Can't hear what people say

[Twizbe]

I'm sure this has been done before but wondered if anyone had any great solutions.

I've recently re watched all of Lost on Amazon Prime. Just as enjoyable this time round, impressed that it's held up so well given the first series was 2004. I was also able to hear every thing that was said.

Started the 4th season of handmaids tale last night. Couldn't hear a word of it. I turned up the volume and put it on clear voice mode. Still have no idea what they were saying! The music and other sounds were so loud though! It was also so dark I couldn't really see what was happening either. Think I'll have to rewatch the first episode tonight to catch what I missed.

Is this a new trend in TV?

If so, any tips on how to watch it?

I've watched everything with subtitles since I moved to England because English is my second language so it helped me learning.
I still can't understand certain accents!
What's funny is that my English DH & our kids can't watch tv without subtitles either!
(and our kids ace every spelling test and I'm convinced it's because they can see the words as they are spoken and they soak it all up)

I crochet & knit too while watching TV - so far the only 2 programmes during which I had to abandoned crafts were Money Heist & Line Of Duty!

This drives me round the bend.

Everything filmed in the dark, even if the scene is taking place during daylight hours!! Why?

Then unclear and virtually inaudible soundtracks with background music so loud it drowns out speech. Poor enunciation by actors so that their speech is indecipherable even when there is no background music. Again, why?

The Handmaid's Tale was particularly bad for all of this. Unclear speech, and if they were inside a house then you could frequently hardly even see the characters.

I have to put the subtitles on for most films or drama series now, just to go have a faint chance of being able to follow the plot. Not all subtitles are perfect though either. Some seem better than others, and they come and go far too fast sometimes.

As others have said, I generally have no problems with actors such as Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. I've no problems with newsreaders, weather forecasters and most documentary presenters. They are all making the effort to speak clearly. So it can be done.

I've honestly come very close to turning off some things that I have really hoped to watch before, as they are just so unclear - dark picture and mumbling/gabbling actors.

This happens to us all of the time! Also find that music and adverts are mega loud but the dialogue in shows is awful. Never had to mess about with sound settings so much in my life!

Urgh this really winds me up. I thought it was be being all middle-aged and having enjoyed too much loud music in my life so far!

I usually go with subtitles.

@IjustbelieveinMe

I have to watch everything with subtitles these days.

Same here. Actors gabble, mumble and direct their words at the floor, and it drives me mad. I'm sure it's down to some modern 'act naturally' technique that's fashionable now, but it sucks.

Normally the worst offenders are teen and early 20s actors, but I recently watched something with Robbie Coltrane in, and he did the same as did quite a few of the other older actors. (I know he has an accent but if he'd spoken more slowly and clearly that wouldn't have been an issue.)

Does my head in. When you watch old TV shows (by which I mean a few decades ago) you can really hear the contrast. There doesn't seem to be any such concept as 'delivery' any more. I think reality TV is partly to blame, tbh.

@ComingToGetUBarbara

This happens to us all of the time! Also find that music and adverts are mega loud but the dialogue in shows is awful. Never had to mess about with sound settings so much in my life!

I agree.

Poor soundtrack and dialogue on shows, and then the adverts come on loud enough to drive you out of the house!

I imagine they balance the sound while using a state of the art surround sound system, rather than checking how it sounds on the average person's TV. So the ambient sounds and music end up too loud for the dialogue.

@ComingToGetUBarbara

This happens to us all of the time! Also find that music and adverts are mega loud but the dialogue in shows is awful. Never had to mess about with sound settings so much in my life!

Yes this! The adverts! Sweet baby Jesus, always handy to have the remote at close range.

Game of Thrones was bad for lighting ended up watching only in certain weather conditions 😂 ie not sunny

The Wire converted me to subtitles but as you say it does limit what else you can do whilst watching.

The BBC are awful for this, along with edgy cinematography. I can't bear it. There should be a button to switch off the bloody music

I would recommend investing in a good quality soundbar.

I have good hearing, but the speakers on my television are absolutely awful, so I really was struggling to hear things properly - especially if the dialogue had background music underneath it.

This Bose soundbar (the model is Solo 5) has changed my life!

It had a dialogue setting, which reduces the bass, which is very useful.

It also has Bluetooth connectivity, so it plays music from my phone, with sound quality that is better than a hi-fi system.

I was sceptical before I got it, but have been amazed and delighted by how well it works.

Hope this is useful 👍🏻

'HAS' a dialogue setting, not 'HAD'!

Dratted predictive text!

That's very useful @WheresThatCatGoneNow thank you.

We're buying a new tv in the coming months and being able to hear the dialogue is my number 1 criteria! So I'll bear this in mind.

We watched 'Ice Road' with Liam Neeson recently. It was so dark we ended up pausing it about 10 minutes in and fiddling with the picture settings. Game of Thrones was terrible for lighting, too.

I did Film at uni and I can't imagine passing the video production modules if we'd submitted things as dark as a lot of the TV and films you see nowadays.

We now watch most Netflix and NowTV with subtitles, but I often find there are noises described on the subtitles or even whole sentences spoken that I don't even hear as noises on my TV. Might have to invest in a soundbar

@thenightsky

Modern actors never seem to be able to enunciate. Is it lack of classical training? I don't know.

Think it's this - acting now needs to be less notably acting. People expect dramas and films to have characters that behave realistic and less like they used to be where it was delivered like it might in theatre.

I sway between finding older films less enjoyable (because everyone is speaking in the same accent) to appreciating the fact that this means everyone is clearly understood.

No idea why so many things are filmed in the dark now though!! Seem to recall there were a lot of complaints about GoT snd the producers (or someone involved) said it was everyone else's fault because thier TVs were wrong.

Modern actors never seem to be able to enunciate. Is it lack of classical training? I don't know.

thenightsky - exactly - never a problem with Maggie Smith a nd Judi Dench!

Or Patrick Stewart. I bet his drama teacher never had to tell him to speak up. I think it is the classical, theatre training.

I've had this conversation about actors mumbling with various friends; it's obviously something a lot of people notice.