why is most american movies sound design is absolute trash. everything that they touch have to make an exaggerated noise, like a sword *SWING* even if it's not touching anything. Or they use this free stock sound effects that I've heard on YouTube videos a millions times already - ThreadSky

godivaghoul.bsky.social • 11 days ago

why is most american movies sound design is absolute trash.

everything that they touch have to make an exaggerated noise, like a sword *SWING* even if it's not touching anything.

Or they use this free stock sound effects that I've heard on YouTube videos a millions times already

Comments

lana-grant.bsky.social•11 days ago

The opening credits for Dexter: Original Sin has a completely out of place and hilarious cartoon *CHOMP* sound effect in it. It's an absolutely bizarre choice and I died laughing when I heard it and immediately turned the show off (around 0:53) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH5siUUmzPI

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

lol never saw this show but this intro was hilarious, there's hundreds of stock effect I've already heard

venattelematte.bsky.social•11 days ago

Not even to mention the mixing itself, I'll be at home watching a movie at 75% vol cause the talking is set so low, then the surprise explosion is literally deafening. Decreased dialog volume is a scourge

matthopeart.bsky.social•11 days ago

I’ve heard the same pottery breaking sound so often

maya-weiss.bsky.social•11 days ago

Super normal stimulus is the scientific name for this. Exaggerated cues have a higher chance to cause a response from animal brain (Konrad Lorenz). Naturally, when too many actors use it and compete with one another, this behavioral 'arm race' gets out of control.
If someone knows more, correct me.

joditheentitled.bsky.social•11 days ago

I only make exceptions for the Wilhelm scream :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

singlewheelrolling.bsky.social•11 days ago

That's the only one to get a pass!

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

ahah true that became a meme basically but started in the same way: lazy producers that reused the same library of sound instead of recording new ones

flickylicky.bsky.social•11 days ago

My favorite example of it is in Inglorious Basterds, you can hear it in the war movie they show in the theater at the end. So it's in a movie within the movie, and it's anachronistic which makes it even better.

tchosart.bsky.social•11 days ago

There's several factors for this beyond laziness, such as: time crunch (forced to use stock), producers forcing decisions, budget, and industry standards (i.e. new sound designers being told to do it this way and not to deviate). Corporate Hollywood enforces its "brand" ruthlessly, and it does suck

exarchdevil.bsky.social•11 days ago

Because they think it will grab the audience's attention. They believe a lot of people watch/listen movies and shows in the background, so they want characters talking more saying what they are doing and push up certain sound effects. That way people will look.

That's about it.

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

true and mixed in pure laziness most of the time,
I'm one of those that give way too much attention to details instead ahah

exarchdevil.bsky.social•11 days ago

Sadly, people have shorter attention spans these days. Taking in the details is lost on some, they need everything told to them.

It's why we get so many people stating the obvious, even when we don't require it. It's so certain other people can follow.

nimphelos.bsky.social•11 days ago

British movies and TV shows are even worse offenders, I'd argue

kingsneak.bsky.social•11 days ago

Have you seen the difference between European and American insect documentaries? The sound effects are so dramatic and godawful

mxdshipwreck.bsky.social•11 days ago

The one I can never get over once I took the blinders off is that swords do not make metallic ringing sounds when they're drawn from a leather scabbard

gooberjay.bsky.social•11 days ago

Good Foley artistry is hard to come by 😩

kiwapon.bsky.social•11 days ago

Something my horror film club and I have noticed is the huge difference in volume when people talk and pretty much everything else

voyastral.bsky.social•11 days ago

Tis how we got sounds in space as a standard

tma-live.bsky.social•11 days ago

For me, it’s the wet cat punch.

generichero.bsky.social•11 days ago

It's really endemic. Did you come across the Wilheim scream yet?

gracestensland.bsky.social•10 days ago

The Wilhelm scream is a literal sound designer & filmmaker inside joke. We DREAM of the day we get to include it in our work

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

I mean of course, I watched a lot of movies it would be impossible not to

generichero.bsky.social•11 days ago

Fair enough. I'm not sure why, but people can get weird with artists. I heard 2nd hand that some artists will try to limit their time to design a logo.

I figured shortcut sounds are a similar form of time management. I don't have proof of my theory, though.

wizard-eyes.bsky.social•11 days ago

CreakyDoor_0072.mp4

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

Like I watched "Heretic" today, and there was this sound effect in it, I could not believe it that in this year they are still using it

3motion3ngin3.bsky.social•11 days ago

not the cinemasins dun 😭

taltan.bsky.social•11 days ago

That's egregious frankly. What would you even use that sound for?
I like to play a little game while watching movies and see how many stock sound effects I can recognize. Squeaky doors, loon calls, that one cat yowl...

petersealy.bsky.social•11 days ago

Ha!

mdirtysoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

I’m pretty sure it’s free in a sound library online lol
https://youtu.be/tcFCxF8t1a0?si=QWe9PJyRV57eS8lH

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

I know lol, like I could understand bloodborne using it 10 years ago, but how hard it is to register some new sound effects? especially for a 10 millions budget movie

dbananza.bsky.social•11 days ago

🤣

tclayton2k.bsky.social•8 days ago

Pour a shot. Put on an action movie. Knock back the shot when you hear "The Wilhelm."

sevensided.net•11 days ago

i like when there's a cat that constantly goes "mrrrrrp" when it appears on screen, and guns that sound like they aren't put together right making loose clattering noises any time they move

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

omg true, cats have the same 3 meow tracks in every single movie. I was searching for the audio but I only found this reddit post that complain about the same thing lol https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/7bzbs1/how_come_no_one_ever_talkscomplains_about_that/

kingsneak.bsky.social•11 days ago

wouldn't even care as much if they used the same track if they wouldn't meow CONSTANTLY

sevensided.net•11 days ago

i bet you recognise this classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUhUoIGmpvw

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

omg that was actually triggering ahah
I wonder if this poor cats that are fighting are still okay

kataphract.bsky.social•11 days ago

betcha they were bb guns being racked. (though some things like Kel-tec stuff do sound like bb guns when racked LOL)

lookarose.bsky.social•11 days ago

It's so weird cause a lot of post-production ends up using the same copywrite free/bulk sound libraries as literal YouTubers cause so much stuff gets microbundled and pay walled. And it's not like they'll pay people to make new sounds when Bill can click drop a sound for 10 cents

sxl-blshvsm.bsky.social•11 days ago

wdym? a ton of production houses still do their own foley, and if anything the proliferation of shitty overused sfx used to be worse, not better.

inolemo.bsky.social•6 days ago

Lol i thought of the cinema sins "dun" before reading your reply. I've heard it in so many movies! It's fitting that a sound effect used by someone who heavily criticised sameyness and cheapness in films has become an example of those very things.

hk47.bsky.social•11 days ago

As a USian who likes guns, they make FAR too much noise in movies. Rattling etc. That means they aren't in good condition!

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

true lol, the character limit didn't allow me but I wanted to mention that too, also the *ka-chnk!* of shotguns that happen even if t's not the type of gun that do that

sweetkismet.bsky.social•11 days ago

The audio balancing is garbage now too, everything has to be loud AF except voices of course.

hollowgummie.bsky.social•11 days ago

I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO COMMENT ABOUT THIS 😭😭😭
Please God I just want to hear the plot

psilicybins.bsky.social•11 days ago

Our movie sound balancing is even worse.. The music is usually louder than the fucking dialogue.

Not to mention the color grading that is also utter trash. American movies are such garbage idk how they make money like this 😭

thedukexx99.bsky.social•11 days ago

The sounds are actually from licensed compilations. It's just they all use the same one and I believe they said they just make everything for phones now they stop making several mixes for every platform

thechalupacabra.bsky.social•11 days ago

from the perspective of someone from the united states, i'd have to say that the vast majority of movie-goers here lack the appreciation of subtlety and nuance. we are, as consumers of media, essentially grown children that need loud noises and flashy colors to be entertained.

squeakmoans.bsky.social•11 days ago

realism is the death of fun, a lot of the time things are exaggerated for effect style and fun. there should be a larger more varied sound library but it's not bad to exaggerate action for fun

this-guy.bsky.social•11 days ago

I love the sound mix in Kill Bill for that reason, especially the House of Blue Leaves fight.

cassie6931.bsky.social•11 days ago

My absolute favorite is this scene from Spider-Man 2

https://youtu.be/0TvKsVxgbF4?si=KEzk794qqsq0DqrJ&t=85

mevrouwmuisje.bsky.social•11 days ago

Kitchen Nightmares is a great example of this.

US version: constant musical stings, slam zooms, and endless recaps when coming back from commercial. It's a sensory nightmare.

The UK version is infinitely better.

godivaghoul.bsky.social•11 days ago

you reminded me of one of my favorite videos ever lol https://youtu.be/IY7tZ0dnQ18

mevrouwmuisje.bsky.social•11 days ago

Oh hell yes I haven't seen this one, I love Jaiden's stuff! Thanks!

mylilmexicanfriend.bsky.social•11 days ago

only exception is that one bomb from the star wars prequels and dune

stardust-strix.bsky.social•11 days ago

It seems a lot of American directors think our attention span or interest in the film is zilch so they desperately try to get that. The equivalent of jingling keys.

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