Dark is the new Bokeh

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thought of this thread watching prime's 'the man in the high castle'
many many scenes are low contrast AND dark, even during the day. I like the show, but to me they go too far with the desaturation and underexposure at times. Also to a lesser extent Ozark is doing that too. I can see now that this IS a trend in some ways.

Having said that, neither of my examples are 'bad' so there are obviously degrees of execution to the point where it's acceptable to my eyes, but I also agree that there is a bunch of stuff out there which just looks plain bad.
 
fatman said:
thought of this thread watching prime's 'the man in the high castle'
many many scenes are low contrast AND dark, even during the day. I like the show, but to me they go too far with the desaturation and underexposure at times. Also to a lesser extent Ozark is doing that too. I can see now that this IS a trend in some ways.

Having said that, neither of my examples are 'bad' so there are obviously degrees of execution to the point where it's acceptable to my eyes, but I also agree that there is a bunch of stuff out there which just looks plain bad.
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Kind of surprised about 'The Man in the High Castle'. I watched the first season(mostly on my LG 4K HDR OLED) and it was an HDR program and I recall everything being very punchy and contrasty and well... HDR. Now, I haven't watched any of the subsequent seasons and it's quite possible things have changed, as they do sometimes. Just look at The Big Bang Theory. The early seasons looked like a typical multi-camera studio sitcom, then it slid down hill a bit with a lot of blown highlights and some over saturated colors but the later seasons became VERY VERY flat in the way it was lit and graded, to the point it actually takes away from the enjoyment of the show, at least for me. I know you don't light a multi-cam sitcom they same way you do a single-camera dram, but BBT looks like someone just decided to turn all of the lights on and then fill in every shadow that might remain with even more light and then add more fill to the actors to make everything as flat and boring as possible.
 
puredrifting said:
Kind of like the writing. Used to be funny, quirky and good, now is horrible. Show should have ended two or three seasons ago.
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Yeah. I love the early seasons and I can watch them now for the 9,723rd time with almost the same interest that I did the first time(I guess that's a sign of a great show). I'm not 'current' with the show, because I just watch the syndicated episodes, but the very latest season or two that are out in syndication, they are a far cry from what they used to be.
 
A lot of people hate on the show, but yeah it’s fallen way off in the last four seasons or so. Maybe the British have it right where a “series” is six episodes and many shows only get two series and then they’re over.
 
Josh Bass said:
A lot of people hate on the show, but yeah it’s fallen way off in the last four seasons or so. Maybe the British have it right where a “series” is six episodes and many shows only get two series and then they’re over.
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This is the main reason I watch 85% British Television versus American content. Most of our shows that had great potential fall apart because plots and characters aren't meant to be explored in 22 to 26 episode seasons, it's too much for the writers to write that much and keep it engaging and compelling and it's unreasonable of the producers to expect them too. It's like expecting every novel to be as long as War & Peace. Very few series can sustain that kind of greatness over so many episodes (Although the Ridley Scott produced The Good Wife did). The British shows are generally, but not always just better. The comedies are funnier, the dramas are deeper although there are plenty of crappy shows over there too. But overall, they have a better success rate IMHO and that's largely due to 6-8 episode seasons and generally runs of only a few seasons.
 
HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Netflix, etc. are mostly ~10 episode seasons for their scripted/narrative series. Even some of the nets like CW have moved to 10 episode seasons on some of their shows.

Seasons 2-6 of Downton Abbey were all 9 episodes runs.

Remember the ole show biz saying: "Always leave them wanting more."
 
I don't know the biz side of TV really, at all, but I'm assuming the episodes per season length here somehow makes economic sense in a way it doesn't over there.
 
Josh Bass said:
I don't know the biz side of TV really, at all, but I'm assuming the episodes per season length here somehow makes economic sense in a way it doesn't over there.
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Of course. There is no such thing as syndication over there as we have over here. BBC/ITC/Ch4 all do foreign market licensing so it's a little bit like what we have but over here, if you have a hit show and make it seven seasons, the show runners are set for life as far as income. Over there, the commercial markets are so much smaller and most of it is BBC which is publicly funded so yes, there are artistic as well as financial reasons they do short, reasonable run series over there. Over here, the more episodes you have to sell, the more you make in your syndication deal, it's that simple. That's why shows like BBT are still on the air, it should have gone off the air years ago but everyone involved reaps a HUGE payday for every additional season. I don't blame them for keeping on keeping on, any of us would too if it meant additional millions of passive income.
 
It's a better look than the LOG look that seemed so prevalent for a while there...

Though I think the subtle distinction here is low key lighting rather than underexposed...

JB
 
John Brawley said:
It's a better look than the LOG look that seemed so prevalent for a while there...

Though I think the subtle distinction here is low key lighting rather than underexposed...

JB
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Right. Low key lighting can be great. It is when highlights look dark, it is not exactly bad, just noticing the sudden prevalence. It is done by multiple experienced people, so can’t really blame the dslr or the internet, but maybe it is a reaction to the bright high resolution screens and digital capture. Subduing the image makes it overall more pleasing.
 
Riddick isn’t dark enough for movies today. Not near enough toe.

Untitled by onesielaff, on Flickr

Bradford Young embraces the darkside in Solo.

And “Mid90’s” Southern California sun makes Riddick look like a Mary Poppins sequel.
Untitled by onesielaff, on Flickr
 
jcs said:
Haha how about Pitch Black?
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Makes me feel like I now Have Riddick vision.

Keep in mind, Onenof these is mid day Sunny California, the other is a dark cave that only Riddick can see in...


And walking around this house, you may have to be Riddick not to run into things. There is a toe pun in there somewhere.
 
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I think the best example of dark cinematography is Netflix's own The OA. Best dark and low contrast work I've seen in TV.
 
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