I Have Had It with Mumbling Actors

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by ServingTheMusic, Jul 21, 2015.

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  1. johnod

    johnod Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    You gotta love Benecio's "hand me the keys", from The Usual Suspects.

    I didn't include the link due to language.
     
  2. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    More and more shows use the "slap a wire on everybody" mentality where every single actor has a hidden mic and gets a dedicated iso track on a multitrack recorder. This way they can theoretically capture their dialogue even when they mumble/whisper. But if the background sound overwhelms the dialogue, it's a losing battle. Part of the problem happens because the director is intimately aware of what's on the printed page, so they know what's being said even if it's unintelligible; part of the problem happens because the schedules don't permit a more detailed, higher-quality mix; part of the problem happens because creative people with bad technical instincts make bad decisions. My experience is that if they left those decisions to the actual sound mixers, you'd get more clearly-audible dialogue.

    I have not had a problem understanding a single word in TV-series audio in a long time. In particular, the Marvel Netflix shows sound fine, the Greg Berlanti CW shows are fine, and I've had zero problems understanding everything in Walking Dead. The HBO and Showtime series are fine, and everything on FX and USA Network sounds fine to me.

    Again, a lot of these shows use heavy wireless mics on every actor; this tends to "unrealistic" sound quality because you can clearly understand every word from a guy 30 feet away from the camera, and it sounds like a guy who's speaking 1 foot away from a microphone, but I would rather understand what's being said than yield to absolutely reality in a show. I think accepting "heightened reality" is part of the TV experience.
     
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  3. thgord

    thgord In Search of My Next Euphoric Groove

    Location:
    Moorpark, CA
    What's even worse than mumbling whispering actors are music soundtracks and laugh tracks that are 1.5 times louder. I agree with the OP's sentiment completely.
     
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  4. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    This is why I watch with closed captioning if I'm watching alone.
     
    forthlin likes this.
  5. projectcookie

    projectcookie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    matthew mcconaughey has developed a mumbling delivery, its become his shorthand/crutch for weightiness and depth. that lincoln commercial...
     
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  6. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    This sometimes happens because feature films are mixed at a reference level of 85dB, while TV series are generally mixed for a reference level of 79dB. I'm strongly in favor of remixing all feature films for home video release to narrow the dynamic range a little bit so that the quiet, low-level dialogue scenes don't wind up way down here, and the loud, explosive effects and music scenes don't wind up WAY UP HERE. I think there's a happy medium where the mix still has natural dynamics and isn't overcompressed, but presents something reasonable you can enjoy in a living room.
     
    Thwacko and forthlin like this.
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