Christopher Nolan Says Fellow Directors Have Called to Complain About His ‘Inaudible’ Sound

Chopchop · Nov 12, 2020

That makes no sense. It's an artistic decision to make your dialog inaudible so that people don't know what's going on in the movie?

I gave up on volumes and moved to subtitles a long time ago. It's a necessary evil when audio mixing to create audible dialog is seemingly a lost art.

Boxy Brown · Nov 12, 2020

Wonder if he told them to fuck off in so many words.

Wracu · Nov 12, 2020

I've not like this dude for a minute now, but I think it's actually evolving to hate at this point.

Mat-triX · Nov 12, 2020

I hope if Christopher does another public panel for an upcoming movie, the organizers turn down his microphone while having the music playing in the background be slightly louder than him.

A true preview to the Nolan Cinematic Experience

Pargon · Nov 12, 2020

Someone needs to have an intervention with Nolan and get him to an audiologist.

I suspect that the people who don't have a problem with the mixes are using some kind of mid-range sound bar or similar system in their setups, which automatically applies dynamic range compression - so that the dialog is raised to an audible level, and the loud parts are reduced from "deafening" to "impactful".
Or headphones without an external amplifier, which would make the dialog more audible, but squish the dynamics.

With a higher-end system that has effortless dynamics, the full dynamic range of his mixes ranges from a whisper to literally deafeningly loud.
This is more than bombast, it's a wall of sound. Those loud parts are often not very dynamic though; they're just very loud.
And on top of that, he directs his actors to mumble or whisper their lines.

Hero_of_the_Day said:
I haven't seen Tenet yet. The only one of his movies I have had issues with was The Prestige. Which is funny since it isn't some big action thing. Something about the voices in that one just seem kinda hard to hear for some reason.

The Blu-ray disc for The Prestige in my region didn't even have a subtitle track.

PanSexual_Peacock said:
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading the anecdotes here. I've honestly never had a problem understanding dialogue that was meant to be heard in his films.

What are you listening to it on, out of interest?

Deleted member 17388 · Nov 12, 2020

El Bombastico said:
So is it true that the Nolan is the one who insisted on Tenet being released in theatres. Or was that just wild Hollywood gossip?

Nolan's idea:

In early June, executives at Warner Bros. convened a video meeting with their top filmmaker, Christopher Nolan, and his producer and wife, Emma Thomas, to strategize about the release of his $200 million espionage movie, Tenet, which at the time was due to open July 17. The studio laid out several theoretical scenarios for Nolan, listing likely profits and losses with his movie being released on different dates, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the call. Presented with an economic case for moving Tenet to Aug. 7, when presumably the novel coronavirus would be a more contained threat and box office grosses more reliable, Nolan said it wasn't about money, but instead about the desire to be the one the first big studio films back in theaters, to show faith in the form and solidarity with exhibitors, when they're allowed to open and say they're ready.

Can the Summer Box Office Be Saved? Hollywood Hinges Its Hopes on ‘Tenet’ and ‘Mulan’

The supervillain Hollywood never saw coming, the virus has already disrupted the summer movie season, forcing studios to push (and re-push) their lucrative tentpoles while leaving anxious theater owners hopeful that Christopher? Nolan's film will be their third-act hero: "Without new material...

www.hollywoodreporter.com

WB execs wouldn't throw money into the can as easily, even if Tenet was expected to have such a lukewarm reception

Deleted member 2779 · Nov 12, 2020

Nolan WISHES he could make Tangerine 🥴💢

Admiral Woofington · Nov 12, 2020

Nolan is the kid who thinks everyone he meets is an asshole not realizing what it means.

Aerial51 · Nov 12, 2020

I don't really have a problem with his soundmixing. I really like his movies but most of the dialogue is better when you don't hear every word they speak lol.

Solo · Nov 12, 2020

Nolan has lived long enough to become the villain. Jesus his 2020 has been one big tone deaf (pardon the pun) whiff.

Nida · Nov 13, 2020

Putting your movie together so it's aimed at IMAX screenings seems like a terrible way to go about doing things.

I love Nolan, but Tenant has made him appear to be a bit of a dick.

Dennis8K · Nov 13, 2020

Can't hear shit, Captain.

Deleted member 15227 · Nov 13, 2020

Wow, I'm conservative for wanting to hear what people are saying? It's quite incredible how far Nolan is up is own arse; critics need to call him out on this shit.

matrix-cat · Nov 13, 2020

Nolan's turn from darling to clown has been entirely his own doing. Just a string of unforced errors. You hate to see it.

Dragoon · Nov 13, 2020

Dunkirk and DKR were the two I had issues with his sound mixes. Not massive issues but at moments.

Haven't seen Tenet yet.

leng jai · Nov 13, 2020

The music is mixed too loud in all his films.

Deleted member 8166 · Nov 13, 2020

*inaudible noise* him.

El Bombastico · Nov 13, 2020

Grunge_Hamster said:
Nolan's idea:

Can the Summer Box Office Be Saved? Hollywood Hinges Its Hopes on ‘Tenet’ and ‘Mulan’

The supervillain Hollywood never saw coming, the virus has already disrupted the summer movie season, forcing studios to push (and re-push) their lucrative tentpoles while leaving anxious theater owners hopeful that Christopher? Nolan's film will be their third-act hero: "Without new material...

www.hollywoodreporter.com

WB execs wouldn't throw money into the can as easily, even if Tenet was expected to have such a lukewarm reception

Wow, so he really does see himself as Jebus, like the famous meme:

DevilMayGuy · Nov 13, 2020

Cmon dude people just want to understand what the fuck people are saying in your movies

Deleted member 36054 · Nov 13, 2020

Baconmonk said:
It's definitely a modern problem in films/TV, and Nolan is far from the only one. I don't think his films are nearly as bad as most of the stuff made for Netflix for example.

I don't understand folks saying the Lighthouse was mixed poorly, I just rewatched it and thought the mixing was great for what they're going for.

Dynamic range is definitely consistent in fikm. However Nolan's is by far the most egregious.

uzipukki · Nov 13, 2020

He should change his name from Christoper NoLAN to Christopher NoSound.

Cipher Peon · Nov 13, 2020

Haven't seen Tenet, but Dunkirk had the worst sound mixing of any film I've ever seen. That combined with a weird structure AND characters with extreme accents, meant I understood like 20% of the dialog.

and of course it won best sound mixing at the academy

Pyramid Head · Nov 13, 2020

You know those music videos which have 'plot' related dialogue added over the song which is real low in the mix, but that doesn't matter because you're there for the music? Nolan should do those.

Kalentan · Nov 13, 2020

What? Can he say that again? I can't understand him.

Soj · Nov 13, 2020

It was clear something was wrong with Nolan's hearing when he okayed Bale's Batman voice.

4 Get! · Nov 13, 2020

Dommo said:
"It was a very, very radical shoot," the director continued. "I was a little shocked to realize how conservative people are when it comes to cinematography. If you expose the image in a certain way, or if you use certain luminance ranges, people get up in arms."

You've made me access the hidden part of my mind that remembers Game of Thrones Season 8.

lvl 99 Pixel · Nov 13, 2020

Interstellar was one of the worst, if not the worst sound mixes ive ever experienced in cinema. It wasn't just that the priorities were all wrong, the volume was deafening.

pegaso · Nov 13, 2020

I'd be absolutely fine with a muddled sound mixing if it served some purpose, like say the screen ratio in The Lighthouse or the washed color grading of Inside Llewyn Davis. But it doesn't, it's just annoying, and it literally takes you out of the movie to realize how illegible it is. In films that live or die by the clarity of their exposition, by the way.

HellofaMouse · Nov 13, 2020

"cant hear what people are saying"

"no, you are just consevative about sound design"

chimpsteaks · Nov 13, 2020

His explanation for it was kind of silly. He basically said he wanted viewers on the edge of their seat and have the intense sound mixing command the audiences' focus at all times. Making the dialogue too easy to hear would apparently let people settle in and relax too much and that's not the mood he wanted to set for the viewer. But like no, I don't want to have to be straining myself just to hear the dialogue in the movie.

Paperboywriter · Nov 13, 2020

tokkun said:
Ironic, because I wish I could unhear some of the dialogue from Interstellar.

Harsh, lol

backpropaganda · Nov 13, 2020

Maybe he hears more frequencies than we mere mortals do, the way some creatures see a much wider spectrum of light

King Kingo · Nov 13, 2020

backpropaganda said:
Maybe he hears more frequencies than we mere mortals do, the way some creatures see a much wider spectrum of light

So you're saying he's one of the Lizard Men? 👀

captainmal01 · Nov 13, 2020

I totally loved not hearing anything during the catamaran sequence, top-notch effort Chris.

Keym · Nov 13, 2020

Nolan: "People care about hearing dialogues in movies???"

MegaManTrigger · Nov 13, 2020

I would argue that this has been a problem ever since The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. The soundmixing in his movies have been terrible since.

He certainly never had this problem with TDK, Inception, Memento, etc.

KarmaCow · Nov 13, 2020

Glad we can move from the argument that it's mixed that way because Nolan is tricking people into putting more effort into watching the movie to Nolan just being the guy who pumps up the bass in everything.

Grath · Nov 13, 2020

Why does Mr. Progressive Filmmaker fight about streaming then?

Ridley327 · Nov 13, 2020

Grath said:
Why does Mr. Progressive Filmmaker fight about streaming then?

He is not going to get the equivalent of his "20% of the first dollars" deal with streaming.

Blader · Nov 13, 2020

I think there is probably something to the theory that Nolan himself is hard of hearing.

chimpsteaks said:
His explanation for it was kind of silly. He basically said he wanted viewers on the edge of their seat and have the intense sound mixing command the audiences' focus at all times. Making the dialogue too easy to hear would apparently let people settle in and relax too much and that's not the mood he wanted to set for the viewer. But like no, I don't want to have to be straining myself just to hear the dialogue in the movie.

Nolan didn't say that, it was one of his sound designers who speculated that was the reason why.

MegaManTrigger · Nov 13, 2020

Grath said:
Why does Mr. Progressive Filmmaker fight about streaming then?

What does that have to do with anything? You do realize there are movies on theatres (pre-Covid) that actually had proper soundmixing and don't make listening to dialogue such a chore?

Commedieu · Nov 13, 2020

Blader said:
I think there is probably something to the theory that Nolan himself is hard of hearing.

Then the vocals would be TOO loud no?

I don't see how you can spend all this money on a film, then run the vocal audio through my ass. Its garbled and muddled. You shouldn't have to be distracted, pulled out of the whole idea of being submerged in a story to parse out dialogue. Its like you have to go on facial expressions and tone rather than hearing the dialogue well.

Maybe he should hand out scripts and allow audience members to pause the film and read it. No subtitles, that would affect the legacy of film, you see. ANother option is the theaters he screens these are tuned specifically to his films. So they sound fine on his end?

metalslimer · Nov 13, 2020

Dear lord what an insufferable person. Interstellar was a complete mess sound wise in the theater and I actually liked that movie. Dunkirk pretty much ripped my eardrums out.

Solo · Nov 13, 2020

Its gotten worse with each film he's made. I recall it as far back as Batman Begins. But back then, in its infancy, it actually worked. Like, the theater was booming during some of the setpieces or when the Tumbler got fired up, but in the very best way, and the dialogue didn't get lost in the mix. But then it was slightly worse in TDK, even more noticeably problematic in Inception, and has been absolutely a major detriment to his films from TDKR onward. I haven't seen Tenet yet (wasn't risking the rona for that), and I likely won't have as much of an issue watching it at home on December 15, but hearing that it sets a new standard for awful Nolan mixes is troubling.

steejee · Nov 13, 2020

Definitely is a common issue with Nolan movies, which seems to get worse each successive film. It's like he's in Stephen King or George RR Martin territory where he has no one to push back on his decisions.

Cipher Peon said:
Haven't seen Tenet, but Dunkirk had the worst sound mixing of any film I've ever seen. That combined with a weird structure AND characters with extreme accents, meant I understood like 20% of the dialog.

and of course it won best sound mixing at the academy

I was too focused on the painful flickering of the sky in 70mm to notice the dialogue issues (I know you need a good projectionist, place I saw it is a place I *know* has one), or the modern cargo cranes clearly visible in the shots of the city, or the massive evacuation flotilla of like 10 boats, or the total focus on the 'British Miracle' aspect that ignored all the races and nationalities that died making it happen, and so on.... Dunkirk was so disappointing to me.

That being said the dialogue in Dunkirk didn't bother me since it was a war film where most of the dialogue was somewhat unimportant. I could understand it fine in the quieter moments when it was a bit more important.

oracledragon · Nov 13, 2020

I mean, I like his work, but unless his artistic vision was for me to be watching his films with subtitles on, maybe re-evaluate...?

Blader · Nov 13, 2020

The most issue I've had with a Nolan sound mix was actually TDK, when Bruce is firing rounds in the Batbasement. Those gunshots are TOO LOUD. I have to crank the volume way down for those 10 seconds lol

Commedieu said:
Then the vocals would be TOO loud no?

I don't see how you can spend all this money on a film, then run the vocal audio through my ass. Its garbled and muddled. You shouldn't have to be distracted, pulled out of the whole idea of being submerged in a story to parse out dialogue. Its like you have to go on facial expressions and tone rather than hearing the dialogue well.

Maybe he should hand out scripts and allow audience members to pause the film and read it. No subtitles, that would affect the legacy of film, you see. ANother option is the theaters he screens these are tuned specifically to his films. So they sound fine on his end?

Perhaps he's also a self-loathing screenwriter who doesn't want anyone to hear his dialogue!

Nepenthe · Nov 13, 2020

Okay, like...I get being avant garde and testing the boundaries of film-making and whatnot, but what is the point of clashing complicated plots with inaudible dialogue that simultaneously provides key plot information? I guess he wants to ensure that you are forced to watch his films multiple times?

Cyclonesweep · Nov 13, 2020

I totally get artistic vision. The nuance behind sound design etc. I get what he is saying and normally, I get it.

But people literally can't hear or understand what the god damn characters are saying. If that's your "artistic choice" that's a shit choice.

I hate when people hide behind "artistry' for technical flaws and mistakes.

JahIthBer · Nov 13, 2020

I liked the original Bane, something about a villain being hard to understand is... interesting.

Christopher Nolan Says Fellow Directors Have Called to Complain About His ‘Inaudible’ Sound

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