Christopher Nolan has revealed that the occasional faintness of dialogue in his science fiction blockbuster Interstellar was intentional.
The director told The Hollywood Reporter that the production team made conscious decisions about how to mix the sound in a realistic manner.
"I don't agree with the idea that you can only achieve clarity through dialogue," he said. "Clarity of story, clarity of emotions - I try to achieve that in a very layered way using all the different things at my disposal... picture and sound."
Nolan explained that despite complaints from some cinema-goers that key dialogue is difficult to hear, this means that the film is being presented correctly.
"There are particular moments in this film where I decided to use dialogue as a sound effect," he said. "So sometimes it's mixed slightly underneath the other sound effects or in the other sound effects to emphasise how loud the surrounding noise is.
"It's not that nobody has ever done these things before, but it's a little unconventional for a Hollywood movie."
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He cited one scene which has caused trouble for some viewers, in which Michael Caine's character reveals vital information to Jessica Chastain's character, but his words are not entirely audible.
"We are following the emotional state of Jessica's character as she starts to understand what he's been saying," Nolan explained. "Information is communicated in various different ways over the next few scenes.
"That's the way I like to work; I don't like to hang everything on one particular line."
Interstellar topped the UK box office in its first week of release last week.
Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
