TENET and sound
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 1:38 pm
Because of my new A/V system I am taking a better look at the audio tracks of some movies I have. Tenet doesn't appear to have an atmos or DTS X track and when I played it at home I found the dialogue from my center speaker a bit low. I was wondering if it had to do with a setting in my system or some incorrect calibration.
I don't remember thinking about that when I watched it in the cinema. But apparently is really is a Nolan thing.
Doing a search about Tenet and sound I found this article that made me laugh:
Because I am not a native English speaker I usually watch a movie with (English) subtitles. I have always wondered if native English speakers really do understand everything there is said in a movie without using subtitles. Simply because of the audibility.
I do remember watching a movie without subtitles (but I forgot which one) where I was concentrating more or sitting more straight up and because of that I got more emerged in the story. Because of that I can understand this view (also in the article I linked to):
I don't remember thinking about that when I watched it in the cinema. But apparently is really is a Nolan thing.
Doing a search about Tenet and sound I found this article that made me laugh:
There is a wonderful exchange in Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Tenet, between Robert Pattinson and John David Washington. “Hngmmhmmh,” says Pattinson. “Mmghh nmmhhmmmm nghhh,” replies Washington. Marvellous.https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/s ... technology
Because I am not a native English speaker I usually watch a movie with (English) subtitles. I have always wondered if native English speakers really do understand everything there is said in a movie without using subtitles. Simply because of the audibility.
I do remember watching a movie without subtitles (but I forgot which one) where I was concentrating more or sitting more straight up and because of that I got more emerged in the story. Because of that I can understand this view (also in the article I linked to):
In a 2019 Reddit AMA, sound designer Richard King – who has worked with Nolan on seven films, including Tenet – said: “He wants to grab the audience by the lapels and pull them toward the screen, and not allow the watching of his films to be a passive experience.”I also find the bit about the sound levels in cinema very interesting.
A studio’s reference level tends to be around 85 decibels, or 7 on the Dolby scale, he says. But cinemas will often play the film at 4 (around 75 decibels). The Irish Film Institute has been playing Tenet at 4, Markey says, because 6 was “ridiculously loud” when tested. Cinemas will not necessarily play a film at the recommended level of 7 if they feel it is too loud.