kingstoken | The Little Mermaid - Why lighting so dark?

My brother and I went to see the live-action Little Mermaid yesterday. Overall it was a cute movie, I didn't love it as much as the original (I loved that movie as a kid), but I think they really tried, and they didn't phone it in, and I think they added some interesting little ideas while sticking to mostly the same plot. However, my one major complaint was how dark the underwater scenes were! You know when the promo photos came out and everyone complained that they were so dark and people said "don't worry it will look better on the big screen" well I got news for you, it didn't. Not every under scene was super dark, the under the sea song sequence was alright, but anything that took place in Ursula's cave was so freaking dark and hard to see, like poor Melissa McCarthy she was acting her ass off and I could hardly see any of it. I don't understand it, like everything on land was well lit and easy to see, and I know they are trying to establish a mood or whatever, but I shudder to think what it will look like on a TV/computer screen when the theatre is supposed to be the optimal viewing experience.

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I have this complaint about so many movies and TV shows. I get they are trying to set a mood or establish that something is taking place in a dark environment, but ... there have been two different things recently (one horror, one fantasy) where we had to wait until dark to watch it, close all the curtains, turn out all the lights, and it was still a strain to see what was happening. And I'm sure the filmmaker wants you to wait until dark to watch their horror movie, but I should able to watch things in the afternoon if I want to.

I hate it, I should not have to be in a completely pitch black room in order to watch my shows. Plus I was in a pitch black theatre and still couldn't see it!

Yeah, between this and the muddy sound-mixing where the background music is louder than the dialogue, it's like they don't even want you know what's happening.

Yes! The sound is such an issue for so many films and tv shows too. Like I find it so weird that I can watch Star Trek from the 1960s and see and hear it clearly, but then you watch something from this year and you have no idea what's going on. I know it's not a universal problem, because you'll get shows where you can see and hear everything well. You have an OFMD icon and that reminded me of a show that I watched within the last year that I could see and hear. I know some people like to complain "well the effects are bad", I don't care, I can forgive the island looking a little fake as long I can enjoy the story.

I've watched a couple of videos and read articles about this and it's really the same issue. And the "reason" for it just makes it more frustrating.

Because it really seems to come down to certain stubborn creators insisting everything is fine and you are experiencing their art "the wrong way" if you can't follow along. (I even read an article where creators were getting snarky about so many people watching TV with the captions on to follow the dialogue. There was literally snobbery about "how dare these peasants leave their TV captions on constantly.")

So, anyway, the "reason" both sound and lighting is getting worse is because (A) styles have shifted from theatrical to realism and (B) technology has improved to the point that scenes can be filmed in less than ideal circumstances and then be "fixed" digitally. Pre-digital, a filmmaker had no way of being sure they got what they wanted on film until after it was developed, potentially too late for re-shoots, so they erred on the side caution. Everything was "over" lit, actors had to crisply nail their dialogue (and the acting could occasionally feel a bit forced as a result), etc. And now because they can virtually shoot by candlelight and tweak the sound mixing later, there is much less emphasis on getting clear master shots.

Then at the editing stage, they are editing in perfect conditions (best equipment, no light reflecting into their TV screens, etc). And of course you also have the bias of knowing what is happening. Human brains are very good at filling in the gaps when we know what we are supposed to be seeing/hearing. So after you've edited the same scene thing for a bit, you probably are unaware of how it's not obvious what's going on. (Just like you need fresh eyes to proofread a revision, they really really need to get fresh eyes/ears on these light/sound mixes before they release them to the public. And sometimes the bad lighting is artificial; they've digitally darkened something for mood but ultimately just made it muddy.)

There are SO MANY TIMES where a dramatic music cue is the only reason I know something important happened on screen and I rewind up and squint and go, "I still can't tell what that is." A character discovers something, dim shot of something unclear, dramatic music cue, character reacts with shock, and cut to next scene. And I'm like, "WHAT?"

That is so frustrating! I read an article about the sound in tv shows awhile back and they said that part of the problem is that actors want to speak in normal mumbled tones and not enunciate like they used to. Supposedly there were a couple of famous actors that got praised for their "realistic performances" and then everyone started doing it, and now we can't hear shit! Another problem mentioned was that directors are not pushing their on-set sound guys to get the sound as prefect as they can like they used to because they think that they can fix it in post!

Anyways, thank you for your comment, I know the feeling of watching something and having no clue something major had happened because it is so dark!

Maybe it will be better on small screen where you can tweak levels? I know the original Daredevil movie fell very flat with me in theater, due to angles of shots and darkness, but I found it much more easy to engage with on my TV when we got it on DVD.

Maybe, I hope so, but shouldn't the movie theatre have everything at optimal levels? isn't that the point of going to the theatre? Anyways, knowing my brother he will probably buy it on DVD, so we'll see if it gets any better.

The Little Mermaid - Why lighting so dark?

I just want to see what's happening

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Re: I just want to see what's happening

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Re: I just want to see what's happening

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