Why do movie makers get the HiFi so wrong?

[AlfaNovember]

Re: cars - As a car nerd, I very much enjoyed how Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016) subtly used the cars in the background to express the tone of the story arc.

 

[GXAlan]

Don’t forget about Infernal Affairs. Streaming on MAX in the United States.

 

[sam_adams]

As the OP . . . suggests.

We've both been here long enough to know what motivates @restorer-john.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Are period cars and period clothes in movies better ? I think soo , but I’m not nerdy enough to recognise 1958 hub caps on a 1957 Oldsmobile .

On topic , placement of cheap consumer hifi in a pile in a corner seems rigth people did that . But high end hifi is more carefully deployed by its users

No they aren't done any better either. Too many a couple years too new for the story or referred to with the wrong year/model. Or with modern wheels not available in the time etc etc.

I think it was in that Dick Van Dyke murder series, one episode he was investigating a super rich guy. In his living room were a pair of Acoustats. There was an archway and the speakers were just each side of it right against the side wall and as close as the interfaces would allow. Now I'm sure maybe 1% of anyone knew they were speakers, what they were or that they were expensive. They looked like room dividers in the corner or something. So someone sort of made a good effort, but I'm sure some director or producer nixed good realistic placement of them. And I'm such a nerd I remember that, but am not sure which series it was in.

 

[Robin L]

Apropos of nothing:

 

[kemmler3D]

If you think that's bad, I've seen at least a few movies where sound travels through a vacuum!

 

[MattHooper]

Next, you guys will be complaining about us sound designers getting the sound of guns and car engines wrong .

 

[Blumlein 88]

Next, you guys will be complaining about us sound designers getting the sound of guns and car engines wrong .

Now that you mention it......................I'll be kind and only mention two. Automatic transmission cars that have engine sounds like a manual shift during a chase. Tires squeals on dirt roads. I'll give you a pass on gun sounds (artillery, and naval guns too).

 

[Mnyb]

Next, you guys will be complaining about us sound designers getting the sound of guns and car engines wrong .

Often for dramatic effect knowingly ,sound design is fun swords don't make that metallic shwiisch sound when drawn either or a that meaty punch when someone figths

 

[Blumlein 88]

Often for dramatic effect knowingly ,sound design is fun swords don't make that metallic shwiisch sound when drawn either or a that meaty punch when someone figths

One that bothered me recently. Watching the Netflix Docu-drama on Six Nations rugby (the 2025 version of the tourney starts today btw). They were showing closeups of play and tackles, collisions between players etc all had these fake exaggerated impact and swish sounds. Some were better done than others, and it was to indicate the physical nature of the play, but a bit more subtlety would have gone a long way here. It was so overblown it detracted from the show.

 

[JSmith]

We have a thread about Hi-Fi devices in movies/tv;

Funny audio related things you see in movies?

Here is a screen shot I happened upon from the movie Jaws. In background is an vacuum tube Eico oscilloscope and on top is an Eico variable power supply. I never noticed it before. I happen to have both exact pieces. I don't recall them being used at all in the movie. Seems a bad spot tied...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[restorer-john]

Tires squeals on dirt roads.

That is very common isn't it.

 

[Daverz]

The components Bosch (Amazon series) baked in the sun in the glassy room come to mind, too....

They are Ohm omni-directional speakers. And they don't appear to be hooked up to anything.

 

[olieb]

Next, you guys will be complaining about us sound designers getting the sound of guns and car engines wrong

How could we? In movies most is "wrong". Nothing looks like in the real world, the light, the colors, the textures, the people - nothing sounds right (tires, engines, guns, swords, voices, space....) and what happens is unreal most of the time, too.
People love fakes.
But a good fake needs to be somewhat consistent and that is where @restorer-john is thrown off. Though not a problem for people who did not memorize the market launch date of every hifi gear in existence.
There might also be clothes nerds, who complain about this or that fabric not being available at the time, maybe in the very same shot.

 

[sergeauckland]

My father was a keen amateur military historian, and military uniform errors in films would drive him nuts. Especially details like the wrong collar flashes or epaulettes.


My irritation is when somebody switches on a valve radio and sound comes out almost immediately without adequate warm up time.

S

 

[MarkS]

Clearly somebody has messed with the left-channel equalizer setting and he's not too happy about it!

 

[teapea]

One that bothered me recently. Watching the Netflix Docu-drama on Six Nations rugby (the 2025 version of the tourney starts today btw). They were showing closeups of play and tackles, collisions between players etc all had these fake exaggerated impact and swish sounds. Some were better done than others, and it was to indicate the physical nature of the play, but a bit more subtlety would have gone a long way here. It was so overblown it detracted from the show.

Totally off topic, but if you're expecting to see France Wales tonight, you'll be disappointed. First match is tomorrow.

 

[restorer-john]

I see it as attention to detail. Angelina spent months learning Italian, months learning singing, wearing the correct fashion, the accent, everything. The sets look incredible AND the whole thing is about music and singing and yet the amplifier wasn't in existence at the time. A bit like her pulling out an iPhone instead of using a rotary dial phone. LOL.

The TT I'm not sure about. It looks like a single point strobe, so likely a Quartz DD, S-shaped tonearm, lever actuator, aluminium front escutcheon and black? plinth. The headshell is a typical Pioneer, but the TT has some other vibes going on. Brand on the left, writing on the plinth is typical Pioneer, but it could be a Sharp/Optonica or something.

@mhardy6647 , what is your take on the TT?

 

[Cecill]

Just saw a trailer and promo pic for Angelina Jolie's Maria movie.

Being the HiFi nerd I am, I immediately saw a Pioneer SA-508 in the shot below:

View attachment 424713

View attachment 424714

Service manual excerpt:

View attachment 424717View attachment 424716

The little 25wpc (FTC rated!) Pioneer SA-508 came to market in late 1979 and Maria Callas died two years before, September 16, 1977.

Theres nothing unusual about this. Callas received the Pioneer SA-508 for testing before its official release. It is a well-known fact

 

[mhardy6647]

@mhardy6647 , what is your take on the TT?

The one in this photo?

I am getting a JVC vibe.