after color correcting a lot of OFMD footage, a very funny thing i've noticed is like. they've color-graded it to be. brown.
like, if you've ever seen a video on youtube where an old painting is restored, the conservationist always has to remove an old layer of varnish because it's yellowed over time, and this varnish casts a very noticeable sheen over an artwork
in season 1 this "antique" effect is used as a form of deliberate color grading, and it actually doesn't look too bad most of the time as a cinematic choice
but it IS still there. which means i have to scrape off some of that artificial patina
now. where it gets weird, though.... is season 2.
i've talked about it. i've posted videos about it. but season 2 does this thing where they attempt to go for this antique look again
which. first of all. feels very weird thematically. i'd argue that the purpose of this color grading in season 1 was to enhance the romanticism. this unrealistic idea stede has about piracy. it's very dream-like. season 2 is more like: this is reality. it's harsh. but i digress
so they slap this brown filter on. but they like. really crank up the opacity on that badboy. to the point where it drowns out the original color of the shots. that color information is completely destroyed.
and then, to make it worse, because season 2 is more Gritty, they then darkened all of the shots as well.
so you have a thick brown filter, you take away the lights... you've got sludge. you've got tar.
and this made me so sad that i literally taught myself new editing skills to get rid of it.
i never felt that way with season 1. even in areas that are very heavily color graded (like interior shots, due to candle light), because you can still fucking. see
regardless of however i feel about like. wardrobe. pacing. characterization. of this season. and if my feelings of those things will change over time
i will never. ever. forgive the person in charge who decided to do this to the color and lighting. it benefits precisely no one. your final product looks bad for casual viewers and you make it harder for those of us who make content promoting your show FOR FREE by making it so that we have extra hurdles to climb over every time we make a gif, post a screenshot, or make a video
hbo max i am in your walls.
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Sometimes I see gifsets of movies and I'm like oh that looks better visually than I remember! And it's almost always bc the gifmakers upped the GODDAMN SATURATION!!!
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