We Can't Hear The Bleedin' Words

[Guy Rowland]

Members can see an older thread on this issue of dialogue intelligibility in movies and TV shows - https://thesoundboard.net/viewtopic.php?p=70037 , thought this should be open to the world.

My nomination for the 2024 award for worst audio goes to Disclaimer, a new psychological thriller on Apple TV. It's mixed in Dolby Atmos and it comes from the highest pedigree, the show written and directed by the great Alfonso Cuaron no less.

I swear I've never heard a worse or more wrong-headed mix in my entire life. Knowing I struggle with this issue in general, I have a 5.1 setup where the centre channel is boosted somewhat, which works pretty well the overwhelming majority of the time. You get the odd line off-centre which is harder to hear, but it's not a major problem.

Even my sharp-eared wife complained this time, and she's never normally bothered. I think this show has been mixed for full Dolby Atmos theaters, not homes. 50% of the dialogue - maybe more - is wildly panned, featuring extreme changes in perspective from one shot to the next, far more extreme than any production I've ever heard. A basic cross shooting between two people mid-sentence will result in one person's dialogue flying off to one side (and sound very roomy and quiet). Also there's an unusual amount of on-the-nose voice-over in this show. Some of this seems to be panned to the REARS, and mixed low. Never heard anything like it, it feels like someone pressed the I'm Feeling Lucky button on the spatialisaion. It's vomit-inducing and incredibly distracting - which is the literal opposite of immersion, presumably the intent.

And most of all - we can't hear the bleedin' words. 5 minutes in I abandoned any hope of understanding anything, and the subtitles went on.

This madness has got to stop. If filmmakers really insist on experimental mixes designed for theme parks, for the love of God have it as an optional extra audio track that has to be selected by viewers.

[Lawrence]

It’s all subtitles for me this days-doubly so if someone is speaking with a foreign accent.