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Do you find yourself turning on subtitles or reaching for headphones when you’re trying to watch your latest flick? Here’s what’s going on.
It’s In the Mix
A movie or TV show’s sound “mix” refers to how a sound mixer adjusts the levels of various sounds relative to each other. Let’s say, hypothetically, you have a volume of 1–10. An explosion would be a 10. A ’67 Chevy might be a 6. Dialogue might be a 2.
In a movie theatre, there’s actually much more range in terms of the sound they can use—not just in the volume, but in the total channels they can put sound through. The result is a very dynamic mix. However, your home setup, unless you have a state-of-the-art surround sound system, does not have as many channels as a movie theatre; and therefore, does not have the range a movie theatre does. A modern AMC theatre has 12 audio channels. Your home theatre has either one or two, depending on if your speakers are mono or stereo, and if you have them set up properly.
What does all this mean? Well, when you get a home release of a movie, that dynamic audio mix intended for a movie theatre gets compressed through your tiny home audio system. That dynamic range you can easily pick out in a theatre is lost when it’s compressed through fewer audio channels.
Interestingly enough, some movies have separate audio mixes for home releases, so if you’re wondering why you can hear the dialogue for some movies but not others, that might be why—you hear it when you’re watching a movie with audio mixed for home viewing but not when it’s mixed for the movie theatre.
Poor Streaming Standards
Netflix applies what they call a studio-quality audio standard to their releases. Not all streamers do. Basically, there isn’t a set standard for all sound mixers to follow, so that’s why some may not set their volumes based on dialogue but instead set them based on overall sound.
Blame Digital Audiov
Thomas Curley, who won an Oscar in the category of Best Sound Mixing for Whiplash, told SlashFilm that one problem has to do with new technology. Basically, before digital audio, sound was more difficult to record and more difficult to mix, so sound designers and mixers had to work really hard to get it right, which meant the producers and directors had to give the sound department enough time and deference to do their jobs. Now, with digital audio making recording much easier, there’s much less attention to detail paid to sound by the higher-ups and much less intentionality from the sound designers.
Also Blame Actors
You can’t hear some actors because they’re mumbling on purpose. Once upon a time, clear enunciation was a virtue prized by many actors and directors. It’s less naturalistic, but clear enunciation makes it easier for the audience to understand what’s being said. Now, there’s a trend to speak in a more natural way, which sometimes includes whispering, slurring, and mumbling. Does anyone know what Tom Hardy says anymore? We sure don’t.
. . . And Also Blame Directors
Some directors like muddier (and perhaps more natural) sound. Director Christopher Nolan’s sound design is famously natural but hard to parse. It’s partly because he refuses to record dialogue after the fact, so what you get on set you get on screen, but it’s also partly a creative choice. Can’t hear the protagonist in Tenet speak through his oxygen mask? Well, Christopher Nolan thinks it’d be hard to do that in real life, so it’s hard for his audience too. Of course, one might ask how natural it is to read subtitles all the time, but we’re not here to throw critical shade, we’re here to explain why you can’t hear dialogue.
So What Can You Do?
The technical reasons you aren’t hearing dialogue can be partly solved. You can either use subtitles, headphones, or get a surround sound system that will be closer to the movie theatre experience.
Other reasons you aren’t hearing dialogue can’t really be solved by you, aside from not watching movies with actors who mumble or directors who like mumbling. If the mumbling truly bothers you, perhaps try live theatre, where they’re specially trained to enunciate.
