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wanted to know if anybody felt the same way as me. as i’ve learned more about filmmaking, mostly through youtube and reel scrolling (as is traditional), i have in turn become more and more fascinated by color grading. watching a favorite movie and noticing how the hues vibrate, playing around on lightroom w/ stills, and sharing all of this with friends. i actually liked being bombarded with those “the reason your footage doesn’t look cinematic is because you don’t know how to use davinci/err ever heard of teal and orange/my new favorite LUT pack changed everything i am now actually wong kar wai” reels. with this new movement to tickle that saturation slide, i have been noticing the heavier color grading in more recent movies, especially those put out by A24, and it’s starting to feel off. i’m aware that disenchantment is at least partially because of my own overconsumption and resultant annoyance with instagram content, but i was wondering if anyone else has felt the same way. something about the colors in movies like Sing Sing and Past Lives just feels kinda unnatural, like it sets off that same thing mentally for me that AI content does- a buzzer that says “this is weird, and maybe not real.” idk, i know this comes across like an uneducated, nagging rant, but what do yall think? is it the digital, incredibly crisp cinematography? is it my #1 opp the ARRI Alexa line? is it lighting trends, instead? am i going crazy? overall, is coloring just getting to be a bit to much in artsy/indie cinema of the past few years? i apologize for the poor writing, hope u can comprehend what im tryna articulate.
19h ago
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Having worked on a few super low budget movies a decade ago I feel like the existence of Davinci has led to a decline in affordable DPs who actually know how to light a scene from the outset. And then once a film's shots are sufficiently inconsistent they probably just have to make them all dim/teal in post out of desperation.
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i think about this a lot specifically where film is concerned because that's the medium that most resonates with me but i think it could apply to any type of art. consider those "top four favorites" letterboxd videos - every time someone lists a bunch of old or foreign movies, tons of the comments accuse that person of being sooo pretentious, and then whoever picks legally blonde or something gets lauded for being "so real" and "actually honest with their answer". like hello?? you're following letterboxd on social media, watching a video of accomplished filmmakers and artists passionate about their field list their favorite movies, and turn on them when they pick the night of the hunter instead of star wars?? i used to regularly listen to students in film classes with me complain about all the old and "weird" movies we had to watch. i have met tons of people who want nothing more than to make movies or otherwise pursue art yet regularly write things off as too weird, too long, too old, too hard to understand.
what is the point of engaging with art then if you refuse to try and understand it when it's hard, don't look back to the older influences of modern art you enjoy, don't want to step outside of what you know and find comfort in? even if someone's watching all these movies with the goal of having big letterboxd numbers or falsely looking knowledgable about film, at least they're thoroughly engaging with the medium instead of watching nothing but american classics and writing off the rest.
Nov 26, 2024
Excellent, concise essay explaining what made movies look like the movies we remember and why we're getting flooded with mediocre visuals in the streaming age.
Feb 21, 2025
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Anyway, my unpopular opinion is that there are a lot of people who, when you say you don’t like a movie, they refer to the “amazing cinematography” to justify its existence, but oftentimes I feel like if I were to ask them what that term means, they wouldn’t know.
I know because I didn’t like Paris, Texas, and a lot of the people who liked it, refer to its amazing cinematography, but to me, it’s just repetition and they say that to shut you up while simultaneously having them look more intelligent than they actually are.
Mar 24, 2025
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recently watched “Warfare” directed by Mendoza and Garland. first hearing abt it, i had a similarly appalled reaction to most people on film-social media; not to mention, i’m already not the biggest A24 fan, though i groove w a lot of their splish. i decided i wanted to come to my own conclusion, here it is!!!: idrk. it obviously aims to do no more than portray exactly what mendoza remembers, but every story lives in context. it feels cheap, in a sense, to simply say that you can only speak purely based on what you’ve seen. it kinda lobs the civilian perspective every once-in-a-while, and i’m sure the directors actually want the audience to question the actions of the soldiers. im on the fence, cuz there’s obviously enough to come to your own conclusion, but does the movie have the complexity and forethought to deserve credit for the audience’s ponderings? needa learn more. thoughts?
1d ago