I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron RE: Blocking in Film - you are reminding me of director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, The Birdcage). He and his stage partner Elaine May were some of the earliest improve comedians in the US. His films were meticulously acted because the casts would rehearse the films like a play for weeks before filming. That allowed them to inhabit their roles, have natural reactions, and to get the blocking just right.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron yesterday I just watched Therminator from 1984, not the best film but I loved everything how it’s made. Can’t watch today’s movies anymore.
-
@Gargron also, actors used to speak clearly. I watched Dune part 2 last night and have absolutely no clue what half the dialogue was.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron I agree, mainly American movies.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron what about tv shows? Pluribus was one gorgeous shot after another.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron
"90% of everything is crud" - SturgeonYou don't like the aesthetic, but unfair to imply it's 'unprofessional'.
Maybe you need to look elsewhere besides Hollywood. Digital production and distribution has opened up filmmaking to so many talents that couldn't afford it previously. Drama aside, nature photography and documentary can be better quality now.
The most interesting drama I've seen is no-budget Japanese films. "One Cut of the Dead", "River", "Beyond the Infinite 2 mins".
-
@srtcd424 @Gargron same here. I watched Mr Burton recently and there’s a part where a young Richard Burton is left screaming on top of a Welsh hill to learn projection until it doesn’t hurt anymore.
I just got hearing aids for my mild hearing loss and sadly it’s not made a lot of difference when it comes to mumbling actors.
-
@srtcd424 @Gargron same here. I watched Mr Burton recently and there’s a part where a young Richard Burton is left screaming on top of a Welsh hill to learn projection until it doesn’t hurt anymore.
I just got hearing aids for my mild hearing loss and sadly it’s not made a lot of difference when it comes to mumbling actors.
-
@srtcd424 @Gargron same here. I watched Mr Burton recently and there’s a part where a young Richard Burton is left screaming on top of a Welsh hill to learn projection until it doesn’t hurt anymore.
I just got hearing aids for my mild hearing loss and sadly it’s not made a lot of difference when it comes to mumbling actors.
@Emmacox @Gargron I gave up on aids because the APD is more of a problem than the HL, and even after a couple of years of to-ing and fro-ing I couldn't get the audiologist to understand that. I've got over-ear headphones + AptX-LL transmitter/receiver with an ACTUAL PHYSICAL VOLUME CONTROL (gold dust!) which at least means I can turn up during the dialog and down during the music/sound effects
-
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron Absolutely! It's enshittification across various industries
-
@Emmacox @Gargron I gave up on aids because the APD is more of a problem than the HL, and even after a couple of years of to-ing and fro-ing I couldn't get the audiologist to understand that. I've got over-ear headphones + AptX-LL transmitter/receiver with an ACTUAL PHYSICAL VOLUME CONTROL (gold dust!) which at least means I can turn up during the dialog and down during the music/sound effects
@srtcd424 @Gargron my hearing aids are pretty good for my needs. I have midrange hearing loss which is a nice chunk of the speech range. It’s fairly minor, but in noisy environments like a cafe, I’m practically deaf to anyone trying to speak to me.
Back on the subject of film lighting. It would be nice to see historical films set in medieval times to have other colours instead of just brown.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron Some movies started to look like they were made by AI before they were actually made by AI
-
@Gargron "Fix it in post" happened. There's less planning and more CGI.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron You should watch "One Battle after another". Anderson does some clever tricks with color grading and blocking. The way he shows how the main character is lost is by putting him in awkward places. The color grading encodes the situation the characters are in. And he shot most of the film using VistaVision cameras and film material. It shows.
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron@mastodon.social if you understand french, I recommend this video explaining why color has disappeared since beggining of 2000s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTCVYCdWSFY
TLDR: 9/11 drama influence + beggining of filming in numeric. -
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron afaik a lot of it is due to actors aging and every larger soft boxes hiding their wrinkles. If only there was a solution to this… like showing that humans age and that is ok, maybe?
-
I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.
@Gargron I read a while back that the people doing it are so enamoured with their very sensitive cameras that they make scenes very dark despite the fact it becomes almost unwatchable on most displays -
@Gargron The obsession with HDR — super dark scenes to mimic realism in light levels is also annoying. It’s more difficult to enjoy what you’re watching if you’re struggling to see what’s even on the screen. I get that in real life, something might be happening in pitch black conditions but I think for cinema it’s still better to just give the suggestion of darkness rather than the complete actuality of it.
️ -
@Gargron Gaming went through a similar pallet in the early 2000s. I’m glad that passed.
And I know how you feel. It may be part of why I like animation so much, it hasn’t been hit so hard with browning. It’s so great when a movie has colors that really pop.
Yeah a movie about a guy trapped in the middle of the Sahar or Death Valley is going to be low on color. NY, LA, Minneapolis, other real cities have colors.
@foobarsoft @Gargron yeah, I don’t miss the 360/ps3 brown era of 3D games! I’m glad gaming has mostly moved on from it.
It’s amazing how much better things look with some actual brightness and colour
Despite my mild HL and ASD-linked auditory processing problems, I have never failed to understand Judi Dench, for example!
