Broadchurch accent adventures

[dbskyler]

Still really enjoying Broadchurch, except for the fact that I keep missing bits of the dialogue. Since it's a murder mystery and any bit of dialogue could contain a crucial clue, I have resorted to watching it with closed captioning on. But since I find the cc distracting, I then watch it a second time without the cc. (I tried doing it the other way -- no cc first, then cc the second time to pick up on what I missed, but it drives me too crazy -- "wait, no, what did he just say??!!!")

It's not all DT, although I find him particularly hard to follow when he's being all broody and muttering his lines. I can't always understand Olivia Colman either, and most of the others are also a little hit-and-miss. In fact, the only person whose dialogue I can understand 100% of the time is Arthur Darvill. Not sure if that's because he enunciates well (or in a way that works for my American ear), or because he sounds just like Rory. :D (In fact, it's slightly distracting because so far at least, his character could actually be Rory pretending to be a priest. I keep waiting for Amy to show up.)

It's still really good, though. We're still pretty early on -- I just saw episode 3 -- so don't spoil me for what's coming!*

*If Amy does eventually show up, you can tell me that. No wait, don't.

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Glad that you're enjoying it - sorry that you're struggling with the regional accents. I've taught myself to not get distracted by the subtitles (or close captioning as you guys call it) - I find I need it on most shows because the background music too often drowns out the dialogue, or in the case of the BBC, the sound mix volume's too low!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I'd like to not get distracted by the cc. Funnily enough, the only other show that I regularly watch with the subtitles on is The West Wing, and that's definitely a sound mix issue, not an accent issue. Also, TWW dialogue is so clever, it's a shame to miss a word of it.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I have just started watching TWW, thanks to lost_spook, and I need the subtitles to even understand what they're saying! American politics goes right over my head!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Ooh, hooray for starting to watch TWW, and I hope you enjoy it!

To be honest, a fair amount of the politics goes right over my head, too, especially when they start throwing acronyms around. The details aren't all meant to be understood; you just have to know that there's some political battle going on over [fill-in-the-blank], and then watch them all try to deal with it.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've figured that out now - but I still like the subtitles so I at least vaguely know what they're saying!