Why we all need subtitles now

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It's not you - the dialogue in TV and movies has gotten harder to hear.
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Have you ever been watching a show or movie, and then a character delivers a line so unintelligible you have to scramble to find the remote and rewind? For me, this moment came during the climax of the Pete Davidson film “The King of Staten Island,” where his most important line was impossible to understand.
I had to rewind three times - and eventually put subtitles on - to finally pick up what he was saying.
This experience isn’t unique - gather enough people together and you can generally separate them into two categories: People who use subtitles, and people who don’t. And according to a not-so-scientific RU-vid poll we ran on our Community tab, the latter category is an endangered species - 57% of you said you always use subtitles, while just 12% of you said you generally don’t.
But why do so many of us feel that we need subtitles to understand the dialogue in the things we watch?
The answer to that question is complex - and we get straight to the bottom of it in this explainer, with the help of dialogue editor Austin Olivia Kendrick.
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Опубликовано:

19 янв 2023

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Комментарии : 22 тыс.

@Vox Год назад

One interesting fact that didn’t make it into the piece is that movie theaters didn’t always have consistently great sound - it only became consistent thanks to Star Wars. The story goes like this: George Lucas was trying to find a theater to premiere ‘Return of the Jedi.’ and every theater he went to had terribly set up sound systems. He was like, “This is unacceptable! Why am I asking all of my sound designers, editors, and mixers to put in all this work if I can't guarantee it’s going to be heard properly on playback?” So he enlisted Tomlinson Holmman to create, THX - yes, that THX - the one with the way-too-loud booming sound at the beginning of all those old movies you used to watch as a kid. THX was a sound quality certification made to ensure that ‘Return of the Jedi’ was presented in the purest form possible. But it did so much more than that by standardizing good sound playback in movie theaters across the board. Sound has progressed a ton since then, but Star Wars set the precedent for good sound quality in theaters. For more awesome content about sound in your favorite movies and TV shows, check out Austin on TikTik: www.tiktok.com/@aok.wav Thanks for watching! -Ed

@lwkey2452 Год назад

Board

@mimiayako Год назад

Interesting tidbit of info! Thanks for the good content you guys keep on making!

@thecinematicmind Год назад

Hopefully you can get into audio description in cinema someday.

@joshuataylor3550 Год назад

Especially bad for those with English as a second language

@WalkerSoc Год назад

Thx THX

@lauralvw8445 Год назад

What makes these realistic performances less realistic, is that none of the characters ever ask each other 'sorry, what did you just say'??

@Boss-lu5wk Год назад

no one ever fumbles in recorded media, like people do irl too - unless its a purposeful to characterization or plot

@r4yy28 Год назад

like the guy above me said. It's art, and having characters fumble their speech would be so out of place unless it was meant to add something

@ryanlargent9320 Год назад

But if “it’s art” is the defense here, then that also means they can have less mumbly delivery because that’s art too.

@orion6372 Год назад

EXACTLY!!!

@KratosIsSick Год назад

@@Boss-lu5wk no. Its just poor acting and dialogue delivery.

@Ghostface3200 Год назад

We all love those movies where you can’t hear the dialogue so you turn up the volume… just in time for an explosion that shakes your entire house

@keeganbate8935 Год назад

Constantine is this way, so is Sinister, so is most movies from 2000-2015ish

@soliloquylove2115 Год назад

😂😂

@Ciruelatron Год назад

Watch Invincible bruh.

@scoops2 Год назад

This happens all the time. I find myself adjusting the volume almost scene by scene if I’m not using subtitles

@Yen-dc7nn Год назад

this sort of happened with my brother attempting to watch a movie on a desktop computer. the whole movie was so quiet, i swear even the characters were almost whispering so he turned up the volume and it immediately the music score started blasting on the shock value suspense scene. its so annoying 🥴

@jameskennedy8329 Месяц назад

“We decided we were no longer going to mix in a way most people will be able to enjoy” - Christopher Nolan

@tankfu1 Месяц назад

This should be the top comment.

@jameskennedy8329 Месяц назад

@@tankfu1 Agreed 😂

@geoffreyvanpelt6147 Месяц назад

As usual, it always comes down to the money.

@jameskennedy8329 Месяц назад

@@geoffreyvanpelt6147 Are you saying you’re a richy rich that has the funds to own all the equipment to play the audio as meant to be heard by Chistopher Nolan?

@andykeith1 Месяц назад

Good to know which films to avoid in future. Thanks for letting us know!

@ponorj 3 месяца назад

I honestly thought I was one of a few people who have slowly developed a dependency on subtitles in order to understand the movies I watch these days. But whenever I watch old classic films from the 1940s to 1980s I don’t have this issue. Glad to know I’m not losing my hearing 😂

@jose-td9yd 2 месяца назад

I don't understand like anything at all in older movies, nothing. I feel like it always been bad.

@markchapman6800 Месяц назад

I can't remember which movie it was, but I watched one movie scene with Cary Grant talking on the telephone, and not only could I hear every word he said, I could hear what the person on the other end of the call was too.

@withak30 Год назад

In summary: Everyone involved in making those shows/movies know that you can't hear the dialog but they don't care.

@__________5243 Год назад

Exactly. “Oh, but we need dynamic range so the explosions are lou-“ SHUTUP! They don’t need to be 100x louder for a “sense of scale.” I want to hear the dialogue!

@sprocket0077 Год назад

@@__________5243 This. That was such a goofy point the lady made, like I get that it’s not entirely up to the audio engineers but OBVIOUSLY nobody wants to have to constantly be having to turn down the volume during loud scenes, that’s the entire issue at hand.

@Pringlesman Год назад

@@__________5243 Not only that, but it doesn't explain why I still need subtitles on non action movies where maintaining that same dynamic range is as necessary.

@ItsBocephus Год назад

@@__________5243 sound designer thinks the explosion sound effect is more important than the entire movie’s dialogue? Sounds about right lol

@sidney6871 Год назад

I just want to hear the dialogue I could care less for the crumpled bag they made sound like an explosion

@grahamvandyke Год назад

This is actually a massive relief, because I started believing I had developed hearing and concentration problems from not being able to understand quite literally half of all dialogue in most media.

@bloomy27 Год назад

Same I even stopped wearing headphones cause of this but guess the problem was from them and not from me 😂

@TomCruz54321 Год назад

I know how you feel. There’s some recent shows that had bad audio and was too dark. The studios and the elitists blamed the audience. So I believed it was my fault. Glad to know it’s not just me.

@PendulumCancel Год назад

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. It's the strangest thing. When I was a kid I had no problem understanding dialogue in any cartoons and movies, but nowadays I find myself having to rewind stuff and rewatch it with subtitles on ALL THE TIME. I was genuinely afraid I was having some real neurological problems, but now I know it's the people working on these show and not me who should be seeing the doctors.

@jazmynetrue3612 Год назад

same!!!

@feedmeastraycat8247 Год назад

i was getting scared too I thought my brain was decomposing

@sonshadsil94 Месяц назад

I love how the solution presented essentially boils down to "Have/spend more money or get over it"

@manusodonnell64 Месяц назад

Almost always the case

@AileenBaker Месяц назад

Right?!? And it's not like those movies are always in theaters to get to enjoy even if that wasn't so prohibitively expensive these days! In my city, I can go see live music with my best friend and have a couple drinks at the show for less than it costs for movie tickets alone.

@ashscraps 21 день назад

you forgot "know how to read"

@philtll 2 дня назад

"My entire budget was broken by a $50 soundbar 😭😭"

@magrathean0 Месяц назад

The dialogue is how the bulk of the information in the film is communicated to the viewer. Taking 'a chill pill' over missing most of the information in a film is far cheaper if you don't bother trying to watch the film at all. I also like the explanation - to paraphrase, "the technology has improved massively since the thirties, so naturally enough the quality experienced by the viewer has also plummeted massively"

@MrSoBitchy Месяц назад

Literally! "Yes technology for filmmaking has improved and the quality of your experience as a viewer has declined but just deal with it."

@dudimus3225 16 дней назад

TITCR

@karara5532 Год назад

It seems like many filmmakers haven't figured out that people can't hear dialogue if there is music blasting over it

@juliacarter4081 Год назад

Exactly! If ONLY the music was in a separate channel so it could be muted!

@rgbgamingfridge Год назад

i hate it when you have to turn up the volume to hear the dialogue but then they start blasting your ears with music or special effects

@sooperd00p Год назад

That's true but in the clip of Pete Davidson talking, he simply just jumbled his lines.

@StarSnow1101 Год назад

You nailed it.

@cat1554 Год назад

*WHAT?*

@somewherefar1286 Год назад

Also, why is getting my ears blasted in an explosion more important than me being able to understand what's going on?

@zainhyukmcadam4874 10 месяцев назад

LOL This!

@vesuvyan 10 месяцев назад

glad i wasn't the only one who thought that. "Turn the dialogue up." Her answer was that it's just not that simple! Oh, because of technology? no, because our preconceived notions of trying to manipulate you into thinking a movie is better than it actually is requires us to intentionally keep dialogue quiet so that the explosions surprise you! so it is that simple, you're just more focused on awards and number games than making a coherent and enjoyable experience. Gotcha.

@appet3ncy 9 месяцев назад

she said in the video that it's so that the movie feels more immersive and therefore more enjoyable and "real" to audiences.

@John-hn8gz 9 месяцев назад

Spot on.

@samy7342 9 месяцев назад

@@appet3ncy We could be as much surprised by a random explotion if we could concentrate properly in the dialogue...

@TheGamingDandy 2 месяца назад

This makes perfect sense, because I often feel like I don't need subtitles on youtube videos. And it's for a similar reason as older movies I now realize. Often times youtubers are looking directly into their mic and speaking clearly into it. Interesting phenomenon.

@SILVERF0X13 2 месяца назад

And also not balancing their audio so that explosions will blow out your eardrums if you listen to them talking at normal volume.

@qazmko22 3 дня назад

@@SILVERF0X13 And also ALSO not balancing their audio so that dialogue will make you feel deaf if you listen to them talking at normal volume.

@PraiseTheFSMonster Месяц назад

Love that director who absolutely refuses to change no matter how much people hate it. What a nice guy

@Arcticcountry Месяц назад

Why would the guy who has 8 oscar nominations and 2 oscars change how he does things? Clearly he knows what he's doing.

@PraiseTheFSMonster Месяц назад

@@Arcticcountry Because people don't like his work anymore

@PhilDietz Месяц назад

Nolan movies are the WORST. Plain and simple. 1 decibel 2.5 hours of mumbling followed by 10 secs of 1200 decibels. aka Oppenheimer

@Misora7303 Месяц назад

@@Arcticcountry because he would be even better if his movies were understandable, I watch them in spanish and let me tell ya, it´s easier when people modulate their words properly, his overly complicatesd movies are way more enjoyable that way

@Grand_Works Месяц назад

@@PraiseTheFSMonster You say that but he had the second highest grossing film of last year which also won Best Picture at the Academy Awards as well as Best Director. That may be a you thing.

@Orabig 4 месяца назад

As a French native speaker desperately trying to learn English by watching movies without subtitles, I feel so relieved to learn that even native English speakers struggle to understand some lines ! Thank you so much for this revelation ! :)

@tananario23 4 месяца назад

Just turn on the captions. You aren’t going to get more proficient faster if you don’t know what’s being said.

@Orabig 4 месяца назад

Well, that's what I do for several years, but then my brain lazily rely on the text for the understanding, and it's way too easy (so I don't feel that I improve my "earing" experience enough that way...)

@MrMjwoodford 4 месяца назад

Do you not have similar issues with French language media?

@user-dw2yp6jl8s 4 месяца назад

@@Orabig, it worked for me. I rarely turn subtitles on for a long time. But when I started I was watching tv shows with subtitles and a dictionary practically doubling watch time. But I never practice speaking or writing...

@n4_ku 4 месяца назад

Watched South Park when I was learning english and I was impressed how clear their pronunciation are. Even words I don't know are intelligible enough for me to search in the dictionary, so I never relied of subtitles. I know it's not a show for everyone so you can watch news channel instead.

@luap4981 Год назад

For the last 5-10 year I've felt more and more psychotic with the remote volume. I move it up and down constantly throughout a show.

@TomCruz54321 Год назад

Especially when I’m watching late at night and I’m so conscious about waking everybody in the house. I wore out my remote control moving the volume up and down.

@kashmm Год назад

So glad I'm not the only one. I have to keep a finger on the volume constantly.

@dokkae6423 Год назад

@@kashmm this. my sister likes to hold the remote and i have to keep asking her to turn it up and down until she gets annoyed of me asking her.....the volume changes SO much

@tendraftsdeep Год назад

Likewise

@amityislandchum Год назад

Same. The volume remote is in my hand 100% of the time I'm watching TV now.

@thebooca Месяц назад

This all makes perfect sense to me since my favorite part of every story is how loud the explosion was. The first thing I want to tell my friends about a movie is how realistic the audio felt. When I describe my favorite movies to people, I always make sure to include details about how I had no idea what the characters were talking about, but I could definitely tell how far away they were when they were talking. /s These people need to get over themselves. The story is in the dialogue. If I can't hear the story enough to care about it, I'm not going to watch your movie, or the sequel, and if it's bad enough, nothing you make in the future... Purely on principal.

@steveluna1627 3 месяца назад

One thing I don't understand is why they're not focused on the main problem that is when actors start mumbling? Like yeah all the other points are understandable but the most easier to fix would be to ask actors to talk correctly. Old movies also have whispering dialogues but you could still understand them in your old mono TV. I don't get why it's called "naturalistic" when in a real conversation if someone mumbles most of the time people would say "sorry what did you just say?", that's why most tv shows or RU-vid videos are understandable unlike recent movies. If anything I feel the movie industry has become more pedantic thinking "only this can work" therefore prioritizing their own ego instead of giving a lasting product, because let's be honest more people will watch movies on TV's or smartphones than at the theater.

@brendanberentschot5228 7 месяцев назад

The worst is when you watch a movie with a soundtrack and the music is far louder than everything else. If you're watching late at night you gotta doctor the volume constantly

@tylerboothman4496 5 месяцев назад

*Cries in "I Am The Doctor"*

@sander_bouwhuis 5 месяцев назад

Every-single-time. It has ruined so many movie nights that nowadays we hardly ever watch movies anymore. After a whole day of working, sports, household chores and spending time with the kids, I'm just too tired to constantly have to increase and decrease the volume on these very poorly mixed movies. I simply don't want to spend my money and energy on something I hate doing.

@tuftela 5 месяцев назад

Could it be that your audio is set for 5.1 surround sound when you don't have that? Because that makes the speech be sent to a non-existing middle speaker, meaning you can almost not hear it. Very common mistake these days.

@echelecopao 5 месяцев назад

If you can watch a movie using VLC, enable the sound compressor effect. It adjusts the volume automatically and instantaneously so that the volume of loud parts is kept down

@Healcraft 4 месяца назад

use night mode on your speaker setup which is just a simple way to do the above comment, compress

@rachelrueda5650 Год назад

What's really frustrating about this dynamic range is that the dialogue is so quiet that you need to turn the volume up drastically, and then when explosions happen, it's way too loud that you scramble to lower the volume

@SaiyanSatsuki Год назад

Sam issue here and i'm using a Bose cinnamate 15 I believe it is. It's even more frustrating, when you have tinnitus in one ear and want to keep sout down to a reasonable level.

@RoanLauncher Год назад

This is really true for me as well, I find myself being annoyed how big the contrast is sometimes, could have been a bit more equalized.

@pablosantangelo1131 Год назад

It's as if they feel it's better to annoy you but alert you than to let you listen with less dynamic range because they're afraid it will bore you. An explosion that comes after a dialogue that you should but couldn't hear is not effective either, even if it sounds loud.

@RupeeRhod Год назад

Exactly the dynamic range is ruining movies. This is a choice not a tech forces problem. 80s movies had no issues, and nobody ever thought "that explosion was underwhelming". It's modern misunderstanding of mixing and levels combined with the loudness problems in music.

@areadenial2343 Год назад

Some sound equipment is able to compress sound volume, i.e. making quiet sounds louder and vice versa. Windows 7 had a feature called Loudness Equalization that did this, it's really helpful for avoiding jarring volume differences.

@charlxler 20 дней назад

I‘m relieved that native speakers are struggling, too. I kinda felt like my English was to bad for watching without subtitles so thanks:)

@user-wz1zu6mz2k 12 дней назад

What's your native language?

@user-yd8yg5fe5m 3 месяца назад

My younger brother is partially deaf so I have been accustomed to seeing subtitles my entire life which is why I like having them on when able

@dananskidolf Год назад

If people in movies are going to mumble like in real life, they also need to put in a lot more "Pardon?" and "Could you say that again?" like in real life. And "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over all the whooshing, explosions and accompanying orchestra."

@MirshikarSilivren Год назад

seems like a perfect thing to put in a very aware movie breaking the 4th wall.

@internetuser777 Год назад

The only time I‘ve ever seen this used was in A Star is Born. It fit nicely

@octopu5ie Год назад

@@internetuser777 the latest one?

@thebicycleman8062 Год назад

umm they already do that alot.. so not sure what ur point is?

@rpgreseller Год назад

That'd be hilarious. I can't hear what you said, hey turn the sub titles on. Say that again, now? Do that scene one more time. Later on, there's the loud explosion that's TOOOOO loud and sounds like a peaked microphone. Nice.

@kolonarulez5222 Год назад

Honestly this makes me so relieved I'm not secretly going deaf from playing music too loud.

@clarissagafoor5222 Год назад

I know! Me too!

@iyona2305 Год назад

I’d still turn your music down a bit, tinnitus is not fun and I speak from personal experience

@Carnyx72 Год назад

You probably are, though.

@aniruddhakabbya622 Год назад

thats what i thught all these years turning on subtitles. thoese notifications that say your volume is too high made me believe i am deaf. i probably am but who knows

@vincentgoupil180 Год назад

Whaaa ... ?? (Can't read you. Use upper case lettering.)

@csabi115 Месяц назад

As someone who learned English as a second language, it gives me some sort of comfort to know that even native speakers struggle with this to some extent. Having spent many many years studying the language, from an early childhood, I got to a point in my late teens/early 20s where I pretty much considered myself to be proficient and I haven't had any trouble speaking the language or understanding spoken English for years... except when I am watching movies or tv shows, where I almost always need subtitles, without which I would only understand like two thirds of what I hear at best. I have been so annoyed at myself for this, and it has made me seriously question my assessment of my own language skills, basically saying "okay, I have to admit, I am not even that good with English". And then I find this video. This now has restored my faith in myself a bit. 😄

@zarghamahmad5571 Месяц назад

And I was thinking that my English is getting worse so I won't use subtitles anymore. Thanks a lot. That's a big relief knowing that even English speaking people can't understand the dialogues.

@suparki123 Год назад

I love how she's like "You can't just turn the speech up without keeping explosions impactful", yet the very annoyance most people have is that the explosions are too loud, so people turn down the volume and can't understand dialogue anymore.

@gabbyvelasquez3767 Год назад

i feel this, i always turn the volume way up to hear the dialogue but then have to act quick when some explosion happens cause its so loud it hurts! super annoying.

@shanleyshoupe7873 Год назад

Yes! Her explanation made me mad too cause turning down the dialogue doesnt keep the explosion from frying the speakers if youve turned it all back up again in order to hear the dialogue properly

@williamroberts3719 Год назад

Literally just make the action scenes quieter. I don’t understand why they have to be so loud and frustrating, I’ve heard enough explosions in my lifetime.

@jayroger7612 Год назад

The music too! I'll have the volume turned up for people whispering and then theres dramatic orchestra music blasting my eardrums out

@jillmartin10 Год назад

Yeah this whole video just made me mad. All movies are either hurting my ears or I’m straining to hear. Technology should be helping this not making us spend more money.

@davejones246 Год назад

The issue with having that big sound difference to make explosions and such seem bigger is that we've turned up the volume to hear people whisper and then all of a sudden your house is shaking from the ensuing gunfight.

@kenny.m.olsen95 Год назад

Would just have to decrease the db between the differences while still keeping the illusion

@EbbermanEmily Год назад

Yeah, I was thinking about that exact issue. I hate movies where you can barely hear the dialogue and then a song starts and it's suddenly a live concert. I think they've gotten better about this, but from the early 2000s-2010s it was bad (that's my date range as I'm referring to movies I'd watch growing up lol so its probably not super accurate)

@GuilhermeSantos-ty7gy Год назад

Love that

@aydenzabelle Год назад

then cut to a commercial thats somehow even louder than the explosions

@kyleeissomajestic Год назад

i’d much rather have “less dynamic sound” than get my ears blasted with the explosions being way too loud

@budfoon Месяц назад

Austin Olivia Kendrick has very clear diction. That always helps! And even though i saw Dune II in an iMax theater and a serious sound system, i still couldn't understand a lot of the dialogue - so i don't buy all of the mixing-for-a-non-substandard-theater argument.

@freyaann9747 Месяц назад

as someone with an auditory processing disorder this video was cathartic for me to know im not the only one that feels like this

@neptuneeye Месяц назад

same

@madamem.2313 Год назад

As a non-native speaker of English, it's actually reassuring to learn that even the native speakers struggle.

@Milo_Estobar Год назад

Yeah, imagine learning English for decades then an Englishman like Paddy Pimblett shows up and speak to you and it feels like all those years learning went down to the drain...

@housstheroccan3040 Год назад

@@Milo_Estobar specially when.he is stuffing pizzas dow his throat 🤣

@syntheovaldy5173 Год назад

@@Milo_Estobar 😂😂😂bruh

@syntheovaldy5173 Год назад

@@housstheroccan3040 paddy speaks his own language tbh

@FlowerEmblem Год назад

Was watching an Avengers movie with a international student, they were Japanese and staying with us in Canada to learn English. Anyways the first thing I did was turn on the subtitles. They said thank you but I said that the subtitles were for me too 🤣

@Alisilou Год назад

The worst thing is when the subtitles do not repeat word for word what was said, but phrase it differently

@Zoronii Год назад

Netflix is THE WORST when it comes to this

@agustin268 Год назад

@@hungrycrab3297 If you're watching non-Spanish shows dubbed, it's because the translations for audio and text are made and thought out differently, taking different things into consideration (e.g.: Syllable timing for audio-video consistency, and subtitles being as accurate as possible)

@relaxlibrary4249 Год назад

It can be hard for the subtitler to accurately record the audio too. Even with a good pair of headphones, it's hard to accurately capture mumblers.

@landenbabeu9696 Год назад

@@relaxlibrary4249 I love when the subtitlers just kinda give up and write [unintelligible] or something like that

@toastyxboops Год назад

NETFLIX!!!

@JM_Hansei 3 месяца назад

This was pretty interesting. I'm a non-native English speaker and I started to watch 'Friends' TV series recently. Most of the time, I don't quite understand what the actors say, either because of the way they pronounce some words, or because they speak too fast (to me, they do). So yes, subtitles are very welcome!

@ChrisCarClips 27 дней назад

There should be two options for audio on movies. Dynamic, and Compressed. Dynamic range works amazingly in a theatre, where you have the ability of dialog being at an audible range, and things like explosions being very loud and alarming, but at home we rarely have that luxury. Most people live next to neighbors, or live with others, so having a compressed option where the dialog is as loud as everything else would be great. If not on the films themselves, then an option on the TV.

@sidefack Год назад

Nothing quite like sitting at home with my hand on the remote turning the volume up during dialogue moments and waiting for the inevitable explosions that are going to blow my ear drums out.

@mj_sick Год назад

People hate watching tv with me since I’m constantly changing the sound lol

@GuilhermeSantos-ty7gy Год назад

Thats How you have tô watch a movie

@glenp3985 Год назад

and the wretched adverts, which blast you out of your seat.

@Hrema Год назад

Yeah I kind of hate how she explains it as if this is something people want.

@allyrose6437 Год назад

@@Hrema yeah she's like "well we HAVE to make boom sounds super loud so sorry 😕"

@TheDonaldduck911 Год назад

Very brave of Nolan to revolutionize movies by making them sound worse 99% of the time

@akaria930 Год назад

We need Christopher Nolan's sound and Game of Thrones lighting to create the greatest movie that no one will see or hear

@CyberVirtual Год назад

I believe a lot of movies are stuck with being compatible with Dolby Atmos then as it converts to Stereo or Mono for anything that isn't a home theater set up resulting in audio issues. We can't hear anything as Dialogue is Volume 5 and Explosion are at 100. Like can we just keep everything 50/50? Weeaboo Netflix Brats: I want the subtitles to be dubbed as well. Where is the CC. My Legally Blind Friend: have the Audio Description Version. Me: Allow me to be deaf so that the movie is not spoiled in the first paragraph please...

@tuptastic304 Год назад

I thought the sound design on dunkirk was fantastic. I don't think I've ever watched a movie where bullets sounded deadlier. The dialogue suffered, but most of the movie's dramatic moments made use of action- not conversation.

@macforme Год назад

Gerardo: LOL... it saves him money. He doesn't bother with retakes, or fixing the sound in post-production. 😂🤣

@thoughtsofapeer Год назад

@@CyberVirtual On old DVD's we chose either 5.1, 2.1, 2.0, or mono. On streaming this is not available. I think they have stopped caring, just like Nolan reveals. Its just a weird prioritization to not spend the time on mastering at least 2.0 audio alongside Atmos since 90% of people only have that. I actually think in the old days of the 1980s people had better sound than today because people bought stereos for their music and TV. Today people just buy a pair of headphones and use the in-built speakers on their TV

@honeystrawberries 22 дня назад

As someone who is hard of hearing, subtitles have been needed since forever. If only I could do the same irl sometimes.

@CellaDragon Месяц назад

I’ve always watched with subtitles since I started watching bootleg Japanese shows even I was younger. I then kept doing it with shows/movies and it’s very, very helpful

@gunnersubbu Год назад

This is why dialogue in sitcoms is so much easier to understand; the actors are still projecting their voices because they are usually in front of a live studio audience.

@billyflood2430 Год назад

YUP

@Imnotplayinganymore Год назад

Also, I imagine, mixed for TV rather than a theater.

@mary-janereallynotsarah684 Год назад

Well the ones with laughter anyhoo. And that type is going away.

@maxscameraguy Год назад

We need to get back to the days of live studio audiences.

@bobnolin9155 Год назад

Sitcoms are pretty shouty, now that I think about it. No explosions to compete with.

@newto2794 Год назад

The "just turn it up" part is so on spot!! Whenever we are watching a Netflix movie with my family, we can perfectly listen every single bullet shot, every characters' intense breathing, etc. but when somebody dares to open their mouth?? Actually no clue what they are saying

@borey123xx9 Год назад

buy quality speakers cause tv speakers are insanely bad

@Beatem2deathinyoursexdreams Год назад

@@borey123xx9 I think so too

@yt-1337 Год назад

@@borey123xx9 it's just a little better if you buy a good soundbar, you'd need a home cinema with 7.1 speakers at least and even then it's not the same, because often you can't even understand in the cinema with dolby atmos

@archerelms Год назад

@@yt-1337 Yeah, this is one of the biggest parts of the problem imo. It's hard to understand in the BEST circumstances, how are you supposed to understand it in almost any other situation? And most people don't even have 7.1, let alone Atmos. A lot of people don't have better than either Stereo or a poor quality 5.1 If it was JUST tv speakers being bad, I would still say that's bad (or at least inconsiderate, I guess?) sound design, but it would at least be more understandable than the all around unintelligibility we have now

@shizzy7478 Год назад

Definitely not me watching Interstellar.

@arturothecook Месяц назад

Thank you for this video. As English is my second language, I thought that I was regressing in my understanding, or at least I was stagnant. I was turning subtitles more often than ever. I even thought I was going deaf because many dialogues sounded like mumbling! Now I know. Thanks.

@robotmuseum 3 месяца назад

Thanks for mixing this video so I didn't need subtitles. Crystal clear voices!🎉

@illuminatustm Год назад

As a non-native speaker that likes to listen to the original audio, this makes me feel better because I thought it’s just me

@Postbus22 Год назад

Agree! I am a native german speaker and I can understand every amateur on youtube (also the indian tutorial lol). But I cannot understand a word in a professional movie

@joanacaetanogomes Год назад

As a portuguese person (we dont dub anything besides kids movies here) I'm used to this

@Diego_i Год назад

@CoffeeAddict i like to watch like this too... although i really like to rely on the audio, but having the sub, makes easier when they say a word I don't know, or is hard to catch from just listening

@lauralvw8445 Год назад

@@joanacaetanogomes same in the Netherlands

@djb903 Год назад

As a native speaker I also like to have them on at home because I don't like turning my speakers up so that the booms are jarring and may lead to noise complaints from the neighbors.

@SuperCapuka Год назад

I find it that now a days directors worry so much about quantity of sound that sometimes they forget that hearing the actors speak is the most important way to convey the story.

@Hegder Год назад

Performance styles have changed a lot and many actors just do not enunciate anymore.

@Edramon53 Год назад

And if you have to turn subtitles on to hear the more natural-sounding mumbly dialogue, you're now putting words over the picture. You know, the reason it's on a screen in the first place instead of just listening to radio.

@HolahkuTaigiTWFormosanDiplomat Год назад

:00

@coalescedistortions2577 Год назад

I agree that being able to understand the dialogue is important. But if there is absolutely no visual storytelling that doesn’t sound fun to watch.

@Steak818 Год назад

@@kieranselick People still believe that subtitles prevent you from seeing the on-screen action ?

@arsplastiques 2 месяца назад

I love this, thank you! I genuinely thought my hearing was going.

@almalauha 2 месяца назад

This was really interesting, thanks! Some movies really have an issue with dynamic range, where explosions etc are so loud that they are deafening. It's one thing to make it louder than typical dialogue, it's something else when it literally hurts. This is the reason I've stopped going to the cinema despite being a movie/documentary fan. To protect my hearing at home, I try to not have the TV on loud and sometimes that means some of the dialogue is a bit too low in volume, hence I almost always put subtitles on even for the languages I am fluent in. I'd rather have to read bits than damage my hearing more.

@kaiuweb974 Год назад

I use subtitles so I can still understand a video while munching crisps.

@adityashankarnarayanan Год назад

THIS!

@lovelylipbonesouwwwwwwwolv2198 Год назад

Omg SAME when Im eating some hot chips or somthing while watch a RU-vid video lol

@jiannou Год назад

That’s super smart! I’ll try this out

@boardcertifiable Год назад

What are crisps? Oh you meant chips. (I'll see myself out)

@greenforce888 Год назад

This is a valid reason for subtitles.

@GaryDee119 Год назад

I’m a re-recording mixer. This video leaves out what is in my opinion the biggest factor. They explained how a wide dynamic range has a negative effect in home environments but did not elaborate and did not explain that we have no choice but to mix with these wide dynamics due to network requirements, which most of us mixers want changed!! Television used to be mixed with very little dynamics. But now the line between TV and film is blurred and companies like Netflix want their content to “sound theatrical” so they require us to keep the dialog at a -27dB average while allowing us to peak at -1 for the big moments. That range is too wide for most homes because of the acoustic environment. Acoustics play SUCH a huge role in how we hear things, I can not overstate this enough. Without proper absorption in the walls and corners you get all kinds of buildups of certain frequencies that resonate the room, especially during loud moments. So often times it’s the room itself that’s muddying the dialog and not even the speakers or the mix. Any kind of natural reverberation in the room also makes dialog a little less intelligible so the natural response is to turn it up during the quiet moments. Then suddenly the loud moments become WAY too loud due too resonant frequencies in the room. The fix for this is to mix with a narrower dynamic range but the networks won’t allow us to do that.. for now. I always tell people to try listening in headphones and I guarantee you won’t be riding the volume up and down cause you’ve eliminated the room out of the equation.

@af4912 Год назад

I never thought about it this way, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Indeed the environment we listen in plays a role in it too. I rarely need subtitles to videos when I have my earphones on.

@TheNaomiFearn Год назад

gosh yes,thank you for explaining that- I can't count the times I've turned up the volume to be able to hear the dialogue just to jump out of my seat moments later and not in a good way.

@bluethan806 Год назад

That makes so much sense, most of the time the volume is lowered because action scenes get ridiculously loud, and yet I can imagine how proper sound absorption might solve that issue. That’s incredible

@abj136 Год назад

This explains it. But I and most people don’t have high end speakers for TV and don’t have connected earphones. So Netflix et al fail us entirely with their insistence on wide dynamic range.

@lonestarr1490 Год назад

But it cannot only be the room, because I also have issues understanding dialogue while using headphones sometimes.

@upaya-kaushalya 23 дня назад

As someone who's been learning English for many years, I've found that I have no problem understanding any introductory material, but still can't get some of the lines in movies, and it makes me question my English level often. This video is such a relief.

@focused313 Месяц назад

Excellent POST-staff you guys have over there. Editing, graphics, b-roll, etc... well done.

@juliegolick Год назад

True fact: I used to work as a subtitle editor for major hollywood studios, and even we sometimes had trouble figuring out what was being said in the dialogue... and we (usually) had access to the scripts!

@samphelps856 Год назад

Thank you for sharing Julie 🙂

@joylox Год назад

I asked for a captioner to do subtitles for recorded videos from an online class, and they were almost as inaccurate as the auto-generated Teams captions, which were pretty bad. It didn't help that whoever was doing captions didn't know anything about the topic of the class so they missed some of the keywords unique to the field of study. It was very hard to understand.

@dooovde Год назад

Yeah I noticed. I see a lot of mistakes.

@XENOOO Год назад

Shouldn't you be accessing scripts regardless of knowing what's being said? Shouldn't that be standard practice when working on high budget projects?

@juliegolick Год назад

@@XENOOO Not everything had scripts, since we were also doing work on all the featurettes and director commentaries for the movies. Also some classic movies ("re-released to DVD!") where the original script had either been lost or for whatever reason we didn't have access to it. We also did some work on unscripted or semi-scripted TV shows (think reality TV), where we essentially had to transcribe everything from scratch. Plus different studios had different policies for what to do when dialogue didn't match the script, as often happened. All sorts of challenges!

@WhiteShadowForce Год назад

It's kinda interesting how we went from movies without dialogue, to movies without dialogue

@stevefoster4732 Год назад

Good one :)

@ahmaddeveloper1329 Год назад

no comments?

@Apollonos Год назад

What will they do next, eliminate dialogue completely and just have a piano player in the theater? LOL!

@Baslium Год назад

I think the movie is the problem.

@dale3404 Год назад

@@Apollonos 😂

@rosewiththorns4664 Месяц назад

It's such a relief because I've been learning English for many years already but still have a lot of problems understanding what people say in movies and tv shows and I thought the problem was me.

@fixipszikon6670 2 месяца назад

I've had speakers at home for the past 25 years. I can understnad every single word in this video. I learned english (mostly) by watching Star Wars (the 6 movies) and Star Trek TNG and Voyager. I did not need subtitles. Now that I speak english quite well, I need subtitles.

@dr.bherrin Год назад

As a deaf person I can attest that I have absolutely never heard anything wrong with dialog in movies or shows.

@canofsoda Год назад

sounds about right

@canofsoda Год назад

wait

@stangerthings2684 Год назад

LOLLLLLL

@theforgeformen Год назад

As a coda who grew up with captions and who never watches without them I can attest I also have never heard anything wrong with dialog in movies or shows.

@jkanclark Год назад

Old movies’ dialogue definitely sounds much clearer, but I think it mostly has to do with the fact that the actors were trained to project their voices - probably from many having come from the stage.

@PeteOhki Год назад

Project AND speak clearly and precisely to give the audio equipment every possible advantage. With this in mind, I had first thought that speech and communication standards had changed (not influenced by other factors).

@catenjoyer76 Год назад

I usually don't understand what they're saying in 50s movies due to bad quality audio and how they speak so fast... Maybe it's because english is my 2nd language

@waswat Год назад

@@catenjoyer76 probably, english is my second language as well but i find the 50s movies have much clearer dialogue

@danielbehrend3683 Год назад

Absolutely, ‘modern’ actors can’t speak properly!

@tomnerkowski4077 Год назад

@@waswat Yeah, clear and easy to hear, but hard to understand is different than muffled and mumbled and impossible to extract.

@ImehSmith 10 дней назад

THANK YOU FOR EXPLAING THIS as THIS IS SOOOO ME 5000% I use captions 24/7 since the early 2000's

@oxfordpictionary 3 месяца назад

I make subtitles and captions for a living and every time I use them myself (which is like 80% of the time I am watching stuff) I am glad that I do the job I do! The only time I don’t like captions is when I am watching a comedy, because often captions will ruin jokes by delivering them all at once in one caption instead of with a pause. So when I make captions for comedy I try my best to replicate the delivery, pauses included.

@katem5520 Год назад

With shows seemingly getting darker and darker and also the sound being so unintelligible, it's a task watching anything nowadays Thank you for pointing this out!

@AWEsome3GIRl3sam Год назад

Omg the darkness, i turn my brightness all the way up and still can't see anything! I guess we're just meant to watch things at night only 😭

@Ishidalover Год назад

In the Hannibal fandom, we called it Whispering Poetry In The Dark 🤣😭

@carriel3054 Год назад

The content of TV is getting so much better, but the overall experience is getting worse. I can't relax and watch a show anymore, I'm squinting and playing with the volume and picture settings the whole time. I miss Seinfeld :P

@foggydogy5796 Год назад

Totally agree with u man. I literally have to squint at the screen to see anything. Sometimes I just stop watching.

@dockingb Год назад

@AWEsome3GIRl3sam the visual darkness of shows is something I've particularly noticed with Amazon Original series. With the brightness turned all the way up, and window blinds shut, I can barely see what's happened on TV. Which is a shame, because some of their shows look fairly entertaining

@randomshadow4 Год назад

So the actor is CHOOSING to mumble, the director is CHOOSING to mix for high end theaters and the mixer is CHOOSING to keep the dynamic range over bringing the dialogue up…but it’s the audience’s problem to solve..got it

@GakisStylianos Год назад

Who said it's the audience's problem to solve?

@joshuajewell Год назад

Yet the audience is CHOOSING to watch the film.

@isaiahsguilty Год назад

consumerism would say get a sound bar + a 7.1 surround sound system but don’t forget the two separate subwoofers as well as the surround sound speaker brackets screws not included

@eclecticdreams Год назад

@@GakisStylianosbecause the audience then has to choose whether to ignore that they can't hear it well, buy better speakers, design their room to be better acoustically, use sub-titles, or....

@caldissima6100 Год назад

@@isaiahsguilty I have that and i still can't hear dialogue lol

@nathan-cone Месяц назад

The older I get, the more I have come to really, really appreciate a good mono mix.

@paulpease8254 2 месяца назад

I thought I was just getting old. Thanks for the informative video!

@sandhanitizer15 Год назад

Im only 34 and I literally thought I was losing my hearing over the last 5 years or so. I'm all about subtitles nowadays. It's refreshing to find out I'm not alone lol

@ginny93en Год назад

Same!

@pAWNproductionsDE Год назад

I was thinking the same thing. Years of going to concerts, gigs, and band practice without ear protection has definitely damaged my hearing a bit, but it's relieving to know it's nowhere near as bad as I thought

@Vamatt99218 Год назад

Yes, but subtitles obscurea little bit of the picture and reading them moves the focus on the bottom of the screen instead of whats happening on screen.

@maenad1231 Год назад

Same. Still in my twenties and was freaking out because as a teen I only needed it when I was watching foreign shows/films

@abbieclement Год назад

Oh my god, me too!

@WhitieWu Год назад

A huge pet peeve for me is watching a movie late at night and quickly scramble for the remote to turn the volume down because the music comes in blaring, only to have to turn it back up when people start talking.

@TheNavarro6767 Год назад

Yes, the music being so loud it covers the dialog is extremely aggravating and way to pervasive.

@midnight8341 Год назад

Don't forget that you watch a movie in the living room and not only do yoh have to scramble for the remote for the sake of your own ear drums, no you hope you didn't wake up your boyfriend sleeping in the other room, who has to work the next day AND you startled your cats on the couch next to you for the sixth time in 20min, when they just wanted to have a nice evening on the couch with you...

@aesluden Год назад

@@midnight8341 That's the perfect scenario to just go watch it in a movie theater. Or just use earbuds or headphones 🤷

@lunyxappocalypse7071 Год назад

@@TheNavarro6767 [Yes, the music being so loud it covers the dialog is extremely aggravating and way to pervasive.] Don't people know the concept of low-key music for plays anymore?

@tfanatica 3 месяца назад

I was expecting an answer similar to "because we have destroyed our attention span !" but I was pleasantly surprised and found the whole thing super interesting, so thank you for the video

@raoulcataloni Месяц назад

Great video and glad to know I'm not the only one fed up with TV and movie production faint dialogue. I just can't believe that nobody has developed a working audio sound leveling device that would hook up between external devices like Roku and your external speakers that would accurately keep the volume at your desired level so that the action scenes wouldn't hurt your ears. I get that the directors want you to know when the action scenes come on but today's difference in decibels should be illegal.

@kindofanmol Год назад

Netflix deserves more credit for standardizing subtitles. Even to this day, Netflix subtitles look SO MUCH BETTER than most other streaming services and its pretty evident that they put care into smaller details like these which make the overall experience much more enjoyable.

@masterpython Год назад

I think they AI they use to generate them needs work. I have seen noticed some just plain wrong subtitles that mess up jokes and puns.

@ry1774 Год назад

@@masterpython ive seen an entire sentence changed on several occasions w/ netflix

@PlaceholderAlex Год назад

Just the simple way the subtitles will move sometimes to show action near the bottom of the screen, especially when it's near the head of the person speaking. I never watch Netflix without subtitles.

@LuizHenrique730 Год назад

so true!!

@TheLyricsAnalyst Год назад

Nah it’s people who get paid to do transcripts

@mcgritty8842 Год назад

Let’s not forget, commercials are louder than your movies or shows to grab your attention more than what you actually want to watch…

@nightshades7921 11 месяцев назад

Yeah, very suspicious...

@blobofconsciousness 11 месяцев назад

Yep even in YT more than the videos the ads are super loud. I thought it was my laptop's fault

@ZachBobBob 11 месяцев назад

This is why I immediately hit mute when I know ads are coming up.

@Maszzmic 10 месяцев назад

On television, at least in Europe, this is not the case anymore like how it used to be back in the days, because of loudness regulations introduced around 2013. Also, platforms like RU-vid and Spotify actually have loudness normalization in place. As far as I have understood, RU-vid only normalises downward when something is too loud. Spotify also normalises upward when a song is too quiet.

@zenakash 9 месяцев назад

@@Maszzmic on french tv at least ads are still way louder than the actual show, and it is quite unbearable

@leffanahsays 2 месяца назад

I thought I was the only person who struggled with this. Nice to see a video on the topic.

@wedonteatbears Год назад

As a non-native English speaker, I'm always scared that my English is not good enough for me to understand dialogue in movies, but this video suggests that this problem is not due to my English skills! Thanks

@victorianelson3108 Год назад

English is my first language and I need subtitles to understand dialogue in TV and movies. Definitely not just you!

@BladerKoyotte Год назад

@@victorianelson3108 It is a kind of relief to know that

@Edelbitterschoki Год назад

Yes! I am so relieved, that it is not caused by my English skills. 😂

@MaxTargin0 Год назад

That’s what I was thinking, the amount of times I had to turn on the subtitles just to understand a line in a movie made me think I am not as fluent as I think I am, now seeing natives saying they do the same is such a relief

@lucascandido1473 Год назад

I was about to say the same thing!! I was so worried my English wasn’t good anymore, thank god it isn’t that 😅

@helio6839 Год назад

What I love most about subtitles (when they aren’t auto-generated), is that they usually capture those far off conversations or TV shows playing in the background that you aren’t meant to hear clearly, which always feels kind of sneaky (in a good way).

@russianbear0027 Год назад

Yeah! It also helps hear things like "ominous clicking" and other effects I just wouldn't hear. Good subtitles also will tell me who is talking which given how half of Hollywood is similar looking vaugely attractive white people helps me tell characters apart. It's kind of funny when the subtitle writer mixes up who's talking tho lol

@frogchair Год назад

Exactly!!! Most the time it’s kinda useless, but sometimes you can grab really good pieces of context or just get cool easter egg type tid bits!

@yokelengleng Год назад

In Chinese language shows, it is the norm to use subtitles since the beginning of time. So as a Chinese speaker I don't find anything out of the ordinary to use subtitles. When Parasite made it big in America, the director said something along the lines of "if you overcome the five inch barrier of subtitles, you will discover a whole new world". Basically he means that Americans should accept reading subtitles to expose themselves to foreign cinema. So imagine if non English speakers are afraid of subtitles, would your Hollywood movies make it big in the whole world?

@pasta-and-heroin Год назад

i do the same thing in EVERY video game i play. its strange - i only use film/tv subtitles when i *need* them, but in games it is the very first thing i turn on. i love how you described it feeling ‘sneaky’, it lets me hear things the game dev put in but few people hear

@jellytwins1018 Год назад

@@russianbear0027 Lol, I have the same issue with differentiating black actors as many of them just look way too similar. So good subtitles do help a lot.

@IfeatuNwobu 11 дней назад

such a well done and engaging video! I literally asked myself this same question months ago and to find this now is toooo right. subbing immediately

@rafaelhbarroso 19 дней назад

Great video! This topic has so many layers. ADR were used a lot on the past and still been used today. For decades, Brazilian cinema relayed on it. Today subtitles are especially important for audience retention in social media. Also, many people watches content muted.

@francescoalaimo3051 Год назад

I'm a non native speaker and I've always thought it was a personal issue, even if I'm studying for my master's degree in English. This video is a huge relief pill, thanks Vox. Edit: It's unbelievable how many native speakers or bilingual people used to think it was their fault too. Makes you think how humans are ready to doubt themselves and find excuses, even for something so natural such as language.

@brunodepaulaassuncao2389 Год назад

Same here (exept for the masters degree in english)

@trinacogitating4532 Год назад

I always have subtitles on. Some of the tv & movies I watch are in languages that I don't speak. Then I started using subtitles to catch words I didn't know, when watching shows from the U.K. But even in my native U.S. English, I often can't tell what's being said, if subtitles aren't on...

@xforsize Год назад

Wow!

@pancytryna9378 Год назад

Same lol

@acerina141 Год назад

Omg same!!!!

@IzzzyIs Год назад

Honestly, I thought I was secretly going deaf... but knowing that these shows, movies, and other video content are just going a little quieter relieves me a lot

@elshane2022 Год назад

same bro

@soccerlife8912 Год назад

I thought for sure I was reckless with my headphones too young and was paying for it now. 😅

@catherinecrawford3058 Год назад

It's not a bad idea to get tested - I found out I was hard of hearing and thought it was just bad audio.

@ashchaya7676 Год назад

People just mumble so much these days that they drop whole syllables all the time. Sometimes two or three in a single word. Not to mention running words together so it's all one unpunctuated sound. Communication skills really are dying.

@JEE-dr1nw Год назад

I thought that my English is not just enough to understand American English as an Indian

@insyteCounseling 6 дней назад

As a musician, audiophile, and former audiotech, I have to say this was so enlightening, and made perfect sense. Thanks for your great research. Totally legit! (And I always prefer subs--even if my wife doesn't like the little boxes at the bottom of the screen, I use them when she's not around, or we compromise-- Just make them small if your device allows.)

@insyteCounseling 6 дней назад

Interesting coding now: hyphenated side text is struck through... huh, wow!

@1281bexta Месяц назад

I can’t speak for anybody else but are you subtitles because there’s a consistent ringing in my ears. Who’s for tinnitus?

@Quilt82 9 месяцев назад

The explosions and gunfire in Predator is pretty impactful. I could hear the dialogue clearly too. Independence Day has huge explosions and clear dialogue. Jurassic Park has an iconic t-rex roar and clear dialogue. Having to turn down the dialogue so that the explosions can be louder is an argument that doesn't hold much water.

@DerMoerpler 5 месяцев назад

Exactly. To this day, no modern action movie has topped the bank heist shootout in Heat when it comes to the sound of gunshots. The shots in that scene sound massive, dangerous, intimidating, overwhelming and realistic. If I need to test a new sound system, this is one of the movies I would choose. And I still could understand all of the dialogue.

@sauros1 5 месяцев назад

Agreed. Sound producers have solved a problem that didn't exist and created a problem in the process. I'm starting to feel the same way with HDR in TV and video games.

@angelousmortis8041 5 месяцев назад

@@sauros1 Oh my god, yes. It's SO BAD in TV these days and it feels like no one says or even NOTICES it. Like, TV shows now-a-days just looks so weird.

@henrikaugustsson4041 4 месяца назад

THANK YOU!!!!

@lordkell1986 4 месяца назад

Their excuse is kind of exactly the opposite as to what they were saying about older analogue sound. Shouldn't that have been much more an issue when recording to a single track than now days? You can turn the dialog up for clarity while still maintaining the special effects sounds. Not like you're recording the explosions on the same track as the dialog.

@garyburke6156 Год назад

its interesting that this problem of mumbly, unintelligible dialogue has happened in conjunction with a trend of dark scene lighting where the events are barely visible, both are driven by directors pushing their decisions towards expensive theaters and equipment, to "drive technology" and in the process ignoring how most people consume their products

@DeViceCrimsin_ Год назад

This exactly. I said the same thing. But the way you say it sounds better

@gatekeeping8528 Год назад

Exactly, like why is Christopher Nolan proud that no one can understand his movies????? I think that’s just his ego speaking

@hettfield Год назад

@@gatekeeping8528 When I read that Nolan didn't care that people couldn't understand his dialog, I realized he's lost his mind. Ego above quality is not the way to go.

@arforafro5523 Год назад

I watched the Spiderman No Way Home movie at a car cinema during the plague to avoid crowds indoors and I couldn't tell what was going on for the entirety of the last fight. I couldn't see anything but the subtitles and maybe the explosions. Video games do this too, fortunately enough my monitor has a black boost option so I can crank that up without burning my retinas the moment I step anywhere with some modicum of lighting.

@ChoiceOfIllusion Год назад

Agree completely. One of the worst examples is the final season of Game of thrones. The attitude of the director in response to that was so condescending and out of touch: "My directing is perfect, if you can't adjust your TV correctly you're the problem"

@Helmersson88 Месяц назад

Really good video! I've been thinking a lot about this and you acknowledge my thought somewhat. Good to have in mind as a filmmaker!

@lg36599 3 месяца назад

this was amazingly informative, thank you!!

@mooncheeseplague5157 Год назад

What I hate, is most movies have the background music and sound effects bumped waaaay higher than the dialog. So ya gotta back n forth turn up n down the volume to hear people talk, but not be blasted by everything else. That’s why I use subtitles

@vera_nika2 Год назад

Yass that too

@kaylielopez6460 Год назад

Facts

@RijackiTorment Год назад

Ironically, this video suffered from that as well, using complex music at the same sound level as the dialogue. ARGH!!!

@georgwrede7715 Год назад

Exactly! If I were in a detached house I could watch movies at full volume, but I have neighbors, so I need to keep the dialogue too silent.

@stevensmileyprod Год назад

Foreground music LUL

@Vini-BR Год назад

As an English teacher and non-native speaker myself, I get asked a lot by my students whether they'll be able to eventually watch movies without the subtitles. It feels lame to tell them that I don't do that myself, but I'm honest with them about that anyways. I understand RU-vid videos and podcasts fully no problem, but not movies. After watching this video, I indulge myself to feel actually relieved that the limitation is not on my part, but a phenomenon that affects most people, native speakers and all. Thanks! I'll let my students know about that!

@revenevan11 Год назад

Yes!!!

@lorz2385 Год назад

This.

@ramiroolarte7169 Год назад

I was just thinking "maybe when I move and hear the language everyday, I'll get used to it and understand it better"... But now I don't anymore... This is like the reggaeton of movies!

@joselucas9398 Год назад

aliviado!!

@mectateljnica3980 Год назад

Same! I feel so relieved, I always thought my English wasn’t good enough. But it made no sense because I watch RU-vid videos and listen to podcasts all the time

@billmcclintic2961 26 дней назад

Excellent video! I just figured it was me getting old. This really explained everything. Thanks!!

@bloolizard 2 месяца назад

Thought I was losing my hearing, this video explains a lot.

@jhunt5578 Год назад

The thing that annoys me is when the dialogue is so much quieter than the action segments. I'm watching at a normal volume during a scene with dialogue, then the volume suddenly blares out because of gun fire or a car crash, and the background music is suddenly way too loud.

@naturalnashuan Год назад

Ever listen to Pink Floyd albums in a car? Like The Final Cut or The Wall? It's ...mutter, mumble, whisper, soft music, mutter.. {You turn up the volume} LOUD EXPLOSIONS...{you turn it back down.}....mutter mumble, soft music, Repeat.

@naturalnashuan Год назад

Some devices, like my iPad have settings in the menu for setting the max volume you'll accept, for that reason.

@sprocket0077 Год назад

Ohhhh but the ~dYnAmIc RaNgE~!!

@matthewwatt2295 Год назад

They really should have a different mix for TV like they used to with VHS and early dvd - 99% of people don't have a full home theater setup and don't want the 'cinematic mix' with huge dynamic range.

@caleb1938 Год назад

The sound designer in this video thinks that's a good thing lol

@antipants Год назад

I'm an ESL teacher and my students are sometimes embarrassed to admit they watch movies with subtitles on. I tell them that I do it too and they feel better about it. Thanks for making this.

@ninin117 Год назад

I guess I know the occupation of the type of person to have the youtube name Antipants now

@claudioklaus2642 Год назад

And then you get those people who think that your English is not good because you watch movies with subtitles, or because you don't understand some dialogs. FML

@JuanPValenciaH Год назад

As a fellow EFL Teacher, I have also seen how many EFL learners think native English speakers don't use/need subtitles at all and when you tell them they use them too (quite a lot, in fact) they are shocked or just don't belive you.

@regimiro4888 Год назад

@@JuanPValenciaH What does EFL stand for?

@yokelengleng Год назад

@JJ-fr2ki Месяц назад

Well done VOX. I’ve noticed this too. Very impressed by the set of examples you have.

@CheapoPremio 3 месяца назад

6:25 No I don't, I literally don't. When I switch audio to other languages the conversation is loud. Even when mixing down, just make what is said louder. The people in charge just don't want to for esoteric reasons. I once just lifted the center speaker alone up and it was perfect.

@Wesjapa100 Год назад

I'm a non-English native speaker but I consider myself fluent in the language, and sometimes I feel bad for not understanding something without subtitles. However, now I feel good to know that even native speakers don't always understand things. 😄

@noname6389 Год назад

I was looking for your comment! It's so true. I always thought it's because of my leaking my language skill but no, it's just because of mumbling. A big relief, I think 😅😌

@thomasvo5939 Год назад

I feel the same 😂

@Thagor95 Год назад

I stopped feeling like it was because of me being a non-native speaker when I noticed that even in movies or shows in my language, I tend to use subtitles now for the same reason :D

@danieltran9634 Год назад

Same here. I have no problem understanding interviews or vlogs on RU-vid though.

@lucas.marianno Год назад

Same here, ESL speaker too! I not only consider myself fluent, I do have all the international certifications to back it up. But I still kept asking myself if my language skills were getting rusted with time.

@dorkultra Год назад

The issue is that music and other sound effects are so freaking loud, that you don't want to turn up the volume for the dialog because you'll wake the kids

@flowwithtrees9248 Год назад

im surprised this wasnt talked about, my main complaint is turning it up to hear someone whisper talk , then all the sudden music starts blasting at me😂

@egizikid Год назад

So true! When I watched John wick, I could barely here the words so I turn up the volume, two seconds later a large explosion happened in the movie destroying my ears

@darrylatkins5049 Год назад

Agreed bad mixing is super prevalent

@gabriellaruhlman6688 Год назад

Yup

@ElmiraHopeMusic Год назад

this! I stopped watching movies at movie theaters because its so overwhelmingly loud. + I have sensory issues with certain sounds. I'd rather just have a volume 15% movie that I can barely hear and then read the subtitles

@superj-man137 3 месяца назад

The worst part of this is that the movie industry, script writers, and editors who know all of this information still aren't doing anything to fix the issue. Because if you know your actors are mumbling, and you are hiding dialogue behind loud sounds then you are saying the dialogue is not that important and can be overlooked for visuals, music, etc. Every artist puts out art for consumption by the masses. Paintings are displayed, music is heard, poetry is read, and plays / movies were meant to be a message, something the writer wanted to display that would make a comment on society, whether a tragedy, comedy, or drama. At this point, we are saying nothing these script writers or playwrights are saying is worth our time since we are going to cover the dialogue with noise. For the record, I did not need subtitles to watch this video. You spoke clearly, enunciating your words, and provided your thoughts in a cohesive manner befitting the topic. Great job. Thank you.

@julianlowrise4981 3 месяца назад

I mean worst of all is the fact that they still make choices with regard to aspect ratios and sound design and then turn around and say it was an artistic choice. Okay, great. Don't sell it to me then, go play it in an art gallery. If they want to market it to all possible devices, and are planning to make absurd sums of money from it, either start producing it in a format which can be accessible or stop producing for audiences which aren't able to view it properly and accept that your paying audience is smaller, and budget accordingly. I wouldn't make a visual only film and then sell it to the blind, UNLESS I took the effort to add audio descriptions for their viewing.

@ElliotKwan Месяц назад

i just want to say that I appreciate that Austin has an amazing mic.

@largpack Год назад

You know what really grinds my gears in movies? The concept of dynamic range! It's like a rollercoaster ride for my ears - one minute I'm straining to hear what the characters are saying, and the next minute I'm blasting off into space because of an explosion. My poor eardrums can't handle it! Thank goodness for dynamic range compensators, but seriously, can we just keep the volume consistent? I don't want to end up with a hearing aid before I'm 50! Filmmakers, please spare my delicate ears and keep the volume in check.

@candacewrather9995 11 месяцев назад

This 110%. Trying to watch a movie after the kids go to bed is a freaking nightmare……

@HeyLeFay 11 месяцев назад

Yep, and it's definitely a post 2000's problem, because if you watch an action movie from the 80's or 90's on the same audio system, there's way less of an overwhelming difference in the dynamic range.

@jackien5563 11 месяцев назад

In the movie theater, I usually wear earplugs. I may miss a bit, but I don't leave the theater worried about what damage I acquired.

@kiloisnear 10 месяцев назад

Repent, sinner- Heil GOD

@TorVernerFilms 10 месяцев назад

I second this and agree! After watching the new Top Gun in the latest cinema in my town, it was a terrible experience for my eardrums. Eventually, I had to leave because the viewing experience was extreme poor. The sound of the planes flying was excessively loud and unpleasant, but when it came to dialogue and softer sounds, it was actually quite good and pleasing to my ears and emotions...

@IainFrame Год назад

We need subtitles now because TV producers seem to think that all dialogue should be mumbled at low volume. It's ridiculous.

@spozbucket Год назад

I agree. I use subtitles because there's a limit to how high I can put the volume, as the music and everything else is always 10x louder. The speech is always far too low in volume. I've been watching older programs recently and have no issues.

@phattjohnson Год назад

Get a decent hi-fi system, and never look (listen?) back!

@Emsyaz Год назад

@@jackpace6845 incompetent tv producers and actors.

@TehDerpGamer Год назад

You should watch this video vox just posted called "Why we all need subtitles now"

@fafardh Год назад

@@phattjohnson Sure. Just tell me your address, so I can send you the bill. ;) PS: I'm being deliberately passive-aggressive to emphasize a point. Please don't take this personally, that's not how it's meant ;)

@simonanne_com Месяц назад

Thank you for this.. for years I thought it was my hearing going bad..

@avaamerkashi4848 Месяц назад

omg im lowkey glad everyone has the same problem and not just me. and honestly thats why i love cartoons and animations because the audio is just so clear! (and usually more fun that movies) but Tenant! gosh i went to watch in cinema IMAX and I still had trouble hearing it. i mostly guessed what was going on most of the time

@mattball2462 Год назад

When she talks about dynamic range, I think it hits the real issue. "You can't make the dialogue louder, because the explosions have to be louder". But action movies for decades did a perfect job of giving us dialogue we could understand and still had explosions. Essentially she's saying "We could mostly fix the problem, but we don't want to because we want those explosions extra loud". I don't want those explosions extra loud. I don't need the action to be 10 times louder than the dialogue. Just make it so I can understand the dialogue and make the action a little bit louder.

@TheBitKrieger 11 месяцев назад

That's why I have "reduce loud noises" / night-mode / "normalize volume" set on all devices - otherwise it is unbearable.

@AuntieHauntieGames 11 месяцев назад

She gets into that when she characterizes this approach as being what people consider cinematic now. It seems to me that 'explosions loud' is not her position so much as it is the position being taken by directors, producers, etc. The people who essentially tell her what they want her to do.

@ronald3836 11 месяцев назад

The answer is: we know you can enable subtitles, so we save money by not bothering.

@amorphousblob 11 месяцев назад

Agreed. I also have tinnitus, so I do not want to hear extremely loud explosions, which means I need to have my hand on the remote/volume for the entire movie just to try and predict when I need to raise and lower the sound... It's incredibly annoying.

@hyunrahan5265 11 месяцев назад

Ikr. Most of us would lower the volume ourselves if we could sense there will be a loud sound coming. it’s won’t giving us the ‘cinematic’ experience either way. So might as well just don’t bother giving us this ‘cinematic’ experience

@lunaargentum1743 Год назад

so movies are getting harder to see (darker) and more difficult to understand. but it's our fault we're not watching them in big movie theaters with top notch speakers