Back to collectionA Fixed Seat Reveals the Subtitle Trade-off
Before the next pre-release playtest, the author returned to a subtitle problem he had already recorded: increasing the type size made distant text easier to read, but also took up more of the picture. He taped position markers beside the chair legs and arranged two paper subtitle layouts over the same frame at the same type size. The fixed-distance comparison gave the subtitle adjustment a firmer basis while exposing a new trade-off.
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Before the next pre-release playtest, the author returned to a subtitle problem he had already recorded: increasing the type size made distant text easier to read, but also took up more of the picture. This time he first addressed the inconsistent viewing distances that had made comparisons difficult.
He taped position markers beside the chair legs and arranged two paper subtitle layouts over the same frame at the same type size. One sat close to the lower edge and the other slightly higher. Side by side, the raised version cleared the edge but covered a character in the scene. He circled the obstruction and kept the original seat position for the next reading round.
The fixed-distance comparison gave the subtitle adjustment a firmer basis while exposing a new trade-off. Paper layouts show only a still frame; where moving characters will be obscured must still be checked in the playtest, so the position cannot yet be settled.