World news – AU – Tenet up: Listen, Christopher Nolan, we can’t hear a word that you say

Tenet’s manager dismissed his critics for his poor vocal promiscuity by blaming us for being too conservative. Why should it continue to tamper with our perception of sound?

We are all aware of the impossible situation the film currently finds itself in. The screens started shutting down in the summer. This is due to the postponement of the new big films. This is because movie studios are nervous about the losses. This is because Tenet, the big pioneer in cinema in 2020, has performed below theatricality.

But there may be an alternate dimension where cinema is still thriving. Eternals is breaking records at the box office. No Time to Die still showing on busy homes. Dune pre-sale is over. And the whole reason is that people flocked to Tenet in great numbers. What separates this dimension from this? Tenet had a better audio mix in that version. People saw it, understood it, and didn’t immediately tell all their friends that it was frustrating and incomprehensible, and as a result it gave Hollywood the confidence to get back into action..

It’s hard to be anything other than totally bewildering due to the mix of Tenet sounds, as nearly every snippet of dialogue that Kenneth Prana didn’t shout out is hidden under a thick blanket of squeaky noise. Don’t get me wrong, it might still be a good movie – I look forward to watching it at home with subtitles to find out – but it’s a movie where you have to try and read the many complex theories about the nature of time that are beyond the reach of a large audience..

However, Christopher Nolan is optimistic on this issue. The subject of his phonemic intermingling comes in the new book, The Nolan Variations, and he claims peers called him to complain about it.. . “I actually got calls from other filmmakers saying, ‘I just saw your movie, and the dialogue is inaudible. « Some people thought the music might be too loud, but the truth is it was kind of a complete enchilada of how we chose to mix it up.

Discussing Interstellar – another movie that vacillates between quiet and so loud that you can only watch it at home with one hand that constantly adjusts the volume – he said, “It was a very drastic combination.. I was a little shocked when I realized how conservative people are when it comes to sound. Since you can make a movie like anything, you can shoot on your iPhone, and no one will complain. But if you mix the sound in a certain way, or if you use certain sub-frequencies, people wake up.

This is clearly nothing new with Nolan. As far as The Dark Knight Rises back in 2012, he was manipulating our perception of sound, then treating us to Bane who initially looked like a pirate choking on a muzzle ball. Back then, he succumbed to the pressure and cleaned up the mix a little – and a brief respite came in Dunkirk’s form, as none of the characters had any special interest to say anyway – but those days seem to be over.

In 2017, when the topic surfaced again when people realized that Dunkirk was too loud, Nolan claimed he made films for just perfect cinema, telling IndieWire: “We made the decision a few films ago that we weren’t going to mix films for theaters without the level.

It’s a good enough idea, and as one of the few filmmakers who can balance Artouse’s tendencies with its broad commercial appeal, Christopher Nolan should be commended for his desire to move the medium to new and unexpected places.. But I have seen two movies in cinemas since March. In one, I had to put up with a scene where the sound of Michael Kane chewing a slice of meat was louder than the dialogue.. Nolan is not obligated to mix his films in substandard theaters. But if he imagines mixing it up for humans, he must welcome him again with open arms.

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Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, Dunkirk