URL to an article in "Slashfilm": Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult To Understand (And Three Ways To Fix It)
nice to know it's not ONLY my hearing that's going... I turn on subtitles for everything these days... can't understand a lot of dialog in newer flicks...
There's a simple answer. "Back in the day" most of the "big screen" actors had worked in theatre where there's no close-up microphones. So they had to be able to project their voices. it's all about enunciation. Pick any of the classic "film noirs" and you'll understand the dialogue, however old you are. An aid to this is was also the fact that the "background music," called in those days "incidental music" was muted when the actors were speaking. These days it's more like "foreground music." If you start noticing it, it's because it's ramped up, in attempt to get more drama into a scene. So it can mask the dialogue and then lot of actors "try to talk like Brando." With many films on TV, I put on the subtitles.
Funny - I thought same when reading the article. I watch a lot of 40's and 50's movies and the dialog is almost always crystal clear, even in the Poverty Row type films. I guess I can understand making unintelligible dialog an intentional artistic choice but I think more often than not, it's just an oversight or one of the issues mentioned in the article. I have had several experiences with DVD's where the dialog in the film is impenetrable and then you watch one of the extras and it will show the same scene with the dialog perfectly clear. I assume it's because supplemental material is likely not digitally processed to death. I wonder sometimes if the pursuit of dynamic surround sound effects is at the expense of clear dialog.
Glad I'm not alone. I noticed I have a harder time understanding the dialogue when it's an English or Australian actor adopting an American accent or when the actor uses a guttural, grumbling style often meant to convey some sort of intensity (as used in Vikings and the Walking Dead). I never, ever need to use sub-titles when watching Turner Classics Movies (unless it's a1929/1930 film with a poor soundtrack).
Thanks for these! Glad I'm not the only one. What irks me more than the movie dialogue is the bombastic music on History Channel documentaries that drown the narration. Not every sentence is of such world-changing import that it needs squealing synths and pounding drums to enhance the story of David Sarnoff and RCA.
We got into using subtitles years ago when the kid was small & often sleeping in the same room, so we’d have the volume cranked way down. Now we’re so used to it, it’s odd not to have them on…
It has probably been 100 years since "most" American movie actors had extensive professional experience in theatre. It's different in the UK and Australia where a robust, publically-funded theatre industry is well-integrated with the TV and movie business. But since the collapse of vaudeville, most US movie actors have had limited theatre experience and vice versa. Same with writers and directors for that matter.
Sorry, but I found that Slashfilm website almost unreadable, with tons of ads and pop-ups... I gave full credit to the author, and also cleaned up the paragraphs to make it more readable... This is a very good story, of interest to many of us... If the Gorts find this unacceptable, it can be deleted...
Off topic: Ad-blocking browser add-ins are your friend. On topic: I like that some streaming services have an option to add subtitles when replaying. It breaks up the watching of the show but not as much as just guessing at the dialog.
I do find that when streaming movies on my home theater setup it is quite difficult to understand much of the dialog. I attribute some of that to a significant hearing loss in one ear, but also the fact that modern movie dialog is often mumbled by the actors, as the article suggests. I have found a workable solution: headphones.
Err. I said "back in the day" and mentioned specifically "film noir," most of which is at least 70 or eighty years ago so my, "most" applies. and I don't find contemporary British made films have dialogue that's any clearer to Americans, than their's is to us.
I usually use closed caption on almost anything that s later than 1980 s- movies, tv shows, even music. Like many here, I thought my hearing was losing something when everyone onscreen seemed to be mumbling . But I believe many of these latter day performers just haven't learned to speak clearly and articulately for the audience; untrained, it seems, by school or stage. This was brought home to me when I watched the recent concert on tv with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga . I applaud the Lady for offering Tony the platform for what is likely his final performance before an audience. I thought he was terrific - still in grand voice and still connecting to the audience with intimacy, energy and grace. And man, he could still hold a warm toned note as long and wide as the the San Francisco Bay. But when they did a Cole Porter duet - Tony 's 95 year old voice sang out the lyrics as clear as a bell- but Gaga LMAO - I couldn't make out a word she sang in her garbled delivery of a mystifying mishmash of mumbles. Proof enough in the pudding for me .
I’ve been using subtitles now for a while though my hearing’s good. Sometimes I won’t buy if there’s no subtitles. Old TV shows on DVD are bought based on whether subtitles are offered. I like to watch at low volume sometimes.
A lot of TVs for a few decades now have different sound settings, even thirty years ago the "elephant in the corner" LG CRT TV we once had had them including a 5 band graphic equalizer. There is often a "speech setting" for sound. I have my current Sony android TV, set on "Clear Audio+" which is a bit of an oxymoron when it comes to some contemporary films. But is perfect if I'm watching some vintage film noir recorded on a thirty-year old VHS machine. I keep still use this machine until the films I recorded on, "Ted Turner TV" decades ago come round again so I can record them on one of my Humax recorder/players.
This movie has a lot of volume fluctuations. It's a good thing that we were watching at home and had a remote control.
Interesting article. I think an overreliance on sound design has a lot to do with it. Hyper-manipulative soundtracks that "tell" you how to feel about a scene practically render dialog superfluous (Jurassic Park Effect). Actors that consider mumbling the pinnacle of their craft. Time- and money-strapped directors who don't have luxury of humoring the "sound guy". Hollywood is an industry concerned with delivering product. They don't care if it's barely intelligible, so long as it gets a strong opening weekend.
