What is Visual Muzak? How An Annoying Smartphone Habit Is Ruining Streaming
The movie industry is very different to what it was just a quarter of a century ago. In fact, we didn’t know it at the time, but Netflix well and truly changed the game when the streaming service exploded just 15 years ago, in 2010.
For better or worse, we are now spoiled for choice with various streaming platforms housing countless films and TV shows at our fingertips. Cinemas, meanwhile, are struggling, but can you really blame people for wanting to sit and watch movies in the comfort of their own home?
However, a new problem is emerging in this increasingly digital world, and it means some people aren’t even watching the films they press play on, at least not properly.
What is ‘Visual Muzak’, and How Is It Linked to Smartphones?
Whether I’m showing my fiancée the latest new releases or introducing my teenage daughter to Star Wars for the first time, I can see them checking their phones sporadically and losing track of what’s going on. And I know it’s not just them: some viewers pay even more attention to their phones and barely even glance at the TV screen throughout a film or TV show. That’s where ‘visual muzak’ comes in.
Visual muzak is a technique used by storytellers in the digital age to ensure that even if you’re not giving a film or TV show your full attention, you can still follow, by and large, what’s happening. This is done by characters very plainly explaining what they are doing and what their plans are. They’ll do this a few times, too, just to really make sure the subliminal message is delivered to second-screening audiences at home.
Netflix Wants Creatives to Second-Screen Proof Movies & Shows
We’ve heard about the second screen issue regularly over the last year or so, but Matt Damon spoke very openly about the concept around the release of his new movie, The Rip. Turns out, it’s not just dialogue, it’s also the way movies are constructed that has changed due to this cultural shift.
On the Joe Rogan Experience, Damon said: “The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces. One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third. You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale.
“Now they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay. And it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.’”
Clearly, even A-list superstars like Damon and Ben Affleck are not immune to these rules. We also witnessed this with Stranger Things Season 5, too. If you missed it, go back and rewatch the episodes and count how many times the gang spell out their plot to take down Vecna in the simplest terms imaginable.
Streaming Has Also Changed the Visual Side of Films & Shows
Perhaps even more worrying is that the visual quality of films and TV shows is declining on streaming platforms. That’s also down to smartphones because more and more people are using those devices to play content, which means the likes of Netflix know it can reduce bitrates and increase compression on its products without the majority of viewers even realising.
Leaning even further into this smartphone-obsessed era, we’re going to see more vertical videos landing on streaming platforms. Indeed, Netflix, Disney+, and Peacock are all planning to ramp up their output in the 9:16 aspect ratio, which will make our streaming libraries look more like a TikTok feed.
Like it or not, streaming services are no longer a hub for cinephiles. Instead, they are progressively transforming into just another app that the smartphone generation can passively play around with or use as background noise. Hopefully, there’s still enough room for high-quality movies and easily digestible content to keep both sides of the coin happy.
