As someone who actually edits sound effects for movies, I'd like to point out that everyone in my field is entirely aware of the true physics of sound, but what's more important to any of us than scientific accuracy is storytelling and doing what's best for the film that's being presented. This more than anything usually means making sure that there is nothing to distract you from the attemtped reality of the story. If this means taking certain creative liberties with the laws of physics, so be it. Now you can argue that obvious violations of the laws of physics do take you out of a movie, but unfortunately, that only applies to a very small group of people, and if you're among them, I'm sorry, you're the minority, and we're not going to cater to you.
To be honest, there is nothing that makes me happier than when a director uses accurate physics to enhance the storytelling of his film (ie Master & Commander, Kubrick's 2001), but lets face it, that just doesn't happen all that often. Usually something like that has to be developed from the script phase, and filmed/edited with that intention, other wise, by the time it gets to us, it's too late for us to do anything about it.
On day one of my first sound class in film school, we watched the opening starship battle of Star Wars with completely scientific accuracy (silence). Try it sometime. I promise, you'll be glad we take the liberties we do.
Also, I'd like to point out that while there are a number of movies that have 80% or more of the on set dialogue replaced, for the most part, we try to save as much of the production dialogue as possible. It is always better than anything we can record later and if we can salvage it, we do. Granted, large action films like Black Hawk Down or Van Helsing require a good deal of dialogue replacement, most films don't come anywhere near those kind of figures.
To be honest, there is nothing that makes me happier than when a director uses accurate physics to enhance the storytelling of his film (ie Master & Commander, Kubrick's 2001), but lets face it, that just doesn't happen all that often. Usually something like that has to be developed from the script phase, and filmed/edited with that intention, other wise, by the time it gets to us, it's too late for us to do anything about it.
On day one of my first sound class in film school, we watched the opening starship battle of Star Wars with completely scientific accuracy (silence). Try it sometime. I promise, you'll be glad we take the liberties we do.
Also, I'd like to point out that while there are a number of movies that have 80% or more of the on set dialogue replaced, for the most part, we try to save as much of the production dialogue as possible. It is always better than anything we can record later and if we can salvage it, we do. Granted, large action films like Black Hawk Down or Van Helsing require a good deal of dialogue replacement, most films don't come anywhere near those kind of figures.