Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 08, 2013

“What Good Are Words For?”or“This Movie’s A Blast”

For a movie buff like me, today’s strip rings a big bell!

Don’t FRET, DeGroots.

The Network will Crank the Sound UP in time for the Commercials……,

If it’s a modern film, the dialogue is inconsequential anyway —the important part is the SFX…. And the SEX.

And it seems some movie makers think the people are coming to see the action and the ‘blowey-uppy" stuff, and not the acting… -It’s also funny that, at times, the subtitles don’t at all match what was actually said, or are full of typos and other mistakes. – And it’s ironic that the mirophone that they use for dialogue in movies is known as a boom mic…..

it started with brando…

AMEN !! The best movies are driven mostly by theater – the way the different characters see the truth. Both the harsh realities and the humor come from this. SO YOU NEED TO HEAR WHAT THEY’RE SAYING !! However some audiences get their rush mostly from good looking actors, gunfire & explosions, sight gags and one liners. And I guess the cool guys all mumble these days – so that only the cool young guys can hear them…

Not to mention that sometimes the subtitles obstruct the picture.

aw man, totally relate. Wanted to watch LoTR online and only one video that didn’t buff on me, but the volume differences between scene to scene were ridiculous. One scene you can hear the dialogue perfectly, next it’d be so ridiculously quiet you can’t hear it even with sound jacked up (and they’re not even whispering!), and next thing you know, your ears are bleeding by the sudden sound blast.

Later found full movie on YouTube, but it was broken into a ton of small sections. On the other hand, the volume was balanced for everything. Guess I can’t win :P

So true! Frank and Nancy have enunciated one of my peeves: I am constantly turning up the volume for dialogue or down for “dramatic scoring” and what IamJayBluE calls the “blowey-uppy” stuff when I watch movies on my computer (which is pretty much the only way I do cinema nowadays).

My wife wears hearing aids and I suffer from frequency loss. We greatly appreciate subtitles, and it frustrates me when films don’t include English for the Hearing Impaired.

I wonder why TV’s can’t be made with some sort of smart volume that controls the actual decibel level that the speakers are putting out. When actors are whispering, it automatically ups the volume so you can hear what they’re saying. When something loud happens, it lowers the volume.

Commercials are not suppose to be louder than the program, so they rack the sound up on the program so it matches the commercials. If we all turn the sound off we wont hear the commercials. Sound like a good idea, Some lawyer should start a class action lawsuit for the damage done to peoples hearing..

NCIS was my favorite program till it got to the point that I could no longer hear the dialog over the sound track..

Agreed. I can’t hear %#$! anymore for the background music is way to loud!

Movies should have a separate audio channel for voice and background like computer games.

I agree I agree I agree…with all that is being said about the uneven sound levels in film and TV. I don’t have a hearing problem and sometimes I too put on the CC so I can know what is going on.

Have this problem all the time! It must be the way the movies are made these days.

OMG 100% correct. I have that same problem.

It’s not the actors mumbling – it’s the mixing in post production. They crank up the sound effects and lower the volume on the dialog. I’m convinced it’s because they want you to FEEL the vibrations – they’re totally caught up in how the sound can travel around the room and shake you up. I want dialog!

I’ve had to use the subtitles on AMC’s “The Killing” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones”.The first because of the muted, understated dialogue, and second because it’s hard to understand ‘the king’s english’. In fact, British-English is generally tough to comprehend.

Exactly! So I went to an audiologist and had hearing aids custom tuned for me, but it still didn’t help this particular issue. When I reported this to my doctor, he responded: “I work with a lot of people in the film and TV industry – they don’t care anymore about the clarity of their dialogues.” So I watched some old movies … Clear as a bell, with or without the hearing aids. Sigh…

I was wondering, does Gunther make shirts for Frank too?

Good One!

Now we know what the next big feature should be in televisions: Audio Compressors. Give the viewer the power to set their own top end.

The volume and mute are the most used buttons on my remote.

I totally agree, have been using subtitle for years. Hate that they make the music so loud you can’t hear the dialog.

It’s not necessarily being “old” with Frank and Nancy (at least on this one thing), it’s that Nancy appreciates that lots of people enjoy subtitles (like me) and that it shouldn’t necessary to label them as anything other than “subtitles”… that’s not always an old vs. young thing, just that some people like to get a sense of the dialogue (using context), both from the words and the sound…. – As far as Frank is concerned, this one time is not an old thing (though it usually is a part of his character), it’s the fact that studios now use Dobly™ and other sound technologies to mix the sound, for the purpose of “surround sound” technology (regardless if one has the equipment or not), and to accommodate the perceived public desire for such sound… although one can switch back and forth between different sound settings, but it kind of kills the flow to have to keep switching back and forth… companies perceive these new technologies as greatly desired, but many times, it’s not necessarily so, unless one has been brought up on it (particularly the teen to late twenties, maybe).

The leading acting school these days must be the Murloc School of Diction.

Some Blu-Ray players has an audio compression option, which attempts to raise the lower audio some amount and limits it a bit from being too loud.Not great but it may help a bit.

I actually bought a new Marantz HomeTheater Receiver which has a compressor option as well.

If the studios would take the time to produce the movie’s audio in the first place it wouldn’t be an issue.

Also from what I understand the video streaming services, Netflix etc, do not do any audio processing, like the TV stations etc do.

Makes a major difference

There’s only a slight difference between the two: (1) captions being both the language and sound descriptions one can activate on the screen, and (2) the subtitles being mostly the text of whatever language/dialog is being spoken, but essentially, they are perceived as the same…

Nice to know I am not alone here in thinking my hearing is shot. Thanks guys!

I have to turn on subtitles when I watch Apollo 13. They use a lot of astronaut jargon that nobody can understand. Except other astronauts.

Thanks to my kid. We have had subtitles on our TV from almost the day we got the TV. At first we hated it. Then we got to realize that what she did was good. Because of the noise level in the house at times. Being able to read the subtitles came in handy.

And that’s a different meaning to subtitles, than what’s being discussed here… the one you’re thinking of, is the one having to do with the name for alternate movie titles, but the other definition is the one under consideration, here….

And I thought my hearing was going. Nice to know I’m not the only one.

Absolutely the truth! We use subtitles all the time on home movies. Amazing to see all that’s being said.

I hate it when a cartoonist streaches the truth to make a mediocre joke. I’ve never seen “subtitles for the deaf” as an option for a video. By the way, we almost always turn on captions for movies that feature British/Scottish/Irish actors.

Finally someone else gets it too!! Hubby is always complaining that I have the subtitles on. What Greg Evans just pointed out, makes my case THANK YOU!!(mumbling, way to loud music/sound effects etc.)

Oh my gosh, this is me and my husband! But I do have hearing issues with clarity, and the background music (aka noise)on TV is actually too loud for mme. Says something, doesn’t it?

@IJBE thanks for the link. These voice clarity voice problems have bugged me for years. Never thought that newer sound technologies would make it harder to enjoy a movie. Why do we Americans allow companies to deliver us this c r a p? Like the other problem discussed before that our recorders can’t know when shows begin and end. Or that we can’t just skip commercials with a one button click. About school start times. In recent road trip, learned that most of Indiana does year round schooling. Quality education issues aside, they don’t have much summer tourism to deal with in Indiana like we do in NC. This sanguine Luann is a far cry from the Quill obsessed Luann of late. Agree about Geometry which I took in 8th grade. I was good in math. But at least put Algebra II, Trig, or Calculus on her book.

That’s true. I have no trouble hearing the music, which is so loud that it often drowns out the dialogue.

Glad to see I am not the only one in this world that has this problem.. Now…what do we do about it…

Spot on!!

Got myself some of those “TV Ears” years ago and I love em! Never have to worry about the mumbling now. They have a volume control right on them.

I caption everything..even AR..but so much blab in so little time still miss some text have to reverse the dvr..too much too fast too dumb..tv’s awful

@Joe Stoppingham Said; “If the studios would take the time to produce the movie’s audio in the first place it wouldn’t be an issue.Also from what I understand the video streaming services, Netflix etc, do not do any audio processing, like the TV stations etc do.Makes a major difference”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I’ve run a few recording studio setups in my day (at 78, I can still hear a mouse pee in my sock drawer, thankew)But I’ve noticed 2 things along the way.. One, The “Drew Carey effect” …a modulated buzz with no word separation or enunciation (how he ever got “The Price Is Right” gig is beyond ME!) and his peers. Two; Touring various and sundry other studios and board operations here and thereabouts, the control room people just shove the sliders full bore and ‘let the ComPanders take care of it.’ (don’t let those ‘serious photos’ of control boards fool you, with their sliders set all over the place..Since they invented the compressor/expander, life for serious listeners ain’t been the same and we’re the worse for it.

Today’s strip was very offensive to those of us with hearing problems – who depend on closed captioning. Your words are hurtful and further exclude many of us from feeling included.

Just found this out after years of struggling to understand dialog on TV dramas: turn off SRS. I can understand the mumbles MUCH better now.

Haven’t seen that one, but remember with fondness and gratitude the volkswagen advert which showed a beetle driving round in TOTALSILENCE! Stroke of genius, that.

How about French films on French TV with French subtitlles!? No kidding!

Wow, I thought it was just MY ears. Thank goodness I’m not as deaf as I thought.

And “Moving in Stereo”, the Cars (“…It’s so easy, to fool with the sound….”)

I guess the booming bass systems in some people’s cars show that they also like to “feel” their audio… Lol!

Thanks for the audio link, as well!

Another one is “Words” by Missing Persons (“…Do you hear me? Do you care?…” “What good are words for, when no one listens anymore? ….There’s no use talking at all…”)

Pop ular snack for some!

Welcome to the wonderful world of getting older… ;)

Actually, we have the same problem with the need for closed captioning that other posters have. We find we need amplification when the actors all seem to mumble, and then the music proceeds to break the eardrums…or, maybe the sound barrier in most cases… ;P

And then there’s those shows which have different dialog between what is said and what is closed captioned. I suspect the closed captioned dialog was what was intended and the audible dialog was what the actors decide to actually say.-It’s fun to watch a live program, see the closed captioning miss the word, see the word erased and the correct word retyped.-The best of all worlds.

The actors all mumble. Well, that’s to be expected, since they were all trained at what the strip has assured us is the world’s best drama school, namely Pitt Community College.

“EH? WHAT’D YOU SAY?” And what did YOU say? Think about it… ;)

My biggest issue is when the volume is raised only for the "commercials’ and not for the tv program itself. I had thought (perhaps mistakenly) that legislation or regulations were enacted that prohibited cable/channel providers from doing that. Whatever the case, it still goes on. >:-|

I don’t know much about CC subtitles, but I often use English subtitles on foreign films/TV. I’d much prefer watching a film or TV ep. in the native language with English subtitles, since the emotions are totally different (and less appealing) when the content is dubbed in English, especially “Anime.”

And knowing enough Japanese to be dangerous :-), I can state that the translated subtitles aren’t even close to what would be rendered from a literal translation of the Japanese dialogue. I realize some of that is to ensure the translation doesn’t end up sounding like “Miyagi-san” in the “Karate Kid” trilogy, but I think they could get a little more literal than at present.

I have this problem. I can’t tell if I am going deaf or if the actors are all really quietly mumbling under the uber loud sound effects…

Theoretically the English language is a single entity, but that ain’t the way of it. The various accents on the tube and in movies MANDATE translation – w/o subtitles no chance.

@IamJayBluE – I always loved my summers at the pool diving and playing around and no school. @davidhuiegreen – I agree! Its a stretch. I’ve never seen subtitles/captions labeled like that. Why would they even do it? Have I missed something? Has anyone ever seen it? Commercial level: I always heard the allowed volume level was related to some average of the loudest moments in the current show and that the whole commercial could be that loud throughout. No facts though. Popcorn: does anyone still make popcorn in a pot with real corn and oil, then cook it perfectly with almost no burned popcorn, then put it in a brown grocery bag where you pour in butter, then salt to perfection. I do. Learned from my dad and taught my son. Now that boy can make some popcorn.

Their popcorn looks like a bowl of my homemade, maybe Nancy and frank have got it going on. They need to teach brad how to make it. He could outdo TJ with that!

@IamJayBluE – ill check it out – after I go make some popcorn!

K-Tel anthologies ^I find them to be just as nice having them in the collection… these days, they don’t know nuthin, when it comes to the “Now That’s What I Call Music” Volumes 1-1000… that’s unimaginative… all the Ronco, K-Tel, Columbia and Time Life compilations had imaginative titles, and of course the compilations were…. (ahem)…. better… ha ha!

I try that every so often. It lets me know exactly what the person is saying. Especially if its a small talking or a bunch of noise.

You’ve been “hanging around the grooveyard”, there… JK! I also have “Popcorn” on the K-tel.

what a rip off. K – Tel, “Quality is us.” Not.^Can’t argue with that! But still, they could come up with titles, instead of the lazy titling of compilations today…

“wait a minute if Luann is a senior like 17 her parents shouldnt be older than their 50’s , they are portrayed like their old farts with the hard of hearing stuff”-Slow down there ComicsJester. I started losing my hearing at age 12. By age 18, I was wearing two hearing aids. By age 25, the most powerful hearing aids on the market gave me headaches, and nothing else. From age 25 to age 40, I was totally deaf. At age 40, I received a cochlear implant, which gives me limited, but useful hearing.-I may be an old fart now, but I was deaf long before the “old” part kicked in. -Many, many young people have hearing problems. Many won’t admit to hearing problems. And more and more young people are compromising their hearing by listening to loud music.-I’ve read that up to one person in ten is hearing impaired, and that one person in twenty is functionally hearing impaired. I think one could reasonably surmise that not all of those people are old farts.

It’s really stupid and no way to avoid it…turn the volume up and your turning the music up the same amount. And I don’t have a TV with sub-titles !

Which war? -I’ve heard (if you’ll excuse the expression) from people who have had hearing loss as a result of service in WW II, Korea, Vietnam, and the various military actions in the Gulf.-Also, it’s very hard for me to categorize anyone who has served his or her country in combat as a fart.

Some audio/video receivers have this feature called Dolby Volume that avoids this problem mentioned in the cartoon. If a use TV had Dolby Volume enabled, you’ll be able to hear even quiet dialog without being suddenly blasted at high volume by the music or sound effects.

I don’t know what sound equipment is available nowadays, but I think people should be looking at what dbx (that is correct spelling) used to do. I used to have a dbx 118, it allowed expansion (which increased dynamic range and minimised hiss/noise) or could compress (so peaks aren’t so high, and the quiet bits don’t get lost).

That wouldn’t explain the other children hearing it..I bought a device once which was supposed to drive off attacking dogs with a sound dogs could hear but humans couldn’t..The problem was that I COULD hear it. It was faint but audible. I showed it to my sister-in-law, a band director for Hinton High School, mentioning only dogs could hear it. She pressed the button then covered ner ears in pain..Barely audible to me was VERY audible to her

it’s too loud at the movies too! I take ear plugs with me all the time now.

My family loves subtitles. We started using them when my sister-in-law (who’s deaf) was around, and got addicted to having them.

hate when that happens, doesnt make it clearer, just louder