Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> For Those Of Sound Mind >> "Normal TV" http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1511257839 Message started by Administrator on Nov 21^st, 2017, 9:51am

Title: "Normal TV"
Post by Administrator on Nov 21^st, 2017, 9:51am

According to this Guardian piece,

"The makers of Blue Planet II used a normal television while editing the soundtrack of the programme because of concerns that viewers would complain about the narration not being audible.

The BBC team used a TV rather than a music theatre or studio to review the final mix so they could understand how the natural history programme would sound in a family living room and set the narration, music and sound effects to the appropriate levels."

Here is a BBC article written by James Honeyborne, Executive Producer of Blue Planet II, entitled "Creating an underwater soundscape", in which he describes some of the challenges of recording real sound underwater, whilst at the same time 'creating a 3D soundscape for surround sound viewing".

Title: Re: "Normal TV"
Post by Amigo on Nov 21^st, 2017, 10:23am

The definition of a 'normal TV' in the above article would be interesting.

Gone are the days when the only sound adjustment and variable was the volume control on the front of 'the telly'.

Flat screens usually have the loudspeakers round the back, or underneath.

Is the 'home' TV / amplifier / DSAT RX automatically switching into Dolby 5.1, even though there might not be a centre (narrator?) loudspeaker attached?

If there is a centre loudspeaker attached, is it balanced correctly between the main L Front and main R Front?

Is it a waste of time and money creating such a complex sound image, only for it to get magled up when it arrives at the destination? Graphic eq on the TV, the audio amplifier, possibly the satelite receiver or the terrestrial box.. each with their own volume control..

How many 'home hifi systems' have the loudspeakers stacked on top of each other in the corner of the room? Stereo imaging? Forget it.

Perhaps, before any special programme, there ought to be a sound test broadcast as a demonstration of what is about to arrive? There used to be "Colour Trade Test Films" shown on BBC2. Never needed the 'tint' control!

Why not an audio demonstration trail before Blue Planet 2.1 along the lines of 'if you can't hear this then your equipment needs adjusting"? Hide it as a trail for 'Click' or a "Tomorrow's World Special", perhaps.

The 'It's all right leaving me' statement is fine, but .....

Blue Planet 2 is an incredible visual experience, with stunning images of part of 'our' planet about which we know very little, or nothing. The huge audience figures pay credit to the production team.

But does the sound distract..?

Title: Re: "Normal TV"
Post by Burstner55 on Nov 24^th, 2017, 7:08pm

Amigo, if you had been listening to BBC Spotlight South West, sorry "watching", this week....as I was whilst a visitor to the region...you would have been throwing the remote, the sound bar and the telly out of the window. I emailed the programme after one show when the two presenters gabbled their way through a series of "news in brief". Throughout the sequence their voices were drowned by throbbing "muzak". I asked "Which should we try to listen to, the news or the music?" Didn't get a reply, of course. And that wasn't my only complaint.Their treatment of a major news item about the Tamar Bridge was scanty and discursive, containing nothing from a Highways Authority official or elected representative. Instead, at the end of the programme they quoted tweets asking the very questions the two reporters had NOT asked! Sound quality? Let's look at the word "quality" first!