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You can't hear dialogue because it doesn't matter

I've made several speakers in my life including 2 center channel units.  People always ask me if it improves dialogue.  My answer has been, no, not really, except in the ability to turn the center up relative to the L and R.  What improves dialogue is an excellent frequency response and lack of colorations especially in the mid-bass.   Centers are ideally for wide-angle listening. 

Here is more on that subject. 

This article from NPR says that some directors literally don't' even care if you can understand the dialogue.  You just need to get the mood.    We've gone from directors who don't care about the plot, to those who don't even care if you can hear the lines. 

erik_squires

Showing 1 response by hertzhead

hertzhead
41 posts
 

I believe there are several problems with dialog intelligibility in film. The desire to play up the sound effects e.g. explosions, cars, trains, helicopters, gunshots and ambient sound for a "realistic" soundscape and to entice young viewers. 

Reliance on relatively loud music to to tell the viewer how they're supposed to feel 

When mixing the sound of a film, the producers and director, of course, know the dialog because they've lived with the film for a year or more. Over the weeks it takes to mix the sound the sound mixers end up memorizing the dialog so everyone involved can "hear" the dialog. 

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