Car/motor sounds in movies are unrealistic

[MickoLis]

Hi all.

Its something that has always bugged me and its to do with the sound editing made for cars, bikes etc.

A car travelling along a road seeming to do a constant or slightly accelerating speed but the sounds makes it seem the pedal is to the floor and it should be doing 100 when its really dong maybe 30. ( Km/h or Mph. either is applicable)

this is something that has the norm for decades yet highly unrealistic.

i understand the reason behind this and its simply to create a picture with the viewer and have the perfect scene.

maybe its time for a change, to use sounds that's match what's happening on screen


Let me know what you think =]

TL;DR

In movies, Cars actions dont match the sounds and vice versa

[Strakha]

Hi all.

Its something that has always bugged me and its to do with the sound editing made for cars, bikes etc.

A car travelling along a road seeming to do a constant or slightly accelerating speed but the sounds makes it seem the pedal is to the floor and it should be doing 100 when its really dong maybe 30. ( Km/h or Mph. either is applicable)

this is something that has the norm for decades yet highly unrealistic.

i understand the reason behind this and its simply to create a picture with the viewer and have the perfect scene.

maybe its time for a change, to use sounds that's match what's happening on screen


Let me know what you think =]

TL;DR

In movies, Cars actions dont match the sounds and vice versa

the worst one ive seen was Days of Thunder that mid 80s Nascar movie with Tom cruise, and he will be on the straight away and be shifting into fourth at like Daytona. Just stupid, and very distracting.

[Waaldo]

Same thing with guns. Everyone pulls out a gun and it makes the sound of the slide being pulled back when all they did was remove it from their belt.

Also, dat poll question.
Yes, it should change. No, it should not stay the same.

[Kals]

Yes change it, and while you're at it look at these glaring issues:

-Shifting. Racing movies (LOOKING AT YOU FAST AND FURIOUS) have them going thru like 15 gears. Losing a race? No problem, you apparently can shift into a higher gear when you're already redlining at 140 mph in 5th/6th.

-Wheel 'turning'. Makes me wonder if actors don't actually drive because you don't need to move the wheel back and forth 5 degrees left and right every 1/2 second when you're driving normally. Especially on a straight road. Unless you expect us to believe ALL of the cars in movies have terrible alignment and tend to drift to the side when you let go of the wheel for a split second.

[SirPiken]

Hollywood is made to be flashy and loud, not realistic. It's about spectacle and theatrics not simulation and documentation. Sometimes you just need to sit back and eat the popcorn and let it all go.

[Kelesti]

I honestly loved the engine sounds they tweaked in the Bourne Identity. Mixing a really really old engine with a moped's little try-too-hard made it feel like the mini was rightfully about to fall apart into scrap metal.

>.> But on the most part I agree that effects departments need to step up their game here.

[rayden54]

Horses don't make the clopity clopity sound. Swords don't make that schwing sound. People can't fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes or....movies aren't supposed to be realistic.

[Baracuda]

-Shifting. Racing movies (LOOKING AT YOU FAST AND FURIOUS) have them going thru like 15 gears. Losing a race? No problem, you apparently can shift into a higher gear when you're already redlining at 140 mph in 5th/6th.

Or they don't film them downshifting because it's not as "cool".

Btw: a Yes and No answer to a Change or Keep question is quite weird.

[Waaldo]

Horses don't make the clopity clopity sound. Swords don't make that schwing sound. People can't fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes or....movies aren't supposed to be realistic.

Of course horses make the clopity clop sound.... http://youtu.be/x_9CrGQ1wrc?t=1m5s

[MickoLis]

Or they don't film them downshifting because it's not as "cool".

Btw: a Yes and No answer to a Change or Keep question is quite weird.

Yea it was late at night when i started this thread. Im unsure how to edit the poll.
Either way the posts reflect the want for change.

[The Flavour Cat]

Hollywood films (and many others) let the foley go ballistic and make everything sound louder or cooler than usual. They usually do it for the artistic licence. Yes, it is annoying and I do wish they'd be more realistic. When swords are unsheathed or swung around, they sound brand new with every swoop and movement they make. Here's one of the most ridiculous examples-in the beginning of Battle Royale this guy stabs someone with a pen and they die. The person falls to the floor, and the guy walks over to forcefully remove the pen. When he does so, it makes the same damn sound you hear an unsheathed sword make. It was so ridiculous and funny despite the film's tone.

I honestly loved the engine sounds they tweaked in the Bourne Identity. Mixing a really really old engine with a moped's little try-too-hard made it feel like the mini was rightfully about to fall apart into scrap metal.

>.> But on the most part I agree that effects departments need to step up their game here.

Also in The Bourne Identity, they use a more realistic silenced gun noise. Instead of the stupid 'pwip' sound silenced guns use in films/TV, the gun is still as loud-which is what it's meant to be.

[Zaedria]

Of course horses make the clopity clop sound.... http://youtu.be/x_9CrGQ1wrc?t=1m5s

And swords can totally make that schwing sound, if you pull them out of the right kind of scabbard the right way, too, or swipe the edge against something hard enough to make the whole thing ring. I think gunshots might be a better example? I'm told that real gunshots sound nothing like the movie kind.

OT: Honestly, it's the last thing on my mind when I'm watching a movie, but I can see how it might bother you if you know more about cars and the wrongness of it stands out to you.

[Faesroll]

Movies being unrealistic? So you're telling me I can't become a Jedi?

[Ciddy]

They just need to hire this dude.

[Shinzai]

So, basically action films are too cinematic and should be more realistic?

I'm not sure of the point of the poll, as films that use the above listed sound techniques do so for impact/thematic/stylistic purposes. Realism doesn't even come into it; it's what *sounds* good to the audience at large.

[Deleted]

It's as unrealistic as actors with shiny and white teeth in apocalyptic and war movies.

[lakisa]

if you ask me all SFX since 90es in western movies sucks especially Sci-fi guns/lazor's robots etc they all reuse same crappy one.

[bowchikabow]

In the Movie "swordfish", John Travolta pulls out a M249-S.A.W. The sound they use for that weapon is completely off. I am speaking as a former infantry who spent 5yrs on the SAW.

[hrafnkel]

Honestly none of that is as egregious as the fact that guns make a clicking/racking sound -just by touching them- in basically every movie ever. You always know the guy pulled his gun because it goes "CLACK CLACK." Or god forbid the obligatory "gearing up" scene in any action movie where they all go to the armory and there's a fucking cacophony just from grabbing the guns off the rack, not actually loading/cocking them.

[PBitt]

Lots of things in movies sound unrealistic, but IMO it doesn't really matter, movies generally aren't made to be realistic anyways. They *should* grab the viewer's attention, hence all sorts of special effects not limited to just cars, like the vast majority of guns.