As promised, here’s the second installment of this month’s Soshified Spotlight. In Part 1, we interviewed Troy (xBublyPinKz), a SONE from Malaysia. This time, we’re featuring jreddevil07 (Jeff), a SoShi Subber.
Jeff is one of those folks you may not know much about but actually contributes a lot to the community, since he primarily works behind the scenes translating the videos and articles we enjoy so much. It’s a wonder how he has time to contribute to our enjoyment of the girls though, having just graduated from college, among other activities. Jeff also sheds some light on how the pink font is added to the bottom of videos of the girls, and that will come later on in this interview.
What is your first name?
Jeff
How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?
I stumbled across Soshified after Googling for a SNSD fan forum to download raws from, since I couldn’t get enough videos from other sources. I really liked the huge amount of videos that were available, and I’ve been a member ever since then!
How did you come up with your screen name?
“j” = Jeff, “reddevil” = Red Devil (Korean national soccer team’s nickname), “07” = my favorite/lucky number.
Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)?
I was born on the campus of UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), USA. I’m currently living in Monroe, Washington, USA.
If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?
I moved around a lot while growing up, so I learned to not get attached to places.
That must have been really hard moving around all the time. I assume it was for your parents’ work? How were you able to handle moving around during your childhood? Do you think you’ll stay in Washington for a while now that you’ve graduated college?
There were some private reasons as well, but yeah, we did move a lot because of my dad’s job (aerospace engineer). I have a cat and I studied a lot in school, so I was never really too lonely. As for where I’ll stay, it depends on where I go to graduate school. I guess it would be pretty nice to stay in Washington, but it would also be great to actually see the sun haha.
Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?
Since I just graduated last quarter (Physiology major), I’m currently not doing anything full-time until I start working as a medical scribe at a hospital in about 2 weeks.
In my free time I volunteer for a kidney center, translate for SoShi Subs, watch Korean variety shows, and occasionally play World of Warcraft.
Is there anything big in your life that you’re working on? (This can be related to school, career, hobbies, family, friends, etc.)
My biggest thing would be becoming a Registered Dietician. Other than that, I’m working on learning to drive within 2 weeks for my new job. I’m also working on becoming more social. Somebody made a Twitter account for me so I could be more social, but I’ve been reading more than typing lol. I guess the fact that I’ve typed anything shows progress?
Tell us a little about your kidney center and what you do there. With your volunteer work and your ideal career, I take it you really enjoy helping others?
At the kidney center, I am helping set up an event about kidney health awareness. Specifically, I am contacting exhibitors and recruiting volunteer organizations for the event. I also spread the Truvada kidney failure prevention guidelines through my channels. I’ll also volunteer at the actual event to help out wherever I am needed (hopefully I’ll get the chance to help a celebrity chef during a healthy cooking demo). I do, indeed, get a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction knowing that I helped somebody. I really appreciate it when somebody gives me a helping hand, so I try to do the same to others.
What’s the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?
Once I set a goal, I don’t stop until I reach it. I’ve spent 20+ hours straight translating and I once spent 6 hours hooking up a super old TV.
You seem to have a lot of motivation and concentration. 20+ hours is really a lot. What project was this, why did you decide to translate for so long straight, and how were you able to get through it?
It was for [SoShi Subs] Taeyeon’s Chinchin Radio – Taru & f(x) [09.16.09] and the last 2 or 3 regular Invincible Youth episodes. For the Chinchin, we were competing against another subbing group, no other translators were available, and, since I’m the slowest translator, I stayed up to try to get the translations out ASAP. Unfortunately, we didn’t beat the other subbing group. That was my first speed release project and my first project with Soy (working with the boss zomg! And I failed!), so I had the adrenaline pumping to keep me up and motivate me lol. For the Invincible Youth episodes, I felt incredibly guilty because I had caused the team to fall behind due to finals and my internship, so I wanted to get the last couple out as soon as possible.
For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?
I’m very shy – I think I sometimes come off as being arrogant or cold because of my shyness (sound a lot like a certain ice princess?). This is why I rarely post outside of the SoShi Subs area. It’s also why I’m not much of a talker, but why I’m a great listener. I rarely start conversations, but I welcome anybody who wants to to start one with me~ This also results in me being one of those work-behind-the-scenes guys.
Tell us some things that most people don’t know about you that you think they should.
I don’t really have anything about myself, but I’d like people to know that subbers really appreciate your replies to subbed videos. We read/hear a lot of negative comments/complaints, so it’s very nice to read positive comments. We obviously don’t sub to receive thanks, but it’s still very nice to know that our work is appreciated~
What are your interests outside of Girls’ Generation?
I like basically all music, but especially dubstep and any music from girl groups. I love cooking (I’m nub at it) because it’s fun to experiment. I really enjoy philosophy because it challenges your views on life/reality.
How did you first become a fan of Girls’ Generation?
I became a fan after watching their debut performance and their early interviews. What caught my eye were the vibe they gave off, Fany’s eye smiles, and the fact that Taeyeon really reminded me of BoA.
Who is your favorite member and why?
Yoona and Jessica – YoonSic forever! Yoona never fails to make me laugh with her choding ways and her alligator laugh – I dare anybody to not at least smile after seeing her alligator laugh lol. She’s incredibly pretty and she’s my favorite dancer in the group because her movements look so fluid and cool.
I like Jessica because I think I can relate to her, since she’s also shy and loves to sleep. I really like how she looks cold but takes such incredibly good care of the girls. Do I need to mention that she’s GorJess? I think a lot of people overlook how cute she is, so here’s a link of like the cutest thing ever: http://www.youtube.c…el_video_title. Watch the epic nose scrunch at the end! That’s quite possibly one of my favorite clips, along with the YoonSic poisonous food cooking session on Hello Baby.
What is your favorite Girls’ Generation song and MV and why?
For formal purposes, I’ll say the MV of “Kissing You” and the song “Gee”, but I like everything related to both songs.
I was once continuously sick with one cold after another for 6 months straight (no joke) and the girls started their “Kissing You” promotions shortly after I started to get sick. Whenever I listened to the song or watched them perform it, I smiled and forgot that I was sick. I don’t know how I would’ve coped with all that fatigue if I hadn’t listened to/watched “Kissing You”.
I like “Gee” equally as much because I think it was pivotal for the girls and because it’s super addictive, like whoa. As a SONE, I was so happy to see them come back with “Gee” after their 9-month hiatus – such a glorious return. I’ll take this time to spazz and say that I absolutely loved Sica’s octopus hair during the “Gee” era! I guess I totally loved her Princess Leia hair during the “Kissing You” era, too, though.
What is your favorite Girls’ Generation moment?
All variety shows with all nine girls are my favorite moments (except Infinity Challenge ones, that show fails the girls so hard), since too many epic moments happen.
How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?
They’ve been the source of strength, energy, and happiness in my life whenever I’ve had hard times, as I’ve kind of mentioned before. They’ve also indirectly introduced me into the world of subbing. Although subbing itself is great, the reason why I’ve kept subbing for 2 years now is because of the girls. I know I wouldn’t have kept translating if it were for any other group. My biggest motivation to translate is not because I like it, but because I love the girls.
What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?
I really like the community – the members are so nice and it’s so fun reading some of the posts. I’m quite often amazed by the creativity and skill some members/staff have. My favorite sections are the video and the subbing sections, for reasons I’ve mentioned before.
Why did you decide to join the Soshified staff, and why the particular job you have now?
I just randomly saw a notice about open translator applications and decided that I wanted to see how much help I could provide the team as well as how much I could give back to the girls. I chose to be a translator because I felt I could do that job better than the other ones, since I have no experience with the other ones.
What exactly do you do? Do you enjoy this position? What do you like about it?
I have 3 main duties: translating, hiring translators, and helping new translators. I test people who post that they would like to become Korean translators for SoShi Subs. Although I can’t go into the details of the process, one of the things I look for is the ability to understand and translate Korean into English. For those that pass the application process, I try to be a mentor to help them learn the ropes of subbing since it’s kind of a lot to take in at once and it can be quite intimidating at first.
As for actually translating, I basically translate anything SNSD-related from Korean to English, be it text, audio, or a combination of both. I also fill in missing translations (“spots”) for other projects – this is known as “filling in spots” and you will see spot translators in the credits of some videos. The following chain of work applies to videos; usually the translator is the only one who works on articles and other translated things.
After the translations leave my hands, timers then work their magic to turn them into those pink letters as well as the color-coded and spiffy screen text (an example of screen text is text within a speech bubble). They make sure the subs come on the screen at the right time, stay there for a long enough time for people to read them, and that there aren’t too many lines on the screen at once. They also make sure the subbed screen text looks as similar to the original screen text as possible.
The editors then look over the subs and make sure everything looks perfect with respect to grammar, spelling, and size/location/timing of subs. They also make sure that the translations make sense to non-Korean fans. Both timers and editors check to see if there are any spots to fill.
The encoders are the last ones in the work chain and they quality check (“QC”) the video to be extra sure that nothing is wrong with the subbed video. For example, they make sure that the dialogue and screen text don’t overlap and that there aren’t any video frame errors. They then upload the final subbed video and often convert into different formats.
I really love my position for many reasons. It’s honestly very difficult sometimes to finish projects in a timely fashion because of real life, but there is an amazing sense of accomplishment after finishing a project. Even if I think I’m completely burnt out when I start the video, I start getting so much energy and excitement by the end of it. I really like how I can use a skill of mine to share what the girls are saying to all non-Korean-speaking fans so they can experience what I experience when watching videos. It’s also great that I’m able to help the subbing team in multiple ways. Possibly the biggest reason is because I like how it provides me a chance to give back to the girls after all they’ve given me. It’s my way of showing my thanks to them.
What is your favorite project that you’ve ever been involved in?
Invincible Youth, for several reasons. It was an incredible show, so it was fun to watch and translate. I got to see much more of Sunny and Yuri than I had before, so that was very nice. I totally loved every moment of SuByung (Sunny + Hyomin)! The show also really pushed me and made me a better translator. I think the most important reason, though, is because it truly challenged me to think about why I wanted to continue being a translator. For several reasons, that period was the most exhausting period in my life, so Invincible Youth made me truly understand why I wanted to keep translating. Without Invincible Youth, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.
Any interesting experiences when interacting with members?
None that would be interesting to others, but I personally think it’s always interesting/fascinating when people know who I am, since I basically never post outside of SoShi Subs and I never release projects.
Have there been repercussions when rejecting applicants?
For the most part, people have been understanding and mature about it. Unfortunately, there have been several times when I have been harassed. There have also been people who have made new accounts or changed their usernames and applied again after being rejected. Some of these people have even resorted to cheating. I guess it’s kind of expected, though, since being rejected never feels good.
Translating seems like a very grinding task. How are you able to stay motivated?
Yeah, translating (and subbing in general) definitely wears on you after a while, so I respect the subbers who have been on the team for much longer than I have. I’m motivated when I think of how hard the girls work for us, the fans. When I compare how tired and burnt out I am to how they must feel at times, I get more motivated to continue working. When I feel burnt out, I also remember that the main reason why I chose to sub, and the reason why I should continue to sub, isn’t because it’s fun, but because I want to help the team and show my thanks to the girls. Feeling burnt out is a result of losing the fun/enjoyment, so when I take that out of the equation, I am able to motivate myself once again. This is what I learned from subbing Invincible Youth.
Is there anything else about you that you would like to add?
I like cats and Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust pizzas.
Huge thanks goes out to Jeff for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement.
Compiled by: [email protected]
Graphic by: [email protected]
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