from American Horror Story THE Foreign things THE EUFOR THE Game of Thronessome TV shows are hard to watch because of the dark subject matter – while others aren’t the easiest to enjoy because of the dark lighting.
Some programs have become notoriously difficult to watch, and filmmakers have weighed in on whether the issue is with the viewer or the content itself.
“I don’t know why there’s this trend now to shoot extremely dark, but I think — I won’t name names — there’s two sides to it.” Shasta Spahnwho worked in American Horror Stories, said vulture in November 2023. “There’s a version where people know what their exposure and balance is and know how to make a scene look a certain way that’s technically dark. And then there’s the other side of it where people don’t know what they’re doing. They’re making it look really dark.”
Spahn cited several examples from the director’s side, adding: “They have no light in the actor’s eyes. They have no separation between foreground and background, and it’s unqualified and looks terrible. … Night scenes can be and have been done so beautifully, but they have also been done so badly.”
WHEREAS Lyn Moncrief, which brought films such as Five Nights at Freddy’s in life, was asked if “bigger TVs” were to blame.
“They tend to have a 16:9 format. We are no longer in this 4:3 analog TV era where the differences between television and movies, at least in terms of composition and aspect ratios, are so extreme. Before 2000, that aspect ratio was forced upon you when you shot TV,” Moncrief noted. “You’re seeing a lot more projects, and they’re shooting 2.39:1 with paper boxes and things of that nature that used to always be a struggle. This cinematic influence has had a direct effect on the broadcast of the shows, whereas in the past this was not the case.”
House of the Dragon CINEMATOGRAPHY Pepe Avila del Pino had his own view on the subject. He specifically called out the “over-processed color correction” that has become so common with everyone’s favorite TV shows.
“Black people are not black people. And it has a standardized look. A lot of TVs are starting to look the same, and that has to do with a lot of things. One of them is the technology that we all have now, like the use of LED lights, which are faster and more practical,” explained Del Pino. “The cameras are also faster and the lenses are more sensitive to light. All these reasons tend to push the work flow every day on the TV set to a very rushed schedule, usually.”
He continued: “I think it’s more a consequence of the tools used, than an artistic vision. There have been a lot of people doing TV very quickly in recent years. Things are pre-produced, produced, and then distributed in post-production, and then sent back to broadcasters in a very short amount of time. All of these factors lend themselves to these low light levels and an overly color-corrected display on the screen.”
Keep scrolling to see examples of certain shows known to be too dark visually:
