Cathay Pacific Airways, the flag carrier for Hong Kong, recently decided to add sign language to their safety videos for their deaf passengers.  The Hong Kong Society for the Deaf was approached to provide a Chinese Sign Language interpreter and I was asked to do the American Sign Language version.

Because I have been using ASL only infrequently during the past ten years in HK, I encouraged Cathay Pacific to bring over a practicing ASL interpreter.  Shirley Herald, one of the top legal interpreters in the US, was asked to come, and we spent two days at the production studio at Kai Tak Airport putting the sign language with the safety video that all passengers are shown before each flight.  Shirley did the ASL signing and I served as consultant because I know both ASL and CSL.

Before the actual taping, we spent a lot of time discussing the intended target audience, their signing skills, the signers' dress and the background color, and the most appropriate signs to use.  Another consideration was the amount of time various ways of signing a phrase required because the signing had to coincide with the voiceover and already filmed demonstrations.

Here the director fixes Shirley's hair before making a shot.  The procedure was to run through a segment of script once for practice, and then to tape it twice.  Later we chose the version that seemed most clear and it was edited into the final product.  The shooting background was a neutral blue, and for the final version a "Cathay Pacific green" background was added.