Why we all need subtitles now

[@Vox]

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]

Board

[@mimiayako]

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

[@thecinematicmind]

Hopefully you can get into audio description in cinema someday.

[@joshuataylor3550]

Especially bad for those with English as a second language

[@PlsGiveMeUser]

Thx THX

[@grahamvandyke]

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]

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

[@One.Zero.One101]

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]

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]

same!!!

[@feedmeastraycat8247]

i was getting scared too I thought my brain was decomposing

[@lauralvw8445]

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]

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

[@r4yy28]

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]

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]

EXACTLY!!!

[@KratosIsSick]

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

[@Ghostface3200]

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]

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

[@soliloquylove2115]

😂😂

[@Ciruelatron]

Watch Invincible bruh.

[@scoops2]

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

[@Yen-dc7nn]

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 🥴

[@FireCracker3240]

Oh my gosh. I've been using subtitles for almost 20 years. I thought there was something seriously wrong with my hearing. Thank you for validating why I can't understand SO much of what people say in media (TV, Film & Music). It's a relief to know I'm not alone.

[@davejones246]

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]

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

[@EbbermanEmily]

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]

Love that

[@aydenzabelle]

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

[@kyleeissomajestic]

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

[@luap4981]

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.

[@One.Zero.One101]

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]

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

[@dokkae6423]

@@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]

Likewise

[@amityislandchum]

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

[@karara5532]

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

[@juliacarter4081]

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

[@rgbgamingfridge]

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]

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

[@StarSnow1101]

You nailed it.

[@cat1554]

*WHAT?*

[@Cheva-Pate]

My aunt was an actor film, theater since the early fifties, always said that all actors had to learn too talk/ speak loud and clearly, today no one is educated to be an actor, they are learning by doing.

[@grsafran]

There aren't many real actors anymore, most are just a personality.

[@FawnTheCreator]

The art of acting is dying

[@GaryDee119]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@charlxler]

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

[@alejandrapedroza14]

Omg same, there's these "listening clips" that are taken from out of context conversations in movies and series and are used to rate your listening skills in English and while sometimes I can catch what they're saying, most of the time is still mumbling! No, it's not simply fast, fast is the simplification of phrases all mixed together, like how "I would have" can sound like "i wuda" but sometimes it's just plain mumbling!

[@arapkz5454]

Exactly 😂 because I can understand KZbinrs and even the same actors on interviews but when I watch a movie I feel like my English is not good although I am actually fluent and I grew up watching American shows.

[@alibasouli]

same here , and it's even worse with music especially R&B and rap. I realized that I'm not the problem other day when I listened to an R&B music in my native language (persian) and i couldn't understand anything same with rap and even some pop music

[@Fiduins]

I'm brazilian and even for my country's media I prefer to leave subtitles on, it's completely understandable lol, and I like to say the subtitles enhance the experience even if you do actually understand everything being said

[@kstreet7438]

Nope. American and I absolutely struggle to understand movies/shows nowadays. Subtitles are on for everything It's just they mumble so turning it up louder really doesn't help any

[@dananskidolf]

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]

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

[@internetuser777]

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

[@octopu5ie]

@@internetuser777 the latest one?

[@thebicycleman8062]

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

[@rpgreseller]

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.

[@rubyy.7374]

Growing up with a deaf brother, we always used subtitles. Happy to know other people see how much subtitles take the stress off having to pick up every word, even if they can hear, and of course, very happy that my brother can watch virtually everything with them.

[@Orabig]

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]

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

[@Orabig]

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]

Do you not have similar issues with French language media?

[@ПавелГражданкин-ъ4л]

​@@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]

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.

[@rachelrueda5650]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[@withak30]

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

[@__________5243]

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]

@@__________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]

@@__________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]

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

[@sidney6871]

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

[@squareeyedgit]

Don't tell me worry less about hearing every word!! The dialogue is KING. Why write it if not?? I admit though, having only just seen this video (a year after it was made) I am somewhat gratified to know that it's not just me. I absolutely HATE the way modern films and TV programs have the sound effects and, even worse, the music so loud in comparison to the dialogue. I am constantly turning the volume up and down so that I can hear the words without having my head blown off by everything else. I don't actually want the super-realism of inaudible mumbly speaking coupled with deafening explosions and obnoxiously loud music. I'm watching a program, not living in it. ARGH!!!!!

[@tamarlindsay8382]

Most of the time the dialogue is so poor that it isn't necessary anyway. Back when I used to go to movies I started wearing earplugs to protect my hearing. I could tell what was going on most of the time anyway.

[@macnof]

I feel ya! I watch a movie for the story, not for the pretty effects. If the effects drown out the dialogue, the story suffers and it's a worse movie. Sure, we get pretty explosions, but they really don't do anything special for the story compared to the dialogue. There's a reason audiobooks are big, while audio recorded explosions aren't.

[@newto2794]

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]

buy quality speakers cause tv speakers are insanely bad

[@Beatem2deathinyoursexdreams]

@@borey123xx9 I think so too

[@yt-1337]

@@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]

@@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]

Definitely not me watching Interstellar.

[@suparki123]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@jillmartin10]

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.

[@katem5520]

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]

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 😭

[@IL_801]

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

[@carriel3054]

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]

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

[@dockingb]

@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

[@onusgumboot5565]

There are a lot of reasons we can't hear dialogue. Actors used to enunciate. Now they want to make it more "real". They should realize it's a movie, and go back to getting actors to speak clearly. Then there is the whole thing that happened when everything went digital. They can give sound more range without hiss in the high end, and rumble in the low end. But just because you can, doesn't mean you should. People hear more clearly, and comfortably in a limited range. Analogue only provided that range. That was a good thing. Also, now the difference between the loud parts and the quiet parts have gotten so extreme in most movies, that it is just uncomfortable to listen to them. You either keep turning the sound up and down, or find the best spot for the loud parts, and rely on subtitles to hear the dialogue. I quit watching movies after a while because the problem is so bad. I'm not the only one I know who says this. Not all movies have that problem, which leads me to believe that todays sound engineers are just not very good at their job. I used to have a limiter hooked up to my old surround sound that fixed the problem. Then that system quit working, and all the new sound systems don't allow adding a limiter to them. I never go to theaters anymore, because the sound is painful. And the movies are too long. They used to be no more than one and a half hours. And the seats are uncomfortable to sit more than 45 minutes at a time. All this is unnecessary. Being more realistic about what used to work, and why it no longer does, instead of insisting that new is always better would help. Train the sound engineers to make the sound more even. Even if that seems less "Cinematic" to them. There are a lot of reasons movies are not as popular as they once were. But making the experience enjoyable, rather than painful might help. It seems to me that the attempt to make things more "Dynamic" and "cinematic" is ruining what used to be a fun passtime. Watch old movies and compare the sound. Learn from it. The original Star wars didn't have these issues, and it was definitely "Cinematic"

[@kolonarulez5222]

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

[@clarissagafoor5222]

I know! Me too!

[@iyona2305]

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

[@Carnyx72]

You probably are, though.

[@aniruddhakabbya622]

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]

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

[@juliegolick]

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]

Thank you for sharing Julie 🙂

[@joylox]

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]

Yeah I noticed. I see a lot of mistakes.

[@XENOOO]

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]

@@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!

[@ربیعہجمیل-ح5ع]

It is a relief for non-native English speakers because i thought my english is so bad that i can't even understand without subtitles.

[@malikmondon4830]

I tried to watch the bear on disney without subtitle and i was stunt to dont understand anything !

[@PumaM90]

Nope I need subtitles or I'll miss useful information.

[@armandolimon7465]

The US has had subtitles for several decades. You're missing the point that people who can't act or speak well in KZbin and in Hollywood forces the English speaking audience to use subtitles.

[@peppermintprincess4628]

Omg yes, I’m non native and Ive been asking myself like why don’t u just watch series in original or completely without subtitles, and I’m like… “oh yea I can’t understand it most of the time I guess I’m bad with accents there is so much of them…”😢😢

[@reiniergarcia]

It's bad

[@tamaragibson5659]

I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate this video. I’ve been having to turn those subtitles on more and more, and honestly thought my hearing was failing. What a relief!

[@sandhanitizer15]

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]

Same!

[@pAWNproductionsDE]

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]

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]

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]

Oh my god, me too!

[@gunnersubbu]

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]

YUP

[@Imnotplayinganymore]

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

[@mary-janereallynotsarah684]

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

[@maxscameraguy]

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

[@bobnolin9155]

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

[@SuperCapuka]

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]

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

[@Edramon53]

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.

[@TaigiTWeseDiplomat--Formosan]

:00

[@coalescedistortions2577]

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]

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

[@EatingSLP]

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and I can barely make out what people are saying in entertainment these days. 😂 I’m so glad to have come across this video!!

[@francescoalaimo3051]

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]

Same here (exept for the masters degree in english)

[@trinacogitating4532]

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]

Wow!

[@pancytryna9378]

Same lol

[@acerina141]

Omg same!!!!

[@brendanberentschot5228]

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]

*Cries in "I Am The Doctor"*

[@sander_bouwhuis]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@roselover411]

I don't _want_ my explosions to be really loud! I hate when I have to constantly change the volume because the action scenes are blasting but the dialogue is super quiet. I want to be able to keep it at the same volume the whole time. But since I apparently can't have that, subtitles are necessary.

[@markozagar]

My pet peeve also. Keep the loud explosions in the cinema, but I like my neighbors to have a peaceful existence.

[@DanielSmith-zo1db]

Top gun maverick is one of the worst mixed movies I’ve ever seen. The reason they kept saying it would only be good in theaters is because they just kept putting the volume on max. It was so loud that my ears would ring at points

[@UnexpectedDanger]

This is me, I'm holding the remote the whole time. Dialogue is too quiet, everything else is too loud.

[@mikeb53]

YES! 100% this. When people are talking I need the volume right up, and subtitles, and an ear trumpet for good measure. Then 5 seconds later, I'm having to turn the volume down again. Then I turn it back up.

[@Nelkami]

Volume Leveling or whatever the equivalent is in different TV's will become normalised for this reason

[@daviddonaghy4723]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been so frustrated watching movies/TV. I have had to turn on CC so often that I had to buy external speakers for my TV and I’ve had my hearing checked. I’ve started watching more movies from the 50’s and 60’s because I don’t have the same difficulty with hearing them (and I like them). By producing this video, I now realize that I’m not alone and that I’m not the problem. So, thanks again.

[@IainFrame]

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

[@Lilacleaf49065]

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]

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

[@Emsyaz]

@@jackpace6845 incompetent tv producers and actors.

[@TehDerpGamer]

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

[@fafardh]

@@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 ;)

[@helio6839]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

@@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.

[@jkanclark]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@danielbehrend3683]

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

[@TFNEVADA]

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

[@TuesdayBlueSkies]

I am convinced that people who don’t use subtitles don’t always fully understand what actors are saying, like I could be super invested in a movie/show, have the sound on at the right volume …etc yet there’s always part of the dialogue that doesn’t sound clear enough for me to make out the string of words said. My partner never needs them but feel like sometimes there’s some words that he doesn’t fully register lol

[@Vini-BR]

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 KZbin 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]

Yes!!!

[@lorz2385]

This.

[@ramiroolarte7169]

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]

aliviado!!

[@mectateljnica3980]

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

[@somewherefar1286]

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

[@zainhyukmcadam4874]

LOL This!

[@vesuvyan]

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]

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]

Spot on.

[@samy7342]

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

[@wedonteatbears]

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]

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

[@BladerKoyotte]

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

[@Edelbitterschoki]

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

[@MaxTargin0]

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]

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

[@w.schubert]

As a Brazilian Portuguese speaker, I usually turn on English subtitles while keeping the original audio (I hate dubbed voices) and thought my listening skills weren't great because of this. I'm glad to see that even you sometimes can't understand every word, just like me.

[@IzzzyIs]

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]

same bro

[@soccerlife8912]

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

[@catherinecrawford3058]

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]

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]

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

[@mooncheeseplague5157]

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]

Yass that too

[@kay.lies002]

Facts

[@RijackiTorment]

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

[@georgwrede7715]

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]

Foreground music LUL

[@illuminatustm]

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]

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]

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

[@Diego_i]

@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]

@@joanacaetanogomes same in the Netherlands

[@djb903]

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.

[@mrdeep6406]

"For years, I thought I was the only one not understanding because I'm not a native speaker." .

[@madamem.2313]

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

[@Milo_Estobar]

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]

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

[@syntheovaldy5173]

@@Milo_Estobar 😂😂😂bruh

[@syntheovaldy5173]

@@housstheroccan3040 paddy speaks his own language tbh

[@FlowerEmblem]

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 🤣

[@WhitieWu]

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]

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

[@midnight8341]

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]

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

[@lunyxappocalypse7071]

@@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?

[@weldonyoung1013]

For televisions it is best to look for a model with editable equalizer. I got a high-end Sony and it is the only way I can modified the sound enough to make dialogue understandable when playing movies. Anything below 1K Hz gets suppressed with a downward slop as the Hz drop. The Theatrical sound on physical media is just ridiculous and most TV presets just make it worse!

[@mattball2462]

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]

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

[@AuntieHauntieGames]

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]

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

[@amorphousblob]

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]

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

[@__yussra]

As someone who’s been learning English for years, you don’t understand how validating this is right now. I’ve tried watching movies with no subtitles so many times and they just sound like gibberish to me. I thought I would never be able to survive a conversation in America, and of course.. I thought my learning efforts were all down the drain.

[@SashaTS16]

I’m a teacher of English as a foreign language and my students get soooo frustrated that they can’t understand films and tv shows without subtitles. From now on I have this video to show to them and make them feel better about their progress! Thank you so much!

[@ЛекуСушйка]

That was exactly what I was thinking about. I have a rather high level of English and no problem to understand native speakers but when I watch a movie I understand half of it. It got me even thinking whether I truly know English or not

[@natesofamerica]

Same here in reverse, Mario Casas is a terrible mumbler and nobody can understand him even my wife who only speaks Spanish.

[@RealNameNeverUsed]

I barely understand anything when playing GTA. And the subtitles helped a lot. I think the subtitles should be turned on by default.

[@kannot1]

Get them to watch vintage films, it's clear to hear and way better than today's movies👀💔

[@ThePedroppz]

it's funny because i used to have an easier time understanding english-speaking media ten years ago, when my English was worse and i wasn't fluent yet. now i'm fluent and i pretty much always have subtitles on. youtube videos are much better for practicing listening imo.

[@largpack]

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]

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

[@HeyLeFay]

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]

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.

[@georgieluvsu]

Repent, sinner- Heil GOD

[@TorVerner]

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...

[@garyburke6156]

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_]

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

[@gatekeeping8528]

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

[@hettfield]

@@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]

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.

[@Ash_18037]

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"

[@paulmasuicca5304]

So few movies these days have dialog that's worth hearing.

[@CollectedWorx]

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

[@tankfu1]

This should be the top comment.

[@CollectedWorx]

@@tankfu1 Agreed 😂

[@geoffreyvanpelt6147]

As usual, it always comes down to the money.

[@CollectedWorx]

@@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]

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

[@Wesjapa100]

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]

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]

I feel the same 😂

[@Thagor95]

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]

Same here. I have no problem understanding interviews or vlogs on KZbin though.

[@lucas.marianno]

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.

[@mcgritty8842]

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]

Yeah, very suspicious...

[@blobofconsciousness]

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

[@ZachBobBob]

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

[@Maszzmic]

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 KZbin and Spotify actually have loudness normalization in place. As far as I have understood, KZbin only normalises downward when something is too loud. Spotify also normalises upward when a song is too quiet.

[@zenakash]

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

[@anonemous1046]

I have been using subtitles since 2007. Before i attempt to watch a movie, i always hunt for the subtitles first. Not the autogen subtitles, which mostly are incorrect. Just place them in the subtitle folder, and you are done. So, I have 17 years of subtitle use, but i am getting tired of it, so now I mostly just chill and let them speak incoherently. If it was an important line, it would be audible.

[@ana.almiras]

This makes me feel so much better. I was worried I was accidentally "training" myself to not be able to hear the dialogue.

[@TheNikkePikker]

This!!!

[@phattjohnson]

Grab a killer surround sound system you can also use to blast Spotify or the radio on during the day! Invite your neighbors to listen to Terminator 2 with you too :P TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!?

[@katherinea5011]

Movies originally were silent, they had subtitles accompanied by music and sound effects. It seems like we’ve come full circle.

[@jussikankinen9409]

How, we had sub for 60 years

[@ItIsPuma]

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

[@stevefoster4732]

Good one :)

[@ahmaddeveloper1329]

no comments?

[@Apollonos]

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

[@Baslium]

I think the movie is the problem.

[@dale3404]

@@Apollonos 😂

[@moonyollie6977]

I get what she's saying about Dynamic Range/"make the voices louder," but with video games you can absolutely do that. And I would bet a lot of people actually do do that. And yes there's absolutely an argument about it being a video game, but I've not often had an issue hearing and understanding a dubbed film. That said, I will always use subtitles anyway.

[@kalfjez]

This isn’t the entire picture… As a production sound mixer that records dialogue on set, technology has also had a negative impact on the way dialogue is recorded. To save time and money, you will likely see 2, 3, or even 4 cameras being used at a time to capture as many angles as possible (close up, medium, and long shot as examples), essentially making it more difficult to get a boom microphone close enough to the actors, making the dialogue editor rely more on lavs, but lavs can be problematic (rustling, etc) and may need more time to fix in post. Costume design can also make it really tough to get good sound out of the lavs, a good example of this is in "For All Mankind", a lot of dialogue seems extremely muffled. Lastly, I hear "we'll fix it in post" way too often... which is quite concerning

[@jennacook2505]

+

[@disdehcet]

I feel like the statement "We'll fix it in Post" applies here too. Before, actors HAD to speak clearly and directionally toward microphones, and engineers HAD to position them in ways that would pick their voices up the best. NOW there's a sense that those things aren't as important because audio engineers like Austin Olivia Kendrick can perform miracles. Though they can perform incredible engineering feats, it can reflect lazy/cheap work upon recording.

[@rebeccaslurpermann8444]

Yep yep yep!!! The difference between your boom inputs and rx channels are huge. Izotope be laughing all the way to the bank rn

[@wildfuture.network]

Waw, interesting, now i get it! And when you're not a native speaker it's even harder to understand obviously...

[@antonliakhovitch8306]

​@@disdehcetI think this point was heavily implied in the video but for some reason they never stated it clearly

[@hki4464]

As a non native English speaker, I always thought that my English is not good enough to pick up everything in a movie and I felt depressed when turning the subtitles on as I thought that my English is not improving anymore. This video was a relief.

[@crescentsun1000]

Me tooo! This video is so uplifting

[@mobrazenyet4606]

Same here. But also to learn how words are pronounced.

[@timoooo7320]

Same here! Came here to say that!

[@erestube]

Watch a movie from the 80s or before as a test!

[@ponorj]

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]

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

[@markchapman6800]

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.

[@rockyyj6815]

Thank God you got subtitles for this video

[@Alisilou]

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

[@Zoronii]

Netflix is THE WORST when it comes to this

[@agustin268]

​@@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]

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]

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

[@toastyxboops]

NETFLIX!!!

[@dr.bherrin]

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

[@canofsoda]

sounds about right

[@canofsoda]

wait

[@stangerthings2684]

LOLLLLLL

[@theforgeformen]

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.

[@jacobstaten2366]

I love your sense of humor.

[@djb903]

I love subtitles because you get more information: character names and how they're spelled, names of songs and their lyrics, and if you're bilingual watching subtitles gives even more insight into the choices made by studios when they translate the script or even discrepancies between the script and the performance.

[@EamonKelly]

A drawback would be that you're reading the subtitles and the dialogue ends with "--", then you know something's about to happen, and the surprise is kind of ruined.

[@greenforce888]

It's too distracting for me.

[@WindsorMason]

@@EamonKelly one of the many ways that when the subtitles are very poorly timed/ahead of the scene it causes problems :( (Also frustrating is when a streaming company puts a subtitles file for an entirely different movie up xD)

[@meifray]

and also,it is much easy to translate the text,which make some artwork spread even further

[@maxhighstein]

I'm glad you made a post about this. On another note, i'm mesmerized by the fact that you're using a wind zeppelin on a shotgun mic indoors, and you've placed it prominently in the frame, where it actually competes with your face for attention. A bold set design move! I'm not saying it's a good move, just that it's bold. I'm going to check your other videos now to see what else you're up to. So therefore I guess it's a good move.

[@TheJerbol]

Dynamic range is definitely a huge problem though. It's just too great nowadays. That makes sense in theatres, where the volume in general is really high. But at home most people aren't going to blast the volume that high, they don't want an explosion to sound like an actual explosion. So a lot of people like me constantly change volume from scene to scene, which is annoying

[@erynn9968]

Dynamic range is like 100 buttons on your remote control - devs think it’s cool, you think it’s a disaster. It’s ridiculous to watch her reaction like ‘you silly ppl don’t understand our sacred craft - dynamic range111!’

[@darew3630]

yeah, it's basically the problem they adressed in the video. These dynamic range mixes work great in theatres, but ideally, there should be a seperate mix for home releases on Blu-Ray, streaming, etc.

[@spotCJ]

@@darew3630 Well.. There are. The list of sound deliverables these days is gigantic. There's your theater mixes, 7.1 and 5.1 home cinema mixes, different TV mixes for different international standards, and every streaming service requires a specific mix as well. All these mixes have huge differences in dynamic range, because they are all mixed according to a different loudness standards. For instance, the US and the EU both have their own loudness regulations for TV (google ITU 1770 or EBU R128 if you are interested). Netflix also has their own loudness norm, so does KZbin, Disney+, and so on... Re-recording mixers do extensive measurements to meet al these criteria and make separate mixes for each of the deliverables. But in the first place their job as sound mixers is to help tell the story and make sound contribute to the experience of the film as much as possible. There is so much more to sound for film than just dialogue. Sound is all about feeling, it usually works subconsciously and is responsible for the creation of the world outside of camera's frame. When downmixing to the different loudness standards dynamic range is often reduced, and a lot of information in the sound mix gets lost. That's why dynamic range is so important for film. When losing this information a scene or even a whole film can be interpreted the wrong way and the story (and the viewers experience) is lost. With all these different mixes it often happens that viewers end up listening to the wrong mix. It is hard to determine whether a Netflix user is listening through a high quality 5.1 surround set or through the built in speakers on a TV. Simply feeding all Netflix users a mix with low dynamic range so the dialogue is always intelligible would mean the experience of the film is ruined for the film enthusiasts who actually invested in a decent home cinema system.

[@TheJerbol]

@@erynn9968 Just like that GoT/HotD director who made two episodes practically pitch black and when people complained was basically like 'but muh art'

[@WillSenechal]

Yeah, explosions are famous for causing hearing damage. I certainly don't want that in my home on a regular basis. Give me a low dynamic range mix please!

[@ld905]

As a non-native speaker who used to pride herself on her English skills, kind of a relief to hear that this is an issue for native speakers as well haha

[@CuteCuteJames]

American here--this is a huge problem that I deal with literally all the time. Watching things on Tubi or other non-giant streaming service where the captions are not great is a struggle. Changing TV settings has not helped. I think it's time studios start thinking more of how it's going to sound on smaller screens. Streaming is here to stay and cinemas are a temporary experience for any one specific film.

[@gavinkerslake]

I often won't watch a movie if it doesn't have subtitles because I miss too much information.

[@bunnybag]

As a person who has English as their Second language, it always felt like a blow to my confidence when I can't enjoy the media without subtitles, it didn't happen a lot on KZbin, but it was significant on TV shows and Movies. Glad to know that this isn't related to how well versed I'm with a language.

[@ferouihamza]

same, it was very confusing because i have no problem understanding conversations that last for hours in the podcast format, yet i can't watch films without subtitles

[@fcp1955]

@@ferouihamza This. Cuando escucho a Joe Rogan no tengo problema. Veo una peli y me re cuesta.

[@kaicenat2015murder]

omg same

[@azaria_phd]

@@fcp1955 idk if being able to understand Joe Rogan is a positive though.

[@fcp1955]

@@azaria_phd lol

[@CaptainProjects]

As someone with a hearing disability I’m very happy with the fact that nowadays almost everything has subtitles.

[@ronald3836]

And for stuff without subtitles you can now usually let your computer subtitle it automatically.

[@zakolompe5659]

I hate subtitles

[@yellowpaste87]

@@zakolompe5659 good for you..?

[@zakolompe5659]

@@yellowpaste87 exactly

[@juliarunn5009]

Same here, it’s funny when hearing people complain about not being able to hear the dialogue cause I’m just like “welcome to my world”.

[@randomshadow4]

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]

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

[@joshuajewell]

Yet the audience is CHOOSING to watch the film.

[@isaiahsguilty]

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]

@@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]

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

[@mwnemo]

Because when watching a movie it goes from whispers to blowing my ear drums out.

[@VinyZikss]

As a non-native English speaker you have no idea how much this video made me feel good, I've always struggled to understand people in movies even though I had no trouble understanding people irl when visiting English-speaking countries

[@nataliarichter5494]

Same!!! My mind is blown won’t lie

[@r4yy28]

try watching some older movies. I bet you'd understand a lot more (besides the outdated phrases), the dialogue is way clearer

[@darkacadpresenceinblood]

this right here, i always felt so self conscious about this

[@redbloodedbutterfly]

I'm a native English speaker. I have to turn subtitles on for a lot of contemporary films/TV, because the actors will mumble/slur their words. In dialogue heavy movies, I also turn on subtitles so I don't miss anything.

[@kotzpenner]

I actually prefer dubs because the sound is so much cleaner

[@karlweiser]

I always thought no matter how good my English has become, there’re still gonna be some occasional slips where I couldn’t catch what were they saying in the movies as opposed to daily conversations which are so easy to understand! Such a massive relief for non native English speaker here

[@MicukoFelton]

Me too! Turns out that even native english can't understand mumbled words sometimes.

[@simonstucki]

same here, I think my English as a non native speaker is quite ok, so every time I had to turn on subtitles in a movie I felt a little disappointed...

[@DielsonSales]

Right? There was a time I was like: "I'm gonna just watch GoT without subtitles, can't be that hard" and then the very first line of John Snow was something I rewinded again and again and couldn't understand. I turned the subtitles on to realize he was saying "he's a giant" but in a very mumbled way... then I just gave up and kept watching the series with subtitles.

[@OneLastScholar]

As a L2 speaker, in a world full of slangs and technical/unique terms (be it a fantasy sword or a term like "ASAP") I just can't live without subtitles.

[@Facu_Roldan]

Same here!

[@kindofanmol]

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]

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.

[@canni8l]

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

[@PlaceholderAlex]

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]

so true!!

[@SheDrawsSometimes]

Nah it’s people who get paid to do transcripts

[@vgamedude9811]

I needed subtitles for this video.

[@GabriTell]

As a non-native speaker, I always thought it was because I was not familiar enough with English, but seeing that this is something that happens to everyone in some way comforts me... 😅

[@antidelusionalpeeps]

Same I was like "why am I not improving" lol

[@Ltwpe]

Same

[@s_v6294]

haha yes! Oh my God! I thought that only people with a different first language have this big problem...

[@Juleru]

It's so weird when you can't understand a sentence, you turn on subtitles, play it again and all of a sudden it makes sense.

[@Davidparty3]

Yeah, I also thought that, I'm glad is not because of that.

[@TheDonaldduck911]

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

[@akaria930]

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

[@CyberVirtual]

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]

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]

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

[@thoughtsofapeer]

@@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

[@perennials118]

Also I noticed as of 5-10 years ago my family and I started complaining of the sound effects in movies and TV shows being much louder than the dialogue - even to this day I'm constantly having to turn the sound down for action scenes and back up again during moments of dialogue. It's annoying and reduces immersion because I'm constantly having to look for the remote and adjust the volume. I always just thought it was our stereo sound system but this video makes me think otherwise. The "Nolan effect" in real time in my living room

[@generalgrievous-]

Yes, thank you! It's aggravatingly unnecessary.

[@weldonyoung1013]

For televisions it is best to look for a model with editable equalizer. I got a high-end Sony and it is the only way I can modified the sound enough to make dialogue understandable when playing movies. Anything below 1K Hz gets suppressed with a downward slop as the Hz drop. The Theatrical sound on physical media is just ridiculous and most TV presets just make it worse!

[@Qubeman]

I tried to watch interstellar without subtitles but cooper talks like a dog with asthma

[@freudevolved]

I started believing that my attention span was so bad now that I couldn't watch without subtitles lol thanks

[@_-drowsy-_]

Same I was worried it was an attention span thing even though i have an excellent attention span

[@PiyeFUNKOT]

Inability to watch without subtitles doesn't have anything to do with attention span, wth are you on about? Do you even know what "span" means?

[@freudevolved]

@@PiyeFUNKOT That's exactly my point lil bro. I thought it was attention span problems but according to this video, it has nothing to do with it.....Be safe

[@ADekuKid]

I would very happily take quieter explosions for better sounding dialogue.

[@pcxdrone]

You might, but the guy with that spent $50k on his surround sound system (the one who is spending the real bucks) wants it the other way.

[@BluestTable]

@@pcxdronedoubt the movie makers take them into account much at all

[@maddo-hq9jr]

That's what I like in video games these days. Most devs give you the option to control sfx, dialogue and master volume.

[@weldonyoung1013]

​@@pcxdrone well I didn't spent $50K, but got a high-end television for around $2K. The sound and picture are awesome, but physical media disc's Theatrical sound are still ruinous. Good thing Sony included an adjustable equalizer for the sounds, as the presets don't work.

[@dorkultra]

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]

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]

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]

Agreed bad mixing is super prevalent

[@gabriellaruhlman6688]

Yup

[@ElmiraHopeMusic]

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

[@DeanWerx]

I'm glad you posted this. I thought I had Social Media wetbrain. I need to read subtitles and/or rewind for almost 100% of what I watch on TV now. I am so glad you cannot hear what you are watching (oops, did I say that out loud?).

[@jhunt5578]

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]

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]

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

[@sprocket0077]

Ohhhh but the ~dYnAmIc RaNgE~!!

[@matthewwatt2295]

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.

[@Liselaft]

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

[@Akky7032]

I‘m still sad KZbin discontinued community captions. A lot of the videos I watch only ever have auto generated subs nowadays. I really hate reading auto generated subs, because they only ever appear one word at a time which makes it really hard to grasp the structure of the sentence or focus on anything beside the subs. And most of the time, for the things I struggle to understand, it's not accurate either.

[@starrykev]

this!

[@WigantX]

"What did she say?" Autosubt: Mat few Mac coghing I am (Matthew McConaughey).

[@SartorialDragon]

that's true. i don't trust their accuracy and they are not useful, so i turn them off because they confuse me more when random words pop up.

[@awelotta]

@@SartorialDragon Huh. I think I've gotten used to seeing wrong words pretty often and don't get irked by it that much.

[@Corn0nTheCobb]

One word at a time? It never works that way for me but it would be frustrating if it did!

[@stanislav4053]

I'm non native speaker, and I thought it's only my problem because my listening skills aren't enough... Your video changed my world, thank you! It's really fascinating to know, that even native speakers face the same problems and have to read subtitles from time to time. By the way, your video I watched without subs, thank you for such an exciting video about the topic, and for such a clear and understandable speech😉

[@DerEchteBold]

I'm non-native as well but I had already realized that the problem isn't really on my side when I tried watching the latest Star-Trek show and couldn't understand half of what they were mumbling, although I never had such problems with the older shows from early 2000s and back.

[@8Hshan]

@@DerEchteBold It's not entirely consistent though. I have watched some seasons of the Vikings in English, and even though I did have subtitles on for added certainty, 99% of the time I didn't really need them. Meanwhile some other shows that I happened to watch in English... yeah, mumbly-mumbly, no way to keep track of the dialogues without subtitles. When I first encountered that issue I was surprised, as I didn't need subtitles for basically all well recorded and clearly spoken stuff on KZbin for example.

[@editaudioaesthetic]

It’s not time to time. It’s basically all the time now, it’s so bad.

[@jcesula]

Same here. Whenever I watch movies I always put subtitles on since I am not a very good listener and I can understand much better the dialogue.

[@ella_64]

Same here🙋🏼‍♀️😅

[@atiqdaultana355]

I used to think I needed subtitles because English is my second language. But now I realize, with the way everyone communicates, we all need subtitles!

[@Xxh0mEr0xX]

As a non-native speaker, I never understood that no matter my level, films and shows were impossible without subtitles. This video has been a relief

[@Alexssandre]

I feel you my brother 😊

[@luciannebeans6679]

It’s awful. I can’t understand anything they say. Signed, a native speaker.

[@sgta]

I could understand dialogue better 20 years ago and these days I thought something is wrong with my hearing... Guess not. Non-native speaker on 5.1 system with decent speakers.

[@serenitynow85]

I have no problem with most tv shows or YT videos. But movies? Yeah, no thanks, I need my subtitles

[@araqweyr]

I know right! I've improved considerably over the years but every so often I watch a movie or a show that has illegible dialogs. And it's actually hard to understand whether it's me or it's just poor quality. But I swear streamers and youtubers have better pronunciation these days. I rarely have any problems on those platforms.

[@QBG]

This makes sense for why movies' dialogue is harder to hear at home, but tons of TV shows also have the same problem, and those definitely weren't mixed for gigantic high-end theater sound systems.

[@beaver6d9]

Dolby Atmos isn't limited to theaters, and other higher end formats are standard for many TV shows these days, especially cinematic big budget shows. When you pirate a show, it typically will say in the file name if there is Dolby atmos or 5.1 etc. It's almost unusual for standard 2.1 being available on a big budget show.

[@mary-janereallynotsarah684]

Actors mumble more now, mics are smaller and we watch Netflix on our phones.

[@davekelder6959]

It depends some higher end shows have the same mic issues and yes they are not mixed for the highest standart but still higher then most standart tvs without speakers

[@bluethan806]

I question how much of it is done simply to follow the trend of high quality sound even if the likelihood of it being watched in such a way is low

[@andybrice2711]

That's one of the main problems though: I think a lot of TV shows are being mixed like they're for cinema.

[@youtubeuser1946]

I swear this is so important. I'm so glad Vox is covering such trivial yet important issues. There are quite a lot of times I have to go back and replay the video because I honestly can't understand what is being said. Subtitles are even more important when you are in a crowd. Kudos to Vox.

[@Falcons-283]

So important .. I even watched this video with subtitles on .

[@laurenconrad1799]

I would love this if it was published the same week as 2 history videos and 2 news videos. But this alongside a few ads, a few shorts, and a demand for free labor has a completely different vibe.

[@Falcons-283]

@@itisprofilefor me it's the actors mumbling like a baby 🍼 ..

[@youtubeuser1946]

@@itisprofile English isn't my native language as well, but it's difficult to understand the way some characters speak,this is also applies to my native language. I really struggle understanding all words in any movie/web series,the subtitles make me comfortable.

[@youtubeuser1946]

@@Falcons-283 fr 😭

[@onnaquest]

None of my homies want to compromise dialogue for booming, explosive sounds.

[@nathanielschwartz425]

I actually JUST went to see the film Oppenheimer today and even in the theaters I STILL had trouble hearing some lines because of how much actors mumble their lines today. That’s how bad this issue has truly gotten. And, personally, I think it’s less about trying to get “naturalistic” preformances and more about trying to be much more dramatic! And focusing souly on being as dramatic as possible rather than actually caring about the audience understanding your film.

[@xOsade]

The same thing happened to to me, I thought it was because I hadn’t been to the movies in a while. Happy to know I wasn’t the only one who had trouble haha

[@Palarci]

Well I think Nolan's movies especially have this problem. Couldn't understand at least a third of Tenet in the cinema without subtitles. I think South Park made a good reference to that in their episode "Insheeption".

[@nathanielschwartz425]

Yeah, I've heard that he likes it that way. Which, to me, doesn't make any sense at all. I mean, why would the filmmaker WANT the actors to speak in a way that makes their dialogue inaudible? I mean, isn't the whole point of dialogue to have the characters engage with each other and the audience? I mean if you're going to make the dialogue inaudible then why not just make it a silent film? Why would a filmmaker WANT their dialogue to not be heard by the audience? I just don't get it at all.@@Palarci

[@immaRUSHER]

omg yes!! the mumbling is so frustrating. i had no idea what what was said in the first few minutes of the movie because of the mumbling.

[@Physics072]

I agree the wide dynamic range is great for depth of sound stage but also means the dialog (Unless boosted) will suffer.

[@PastaAivo]

Sad part is, this applies to other similar things as well. Think about a streaming service series looking so dark you can't see anything during night time scenes. It's probably not because the film makers didn't want you to see anything, but rather because it was produced on professional-quality editor screens with very high brightness turned on so that they could see all the detail perfectly. Now that you're staring at your phone screen in a pitch black room, all that detail just mixes into the darkness (the concept of dynamic range applies here too).

[@TonyTear]

not to mention the endless variety in compression algorithms.

[@TheWaffleRadio]

Music sound engineers sometimes refer to the "car test" where you take your mix that you've been listening to and working on for hours in good headphones or over high quality speakers, and go sit in your car listening to it.

[@JaneAustenAteMyCat]

Yes I find that frustrating

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

I'm sensitive to sound & vision (can cause seizures) so I keep my volume down & screen dark. I have people telling me they saw things in films that I never saw or heard. If I HAD seen/heard them I quite literally would have died.

[@mrrooster4876]

Phones also lower the brightness of the screen depending on if the front facing camera is facing a light source or not. If you want your screen brighter you have to face the camera to a light source and you can watch your screen brighten.

[@Quilt82]

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]

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]

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]

@@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]

THANK YOU!!!!

[@lordkell1986]

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.

[@nathancate582]

This is exactly the video I needed after getting so frustrated with movies that have the "unnecessary whisper' scene in every movie.