POLL: What matters more in a film? Good video or good audio?

[timothyemerson]

If a film is only in mono, I'm not too disappointed. I find it rare that the surround on a movie excites me in the way that surround music can. On the other hand, if a film is only available in SD video I will often wait until I can see it in HD. So for movies, video is much more important to me.

Despite my own post, I wholeheartedly agree with this post!

 

[barfle]

I have a handful of movies that are letterboxed NTSC, so they end up being pretty small on my HDTV. I can use the zoom control to fill the screen, but then they REALLY look like crap.

 

[artwwweb]

Despite my own post, I wholeheartedly agree with this post!

Having re-read your post, I can see that we are kind of saying the same thing, so you are not being inconsistent!

 

[jimfisheye]

The audio guy will say something like they're both important. The film guy will say only the video matters and the audio quality is meaningless.

There's a reason this joke sticks around!
Q: What's the difference between a sound guy and a light guy?
A: Well, the sound guy could run the lights...

They are both critical but audio is more important than it looks. Sounds like another bad joke but seriously. Some video artifacts might come across as an effect or something if the audio is still solid. As long as it's not bad camcorder to vcr nearly full noise bad. Radiophonic audio is instant cheapness though! It really depends on the context too. Dialog movie? As long as it's not absurd. Concert film? 99 parts audio quality 1 part video. Whispers and explosions? The quality has to keep the bombastic ahead of the silliness.

My own experience. I'll watch movies on my laptop often enough. Any music or concert video must be listened to on the big system with no exception. I guess I consider music above video in general. Music is art. Video is more informative.

 

[Fourplay]

Neither and both. The importance of each element is to be technically "transparent" so that the audience can immerse themselves in the story. Weak audio or visual elements tend to stick out and distract from enjoying the narrative. It comes down to the weakest link, if any.

 

[SHB]

When it comes to film, soap scum without a doubt

 

[MidiMagic]

The correct answer was not provided.

The correct answer is "Yes".

 

[SomethingAnything]

Audio is completely and utterly the most important thing.
Just think about it:
A very good quality video with poor audio is worth nothing.
A very poor quality video with amazing audio is art.

 

[Scott65]

For film - video first, with audio a close second.

 

[AYanguas]

I think it cannot be generalized.

It's different for:
- Silent Movies
- Beautiful Video landscapes
- Concert or musical films

If I want to generalize, both video and audio are equally important.... Thats why we build at home big screens with also great number of good speakers.