuts

[@Taylor-cy3cd]

lol

[@Taylor-cy3cd]

but nice video tho

[@IcyMidnight]

How do blind people watch movies without Tommy Edison?

[@ignismaniaco9935]

A sfairy special guest, you say?

[@emilyphillips8113]

Most annoying sounds?

[@charlietuba]

WE'RE NOT DRINKING MERLOT!

[@jan050375]

sorry, too many cuts, ruins the flow of the video.

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

ok jerk

[@jan050375]

@@dontspikemydrink9382 did you really just dig for a 3 year old comment just to say that?

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

@@jan050375 no

[@rumanahmedshaikh9720]

wow

[@Livetowrench]

Cool video my name is james I'm legally blind albino as well

[@blindknitter]

I love you both, you're very handsome.

[@jamesdooley11]

I have your name 😐 ._.😐

[@ShaneD3488]

All those jump cuts got really annoying. People naturally pause when speaking. There's absolutely no reason to jump cut every 2 seconds!

[@patrickharper9297]

Sweeeet

[@honsbarrera422]

I feel that audio descriptions are very mundane, I think that movies should technically be written into a book for blind people, just like books get made into movies there should be movies made into books. Audio description is so dry and flavorless

[@jamesrath]

I disagree, as a filmmaker myself if the story can be written descriptively than that's great! But creatively that process can hinder a production's outcome. I personally find some voice-work for audio descriptions quite immersive. Netflix, if you ask me, has some great talent doing their descriptions.

[@datboitrooper1255]

Wowwee 10:16

[@vitor900000]

pls don't hate me but i don't like the short movie D:

[@vitor900000]

Just the short D:

[@takaxinahacachaco12]

u're cute

[@jamesrath]

😅 Thanks!