Why are captions on TV shows sometimes different from the words the actors say, but in ways that aren’t explainable by being misheard by a transcriber?

Question

For example, the actor in the movie just said “I’ve been saying that”, and the caption said “I’ve said that”. Do the transcribers have access to the screenplay, and use that as a starting point?

In: Other

Answer 1

Most people can talk and listen faster than they can read, so captions often shorten what’s said to be readable in real time. Also, less complex grammar is easier to read faster.

In some cases, captions leave out words or concepts that may be offensive or misunderstood; this is especially likely when content produced for one culture is captioned for another. (I once watched a movie captioned in multiple languages I understood; different things were left out in different languages.)