Am watching new Netflix/BBC TV series HAPPY VALLEY. It’s very good, but gruesome. I know that many people in the UK had complained because of the violence in the show, when it was first shown there. But sadly much of it is incomprehensible, because the actors are mumbling their lines and you have no idea what they are saying. Top of the list is Sarah Lancashire, outstanding British actress who is excellent in this, as she is in LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX ,but you simply cannot hear what she is saying . I have nearly given up, I am so exasperated. On top of that the technical quality of the sound is appalling. Again, Producers, Directors are so obsessed with the “look” and making a show “edgy” they overlook the sound and drive away much of the audience in sheer frustration. I don’t know what kind of mics are used for the exteriors in the series ….shot gun, boom or personal mics….but the sound has not been edited and balanced properly. Sound is not ‘sexy’, as far as the new film makers are concerned, so less people go into it and sound crews are not being properly trained. I know I am not the only one who feels this way and the BBC should know better. It’s a waste of time, talent and money to be making shows that are unwatchable because we cannot hear them. Furthermore actors are not being trained properly to enunciate and project sufficiently. “Realistic” or “method” acting does not mean…don’t be heard. This is real issue with me and many others I know. We are in the entertainment industry, not the “made for me and my ego” industry.
This is not a new complaint apparently thousand of viewers switched off the BBC’s new version of JAMAICA INN, because they couldn’t hear it! Get with it people, maybe you think it’s not important to hear the lines, as long as you “get’ the feel, the mood, that’s rubbish and insulting to your audience.
