Speaker 1: So, Ethan, as you know, one of our slogans, especially on Learn English with TV Series, is we help you understand your favorite movies and TV series without getting lost, without missing the jokes and without subtitles, right? But I've actually come across this really cool video from Vox talking about how nowadays everybody, both native speakers and non-native speakers, actually need subtitles to watch today's movies and series. It's really, really cool.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw this as well. It's absolutely fascinating what's happening. So I'm looking forward to breaking this down a bit. And exactly what you said, that's a great reason to subscribe because we help you to feel more confident with all those things, understanding fast, speaking natives without getting lost, without missing the jokes and without subtitles, which millions of learners are already enjoying doing with us. So why don't you join them by hitting the subscribe button and bell so you don't miss a single new lesson.

Speaker 1: So let's watch the first intro here, the first seconds of the video. They're really funny.

Speaker 3: I watch a lot of movies in TV, on the train, at home, while working out, in the bath. But no matter where I'm watching, I find myself constantly doing this one thing. I think there will always be more. What? I think there will always be more.

Speaker 4: I think there will always be more. Who hasn't done that, right? That was really cool to see his reaction like, oh, now I understand the subtitles.

Speaker 1: You know, now my word makes sense. This guy is a native speaker, right? So he used a nice connected speech pattern there that we explain quite frequently here in our content. A lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, a lot of, he starts by saying I watch a lot of movies.

Speaker 2: I noticed also there was some nice shrinking and linking because he mentions all these different activities on the train, at home, at the movies, while doing dishes, in the bath. Shrinking and linking is that some words are reduced and then they're linking together to other words. So instead of saying on the train, we have on the train, at home, at the movies, and we get a nice rhythm going, right? So this is something to pay attention to how some words are reduced and they link to other words and we get this nice flow of the English language.

Speaker 1: And I really love this phrase here. I find myself constantly doing this one thing when I'm watching something. This is a nice fixed phrase that you guys out there can just memorize. It's I find myself plus verb in the ing form. So just change the verb. For example, I find myself watching something. I find myself falling asleep.

Speaker 2: It's one of those nice advanced collocations.

Speaker 1: Actually, this video presents lots of reasons why nowadays the way the movies and series are being produced actually requires us viewers to use the subtitles. And in this video today, in this lesson, we are just going to cover two reasons this video gives as to why we need subtitles. But we're going to link this video in the description, guys, so you can actually watch it in full and do watch it because it's really informative.

Speaker 2: We'll watch these two parts and we'll give you a lot of the vocabulary. So we'll actually be learning together.

Speaker 5: What we typically are working with from production dialogue is two boom microphones, and then every actor has at least one lavalier microphone hidden somewhere on them.

Speaker 3: These shrinking mics have given actors the flexibility to be more naturalistic in their performances. They no longer need to project so that their words reach the mic. They can speak softly, knowing that the tiny mic hidden on their body will pick up what they're saying.

Speaker 1: I guess we can explain some technical vocabulary here for audio. What is a boom microphone?

Speaker 2: These are a lot of words I think I only got when we got into content creation. So if you have no intention of ever creating content or working in film, maybe these aren't the most useful for you. But in the context of the video, you would need to know them. So boom microphones. We saw the beginning of the video, actually, the very first clip we watched. He had a boom microphone in his setup. It's one of those ones that comes from above.

Speaker 1: And the lavalier microphone is that small one that we usually attach to our shirts or even hidden so that nobody sees it.

Speaker 2: I believe this part of the shirt is called the lavalier, if I'm not mistaken, and that's why it's called a lavalier microphone because you clip it onto the lavalier.

Speaker 1: You used this word before today, Ethan, you said shrinking. Getting smaller and smaller, right? So these shrinking mics that we have nowadays have given the actors the flexibility to be more naturalistic. They no longer need to project. So to project here means to project your voice, to speak at a volume that is not too loud, but it's not too low either. It's just loud enough so that you can be heard.

Speaker 2: It's different, too, than shouting, right? Singers project their voice. Opera singers, for example, they're not necessarily singing really loudly, but they are able to open up their register in such a way that it carries a good distance.

Speaker 1: In the past, that used to be necessary because all the actors had in a scene in a scene set was that one boom microphone. So they had to be strategic on how to position themselves so that they could project their voices loud enough to be heard on the tape. But nowadays, they no longer need to do this anymore because of these all kinds of mics that we have nowadays. So I love this phrase. You no longer need to do something. So instead of saying, for example, I don't have to do this anymore, you can also say I no longer need to do this.

Speaker 2: It uses another word rather than shrinking, calls it a tiny mic, especially these ones they use in Hollywood because they have to be concealed. They don't want to show in the scene, which would take away from some of the Hollywood magic.

Speaker 1: When a microphone picks up your voice, what does that mean?

Speaker 2: It means it hears your voice. We could also use this in other situations. Maybe we're speaking on the phone and you cut out for a moment. I could say, sorry, I didn't pick up what you were saying there.

Speaker 1: He talks about Alec Baldwin specifically and Tom Hardy because Alec Baldwin apparently tends to whisper when he films. So he speaks like this. Yeah. Like, what are you doing here like that, you know? And even Tina Fey, who has worked with him for many years, says that it's really hard to understand him next to him on set.

Speaker 5: Let's start with salary. What are you doing?

Speaker 1: But because the microphone, the lavalier picks up his voice on the camera, on the video, it looks, it sounds great. You can understand. But that's, that could be a factor. And also Tom Hardy, who is a natural mumbler, he says in the video.

Speaker 4: Nah, he's just genuinely disappointed with it, that's all.

Speaker 1: What's a mumbler? The person doesn't articulate the words properly. So Tom Hardy is kind of a mumbler. So to understand him is really hard. Actors nowadays, they don't have to project their voices so much because the mics are so good and sensitive. But not every actor is so articulate. Or they are playing a character that is not supposed to be articulate. So that makes it tougher to understand just the audio.

Speaker 2: There was the first clip we watched that, I don't know the guy's name, but he's from Saturday Night Live. At least that's where I know him from. He's a comedian. And he's really mumbling there. The native speaker who's presenting the video can't understand him because he completely is mumbling that phrase. What the heck is this guy saying? So again, the reason here why it's hard for us to understand is because back in the day, if we watch an older movie or series, the actors used to project more.

Speaker 3: Well, no, I don't think so. You know so.

Speaker 2: They'd be more articulate, they'd be easier to understand. But nowadays, because the technology has gotten better, they can speak more naturally. But this also might lead to them not being so articulate or not projecting their voice, not speaking in a way that could be easily understood by anyone.

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Speaker 5: The kind of feeling has been if you want your movie to feel quote unquote cinematic, you have to have wall-to-wall bombastic loud sound. A lot of people will ask like, why don't you just turn the dialogue up? Like just turn it up. And if only it was that simple. Because a big thing that we want to preserve is a concept called dynamic range, the range between your quietest sound and your loudest sound. If you have your dialogue that's going to be at the same volume as an explosion that immediately follows it, the explosion is not going to feel as big. You need that contrast in volume in order to give your ear a sense of scale.

Speaker 3: But the thing is, you can only make something so loud before it gets distorted.

Speaker 1: Just a funny comment about that. I experienced that at home right here. I mean, I've been watching Stranger Things again with my family because we love this series so much. And we watch late at night when my daughter is sleeping, right? And sometimes the TV volume is at seven. It's really low, right? Because the music and the explosions are so loud. But then when the characters are just talking, I can't understand them. I can't hear them. So I have to turn the volume up like to 10 or 12. And then I can hear what the characters are saying. But then an explosion comes and then it gets really loud. And then I have to turn it down again. That's the dynamic range she's explaining here.

Speaker 2: That's a great point. I don't know why too. Why do they make the music so loud? You can understand explosions. You want them to feel loud. But that's something I've noticed a lot too. And a lot of these new series, it's just like the music is so loud and the music comes on. You have to turn it way down.

Speaker 1: Exactly. I don't know if it's for the emotional impact that they want to give it to you. I don't know. Right at the beginning here, she says, if you want your movie to feel. Very common reduction here of the preposition too. It gets down to it. If you want your movie to feel, the feel. And then she says it's a quote, unquote, cinematic. What does that mean? Quote, unquote.

Speaker 2: She didn't even do this, right? Quote, unquote. She just said it. Usually we do air quotes. These are called air quotes. But we can also say this in speech. Quote, unquote. Usually we'll do it together with the hand motion to say that something supposedly is this way. So maybe you had someone that worked with you that said they were sick the other day, but then they came back to work the next day and they were very tan. So it's like, oh yeah, you were quote, unquote, sick yesterday.

Speaker 1: She also says you have to have wall-to-wall bombastic loud sound. So bombastic sound, really loud sound. And wall-to-wall, like covered from wall-to-wall, just like the movie theater. When you go to a movie theater, you have speakers from wall-to-wall to give you that surround experience. That's what she means here. Across the entire range or channels in the audio track, you need to have that loud bombastic sound. And what about this phrase here, Ethan? If only it was that simple to turn up the volume of the dialogue. What does that mean? If only it was that simple.

Speaker 2: We'll say, if only, if only. I wish it were this way.

Speaker 1: It's if only plus the simple past. So, oh, if only I had more time. And she uses the word range here. The range between her quietest sound and her loudest sound. What is the range here, Ethan?

Speaker 2: The space from the minimum to the maximum. She's talking about the space between the registers of voice and the registers of an explosion, which needs to feel much louder.

Speaker 1: I love also this phrase that she uses here. You need that contrasting volume in order to give your ear a sense of scale. In order to is similar to too. So, I'm learning English to get a better job. Or I'm learning English in order to get a better job. It's another way of expressing why you're doing something, the purpose.

Speaker 2: We usually do this to sound a bit more formal because she's giving an official sounding explanation. She might have wanted to give a little bit more formality. And so, that's a simple way.

Speaker 1: So, those of you guys who constantly ask for writing tips for IELTS or any other test, this is a great tip, guys. So, use in order to on your essays, for example, because it makes you sound more formal. He says, but the thing is, you can only make something so loud before it gets distorted. How would you explain this phrase? I understand what it means.

Speaker 2: You can only try so hard. You've brought up the IELTS exam. So, maybe you studied your ass off and you still didn't get the grade that you wanted. Sometimes you just have to accept the results. So, I might just use this to express that there is a maximum of something. You can only listen to this podcast for so long before you'll eventually get fluent in English. There's a maximum to it if I say it in that way. Distorted. That's a nice word. That's what happens when you raise the volume. We can hear it becoming distorted. Meaning that it is morphed to such an extent that it's no longer recognizable or it's no longer comprehensible.

Speaker 1: And there is a nice collocation here, which is wide range. These two words tend to collocate frequently, right? With each other. So, if you want to create that wide dynamic range of sounds, something wide is something large. So, a wide range is a range that is spacious, right?

Speaker 2: If people are watching wide, typically is a horizontal space, a large horizontal space. So, a wide alleyway. This is a nice collocation. You said like wide range, also like wide variety. There's a wide variety of choices. You're staying at a hotel and they have a breakfast. You can say, oh, it's such a nice wide variety of options they have at this continental breakfast.

Speaker 5: What we typically are working with from production dialogue is two boom microphones, and then every actor has at least one lavalier microphone hidden somewhere on them.

Speaker 3: These shrinking mics have given actors the flexibility to be more naturalistic in their performances. They no longer need to project so that their words reach the mic. They can speak softly knowing that the tiny mic hidden on their body will pick up what they're saying.

Speaker 5: The kind of feeling has been, if you want your movie to feel quote unquote cinematic, you have to have wall to wall bombastic loud sound. A lot of people will ask, like, why don't you just turn the dialogue up? Like, just turn it up. And if only it was that simple, because a big thing that we want to preserve is a concept called dynamic range. The range between your quietest sound and your loudest sound. If you have your dialogue that's going to be at the same volume as an explosion that immediately follows it, the explosion is not going to feel as big. You need that contrast in volume in order to give your ear a sense of scale.

Speaker 3: But the thing is, you can only make something so loud before it gets distorted.

Speaker 1: And that's it, guys. I mean, I found this video quite informative and quite entertaining. I hope you guys enjoyed learning some vocabulary with it. And do watch the entire clip. We're going to link it in the description so you can understand the other reasons why all of us apparently need more subtitles than we think. Global citizens, thank you very much for learning with us. But you should know that this was just a short clip from the full lesson. The full lesson is available on the RealLife English app. So come on, download the app and continue listening there. You're going to learn even more cool stuff. See you soon.