Movies and being able to understand the dialogue

[Marc]

In various threads it's been mentioned how it can be difficult to understand the dialogue in recent films (and tv shows).

It's a nuisance for the audience but it's also an issue for those that do sound design etc for the movies.

Slashfilm has an article up on the issue. Some involved behinds the scenes were willing to go on the record, others requested anonymity as they weren't keen on the idea of career suicide.

Seems there are two main causes - the director (Christopher Nolan is one mentioned by name) the other is the way the actors are performing their lines - either speaking them quietly or underbreathing them to start with. Then you've got on-set sound issues, through to mixing for different viewing environments.

https://www.slashfilm.com/673162/he...icult-to-understand-and-three-ways-to-fix-it/

 

[Owain Taggart]

Good topic. Yeah, I think dialogue has definitely become harder to understand. The latest for me, to give an recent example, is in the latest Dune movie. I couldn't even understand most of the dialogue in the trailers and they all seemed to inherit the 'mumbling breathing' style that the article talks about.

Another I've had trouble with was with Westworld. The dialogue in that would often be very hard to understand.

All in all, it's a frustrating experience for the viewer.

 

[1001001]

We’ve used the “speech” sound setting on our TV and the closed captioning for years.

 

[cultcross]

I noticed this again only last night, watching Discovery. Burnham and Book had a little exchange that I caught none of. Reminded me how, in the Berman era, Star Trek would employ widespread looping to make every word audible even if it ended up sounding slightly unnatural. The emphasis seems to have changed to having the sound effects dialed up to eleven, combined with a more naturalistic acting style which quite often makes dialogue hard to hear. I find captions annoying, so I just live with it.

 

[Jayson1]

I thought it was just me. I keep messing with the sound button all the time. Things are either to loud or to quiet. I was wondering if something was wrong with my hearing. Plus I sometimes hears words that sound like other words. A character might say. "I need to go down to the store to meet Jane" only I hear "I mead to go down down to the store to meet Kane/Lane/Bane or who knows what the characters name is.

 

[Starkers]

I've had issues for a few years now, tend to have the TV on loud and occasionally will rewind and stick closed captions on if I think I've missed something important. Suspect my hearing just isn't quite as good as it once was, but changes in sound design etc clearly a factor also.

 

[elric428]

Enunciation in television and film is a thing of the past. Actors now mumble their lines. And the crappy speakers found in most flat screen televisions don't help.

 

[1001001]

Enunciation in television and film is a thing of the past. Actors now mumble their lines. And the crappy speakers found in most flat screen televisions don't help.

Combine some pretty bad tinnitus in one ear and four very loud birds, and there we are...

 

[flandry84]

Jeff Bridges.
We’re looking at you.

 

[wayoung]

Jeff Bridges.
We’re looking at you.

Well that's just, like, your opinion man.

 

[scotpens]

Actors mumbling under their breath is nothing new; it just seems to be the norm now. Way back in the 1950s and '60s there were plenty of jokes about Method actors.

"I can't understand a word he says."
"Shut up -- he feels it!"

 

[Owain Taggart]

Combine some pretty bad tinnitus in one ear and four very loud birds, and there we are...

The worst thing is, when it's mixed the way it is, it often won't help when you turn up the volume. Bad audio is bad audio no matter how you hear it.

 

[SithHappens]

fuzzy wuzzy was a woman ?

 

[Lakenheath 72]

It's good to know that I am not alone in having this issue. Thank you for the article.

 

[Owain Taggart]

fuzzy wuzzy was a woman ?

And was he really fuzzy?

 

[Vanyel]

I guess I'm lucky I haven't come across a movie where I couldn't understand what was being said. Maybe once or twice I miss a bit of what is being said, but it's only a word or two of dialogue, usually because I'm crunching down on popcorn or slurping up an Icee.

 

[Non Sync]

It really boils down to what sort of sound system do you have. If you are using built-in speakers on flat screen, then the sound will usually be muffled because they're pointing towards the wall and must bounce around to get you. You can check the TV settings to see if there are different audio presets that improve things or play with the tone controls.

Audio mixes have, IMHO, gotten worse. With the wide dynamic range that digital offers, the audio crew often wants to use the whole range, mostly at the higher levels. Personally, I think their hearing is shot because of the levels they listen at.

 

[SithHappens]

And was he really fuzzy?

I dunno, ask Gene Wilder

 

[Owain Taggart]

If you are using built-in speakers on flat screen, then the sound will usually be muffled because they're pointing towards the wall and must bounce around to get you.

Therein lies the crux of the issue. If you were to poll people, I'd bet you'd get a majority that use whatever's built-in. Not everyone is going to have a fancy sound system, and I think it's wrong for for studios to assume so. It should be an option, not a mandatory requirement.

 

[Non Sync]

Built-in speakers in a media center will sound muffled to some degree even if it is just a talking head program.