From Harry Potter to Moana, Where Has the Colour Gone From Film & TV?
For a wizarding world full of delight and wonder, the Harry Potter HBO show trailer is more than a little washed out. The teaser has been marred with criticism for its dark lighting and muted colour grading, but when we look at the film and TV industry as a whole, this is becoming a recurring issue.
Recently, the new live-action Moana trailer quite literally paled in comparison to its animated counterpart, and this is seen across other Disney live-action projects like The Little Mermaid. Moreover, viewers have, in the past, complained they could barely see what was going on in Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, although HBO has defended its lack of lighting in the past as a creative decision.
Whether deliberate or not, it’s clear that film and TV have something of a colour issue — and here, we’re going to find out why.
The Evolution of Film Colouring
One reason film has gotten darker through time is a practical one: there’s been a switch from print to digital film when making movies. While digital film gives you more options when it comes to lighting, it just doesn’t hit the same as movies in Technicolour.
Broadly, making movies Technicolour involved a dye-transfer process on completed film strips. It’s the reason why movies like The Wizard of Oz are so saturated. Comparatively, one could argue that darker, grittier films don’t actually benefit from this kind of colouring, but The Godfather Part II, which was the last movie to use the IB Technicolour method, disproves this.
These methods are a type of colour grading, but these days, altering the saturation of colours is done digitally. Earlier examples of digital colour grading include systems like Pandora Pogle and DaVinci 2K, but these days, programs like DaVinci Resolve are the most popular.
Has Film and TV Lighting Changed?
Paxton Equipments provides a brief history of film lighting. Incandescent lighting, which relied on heat, was used initially. This was later swapped out for fluorescent lights, which used less heat and energy. This was followed by High Intensity Discharge (HMI) lighting, which gives off the appearance of more natural light.
This, along with its ability to “control colour temperature,” made it a popular choice among filmmakers, but these days, LED lights are the most commonly used tool. Out of all the lighting choices, it is the most versatile and offers a vast range of colour temperatures and levels of brightness.
Why Are We Stuck With ‘Netflix Screen’?
Based on this, if anything, films and TV shows should be brighter, right? Instead, despite these technological advancements, we’re stuck with ‘Netflix Screen’ a lot of the time.
One reason for this is pretty boring: it’s just what happens when film and TV shows are compressed for streaming sites like Netflix. This also applies to the new Harry Potter series trailer, with one Redditor noting that it looks a lot brighter on the HBO app in comparison to YouTube.
Additionally, according to The Guardian, studios like Netflix have “restrictive lists of approved cameras,” and want all content to be shot in 4K UHD for those watching at home. This, in turn, arguably comes at the cost of quality lighting and colour grading.
Moreover, Salford University’s cinematography lecturer, Laura Hillard, told the publication that “the prevalence of flat monotone images in film and TV today is due in part to changes in camera technology and a lack of careful colour grading work.”
Sometimes, It’s Just Vibes That Make Films Darker
Beyond studio control and changes in technology, some filmmakers opt for less colour and lighting purely on vibes alone. As seen in modern film noirs like The Batman, low lighting and general dullness in movies can actually play out as a stylistic choice. By contrast, La La Land is a notable example of a film where the director opts to adjust the colour grading and lighting so it is brimming with excitement and character. Thematically, this matches the musical’s vibe in the same way that the shadowy filmmaking matched The Batman’s vibes.
Based on the lack of saturation, it feels like movies these days are going for a more ‘realistic’ look — in turn, it makes sense that the Harry Potter show and live-action Disney films are lit and colour graded in this way. While both have fantastical plot elements, they remain rooted in a ‘realistic’ world, which, in turn, makes the mythical plots all the more compelling.
So, it feels like this more subtle look is all the rage in film and TV right now, but like all trends, it will eventually pass and make way for something new.
