Chapter 1: Why are movie-goers complaining about dark films?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
So the budget was... for The Devil Wears Prada 2 was 35 million. I think it probably would have been a bit more actually. So that was not accidental.
No.
That's a choice.
Chapter 2: What artistic choices are filmmakers making regarding lighting?
That is a choice. But actually, as it happens, in the case of The Devil Wears Prada, when it comes to seeing it on the big screen, it isn't quite as dark as the trailer showed. So I don't know if they went and did a little bit of magic, if they went into a bit of panic mode or the trailer was possibly cut and sent out sooner. But in this case, it's actually a lot better on the big screen.
Is this part, though, of a wider shift, this artistic choice that producers and directors are making?
Yes. So there's kind of five steps to it, which is kind of interesting. Modern filmmakers, I sound like I'm a hundred, they're modern filmmakers.
Chapter 3: How has digital photography changed film lighting?
The idea is to create things that look more realistic, more moody, more atmospheric. When we think of older Hollywood films, they were brightly lit. They were very colorful. We could see everything. But the idea now is that wasn't actually real life. So we need to portray things as they are. That can still work depending on the cinematographer or how things are done.
But the other problem, big problem is digital photography.
Chapter 4: What impact do TV settings have on movie viewing experiences?
I mean, we all have our own. Every pocket has a phone that can be used to film. We all know that. So it makes it much more easier. So it takes in light, old fashioned film print. It needed a lot of it needs a lot of care to create those lovely films we used to see. So now digital, they can record in daylight, evening. And the problem is you can keep on filming.
Chapter 5: Is the trend of darker films a response to audience expectations?
There's no there's no limit. So a lot of filmmakers will film a huge amount during the day and say, we'll worry about that when it gets to post-production. We'll grade it then. We'll grade it then. So when you get to that point, it's not always possible to do the work they need to do in the timeframe. Film production is much shorter than it used to be.
So you might have miles and miles of footage and you're given three weeks to put this together. So it might not be possible.
Chapter 6: How do CGI effects contribute to the perception of darkness in films?
Or the really good takes are just, they can't be used in that way. So there are two big issues. The other thing is, and a big problem is that People now watch on everything. They watch films on their phones. They watch it on their TVs. And the smarter TVs become, it makes it harder to actually watch a film because the film is designed to be seen on a certain type of screen.
But TVs, smart TVs, they're dynamic.
Chapter 7: What role does sound quality play in film enjoyment?
They change the settings. And they're not always able for the quality. They kind of mix and match. Now, I would love to tell people play with the buttons on your telly box, but I wouldn't tell them how to because I'd be afraid people will ring and go, I broke my TV. What did she say to do? But have a look at your settings because often you can adjust. You can make it easier to watch.
The other thing then as well, when you have everything heading for streaming, you take a big, lovely film and then you have to compress it.
Chapter 8: How can viewers adjust their settings for better film clarity?
Is that part of the problem, you see? Once you transfer it from that big cinematic screen back to your ordinary telly at home.
I mean, you literally, if it's going to go on Netflix, it literally needs, you need to shrink it. You compress it. So the quality has been brought down as well. So, I mean, it really is, it's sort of this big issue. And it's even, and it's not just the fact that things are getting darker and harder to see. There's also a flatness.
The first of the two Wicked's, I mean, Wicked was supposed to be this amazing technicolor experience. People went to the land of Oz to see bright colors. But the director, John M. Chu, decided to have these really imaginative scenes quite flatly lit. And he said it was because he wanted people to feel like they were really part of Glinda and Elphaba's world. Nobody wants that.
You want colour, you want light, you want fun. I'm never going to believe I'm part of their world.
The reason I'm going to that movie is I'm trying to get away from gritty realism and real life. I want to be taken off into the world of imagination.
So he took that lesson for the second one and it is far, far brighter than the first one. So he listened to that. There's other directors that sort of go, no, no, that was a choice and I'm standing by it. Even, I mean, famously, the famous Game of Thrones episode, one of the most watched episodes of TV that every season led up to this moment, The Long Night, and people couldn't see it.
And afterwards, they came out and said, well, actually, we wanted it to look like that because we didn't want everybody to see all the bits going around. We just wanted you to focus on the main characters. Now, I'm sorry, we know who the main characters, we can still see them, but we'd like to know what's going on in the background.
And it is actually some of these, surprisingly, these sort of big franchise events. series and big franchise movies that you're seeing. This is not the arthouse stuff. I first saw it in the Harry Potter films. Yes. And I thought there was something wrong with our television, that it was so dark.
I actually didn't know because it was, you know, generally a kid's movie, why it seemed to be so brown and almost grainy.
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