I remember the absolute shitstorm over that very, very dark Game of Thrones episode, The Long Night. I also remember being a bit nonplussed at the time because I’d watched it at night in a very dark room. So I had no trouble following the action.
But that was me. Millions of punters got fucked by that one. This essay over at AVClub explains why directors do this.
Why do filmmakers do this if it makes their work harder to see? The short answer is because they can. In the days of 35mm film, directors had to ensure they captured everything on set as they were shooting. Their ability to adjust the image was extremely limited. Some notable cinematographers experimented with light and shadow—like Gordon Willis, whose shadowy cinematography for films like The Godfather earned him the nickname “The Prince of Darkness”—but generally everything was much brighter in days gone by. That all changed when digital cameras came onto the scene.
Scott sums it up this way: “What do artists do when presented with the new toolkit? They’re going to use it. But that’s also not inevitable, right? It’s a trend enabled by tools, but not made inevitable by them.”
Apparently, it started with Arrival, which I don’t recall as being particularly dark. But again, I probably watched it in the dark.
Anyway, if you find this trend frustrating, the essay has good tips on how to dodge it.
Me, I have more trouble with the shitty, muddy sound mix in most modern cinema. It’s almost impossible to make out dialogue even over good speakers. Mostly I just give up and listen through headphones.
I've come across a hack of sorts for improving the audibility of dialog on Netflix specifically: the default sound configuration for Netflix is 5.1, which if you don't have an actual surround setup gets somehow translated to whatever speaker setup you have a a sub-optimal way. So now I always change the sound track setting to English: Stereo which makes a measurable improvement, I don't have to keep riding the volume setting between dialog and action. Unfortunately there doesn't seem a way to save this as the default.
Been watching 1883.Am I the only one that has no idea what Sam Elliot's sergeant is saying? I had to turn captions on for him, mumbling along. I guess its the period piece thing but damn its hard to follow.
Thanks for this - been getting on my goat for quite a while now. Subtitles are almost always on in our house. The really crappy english dubbing streaming services do is horrendous too. Anything from east asia is automatic subtitles so you get the proper sound mix - the english dubbing sounds like it is done in a soundproof studio and they cut out all other sounds or bring in a guy with two halves of a coconut and a piece of cardboard to wobble to do background noises. I was an sbs movie kid from way back so subtitles are not a problem and the kids have come around to my stance on this.
The darkness thing is getting worse too. Doesn't help we live in an open plan house with giant windows along the north wall and clerestory windows at the top we cant cover. Amazing for that inside/outside feel but hopeless for watching movies. It isn't direct light but still bright as. We have old equipment too. A tv that is connected to the internet, but like, when the internet was getting used to the iphone coming out. lol. I still have my old (as in like 45yrs old) jvc amplifier set up that is amazing on sound but i can now only rig up for dvd's/cd's etc. I need to get seriously technically creative so it can work with the tv because that thing is a warhorse and one of my most treasured items in the house (inherited from dad). When i play some King Gizzard or some All Them Witches i can maybe get the dial to 5.5-6 (out of 10) before the government calls in the army to investigate the weapon of mass destruction being used in the area.
I've found that when i'm banned from the room because some murder mystery tv series is on its tenth repeat and i stream some movies from my phone out at the firepit that you can adjust the brightness settings in your phone to max for amazon prime but netflix stops you and has a brightness setting set for particular movies. Some are brighter than others but it wont let your phone adjust to higher.
I might have to do a bit more research before we relegate our tv to the tip. But it still works (for its main purpose of watching stuff) and i'd feel guilty chucking it out. My kids will be telling their grandkids sitting around the roasting human flesh feast after a successful raid complaining that the meat is a bit stringy, "you think you have it bad? Back in my day we had to watch movies where you couldn't see what was happening and the subtitles had to be on even when it was in english! Your great grandfather was continually telling us to turn the sound up because he was in the kitchen cooking and couldn't hear the dialogue over the noise of a juicy steak cooking"
i'll probably have a little ceremony when it finally carks it beyond repair . . . . . before posting it on ebay for someone to snatch up to use for parts or something as a relic from a bygone era : ) but in the meantime, it absolutely cranks
Interesting piece. I agree with you on the sound issue, sprung for one of the recommended swish sound bars which helped but still annoyed its necessary, particularly for so long I thought it was just my hearing getting worse. I still remember Arrival fondly but I think I can see what is meant by it being dark.
The problem with dialog and soundtracks isn't the technology or the mix, mostly: it's the enunciation, or lack thereof. There's a school of acting these days that is all about the authenticity, and that appears to involve mumbling while facing away from any microphones...
There are similar articles about that, too. Not sure that there's anything to do about it. It's "Art". Headphones don't help much, because, again, the dialog isn't in the recording in the first place.
I've just had a quick flick through King's On Writing, because I was sure it was in there. But anyway, the tool needs to advance/enhance the story. If the viewer or reader is impeded by something, like the sound mix or the image contrast, that the director/author has done, then it doesn't help the story and it should be fixed. Unless it's Art. Then you can complicate your movie/tv show/book as much as you can.
Do you find you spend your time watching the subtitles and not the actual show/movie? I feel like I'm missing out by having to read and not just listen and look.
It's funny, when it's a foreign language film I don't even notice that I'm reading subtitles. I definitely don't seem to consciously read them. More like I absorb them.
But when its an English language feature I do find that I am sometimes find myself reading he words and missing some of the action which is annoying. I suspect it might be because I am consuming the dialogue twice, once visually and once aurally and then needing to reconcile them.
when it comes to foreign language movies I almost always watch with subtitles. so much nuance and context gets lost through lousy translations, and often the voices used are shit and detract from the quality of the character. specifically westernized voices used on Asian flicks.
you get used to catching the words on the subtitles whilst watching the action
I've come across a hack of sorts for improving the audibility of dialog on Netflix specifically: the default sound configuration for Netflix is 5.1, which if you don't have an actual surround setup gets somehow translated to whatever speaker setup you have a a sub-optimal way. So now I always change the sound track setting to English: Stereo which makes a measurable improvement, I don't have to keep riding the volume setting between dialog and action. Unfortunately there doesn't seem a way to save this as the default.
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/11650
Brilliant! Thanks, Stuart.
Been watching 1883.Am I the only one that has no idea what Sam Elliot's sergeant is saying? I had to turn captions on for him, mumbling along. I guess its the period piece thing but damn its hard to follow.
Thanks for this - been getting on my goat for quite a while now. Subtitles are almost always on in our house. The really crappy english dubbing streaming services do is horrendous too. Anything from east asia is automatic subtitles so you get the proper sound mix - the english dubbing sounds like it is done in a soundproof studio and they cut out all other sounds or bring in a guy with two halves of a coconut and a piece of cardboard to wobble to do background noises. I was an sbs movie kid from way back so subtitles are not a problem and the kids have come around to my stance on this.
The darkness thing is getting worse too. Doesn't help we live in an open plan house with giant windows along the north wall and clerestory windows at the top we cant cover. Amazing for that inside/outside feel but hopeless for watching movies. It isn't direct light but still bright as. We have old equipment too. A tv that is connected to the internet, but like, when the internet was getting used to the iphone coming out. lol. I still have my old (as in like 45yrs old) jvc amplifier set up that is amazing on sound but i can now only rig up for dvd's/cd's etc. I need to get seriously technically creative so it can work with the tv because that thing is a warhorse and one of my most treasured items in the house (inherited from dad). When i play some King Gizzard or some All Them Witches i can maybe get the dial to 5.5-6 (out of 10) before the government calls in the army to investigate the weapon of mass destruction being used in the area.
I've found that when i'm banned from the room because some murder mystery tv series is on its tenth repeat and i stream some movies from my phone out at the firepit that you can adjust the brightness settings in your phone to max for amazon prime but netflix stops you and has a brightness setting set for particular movies. Some are brighter than others but it wont let your phone adjust to higher.
I might have to do a bit more research before we relegate our tv to the tip. But it still works (for its main purpose of watching stuff) and i'd feel guilty chucking it out. My kids will be telling their grandkids sitting around the roasting human flesh feast after a successful raid complaining that the meat is a bit stringy, "you think you have it bad? Back in my day we had to watch movies where you couldn't see what was happening and the subtitles had to be on even when it was in english! Your great grandfather was continually telling us to turn the sound up because he was in the kitchen cooking and couldn't hear the dialogue over the noise of a juicy steak cooking"
I am envious of your ancient amp.
i'll probably have a little ceremony when it finally carks it beyond repair . . . . . before posting it on ebay for someone to snatch up to use for parts or something as a relic from a bygone era : ) but in the meantime, it absolutely cranks
Interesting piece. I agree with you on the sound issue, sprung for one of the recommended swish sound bars which helped but still annoyed its necessary, particularly for so long I thought it was just my hearing getting worse. I still remember Arrival fondly but I think I can see what is meant by it being dark.
Yes! the sound mix is often awful. Drives me batty.
The problem with dialog and soundtracks isn't the technology or the mix, mostly: it's the enunciation, or lack thereof. There's a school of acting these days that is all about the authenticity, and that appears to involve mumbling while facing away from any microphones...
There are similar articles about that, too. Not sure that there's anything to do about it. It's "Art". Headphones don't help much, because, again, the dialog isn't in the recording in the first place.
Try this one: https://www.slashfilm.com/673162/heres-why-movie-dialogue-has-gotten-more-difficult-to-understand-and-three-ways-to-fix-it/
I've just had a quick flick through King's On Writing, because I was sure it was in there. But anyway, the tool needs to advance/enhance the story. If the viewer or reader is impeded by something, like the sound mix or the image contrast, that the director/author has done, then it doesn't help the story and it should be fixed. Unless it's Art. Then you can complicate your movie/tv show/book as much as you can.
I inevitably watch everything with captions now. Tone down the fucking sound track and let us actually hear the dialogue.
Do you find you spend your time watching the subtitles and not the actual show/movie? I feel like I'm missing out by having to read and not just listen and look.
It's funny, when it's a foreign language film I don't even notice that I'm reading subtitles. I definitely don't seem to consciously read them. More like I absorb them.
But when its an English language feature I do find that I am sometimes find myself reading he words and missing some of the action which is annoying. I suspect it might be because I am consuming the dialogue twice, once visually and once aurally and then needing to reconcile them.
when it comes to foreign language movies I almost always watch with subtitles. so much nuance and context gets lost through lousy translations, and often the voices used are shit and detract from the quality of the character. specifically westernized voices used on Asian flicks.
you get used to catching the words on the subtitles whilst watching the action
I'm a headphones man, and I still find myself hitting the Reverse-10 button from time to time.