Movie Diaglogue Clarity

[eagleshadow]

I do not have the best of hearing. Therefore I am reluctant to blame my legacy Phase Tech PC-80 speakers for a perception that my HT movie audio with respect to spoken dialogue is sometimes difficult to understand. Curiously when listening to news or TV shows I have no issue with clarity of the speech of the commentator.
Watching "Deadpool" recently I had some difficulty understanding some of the more muted dialogue when filtered though Ryan Reynolds spidey mask. Other characters occasionally demonstrated the same problem. Admittedly this is not Ryan's problem as I have experienced it in other movies as well. Last night I watched "Bridge of Spies" and Tom Hanks dialogue was clear as a bell. Tom Hanks voice is forceful and Tom Hanks is well spoken but I am curious if any one has any comments on this issue.

Listening Now;

Bill

 

[shadyJ]

When there is hearing damage, it is easier for some sounds to mask other sound. Like if there is a loud bass note, it will swamp out notes above that frequency much more easily. My guess is when its a busy sound mix, you will have a more difficult time understanding dialogue, but when there is only dialogue and mot many other sounds, it will be easier to understand. When you lose your hearing, your ears do not just lose their sensitivity, they lose pitch discrimination as well.

 

[Bucknekked]

I do not have the best of hearing. Therefore I am reluctant to blame my legacy Phase Tech PC-80 speakers for a perception that my HT movie audio with respect to spoken dialogue is sometimes difficult to understand. Curiously when listening to news or TV shows I have no issue with clarity of the speech of the commentator.
Watching "Deadpool" recently I had some difficulty understanding some of the more muted dialogue when filtered though Ryan Reynolds spidey mask. Other characters occasionally demonstrated the same problem. Admittedly this is not Ryan's problem as I have experienced it in other movies as well. Last night I watched "Bridge of Spies" and Tom Hanks dialogue was clear as a bell. Tom Hanks voice is forceful and Tom Hanks is well spoken but I am curious if any one has any comments on this issue.

Listening Now;

Bill

I live with a hearing impaired person so I'm sensitive to issues around dialogue clarity. I have noticed over the years the same phenomenon: movie dialogue that's tough to understand for ME, the non-hearing impaired guy. TV news and programs like that seem not to suffer as you noted.

For me it came down to how the AVR I was using processed the audio. For standard TV, the center channel was getting a clear and hefty dose of sound. On many movies however the center channel wasn't getting the mix correct and dialogue was really tough when it shouldn't have been. I changed the AVR mode and I could fix almost any movie dialogue problems.

I don't know how your AVR is set, or even how mine was set when I was having the troubles. Fixing it however came down to noticing I was having the problem and then changing the AVR mode. Some bright and literate HT person will chime in here with the right settings and you'll get some good advice. I know many times my AVR would switch modes depending on the source and that would trigger the issue.

I'm sure a bright and intelligent HT person should chime in right about now and bail me out.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Well buck, I won't qualify myself as intelligent, but I do know that there have been a lot of films in recent years with poorly recorded/mixed dialogue. Then to make it more interesting, guys like Chris Nolan intentionally using dialogue that's hard to hear to accentuate how loud an environment is. Here's a read that covers interstellar a little bit. Google search movie dialogue issues or whatever variation you can come up with will bring up similar stories. Might not be any consolation for eagleshadow but some insight can help.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/christopher-nolan-breaks-silence-interstellar-749465


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TLS Guy]

Well buck, I won't qualify myself as intelligent, but I do know that there have been a lot of films in recent years with poorly recorded/mixed dialogue. Then to make it more interesting, guys like Chris Nolan intentionally using dialogue that's hard to hear to accentuate how loud an environment is. Here's a read that covers interstellar a little bit. Google search movie dialogue issues or whatever variation you can come up with will bring up similar stories. Might not be any consolation for eagleshadow but some insight can help.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/christopher-nolan-breaks-silence-interstellar-749465


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The problem with that picture is that the story is fanciful and far fetched. The best part of it is the sound track. Chris Nolan is a bit of a mumbler, but you can hear him.

That leads me to the major point, that that film can really only be played on a very professional sound system. Many cinemas struggle with it, and some have been damaged by it.

If you have a rig that will play it at a level where the dialog is understood, then parts of the movie are very loud indeed.

The Harrison and Harrison organ at the Church of Knights Temple at Lincoln in Fields (the law courts) was selected. This organ is not often heard by the public, because Temple Church is a Royal Peculiar, is of fearsome power. When my niece got married there, the bride came down the isle to an organ transcription of the finale of Stravinsky's Firebird. Roger Sayer brought the instrument to a quite deafening climax. I'm quite sure this is the film maker's desired playback level for some of the organ passages in the movie. I should also state that this organ has a detached and large 32 ft division, so its bass output can be enormous.

Harrison and Harrison Organ at Temple Church.

32ft division of the organ.

In the movie in my theater some of the organ passages play back very loud. Some of the sound effects are also very loud. For instance the rocket launch really makes you feel you are going into space and the sound is totally surrounding and shaking the whole floor. That is one of the most incredible sound effect scenes I know.

At the end of the day, the film makers have produced a sound track that I feel very few systems can play and deliver the presentation the producers intended. That is the real problem.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Wow! What an experience it must be to be in that church. Stunning.
So, I bought interstellar for Christmas without having seen it. I still haven't seen, and I am looking forward to it a great deal. I've read a lot about the soundtrack and score and if I don't destroy my system I might destroy my house! I also think you're right about playback of tracks not being on par with the intended vision(or maybe you just meant interstellar). Unfortunately many of us have systems in compromised spaces. I feel though that dialing back for the sake of people's mediocre equipment would be unjustifiable. Especially for those that can play them back appropriately. Just like how some action tracks nowadays have 30hz filters in place for lfe. That's ridiculous. And lame. My subs won't bust concrete but they do measure useful below 18hz so I feel like the lfe filters are a screw, especially for guys that can go down into the single digits.
Is this a successful derail? Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bucknekked]

The Harrison and Harrison organ at the Church of Knights Temple at Lincoln in Fields (the law courts) was selected. This organ is not often heard by the public, because Temple Church is a Royal Peculiar, is of fearsome power. I'm quite sure this is the film maker's desired playback level for some of the organ passages in the movie. I should also state that this organ has a detached and large 32 ft division, so its bass output can be enormous.

TLS Guy
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it a truism that the single loudest instrument made by the hand of man is the pipe organ? Nothing else (except electronically amplified music) comes close I believe for sound that's naturally produced by the instrument itself.

I've had occasion to listen to the Tabernacle organ in Salt Lake on a number of occasions. Awesome power when the organist puts it to use on the right music. Thanks for the pictures and the backstory. Must have been quite a treat to see the big organ and get a chance to have it be part of your daughters wedding. Memories get made that way.

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS Guy
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it a truism that the single loudest instrument made by the hand of man is the pipe organ? Nothing else (except electronically amplified music) comes close I believe for sound that's naturally produced by the instrument itself.

I've had occasion to listen to the Tabernacle organ in Salt Lake on a number of occasions. Awesome power when the organist puts it to use on the right music. Thanks for the pictures and the backstory. Must have been quite a treat to see the big organ and get a chance to have it be part of your daughters wedding. Memories get made that way.

I don't think there is a sound system around that can best a large pipe organ in a big space.

In the RAH which can hold 10,500 people, some pop groups have taken to using the "Voice of Jupiter" instead of synths. Speakers can just not fill the space like that masterpiece of "Father Willis." It was finished in 1872, and inaugurated by Anton Bruckner in 1873. It was the largest instrument in the world back then, but is now No. 20.

Here is opening night 2013 with a performance of Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony. A choral setting of poems by the American Poet Walt Whitman.

The organ is flanked by massed choirs and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on stage.

Here is a list of the world's largest organs. The RAH data is out of date, as the organ had a major restoration and some revision by the Mander Organ company 10 years ago.

There is nothing like a huge pipe organ being a part of the big occasions.