CAPTION TEXT
KD 3.3 & 4.3
• The generic structures of caption are the title, the lead, and section
heading.
• What is a caption in reading?
• countable noun. A caption is the words printed underneath a picture or
cartoon which explain what it is about.
What is Caption?
• A caption is a short descriptive or explanatory
text, usually one or two sentences long, which
accompanies a photograph, picture, map, graph,
pictorial illustration, figure, table or some other
form of graphic content contained in a book or in
a newspaper or magazine article. Wikipedia
What is the purpose of caption?
• Helping readers or viewers to understand information.
Helping readers or viewers to analyze information.
• Captions are often used to provide context for the content of
the image, or to convey a message that supplements the
image. The text usually provides information about the
graphic, such as a brief description or the date it was taken.
• Captions should tell a story, answer questions, and/or
describe the action or reaction in a photo. Captions can be
simple and used only for identifying people, or they can be
used as mini stories to save space and create maximum
impact. If you are using captions as mini stories, try to
answer the five W’s and H in each one; Who, What, When,
Where, Why, and How.
What is social function of caption text?
• Helping readers or viewers to evaluation information.
• For a caption to be effective, it includes elements to help the reader
easily identify key details and context of the story behind an image or
video. Those elements are the Who, What, Where, When, Why and/or
How. Use the ABCs of caption writing to help you with these elements
when writing captions
Types of Caption
Identification Bar
• Simply who is in photo
Cutline
• Who is doing what
Summary
• Who, doing what, when, where, why
There are four main types of captions: standard,
group, identification, and quote only.
• The standard (or expanded) caption are the mini stories we discussed
earlier. These captions typically have three sentences, although you can get
by with two sentences if space is limited. A standard caption goes like this:
• Lead in: two or three words, this is the mini headline for the caption.
• Sentence 1: Identifies people in the picture using first and last names and
grades. Gives most essential information of the five W’s and H. This
sentence is in present tense.
• Sentence 2: Provides background information that cannot be seen in the
photo (was this photo taken at a school event? Are the kids in a school
group together?). This sentence is in past tense.
• Sentence 3 (optional): a direct quote from a person in the photo, attributed
with “said.” This can be more than one sentence, kids often give hilarious
answers to questions!
• The group caption may be used next to a small group of
photos. A group caption saves space while summing up the
action going on in all of the photos in the group. Group
captions should be limited to groups of five photos or less
for readability. Group captions can follow the same
guidelines as standard captions, but sentence 1 and 2 can be
combined. If you’d like to use a direct quote, you can use just
one or a few depending on the group of photos.
• Identification (or “ident”) captions are simply a name and
grade level. These are ideally only used for portrait photos or
cutouts. You can also create an extended identification by
using a name and a small amount of detail in one sentence.
For example: Jenny Long (4) runs on the playground.
• Quote only captions are just what the sound like; a quote
accompanying a photo. These captions are intended to tell a
story from the perspective of the student or person pictured.
Students should be attributed with their full name and grade.
• This can be either from a person in the photo or a person
related to the action of the photo
• This should add information that isn’t already in other two
sentences
• This should be something nobody else could say about the
event.
What is the cutline of a caption?
• Cutlines are the descriptive words under the caption which describe
the photograph or illustration in detail. Reader Behavior: The reader
first looks at the photo, then at the information below the photo
(caption and cutline). After digesting the information, the reader
returns to the photo.
What is the difference between a caption and
a cutline?
• In some cases captions and cutlines are distinguished, where the
caption is a short (usually one-line) title/explanation for the photo,
while the cutline is a longer, prose block under the caption, generally
describing the photograph, giving context, or relating it to the article.
• Captions can be open or closed, with closed captions being
the most common type – they are offered as an option in
nearly every video viewing experience. However, far fewer
people know about open captions and when to use them.
• The difference between open and closed captions is a very
important distinction to know about if you’re planning to
produce video content, so, let’s take a look at closed
captions vs. open captions and when you should use each
type in your videos.
• The key difference between open and closed captions is the
fact that open captions are always on view and can’t be
switched off, while closed captions can be turned on or
off by the viewer. Additionally, special devices called
decoders are often needed to control closed captions for TV
and movies.
• Open captions are captions that are permanently visible in
movies, TV and online videos. Like closed captions or
subtitles, they display important audio information and
dialogue on-screen. As mentioned, unlike closed captions,
they can’t be switched on or off. This is because they’re
burned into the video track, rather than being added later as
an external file
Advantages of Open Captions
• Viewers don’t need to work out how to turn them on
• Viewers can’t accidentally turn them off
• Captions will be automatic for short clips e.g. social media videos
Examples of Open Captions
• The most common use of open captions is in movies.
• For example. if there is a part of the movie where the characters
start speaking a different language, the movie will display open
captions, providing the English translations. These are open
captions because they appear automatically and can’t be turned
on or off. Additionally, if a movie is being screened in a language
that most of the viewers don’t speak, the entire movie will play
with open captions.
Closed Caption (Catchy Caption/CC)
• The definition of closed captions is almost the same as open
captions, with the fundamental difference being that the
viewer can control them. This makes them a popular option
for most types of video content, especially on platforms like
Facebook or Youtube.
• Since such a large portion of viewers prefer to customize
their viewing experience, you’ll mostly want to use closed
captioning when you can. But, if accessibility it a main
concern for your content, open captions could be the best
option.
Advantages of Closed Captions
• Puts the viewer in control of their experience
• Gives flexible viewing options
• Easy to remove, edit and re-upload if needed
Examples of Closed Captions
• You’ll find closed captions are the default in most online
videos. A popular closed caption example is the automated
captions generated by YouTube than can be turned on or off
by clicking their settings feature. Popular streaming services,
traditional TV and other online video platforms will also offer
closed captioning options for all audiences, but as mentioned,
some platforms and devices won’t support this format.
Difference between Caption & Subtitles
• Captions are a
transcription of dialogue
and are primarily used to
help viewers who cannot
hear video audio.
Meanwhile, subtitles
provide a translation for
viewers who don’t
understand the language
being spoken.
Captions:
• Include background noises, speaker differentiation, and other relevant
information, making content more accessible for individuals who are
deaf or hard of hearing.
• Come in two forms, open or closed captions – closed captioning (CC)
can be turned off by the viewer with the click of a button, while open
captions are embedded into the video and cannot be turned off.
Subtitles:
• Unlike closed captions, subtitles assume viewers can hear the audio and
are typically used when the viewer doesn’t speak the language in the
video.
• Typically used in movies when the language spoken in countries where
the film is distributed is different than the language the film is shot in
e.g. for a French film screened in an English-speaking country.
• What are characteristics of a good caption?
• Captions should add new information. Don't merely repeat the story
headline or summary, and avoid stating the obvious elements that are
captured in the image. The caption should add context to the image,
not just duplicate what the reader already sees. Always identify the
main people in the photograph.
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